Lights?

[BSki]

Well, just getting into this more and more I am now disgruntled that I have to rely on only weekend rides as I work 8-5. With the clocks moving this weekend, the chance of sprinting to Peters for a quick loop at night isn't possible anymore.

Then it dawned on me that I have headlights on my car and DING DING. And people can't see me as well when I reck. I can just say "I stopped to Pee", "But you are bleeding!!", "Well, you should have seen what I had to wrestle with "

So I see you guys do some night rides and such, and I am a bud would love to join.

Questions for ya:

Where semi-close to me area (405-22, Santiago, Peters, etc.) is it "legal" to night ride? I believe most of the parks close down at dusk and there can be some hefty fines if caught.

Being a new-bike-buyin-broke-bastage, what are some good, (read cheap) lights to setup on my rig?

Rigs: Do you recommend helmet, or handlebar mount? And why?

Feel free to throw in any information that I may have not thought about to ask.

[allison]

I believe all city parks are closed at night. National forests (er, back before they were closed for fire watch) are always open, unless otherwise marked!, and I think sometimes state and/or county parks can be open at night. Pretty much just double check for hours at any trailhead parking on the board.

As for lights.. Handlebar lights are nice for seeing what is in front of you, and also takes the weight off of your head. You get to keep the battery in your bottle cage.

Unfortunately, your handlebars are NOT always pointed where you'd like to be seeing. So, the light only goes where your bike is pointed, not where you are looking. Helmet mounted lights are good for this (you can see around corners, down the trail, etc.).

I've got both. I have a nicer NiteRider light, and then I got a second that was around $100 for my helmet. It's got the heavier battery, slow charging only, etc. I usually keep it off for climbing, and turn it on when descending or going through singletrack. The battery doesn't last as long, so I usually try to save it until I need it.

The only bad thing? Both lights are different colored, so sometimes it can cause nausea for me.

[Schecky]

Originally Posted by BSki

Well, just getting into this more and more I am now disgruntled that I have to rely on only weekend rides as I work 8-5. With the clocks moving this weekend, the chance of sprinting to Peters for a quick loop at night isn't possible anymore.

Then it dawned on me that I have headlights on my car and DING DING. And people can't see me as well when I reck. I can just say "I stopped to Pee", "But you are bleeding!!", "Well, you should have seen what I had to wrestle with "

So I see you guys do some night rides and such, and I am a bud would love to join.

Questions for ya:

Where semi-close to me area (405-22, Santiago, Peters, etc.) is it "legal" to night ride? I believe most of the parks close down at dusk and there can be some hefty fines if caught.

Being a new-bike-buyin-broke-bastage, what are some good, (read cheap) lights to setup on my rig?

Rigs: Do you recommend helmet, or handlebar mount? And why?

Feel free to throw in any information that I may have not thought about to ask.

I am 22/405 too. STT and the Fully Loop are your best bets. All County/State parks are illegal at night.
You can find a light at every price point. I have used a TrailRat for years and will probably get a Minewt next.

[HUGH]

Night riding rocks! Make sure you don't skimp on the lights you put on your bars! You can save money on your helmet mount. Get the bar mount first, helmet mount second. The problem with the helmet mount alone is that the light is above your eyes. This makes the shaddows fall off of things steeper than your eye see it. So while you are riding you see no shaddows on the trail. Everything looks flat! NOT GOOD! The bar mount is lower than your eyes which in turn gives you a nice shaddow off of everything. The ultimate setup would be a high power bar mount and a lo power helmet mount. Hope this helps...

HUGH

[Pugz]

How are the NITERIDER MINEWT.X2 DUAL lights, Jenson has been advertising them on STR as on sale plus they will price match beyond bikes price ($209.99). I have been looking at getting a set of lights and dont really want to spend $400 on them yet.

[Fired Yo Momma]

Pugz you might as well get yourself a killer set of lights. I mean your rig is bling, it would be like putting in a cassette tape deck into a Ferrari. That would have been cool if it was the Magnum PI Ferrari but not on the Chumba.

[MuddyEdgar]

Originally Posted by Pugz

How are the NITERIDER MINEWT.X2 DUAL lights, Jenson has been advertising them on STR as on sale plus they will price match beyond bikes price ($209.99). I have been looking at getting a set of lights and dont really want to spend $400 on them yet.

Pugz I just purchased the MINEWT .X2 (Single Headlight) from beyond bikes this past friday. I paid $158 which included taxes and shipping. I should be receiving it by mail today.
I seen a few riders with this light and I think for the LOOP or similar trails ......this light is all you need.

[dstepper]

Keep a eye on E-Bay, I bought a Light and Motion Arc new in box for $280.

[Fired Yo Momma]

Originally Posted by dstepper

Keep a eye on E-Bay, I bought a Light and Motion Arc new in box for $280.

Thats the one I want and 280 is pretty good. I have been seeing them on average for 300 to 340

[sdyeti]

Wow...that was a sweet deal! We just picked up a pair for Dan and me...they are SOO bright!

Originally Posted by Fired Yo Momma

Thats the one I want and 280 is pretty good. I have been seeing them on average for 300 to 340

[dstepper]

Arc's can be temperamental, don’t turn them off and on, sometimes they don’t want to relight right away.

[mazer75]

I am all lighted-up! I bought the MiNewt x2 Duals a month ago, and this weekend I just bought the TriNewt. So that's $600 in lights, but I'm afraid of crashing I wanted two systems for redundancy, and of course for the extra light.

I haven't ridden with them yet, but I can say that the TriNewt is significantly brighter than the X2 duals. If you're going to run a single lighting system, I would recommend maybe splurging on the TriNewt (or an HID system). The X2 Duals are bright, but the flood of light isn't quite the same. At least it doesn't look nearly as good in my small amount of "testing".

I will likely do the Fully Loop this Thursday, so if anyone wants to come by and check out the lights I have please feel free!

[mtnbikerfred]

There are places you can go cheap on mtb gear. Jerseys, socks, tubes, etc. Lights is not one of them. I've got the HID/LED (Niterider Flight) on my head, and two relatively cheap (but bright) LED lamps on the bars. AND don't forget to get a "blinky".
If you can only afford one good light. put it on your bars. but as soon as you can put something on the bars (just something to throw a pool of light on the ground in front of your bike), you'll want to move it to your head so you can see where you're looking ahead.

The next logical upgrade for me will be the Dual Newt on the bars. But that's about $700 in lights.

Shop around. Ask for your STR discount. Beg, borrow, or steal (from your credit cards) for them, but for the love of all that is good, don't try to go on a night-ride (even the fully loop) with lights that are going to go dead, or only let you see 10 feet in front of you. You will crash. I will run you over. You will not be having fun....

[Pugz]

Originally Posted by Fired Yo Momma

Pugz you might as well get yourself a killer set of lights. I mean your rig is bling, it would be like putting in a cassette tape deck into a Ferrari. That would have been cool if it was the Magnum PI Ferrari but not on the Chumba.

Then I could listen to my Bell Biv DeVoe tapes while I ride that would be awesome.

[Chewyeti]

Originally Posted by Pugz

How are the NITERIDER MINEWT.X2 DUAL lights, Jenson has been advertising them on STR as on sale plus they will price match beyond bikes price ($209.99). I have been looking at getting a set of lights and dont really want to spend $400 on them yet.

i got the minewt x2 dual for 169 at alfred e bike.
i bet jensons will price match it.

[integradriv3r]

I bought the X2's about a month ago as well and while they are bright depth perception is kinda thrown off due to the LED's. Good lights for immidate surrounding but for distance I think maybe a tri-newt on the helmet would work nicely. I got mine from REI and if you sign up for their mailing list you get an instant 15 percent off. It was hard to find them so I resorted to the REI and I got 15% off But A.E. bike seems to be the best deal.

[mazer75]

Originally Posted by integradriv3r

I bought the X2's about a month ago as well and while they are bright depth perception is kinda thrown off due to the LED's. Good lights for immidate surrounding but for distance I think maybe a tri-newt on the helmet would work nicely. I got mine from REI and if you sign up for their mailing list you get an instant 15 percent off. It was hard to find them so I resorted to the REI and I got 15% off But A.E. bike seems to be the best deal.

Hey so you have the same setup that I do: MiNewt x2 dual for your bars and a TriNewt for the helmet. Have you ridden with them? If so, how were they? I'm going to try them out, maybe even tonight at El Prieto, but definitely on Thursday at Fully Loop.

[Pugz]

i can't find them at the ae website rite now, when I do a search it says they don't have them.

[integradriv3r]

Originally Posted by mazer75

Hey so you have the same setup that I do: MiNewt x2 dual for your bars and a TriNewt for the helmet. Have you ridden with them? If so, how were they? I'm going to try them out, maybe even tonight at El Prieto, but definitely on Thursday at Fully Loop.

Actually I dont own the TRI newt but I've played around with it at the store. I have a 10w halogen I put on my helmet but the wiring is all messed up so I need to mess around with it to get it working again or get a new helmet mounted light. How do you like the Tri Newt up top?

Originally Posted by Pugz

i can't find them at the ae website rite now, when I do a search it says they don't have them.

Looks like they ran out. I know I've seen them on their website before. Try calling them up.

[JOx2]

would this work? a Rayovac High Beam™ K2 LED Headlight