Mountain bike lighting

[Corey]

When I got back into mountain biking again a few months back, I bought just abut every mountain bike magazine from the supermarket and my local bike shop.
I saw ads for a light called the Pro 1200 LED by Niterider.

I Googled to find out the price and I was shocked.
Between $600 and $700, as much as some entry level mountain bikes by big name bike makers.

I was a member over at MTBR, one of the biggest mountain bike forums around, so I decided to check out what other riders were using.
http://www.mtbr.com/

They have a section where members make their own bright lights and some sell them called Lights DIY.
The other section I started to follow there was the Lights and Night Riding where I learned about the Magic Shine P7 and the Airbike P7 I bought.
A lot of these lights are made in China or Korea, and they use the same P7 bulb.
The light makers below both claim 900 lumens, but that is stretching it.
Many who have them guess they are putting out around 600 lumens or more which is still very bright as you can see from the pictures below.

The $89 Magic Shine is available from a company called Deal Extreme.
They are based out of the UK, and shipping to the US can take quite awhile.
A vendor on MTBR called Geoman who runs a business called Geomangear started to carry these, and he made several suggestions to the manufacturer after getting suggestions from the members at MTBR.
The light improved over the way it was first released.

I ended up going with the more expensive Airbike one as it comes with both the handlebar mount and a helmet mount, and I like the mounts better than the Magic Shine one.
The MS one you have to buy the helmet mount separately, and it will ships with a long cord.
With my model I have both a short and long cord.
Use the short one when mounting the battery pack to the bikes frame, and use the extension when using the light on your helmet, and you can run the battery pack to your hydration pack or a jersey pocket.

Magic Shine 900 lumen (P7 bulb)

Pretty impressive for $89 as seen by the pictures below that are at the URL below.
http://fonarevka.lux-rc.com/

Below is the light I bought through Geomangear.
They sell on Ebay through other vendors for $289, Geoman offers a great deal on them.


Airbike Ever Light SLH P7 - SSC P7 LED - 900 Lumens (P7 bulb)

I will not do a big review on them, this guy from New Zealand has already done that.
http://www.mountainbikingnewzealand.co.nz/2009/05/27/airbike-slh-light-review/

Here are a few pictures of the setup.
I can attest to how bright this system is on the handlebar.
The light works great mounted to my helmet also.
What I plan on doing is maybe getting the cheaper Magic Shine light and use it on the helmet along with the Airbike light on the handlebar.

Helmet mount on top of helmet.

Underside of helmet showing Velcro straps.

Light on helmet.
It was not on, that is the flash reflecting on the light lens.

All parts laid out.
Short cable is for the frame mounted battery pack.
Longer extension cable is to mount the battery pack to your hydration pack or the back pocket of a jersey/coat ect.

A few shots with the light on the bike.
You can see in the pictures the battery pack on the lower tube.
It is held in place with two Velcro straps.
The light was not on, it is the reflection of the flash from my camera again.

 

[Corey]

Continued, ten picture limit per post

My digital camera is a Sony DSC H9 set to auto.
I have not messed around enough with the manual settings to be comfortable enough to get a true beam shot, so I left it on auto.
Here are the specs I shot the light in the dark with no flash on.

Beam shots with low, medium, and high.
There was a little light from porch lamps, but not much.

Here is a video also showing the beam pattern shot with the same camera.



I would like to compare this later to a true 1200 lumen or higher light.
There is a guy who sells a cool looking aluminum blocked 1200 lumen light for around $400 on MTBR, his name is Zen.
I might try one of his later on the handlebar.

LED technology is advancing at a high rate, and even brighter lights are now coming out.
Maybe this will force the big name companies to lower their prices as a lot of the DIY crowd are making some very impressive lights for a lot less, and even the Magic Shine and the Airbike one I bought are pretty impressive for a lot less than the big name brands.

 

[Christophe Noel]

Great post! Thanks for taking the time to put that together. Mountain Bike Action recently had a piece on a DIY light kit you build at home. That is getting to be popular stuff.

I think one thing often missing from many of these light reviews is relative to battery management and longevity. It's so easy to get sucked into the big watt counts and pass over the more useful attributes like light settings to manage battery life and charge time, to get it back up an running. I think this is why Nite Rider's systems are so expensive. Being able to custom tune the light settings and battery management on their newer lights is a feature I'd pay 25% more to have.

I'm not a light nerd like some, but I have been dinkering around with various light systems since my first Turbo Cat kit from the 80s. There does get to be a point when a bunch of light is enough, but additional features are what seals the deal for me.

Disclaimer: I'm a big Nite Rider fan.

 

[Corey]

Thanks, I read the article in last months MBA too.
Been buying the past issues, and my sub just started with the November issue that arrived last week.

That Zen guy that is making the 1200 lumen light for $400 is nice, but to use it on a helmet you use Velcro.
I do not like the idea of putting down Velcro on top of the helmet, as it deteriorates over time and leave a mess.

If he came out with a true helmet mount system I might try his.
He does have a handlebar mount though.

The one above is the Darkstar model, 1200 lumens.
http://trailled.com/
http://classifieds.mtbr.com/showproduct.php?product=39515&cat=27

Now if Niterider were to throw my way the 1200 Pro to review, that would be cool

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

Holy Moly!! Those first pics are showing an amazing amount of light coming from that bike! That's equivilent of the big SureFire that is really expensive!

Talk about blinding your riding buddies

Thanks for the time to post up the review

 

[Corey]

You are welcome Pat.
Most who have bought the cheaper Magic Shine light are very happy with them.
It does use the same P7 bulb as my Airbike one uses.

I think I am going to order the MS one here soon and run it along side my current one to see which throws a better beam.

One will then go on my helmet.
From what I have read over at MTBR is to use two lights.
One on the bars, and one on the helmet so you can direct the light by looking to the side or ahead further than the handlebar mounted one.

I have only ridden once with mine on the bar, and that was two Fridays ago after dark just cruising around my neighborhood.
I was very impressed with the light on the road.

 

[Christophe Noel]

One will then go on my helmet.
From what I have read over at MTBR is to use two lights.
One on the bars, and one on the helmet so you can direct the light by looking to the side or ahead further than the handlebar mounted one.

.

I ride with two Nite Rider MiNewts on the bars and one on my helmet. That allows me to "stack" the lights on the bars with one pointed further out than the other. The width of the light pattern isn't a big deal, the distance is once you get hauling. I also really like having a light pointed in front of me a short distance. That light works in tandem with my helmet light. In technical terrain at slower speeds, having that light right in front of you is helpful. The helmet light obviously lets you look into turns...at that scary "bear" that is really a tree stump, etc.

I also started riding with one tiny light pointed down at my front wheel on really techy stuff. That has been nice.

For everyone it's different. What I wish I had the smarts to design and build is a light with a focus that put the light tighter and further up the trail the faster you went. That would be sweet.

 

[Funrover]

If on MTBR.com you should look up a guy his SC name is SCAR. He builds lights called Amoeba. They do a great job in many respects.. I will be putting my order in soon.

http://amoebalight.blogspot.com/

http://classifieds.mtbr.com/showproduct.php?product=39808&cat=27

 

[teotwaki]

I'm betting on the price of MTB handlebar LED lights to keep dropping, similar to flashlights. A couple of years back I bought one of the HID lights so I'll just use it until something breaks then go for LEDs.

I run one light on the handlebars and another on the helmet. Generally the HID is on the helmet so I can point it where my eyes are looking. On the bars I have a 10 watt bulb type light with a wide beam pattern so that I can see what is right in front of me at a glance.

Thanks for all of the good info Corey!

 

[T.Low]

You are welcome Pat.
Most who have bought the cheaper Magic Shine light are very happy with them.
It does use the same P7 bulb as my Airbike one uses.

I think I am going to order the MS one here soon and run it along side my current one to see which throws a better beam.

One will then go on my helmet.
From what I have read over at MTBR is to use two lights.
One on the bars, and one on the helmet so you can direct the light by looking to the side or ahead further than the handlebar mounted one.

I have only ridden once with mine on the bar, and that was two Fridays ago after dark just cruising around my neighborhood.
I was very impressed with the light on the road.

Excellent post. And timely. My light system is almost 10 yrs old and its just not that bright anymore.

Indeed two mounts are the way to go. I have the dual light set up on my handlebars and a single lamp mounted on the helmet. You need to see the corners before you begin turning your handle bars, so a helmet light is a must.

Some of the dual sport riders i ride with want to continue our Wednesday afterwork rides, and frankly, I'm not all that impressed by the headlight on the Gas Gas, especially to ride Walker Valley at nite. There's just too many rocks and roots and drops hidden behind too many other rocks and roots and drops. I need a lot of extra lighting. I'll look into this.

 

[Corey]

You guy's are welcome.
Pretty sure I will place an order this week for the Magic Shine one to try on the helmet.

For the price of either it or the Airbike one I got, the price can not be beat for putting out around 600+ lumens.

Many are modding the lens too on the Magic Shine so one is a spot, and one is a flood.
http://forums.mtbr.com/showpost.php?p=6149558&postcount=43

 

[Pokey]

check out "BR LIGHTS" http://www.brlights.com 1000+ lumens and fully sealed battery. Truck can run over it. NO WIRES- awesome battery longevity.

http://www.brlights.com/video.html

 

[Corey]

Tried to check it, I got this message.
I also got this message from work for Geoman's site, and I had to fill out a request so they could check his site, as I know his site is virus free.

ACCESS DENIED
The external Web site you have requested is blocked due to additional virus filtering.
Requested URL domain: www.brlights.com
Filter Category: none

*

Boeing blocks web site categories that contain inappropriate content, those that contain malicious code, and those that provide services that may be unsafe to the Boeing network and or its resources.
*

Virus filtering is implemented any time a website has been compromised. When the site is no longer infected the block will be removed and access to the site will be restored.
*

If you think this site has been blocked in error, please contact Security Monitoring and Response via email:Click here, explain if business impacting.

 

[zen bicycle]

Just wanted to clarify that my lights use a Velcro strap to mount the lights on the helmet now, not velcro that you place on the helmet.

Thank

Zen

www.trailled.com

 

[Corey]

Thanks Zen.
The last pics I saw was the ones with the sticky backed Velcro that you tape to the helmet.

An old helmet of mine had the visor setup that way to remove and put back on, and the sticky backed Velcro did not hold after awhile, and left a mess on the helmet.

Glad to here yours is changed now.