Comments on: Mountain Bike Night Riding 101

By: brianW

brianW — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 20:44:19 +0000

The other aspect of night riding is not going out late, but rising up early and hitting the trail. I am a morning person and love riding to the day. Amazing how the forest goes from black, to gray, to shades of color. Get back to the trail head and you are loading up when others are just getting there.

Got a 250 lumen light last year, for the same price now I can get the same brand but 600 lumen. Will get a second light.

By: mtbgreg1

mtbgreg1 — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 18:52:44 +0000

I just got a new light in for review… stoked to be spending more time on the trails at night!

By: maddslacker

maddslacker — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 15:11:39 +0000

@skibum – Fourth paragraph under ‘Lights’

By: skibum

skibum — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 14:52:10 +0000

I just discovered night riding last year–wow! What a great way to make riding new again. Every trail is new when you ride it for the first time at night. Those leafless scrub oaks give the trail a other-worldly appearance and you see contours and shapes in the rock garden you never noticed before.

I only got started in it because, when the days get short, if you don’t ride at night, you don’t ride. With lights, I can ride any day of the week, so it was just going to be a maintenance function to keep from losing too much fitness–I had no idea it would be such a blast!

I definitely like the one on the handlebar and one on the helmet setup, although I could bet by with either/or.

I got my lights from a local DIY builder who makes a great product. They are the best possible combination of compact, lightweight, and bright. Setup was a snap–just plug and play.
http://amoebalight.blogspot.com/

By: DLACHNIET

DLACHNIET — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 02:24:58 +0000

Eyewear is a absolute must when riding at night, you’ll never see the branch that took your eye out.

By: DLACHNIET

DLACHNIET — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 02:21:13 +0000

Riding at night you can learn to ride things one wouldn’t try during the day. Once rode a 8′ high skinny at night without realizing it was that high, When I next rode the trail in daylight I decided if I could ride it at night then I could ride it during the day. My Seac 1400 is waiting for me when I can get by to get it, should make a nice addition to my L&M HID which I’ll put on my helmet.

By: maddslacker

maddslacker — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 17:36:57 +0000

@trek7k, yeah the wire coming out the front threw me for a loop too. I even took the base plate off to switch it, but the ‘channel’ is cut right into the aluminum housing, so they mean for it to go that way.

By: fleetwood

fleetwood — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 17:34:21 +0000

I just finished my first race last weekend, and the majority of it was at night. I had a total of 2 night rides prior to that. It really is a blast, and a different perspective even on familiar trails. I’ve got a Magicshine for the helmet and bars.

@trek7k- I was scratching my head on the design of the wire coming out of the front as well.

By: ryboy

ryboy — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 17:27:45 +0000

I just bought a Serfas True 500 w/5 light settings and different burn times.It’s quite an upgrade from the old set I had in which the battery was the size of a water bottle and weighed 12 lbs. This light is small and powerful and has a USB port to charge it. Also it does not have a wire and battery hanging from it,just clip in the helmet mount and good to go. I’m stoked about night riding again.

By: maddslacker

maddslacker — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 16:21:14 +0000

It also depends on the tech that goes into the reflector behind the LED, and the more expensive lights have a lot of R&D dollars sunk into that.

I have ridden with a Cygolite 350 by itself and it was ok, but it wasn’t awesome.

By: mtbgreg1

mtbgreg1 — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 16:06:08 +0000

I love the video!

And BTW, I rode with a 300 lumen light a couple of nights ago, and it was plenty of light to ride aggressively with. It retailed for $160, but if you can get 700 lumens for $100 with the Magicshine, I guess there’s no reason you’d need to go down to 300…

By: trek7k

trek7k — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 15:23:04 +0000

Love night riding. In theory it might sound difficult or dangerous but once you get out there it’s a blast. Some trails are actually easier at night because you don’t notice trail exposure – when you can’t see that the trail teeters on the edge of a creek bank or cliff-side, you ride it more confidently.

I thought I was the only one who got clipped by low branches with my MagicShine, good to know it’s a design flaw. And what about the fact that the power cord comes out of the front of the light instead of the back – who designed this thing? Still, it is cheap and bright.

Funny Ben Stiller clip – can’t believe it’s from 2007 and I hadn’t seen it yet!