With night riding season approaching, Niterider is ready to shine. The company continues to innovate with lighting solutions that cover riders from front to rear.
At the top end, Niterider is releasing the Pro 3600 LED which blasts out (you guessed it) 3600 lumens of white hot light. That’s 600 lumens more than last year’s Pro 3000 LED and at the same price and roughly the same run time. The Pro 3600 LED is fully programmable so you can tweak the brightness of each lamp to match your needs.
Below the Pro series, Niterider offers the Lumina line with lights ranging from 350 to 650 lumens which is typically enough for most recreational riders, particularly in the helmet mount position. The great thing about these lights (and also the Mako commuter line) is they’re all USB rechargeable. It seems like I always have a hard time finding the right charger for my gadgets so having a standard plug is a great feature. Plus USB makes it easy to charge your lights on your laptop at work before you head out for a night ride!
Niterider also offers several tail light solutions from the retina-searing Cherry Bomb to the Stinger Taillight (pictured). The Cherry Bomb isn’t just bright and waterproof; it also features a reflector that provides visibility even when it’s out of juice. The Stinger Taillight has a stretchy band that makes it a cinch to attach to a seatpost but my favorite feature has to be the on/off switch. Just tap the bulb–it’s easy to operate with gloves or without. Even if you never ride on the road at night, many 24-hour races require a functioning taillight so be sure to get one before your next race.
I asked one of the Niterider reps what effect the low priced-lights being sold directly from China were having at the company. His response: Bring it on. Niterider designs all their reflectors and enclosures in house for maximum efficiency and durability. High-power LED lights need efficient heat sinks to ensure longevity and Niterider has been honing their designs for years. And for certain products–particularly high end light systems like the 3600–the direct sellers don’t have anything close to comparable.
We also got a chance to check out the Niterider mobile charging station the company brings out to big races to support their customers. The van can charge 300+ batteries at once, giving weekend warriors pro-level race support. Get stoked for riding in the dark this fall!
I’ve been really happy with my Niterider lights. Honestly though, I don’t see the need for 3600 lumens, unless maybe out on really open trails or something. I have a 600 lumen and use it on medium most of the time, which is about 400 lumens. The trails around here are twisty enough that trees block your view of the trail up ahead long before you run out of light.
Agreed, 3600 lumens is overkill for most riders (even for a lot of cars on the road!). Maybe there’s an application for DH night riding here!
Heck, I started out riding trails with a 150 lumen light and I didn’t die so clearly there’s a lot of wiggle room in choosing a lumen count.
I agree 3600 is overkill, but I do feel for good visibility out on technical singletrack, you should have close to a thousand. When I blasting down bull mountain at 20-30 mph, I like to have all 1500 lumens of mine blazing. I think it’s one of those things: the more technical the trail and the faster you’re traveling, the more lumens you want to have!
Impressive that they are so confident in the construction of their products that they aren’t afraid of the cheap lights from overseas. Still, I think they SHOULD be afraid. Even if, say, one of the cheap $100 lights lasts only one year (which many last longer than that), you could get a new light every year for 5 years (or more) for about the cost of the nicer Niterider lights. We’re not talking about a small difference in price here. We’re talking about the Chinese lights costing a small fraction of what Niterider costs! While I agree that Niterider provides some of the most durable design and most reliable performance in the industry, many of my friends who are in the market just can’t justify a price tag that’s 5x the amount of chinese light for the same amount of lumens.
But then again, most mountain bikers have deeper pockets than broke college students 🙂
Agreed, the cheap lights hit hardest at the middle of the line up but I just realized something really interesting: there isn’t much overlap between the two in terms of lumen counts. The cheap lights are generally in the 900-1200 lumen range where Niterider has a gap (between 750 and 1800 lumens). Is this intentional? I don’t know…
Huh you’re on to something there. Of course, early this year I reviewed the 1500, which was closer to the 1000-1200 lumen lights: http://www.singletracks.com/blog/mtb-gear/niterider-pro-1500-led-diy-light-review/ Which I guess got a 300 lumen bump to 1800.
do they have any head mount light that is battery operated? I’m looking for something for the azt and ctr?
Yeah, so the Mako series is USB rechargeable but it uses standard AA batteries (included). The brightest model puts out 200 lumens. I actually received a Mako 200 sample at Interbike which I plan to use as a helmet lamp so I’ll let you know how it goes!
“I think it’s one of those things: the more technical the trail and the faster you’re traveling, the more lumens you want to have!”
Definitely. Outrunning your headlights (whether on bike, car, motorcycle, or snowmobile) can lead to a very dangerous situation.
If I’m doing 20-30 mph down a technical trail, or any trail for that matter, the last thing I want is to worry about some cheep light. I’ll pay my money, and live to ride another day.