That is a very nice city light with amazing battery life. Good horizontal cutoff, nice beam pattern for riding mostly straight with oncoming cars or other trail users.
But in areas with no oncoming trail users, or on very dark trails with dips and curves it is not optimal, a cone of light would be preferable.
TC: I’m about to buy/build a battery pack to revive my old TurboCat halogen system. It was great for 2 hour night rides, and I really liked having the warm halogen light mounted on my helmet.
Speaking of battery powered lights.
A few weeks ago I broke the cheap-o Black Diamond Wiz “be seen” diffused headlamp designed for kids, disassembled it to see how the light diffuser worked. Took some pictures if you’re interested (see my flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/andy_squirrel/)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/andy_squirrel/45864637611
I picked up this one off Amazon with the hope that it would be similar but lower profile & more durable.
It is much more waterproof, USB rechargable and easily demountable so I don’t need to keep the helmet right next to the charging cable. Lamp appears to be a little too blinding since the LED diffuser construction is really weird and low power mode is still extremely bright. I will probably use it selectively, maybe in more rainy, hard to see situations.
I chopped it up and removed the plate that allows you to attach to ball cap. Found a rubber thing in my parts bin which worked out perfect to buffer weird shape between helmet and lamp. Zip-tie to secure
Your pics and descriptions and investigations are always appreciated, thanks so much for taking that time!
this thread is relevant to my interests
i have dynamo on my regular commuting bike. i love it because it is Cold here in the winter and battery lights die very very quickly
this doesn’t solve my night MTBing and other-bike commuting so i need a new battery light for occasional use
smashed my beloved B&M Ixon Core last week:
It was a great light, kinda like a weak Cyo. Contemplating buying the new & improved Ixon Space. It’s $175 from Euroland.
In the meantime I bought a Bontrager Ion Pro RT today. Looks to be the best bang-for-$ mtb light; reviews say honest 1300 lumens and decent runtimes. First impressions after fondling: looks like it can take a hit; aluminum everything.
Just got one of these: https://www.serfas.com/shop/products/lights/tsl-1000m-true-1000-mtb-headlight/
Haven’t ridden with it yet, but initial impressions are that it is well built, has useful features, decent mounts and gets bonus points for cheap extra batteries.
Damn, that is a lot of $$$$
what is the tarckcommended mtb helmet mount light that isn’t exposure? are those raveman ones legit?
y’all have any recommendations on lights that can be procured through QBP? I’ve been using an eight year old Lezyne that i’ve kept bc it uses a VAPE battery which allowed me to get a ton for cheap and swap them out when they die on a long ride.
not really any requirements outside of being very #lit and preferably mountable somehow on a standard light bracket mount.
NiteRider Lumina 1200 Boost seems pretty good; a friend has one and likes it. I almost bought that instead of a Bontrager Ion.
I’ve got dynos on the 2 bikes I’m most likely to ride at night but there’s many times I like to ride something else. I really like the Bontrager Ion lights - they’re small enough that if I think I might need more run time to stick a 2nd in my pocket. Also the many mounting options are great to allow switching between different bikes.
are there any battery lights that charge with USB-C? I am on a quest to minimize my charging cords to the point where i made my office give me a USB-C laptop
Interested as well. Will be nice once everyone switches over. Of course by then there will be a new standard.
most of my bike shit is still mini usb, not even micro. It’s like they intentionally use the old standard thinking more people will have cables for it. Surprise I have neither cable.
mini usb is the reason i bought a dyno hub. i only have one mini usb cable. oh it’s also the reason i never use my garmin.
Ok because everyone always dithers harder than me I’m going to step up to the dither plate here
No i’m not going to hax a light and make it a USB-C light
I’m going to do some research and get back to you. it is not looking promising at first, but hopefully Hannah D from competitive cyclist can do some legwork
Here’s a rear light.
Ehpow USB Rechargeable Bike Tail Light, Super Bright IPX4 Waterproof Led Light Bicycle Accessories, High Intensity Front Back Rear Safety Smart Bike Lights Easy to Install for Road Bikes Skateboard https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F1SH8V8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Yl7qCb6SFHNM2
I would be tempted to get a submini usb-C to mini/micro/whateverthefuck usb connector and epoxy it into the power connector on the light (using extra epoxy to mold a wart around it so it wouldn’t be easy to snap off when the gnar shreds you.)
We’ve been using the magicshine lights with their massive battery packs for night mtbing. So far so good - although one of the lights was a dud, and died the first time I used it during a rather dark and twisty section of a night ride trail. Thankfully, my ever-prepared riding buddies had extra head lamps.
Used the magic shines again this past Wednesday - pretty happy with the ones that actually work. Very bright, very mountable. Dunno how durable…and clearly there are some QC issues, but they were cheap.
Edit: link to amabutts page https://www.amazon.com/Magicshine-Waterproof-Perfect-Mountain-Rechargeable/dp/B015HBGDDE
