# Lighting for overnight riding?



## Mr645 (Jun 14, 2013)

Planning a 400k ride in two weeks. We will have 60-90 minutes of darkness at the beginning and 6-8 hours of night time to cover at the end. 

I have been using a 450 lumen Cygolite but I know it won't last long enough. 

What would be some good, not to expensive lights & batteries to use to keep safe


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## Silchas Ruin (Oct 24, 2013)

Action-LED-Lights — MJ-872 1600* Lumen Light Set

This is one of the better deals out there. Majicshine lights are much improved over the fist generation.


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## tlg (May 11, 2011)

Mr645 said:


> Planning a 400k ride in two weeks. *We will have *60-90 minutes of darkness at the beginning and 6-8 hours of night time to cover at the end.


How many is "we"? If it's a larger group of riders you'll need less light per person than a small group of 2-3. 

With 6-8hrs of night riding, you're gonna want a light with replaceable batteries.


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## Red90 (Apr 2, 2013)

This also depends on whether or not your in complete darkness where you need to light your path or if you just need to be seen with your lights. Having the lights on flashing modes extends the life of your battery quite a bit. However if your riding on purely dark roads, you'll likely need to change your batteries. I've bought a solar storm cree light off of ebay with an external battery pack for cheap and it will last 2hrs on full power non flashing. I will completely light up the road to see in complete darkness. If your in flashing mode, it can easily last 4hrs. So your option may be to get one of those and get an extra battery.


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## tednugent (Apr 26, 2010)

Mr645 said:


> Planning a 400k ride in two weeks. We will have 60-90 minutes of darkness at the beginning and 6-8 hours of night time to cover at the end.
> 
> I have been using a 450 lumen Cygolite but I know it won't last long enough.
> 
> What would be some good, not to expensive lights & batteries to use to keep safe


RBR's sister site, MTBR... does an annual lights shoot out.

2014 Mtbr Bike Lights Shootout | Mountain Bike Review


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## PdxMark (Feb 3, 2004)

Generator lights. Peter White Cycles Home Page no mess, no battery fuss. great light patterns...


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## Srode (Aug 19, 2012)

You could buy extra batteries for your Cyglolite 450


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## Mr645 (Jun 14, 2013)

I checked with Cygolite and they do not offer replaceable batteries for my model. They also said that it is not designed to charge fem an external battery while operating and could damage the unit.

We hope to have 25+ riders but not as a solid group. Some will ride faster and some will go under 10 mph and take the full 27 hours allotted. Much of the ride will be on unlit roads so bright lighting is needed. 

I think I am going to order a 1200 lumen Cree that uses external batteries that I can get for about $16 each.


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## rm -rf (Feb 27, 2006)

Mr645 said:


> I checked with Cygolite and they do not offer replaceable batteries for my model. They also said that it is not designed to charge fem an external battery while operating and could damage the unit.
> 
> We hope to have 25+ riders but not as a solid group. Some will ride faster and some will go under 10 mph and take the full 27 hours allotted. Much of the ride will be *on unlit roads so bright lighting is needed.
> *
> I think I am going to order a 1200 lumen Cree that uses external batteries that I can get for about $16 each.


If you are out on country roads late at night, you don't need as bright a light. Your eyes adapt to the darkness, and there won't be a lot of car headlights and no streetlights.

My old light was 200 lumens, and that was okay for up to about 15-18 mph on dry, smooth roads. If you have to avoid broken pavement a brighter light gives you more time to avoid the bad spots. And a wet road doesn't reflect back as much light.

My 1100 lumen light is really too bright for cruising speeds, but it's nice to have for faster downhills and when the road has a lot of curves. 

I tend to leave it at half power, 550 lumens, when cruising solo, or quarter power, 275 lumens, when going uphill under 10 mph. I'll keep it at 1100 in the city, to make me show up mixed in with all the car headlights, and to still see the road when car lights are in my eyes.

On our winter night *group rides*, if I'm at the front, I'll run full power so the group can see way down the road, but when I'm back in the group, my bright light just casts an *annoying shadow* in front of the rider ahead of me. So I switch to 275 lumens and point the light downward more. And blinking taillights can be really annoying to the following riders, so I switch to steady.


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## Mr645 (Jun 14, 2013)

We run the 1200 lumen lights on 1/2 power while in front, and lower once behind. There is not a lot of times when 1200 lumen is needed, but battery life is. Maybe they have a 600 lumen version. The low cost external batteries are the main reason for the light in this case


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## rm -rf (Feb 27, 2006)

Bring your 450 lumen light and whatever new light you buy. A spare is good to have along.


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## oily666 (Apr 7, 2007)

rm -rf said:


> Bring your 450 lumen light and whatever new light you buy. A spare is good to have along.


This person is providing good advice.


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## Mr645 (Jun 14, 2013)

My lighting set up for this weekends 400k is a 1200 lumen Chinese cree light. Seems a popular model for these rides that holds up to rain and such. It comes with an external 4400mA battery that lasts 90 minutes on full power, and almost twice as long on 1/2 power. I also have two 8800mA batteries for it so I should have at least ten hours of good lighting power there. The Cygolite 420 lumen light is also on the bar and will go 2+ hours on full and 5 hours flashing and a little Flea flasher.

On the rear I have the Flea red flasher that lasts over 5 hours flashing. I have two spare small red flashers and another one that takes AA batteries. So I think I am good for lighting. 

The 1200 lumen is really strong. I remember the last night time ride where a rider about 20 feet behind me had his on full and I could not even see my 300 lumen light on the pavement


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## oily666 (Apr 7, 2007)

Mr645 said:


> My lighting set up for this weekends 400k is a 1200 lumen Chinese cree light. Seems a popular model for these rides that holds up to rain and such. It comes with an external 4400mA battery that lasts 90 minutes on full power, and almost twice as long on 1/2 power. I also have two 8800mA batteries for it so I should have at least ten hours of good lighting power there. The Cygolite 420 lumen light is also on the bar and will go 2+ hours on full and 5 hours flashing and a little Flea flasher.
> 
> On the rear I have the Flea red flasher that lasts over 5 hours flashing. I have two spare small red flashers and another one that takes AA batteries. So I think I am good for lighting.
> 
> The 1200 lumen is really strong. I remember the last night time ride where a rider about 20 feet behind me had his on full and I could not even see my 300 lumen light on the pavement



What are the lower settings on your new light? I ask because I ride a lot at night and in complete rural darkness, 450 lumens (middle setting) is plenty for riding at 16-18 MPH and I get more run time than I need.


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## Mr645 (Jun 14, 2013)

The light has a 1200, 600 and 300. But I don;t think the 1200 is really as strong as a high dollar 1200 lumen light. But it's still really bright. Strong enough for 22+ riding. It also has a flashing mode


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## PlatyPius (Feb 1, 2009)

If you're doing a 400k, whether it's a brevet or not, you should be using a dynamo light.
Get a Schmidt SON28 front hub and a Supernova E3 triple CREE LED light (600+ lumens). To hell with batteries.  



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