# Bike Lighting



## maverick777 (Apr 6, 2012)

Hi all, 

I have another question. I'm trying to figure out how much light on my bike is sufficient for riding in the evenings. My local cycling club does rides at 6:30PM and I'd like to do those at some point.

Jenson USA is having a sale on the Lezyne Super Drive 450 light. It has solid reviews, but I'm wondering if one is sufficient for this time of day both to have adequate lighting in case it gets dark, but more importantly so that cars and pedestrians can see me. Do I need a second one or some other secondary light?

Lezyne Led Super Drive Light > Accessories > Lighting > Front Lights | Jenson USA Online Bike Shop
(use code: C598Y0NC to get it for $78.25)

I also have a Portland Design Works Danger Zone tailight. 
Amazon.com: Portland Design Works Danger Zone Tail Light: Sports & Outdoors

Is this tailight sufficient on its own or do I need something else back there.

Thanks


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## milkbaby (Aug 14, 2009)

If you're riding in the city with streetlamps, you can sometimes get by with a little less front lighting than riding in the countryside where there are no streetlights. I would probably want a 500+ lumen front light to see stuff, preferably higher for cruising 20+ mph on dark roads. Just guessing from the name, but the Lezyne 450 is probably just getting into the realm of possibly adequate on high setting?

My current setup for night commute home (or if I think I'll get stuck out at night riding back from a ride) is a Planet Bike Blaze front light mounted on the handlebar (set to blink), a Magicshine 900-lumen headlight mounted on helmet (so I can see where I'm looking and/or shine at approaching car drivers), a PDW Radbot mounted rearward on the bike, and a PB Superflash hanging on my backpack or jersey pocket. I actually have a much brighter Magicshine tailight but no good way to mount it right now.

Edited to add: I really, REALLY like having a good light mounted to my helmet to be able to illuminate the direction I am looking at. If you just have one mounted on your bike handlebars or stem, it only points in that one direction. With one on your helmet, you can look ahead on a curve or along an upcoming sidestreet for other vehicles/pedestrians/etc.

Personally, I'm of the school that the more lights, the better. It seems like you'd be more likely to regret having too little lighting rather than regretting having too much lighting? Good riding to ya and stay safe!


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## velocanman (Jul 15, 2011)

Any bright taillight is generally good enough. I like to clip the tail light onto my back helmet strap sometimes. I think it is more visible there, and the motion of your head also helps alert drivers.

I also second that less front lighting is needed when riding through town. If the roads are lit enough with street lights I will use a couple LED white lights strapped on the handlebars and set to blink. 

Amazon.com: Mini Fluke LED Bike Light Combo Pack (White and Red): Sports & Outdoors

If you need them to see and ride by, something brighter is recommended.


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## tednugent (Apr 26, 2010)

2012 Bike Lights Shootout | Mountain Bike Review

See that link on RBR's sister site.


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## mikeny278 (May 14, 2012)

Are Magicshine lights available anywhere? 

This may be a stupid question, but how do you attach a light to your helmet? Are lights made for that purpose or are you rigging the setup?

What lumens are recommended for dark mornings riding on the street? Until reading this thread, I was going to get a Bontrager Ion 2 which has 22 lumens...


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## mikeny278 (May 14, 2012)

Geoman Gear's website says game over - they have closed up shop it appears. What is a good alternative?


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## savagemann (Dec 17, 2011)

mikeny278 said:


> Are Magicshine lights available anywhere?
> 
> This may be a stupid question, but how do you attach a light to your helmet? Are lights made for that purpose or are you rigging the setup?
> 
> What lumens are recommended for dark mornings riding on the street? Until reading this thread, I was going to get a Bontrager Ion 2 which has 22 lumens...


I picked up my magic shine lights from geoman gear.
They claim 900lumen but are closer to 400-500.
1 is fine on the bars for road riding....but more is nice.
The magicshine lights are decent and great if you are on a budget.
I used 1 on the helmet and 1 on the bars for mtbing.
Then i dove into the whole diy bike light thing.
For off road riding I have 2000 lumen flood on the bars and 1100 lumen spot on the helmet.
I can actually see better and ride faster than in the daytime with that setup.
For road, i wouldn't want any less than a realistic 4-500 lumen setup.
Unless it is just for emergencies, or for a "be seen" light.
I have been flashed by cars and yelled at that my light was too bright with the magicshine on my roadbike.


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## maverick777 (Apr 6, 2012)

mikeny278 said:


> Geoman Gear's website says game over - they have closed up shop it appears. What is a good alternative?


I'd say the Lezyne Super Drive is a viable alternative. Especially when it's on sale. 450 advertised lumens. 421 tested lumens.


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## savagemann (Dec 17, 2011)

Bummer...wasn't aware geoman said game over.
They are all over ebay and the China direct sites.
Deal Extreme comes to mind.
Personally, id go the ebay route.
Another alternative is a good 400lumen cygolite.
Performance had them on sale recently for a good deal.


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## maverick777 (Apr 6, 2012)

Naixed said:


> Amazon.com: NiteRider MiNewt 600 Cordless Rechargable Headlight: Sports & Outdoors
> 
> Amazon.com: Cygolite Expilion 350-Lumen USB Rechargeable Headlight: Sports & Outdoors
> 
> I can't decide between these two. Anyone have any personal experience?


If you can afford the MiNewt get that one. That's a significant difference in light output. I compared the Super Drive 450 with the MiNewt when I was shopping for my light. The $30 off sale price made my decision easy.


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## Naixed (Apr 10, 2012)

Amazon.com: NiteRider MiNewt 600 Cordless Rechargable Headlight: Sports & Outdoors

Amazon.com: Cygolite Expilion 350-Lumen USB Rechargeable Headlight: Sports & Outdoors

I can't decide between these two. Anyone have any personal experience?


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## brucew (Jun 3, 2006)

milkbaby said:


> If you're riding in the city with streetlamps, you can sometimes get by with a little less front lighting than riding in the countryside where there are no streetlights.


Respectfully, I disagree with this.

In the city, you need to stand out against the background. Small or dim lights are interpreted by drivers as being far away. They're used to looking for something as large and bright as a pair of car headlights. Sure they used to see me when I used small, less powerful lights, but they thought I was a block away.

It wasn't until I changed to a MagicShine that cars actually stopped turning or pulling out in front of me. Same with peds. They now stay on the curb until after I pass.

So although I live in the city, work in the city and commute all 52 weeks, I run lights most people associate with MTB riding.


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## brucew (Jun 3, 2006)

mikeny278 said:


> Geoman Gear's website says game over - they have closed up shop it appears. What is a good alternative?


They're available all over teh interwebz. Google Shopping reveals dozens of sellers.

I bought some wide-angle lenses for my MS lights from Action LED Lights.


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## icarus (Jun 6, 2007)

brucew said:


> I bought some wide-angle lenses for my MS lights from Action LED Lights.


I have a MJ-808. What light do you use the wide angle lens on? I normally run it on Med, and feel it puts out a good amount of light for my use, but I would find it more useful to have the beam pattern that the wide angle lens advertises (picture on Action LED website). Is the real life beam pattern look like that picture? Do you need to bump up the output (in my case run it on high as opposed to med) to compensate for the more spreadout beam?


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## Blue CheeseHead (Jul 14, 2008)

I have riden regularly at 20+ mph with a 200 lumen light on the helmet and one on the bars in dark rural riding.

If I only had 1 light I would want it on my helmet. You want it following your eyes.

The Cygolite Hotshot is a nice rechargable tail light.


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## mikeny278 (May 14, 2012)

What would be a good number of lumens for driving through my dark subdivision? Not much traffic at all, but want the random car going through to be able to see me, and want to be able to see deer/coyote/possum soon enough not to be surprised. May also use the light in early mornings with little traffic.


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## MercRidnMike (Dec 19, 2006)

Cygolite was having a good deal on their Turbo740 Xtra at MEC (and REI, I believe)...may be worth looking into.

I usually am a mtber, so I can 3rd (4th or 5th as the case may be) the comment that less light is required in town. I can handle good speed in the dark, but then again I run a 825 lm LED triple (minimum nominal output for the LED bin and what I'm sending to them for power...it's a homebrew based on a DStar Altair case) on the bars and an old 15W halogen on the helmet...say ~1100 lm on tap. Flying down a trail in the trees at night makes that much light appreciated (and some days it makes me consider an upgrade to somewhere closer to 2,000 lm), but it is overkill on gravel or asphalt. 

I usually scale it back to 1/2 power on the bars and nada on the helmet for street work. If I'm on my Cx bike in town, the halogen at half power is sufficient (though not as efficient as the LED). Dark country roads, I'd agree that ~500 lm would be a decent amount of light unless you're setting a quicker pace. The faster you go, the more light you need so you don't over-ride the light you are putting out.

A rear light is more to be seen and to keep folks from hitting you. In a group ride, everyone's eyes should be accustomed to the light and at the distance most folks are away from each other, even a little blinky would do. I tend to like the PlanetBike Superflash, PDW Radbot or Blackburn Mars 3...they use 1W LEDs and the former 2 have different flash patterns to help them stand out. For a "see me" light for motorists, they do well. If you really want to get the rear protection going, you could always add a bar end blinker too (Trek makes some that replace the bar plugs).


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## brucew (Jun 3, 2006)

icarus said:


> I have a MJ-808. <snip> Is the real life beam pattern look like that picture? Do you need to bump up the output (in my case run it on high as opposed to med) to compensate for the more spreadout beam?


808 and 808E, yes, yes.


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## felix5150 (Mar 15, 2009)

when i commute in the city, i always run my dinette 600 in flash mode, even during the day. I've had people in cars wait at intersections and say they like the fact they could see me. I run 2-3 PB super flash tail lights and have also had similar comments at night. I also run a minewt 250 on my helmet at night and have had cars that were backing out of head-in parking spaces on the street stop when i looked into their rear view mirror. Im convinced that running these lights have saved my ass more than once


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## Guest (May 16, 2012)

Right now I actually don't have any "real" bike light, The setup I use for my lock-outside bike every day, and my nice road bike occasionally is crude just attach a couple flashlights to my bikes with velcro. See the attached image.

For the rear I use an indirect setup where I've put a reflector under the seat (some aluminum foil flashing tape) to reflect light backward, down, and to the sides. The downward light illuminates my white cycling shoes during half of each pedal-stroke, as well as the "white stripe" on the edge of the road. I find I'm passed with FAR more room to spare using this setup as drivers stay out of the "pool" of red light on the road. I've also had far less incidents of cars pulling out in front of me. 

Front light is a ~400lumen warm-white flashlight. I find the warm and neutral white LEDs are actaully easier to see with / identify obstacles on the road with than the cold white used in most off-the-shelf bike lights. I've placed a diffuser in front which diffuses the light that would go above-horizontal. The direct beam is aimed downward only.


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## jpaschal01 (Jul 20, 2011)

maverick777 said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I have another question. I'm trying to figure out how much light on my bike is sufficient for riding in the evenings. My local cycling club does rides at 6:30PM and I'd like to do those at some point.
> 
> ...


I see that you posted this same thing in the PBA forums. Just get out and ride with us! 

I've never actually done one of the evening rides, but with 10 to 20 people in the bunch, you'll have plenty of light. 

Are you doing any of the Saturday rides with us?


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## xls (Nov 11, 2004)

PhotonFreak said:


> Right now I actually don't have any "real" bike light, The setup I use for my lock-outside bike every day, and my nice road bike occasionally is crude just attach a couple flashlights to my bikes with velcro. See the attached image.
> 
> For the rear I use an indirect setup where I've put a reflector under the seat (some aluminum foil flashing tape) to reflect light backward, down, and to the sides. The downward light illuminates my white cycling shoes during half of each pedal-stroke, as well as the "white stripe" on the edge of the road. I find I'm passed with FAR more room to spare using this setup as drivers stay out of the "pool" of red light on the road. I've also had far less incidents of cars pulling out in front of me.
> 
> Front light is a ~400lumen warm-white flashlight. I find the warm and neutral white LEDs are actaully easier to see with / identify obstacles on the road with than the cold white used in most off-the-shelf bike lights. I've placed a diffuser in front which diffuses the light that would go above-horizontal. The direct beam is aimed downward only.


Would you mind sharing a picture of the mounts you're using? Are the flashlights similar to what's referred to as "torches"? Do they have a blink mode? What diffuser are you using in the front?

Sorry about all the questions but your setup looks like it might work pretty well for me also.


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## Action LED Lights (Aug 6, 2012)

mikeny278 said:


> Geoman Gear's website says game over - they have closed up shop it appears. What is a good alternative?


mikeny278,

Action LED Lights and Geomangear were the first 2 resellers of Magicshine lights in the US back in 2009. At the time we pooled our orders together to get a lower price and have more clout with Magicshine. After the first year we both had grown to the point were that was no longer necessary. However, we still stayed in touch when needed and were friendly competitors.
When Geomangear decided to call it quits they called and asked if I would be interested in buying out there remaining inventory. We were and we did and now have an over abundance of certain lights.
So in honor of Geomangear and the lost of a good honest competitor we are offering these lights (and a few others) at 20% off our already low prices. Just enter the discount code GEOMAN at checkout to take advantage of this offer.
We do our best to take care of our customers at least as well as Geomangear did and offer a 6 month warranty on all Magicshine lights we sell. (Geomangear only offered 3 months) Orders are shipped within 24 hours.

Jim Harger
Action LED Lights


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## BostonG (Apr 13, 2010)

Naixed said:


> Amazon.com: NiteRider MiNewt 600 Cordless Rechargable Headlight: Sports & Outdoors
> 
> Amazon.com: Cygolite Expilion 350-Lumen USB Rechargeable Headlight: Sports & Outdoors
> 
> I can't decide between these two. Anyone have any personal experience?


At the suggestion of someone else on this site, I got the 350 Cygolite a few weeks ago and am thrilled with it. Very bright and I like the way it clusters when on blinky mode – very confusing so motorists take notice. 

I considered some of the MiNewts too but heard that although they claim a certain number of lumens, they are not as bright as other lights that claim a lesser amt. Don’t know if that is true though as I didn’t compare.


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## Newnan3 (Jul 8, 2011)

I got one of the Magicshines from geoman a year or two ago. Its worked great and Ive never had a problem with it. The flicker setting comes in handy when Im trying to alert people of my presence without blinding them.


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## memphis (Aug 5, 2012)

I plan on purchasing a Magicshine headlight and tail light set from Action LED Lights on Monday.

From everything I've read, Magicshine seems like the best bang for my buck.


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## dandar (Mar 31, 2012)

I ride with the Lezyne Superdrive in dusk and dark with city lights and without. That light is plenty adequate for 20mph in the dark.


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## Fireform (Dec 15, 2005)

On rural roads the taillight is a lot more important than the headlight, unless you're riding in pitch dark. I generally don't do that.

Where taillights are concerned, the Danger Zone is a good one and I consider it about the minimum for dark conditions. That's what I'm using right now. The Planet Bike superflash turbo is good too, especially if you ride in a drier area and/or take some effort to waterproof the seal so it doesn't get water in it. All three of mine have gotten wet and died in one tropical downpour or another (I live in the greater Miami area).

I'm going to try the Cygolite Hotshot shortly, since I discovered the Planet Bike/Portland Design Works clip can be used with it with a little modification. I may be on the long, slow, inevitable slide toward buying a Dinotte, but I'm in denial. Dinotte is the big fish in the taillight pool, but they start around $200.


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## flatsix911 (Jun 28, 2009)

*Halo 290 Lumen Flashlight $19.99*
Available on Woot only September 9th.
Guard Dog 290 Lumen Flashlight


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## memphis (Aug 5, 2012)

I just got one of the 3 watt multi-mode Magicshine LED tail lights. 

I'm happy with it - very bright, and lasts 12 hrs. on continuous mode with the 2200 mAh Li-Ion batt. pack. 

http://www.action-led-lights.com/collections/bike/products/mj-818-bike-tail-light-set

The above retailer is where I got it, along with my headlight.


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## flatsix911 (Jun 28, 2009)

memphis said:


> I just got one of the 3 watt multi-mode Magicshine LED tail lights. I'm happy with it - very bright, and lasts 12 hrs. on continuous mode with the 2200 mAh Li-Ion batt. pack.
> Action-LED-Lights — MJ-818 Bike Tail light
> The above retailer is where I got it, along with my headlight.


Thanks for posting the link. I browsed the site and found a few other lights ... 
It looks like they are selling the same LED Bike light/Flashlight as Woot for $69.95

Action-LED-Lights — MJ-812 Bike light/Flashlight


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## memphis (Aug 5, 2012)

The Magicshine MJ-812 is rated 900 lumens... Even if drastically overrated, it's putting out a lot more than the rated 290 lumens of that "Guard Dog" light. 

Still appears to be a good light for the money, though.


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## Kodi Crescent (Aug 3, 2011)

I ride with an Exposure Flash and Flare day or night. It's a "be seen" light, not a light to see by.
Something to consider adding to your lighting ensemble.


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