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  Topic Name: Light help on: March 13, 2019, 06:08:15 PM
Overshot


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« on: March 13, 2019, 06:08:15 PM »

I am looking for some light input.  I may be potentially be doing a 3 night trip that I will need to ride through the night.  There will be fairly little outlets available for recharge for any significant amount of time. Storage on the bike will also be fairly limited. There seems to be 3 options at this point.

1)Dyno and K light, or Sinewave.  I don't have a wheel, or light.  This seems the most reliable, but also the most expensive.  Are these systems very waterproof?  Hubs submerged in water waterproof?

2)External battery light with a few extra batteries: Fairly simple, but a few specialized batts that are confined to this light only.  I was thinking Magic Shine, or Light and Motion type lights.

3) multiple self contained battery lights: Light and Motion Urban 800 or 1000.  I already own a 2 of these, and supplemented with a large cache batt and Fenix headlamp this may be a good low cost and light weight option to go with.

Any further options, or considerations?
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  Topic Name: Light help Reply #1 on: March 14, 2019, 09:51:12 PM
silvafair


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« Reply #1 on: March 14, 2019, 09:51:12 PM »

For lightest options I have Kong blinder 1 led for front and back. They are 15g each, multi-mode, rechargeable. you can't really get much smaller and lighter than that.
But i am just going to say they are "better than nothing", they are (barely) good enough for night when some light is better than none - I can hardly call them useful for daytime running light.
Though I like them because they are light and small. Considering that I don't do much solo night ride so that's how i justified the minimal light output.

Also I had good experience with Lezyne. You will need at least the 900 lumen model to "see" but for being seen the smaller ones are fine.
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  Topic Name: Light help Reply #2 on: March 15, 2019, 01:30:39 PM
HOser

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Location: Colorado
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« Reply #2 on: March 15, 2019, 01:30:39 PM »

I'll suggest you have a 4th option. I'm not saying it's best for your needs, but in the spirit of exploring all your options, you might consider lights that run on disposable batteries, e.g. AAA. This is what I do, I use a standard backpacking head lamp for bikepacking, e.g. a Princeton Tec Remix. I typically don't ride after dark much though.

Pros to this approach:
  • Low weight especially if you use disposable lithium AAA batteries.
  • A head lamp is convenient when camping, much more so than a bike light
  • You can throw away spent batteries at resupply stops, less stuff to carry overall.
  • You can also buy more at resupply stops. Worst case you have to settle for alkaline instead of lithium, but any store should have AAAs.
  • AAAs may serve double purpose for other devices, e.g. a Spot.

Cons:
  • Barely enough light for singletrack, but arguably good enough for dirt roads.
  • A bit awkward to change brightness levels on the fly.
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  Topic Name: Light help Reply #3 on: March 21, 2019, 11:55:14 AM
chrisx


Location: Portland
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« Reply #3 on: March 21, 2019, 11:55:14 AM »

A small solar panel can recharge a battery for a Fenix head lamp.
or
my hl60r is enough light to move around at night, if not in a big hurry.  Advertised run times are about accurate, 3 hours per battery, a little more if you order the 3500 instead of the 2600 battery it comes with.
A couple of 3500 batteries and a
ARE-X11 18650 Battery Charging Kit could be the ticket.
https://www.fenix-store.com/fenix-are-x11-18650-battery-charging-kit/

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