attention Mountain Bikers - night riding

peelout
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17859
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Ogden, UT US
8/3/2015 1:14pm Edited Date/Time 10/15/2015 8:11pm
hey guys, I don't know if many of you have tried riding at night or not but if not I highly recommend it. as I learned when I first tried it, it's all about having proper lighting, which can get very expensive. my buddy let me borrow one of his lights and it was unreal. the ones we used are the SolarStorm 5000 lumens (link below). they were amazingly bright and from what my friend said, the battery life on them is about 3 hours on the highest setting. I just ordered 2 light kits and a couple spare batteries, I also ordered the light with 3 bulbs.

anyway, just wanted to give anyone interested the heads up on a great product that is very inexpensive, most decent lights out there range around $100 and these lights perform amazingly well. we were doing close to 20mph all the way down a ski-resort trail in pitch black and could always see far enough ahead to stay out of trouble.

Light kit link

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DoctorJD
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Somewhere in..., GA US
8/3/2015 1:20pm
peelout wrote:
hey guys, I don't know if many of you have tried riding at night or not but if not I highly recommend it. as I learned...
hey guys, I don't know if many of you have tried riding at night or not but if not I highly recommend it. as I learned when I first tried it, it's all about having proper lighting, which can get very expensive. my buddy let me borrow one of his lights and it was unreal. the ones we used are the SolarStorm 5000 lumens (link below). they were amazingly bright and from what my friend said, the battery life on them is about 3 hours on the highest setting. I just ordered 2 light kits and a couple spare batteries, I also ordered the light with 3 bulbs.

anyway, just wanted to give anyone interested the heads up on a great product that is very inexpensive, most decent lights out there range around $100 and these lights perform amazingly well. we were doing close to 20mph all the way down a ski-resort trail in pitch black and could always see far enough ahead to stay out of trouble.

Light kit link

Thanks for the heads-up Peely. I've been using the Kree (ebay) lights from China the last couple of seasons with pretty good luck. While the claims on lumen output are exaggerated a bit, they are good for the money. That being said, I'll be on my 3rd season this year with them, for a $50 I don't suspect they'll last much longer. I'll give these a look.
peelout
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17859
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Location
Ogden, UT US
8/3/2015 1:25pm
DoctorJD wrote:
Thanks for the heads-up Peely. I've been using the Kree (ebay) lights from China the last couple of seasons with pretty good luck. While the claims...
Thanks for the heads-up Peely. I've been using the Kree (ebay) lights from China the last couple of seasons with pretty good luck. While the claims on lumen output are exaggerated a bit, they are good for the money. That being said, I'll be on my 3rd season this year with them, for a $50 I don't suspect they'll last much longer. I'll give these a look.
no problem, mine will show up this week and i've already got a ride planned out to use them, i'll try to post some pictures and a video. my friend's only complaint is that the battery gets really hot around the 2.5 hour mark on high beam. this is the reason i went with extra batteries. he's on his 3rd season with them and still work great. at $23 each, can't really argue trying them out.
huck
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17009
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8/16/2006
Location
Mountain Home, AR US
8/3/2015 1:32pm
I love riding at night...and this time of the year it's the only time to do it...since it's too hot during the sunlight hours. Riding trails that you've ridden 1000 times are like brand new in the dark. I ride alone a lot of times, which is the only downfall of night riding.
peelout
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Ogden, UT US
8/3/2015 1:35pm
huck wrote:
I love riding at night...and this time of the year it's the only time to do it...since it's too hot during the sunlight hours. Riding trails...
I love riding at night...and this time of the year it's the only time to do it...since it's too hot during the sunlight hours. Riding trails that you've ridden 1000 times are like brand new in the dark. I ride alone a lot of times, which is the only downfall of night riding.
i hear ya, it's been in the 90's until about 8:00 here so i haven't been able to ride much. this gives me another avenue to get some miles in, but like you said, i mainly ride alone and that's a serious downfall at night. my trails are heavily used right up until about 7:30, then they're barren so getting hurt would be a serious problem.

The Shop

huck
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Mountain Home, AR US
8/3/2015 1:44pm
huck wrote:
I love riding at night...and this time of the year it's the only time to do it...since it's too hot during the sunlight hours. Riding trails...
I love riding at night...and this time of the year it's the only time to do it...since it's too hot during the sunlight hours. Riding trails that you've ridden 1000 times are like brand new in the dark. I ride alone a lot of times, which is the only downfall of night riding.
peelout wrote:
i hear ya, it's been in the 90's until about 8:00 here so i haven't been able to ride much. this gives me another avenue to...
i hear ya, it's been in the 90's until about 8:00 here so i haven't been able to ride much. this gives me another avenue to get some miles in, but like you said, i mainly ride alone and that's a serious downfall at night. my trails are heavily used right up until about 7:30, then they're barren so getting hurt would be a serious problem.
Yep...and we have sketchy (at best) cell service where I ride. I just let me family know what route I'll be on and hope for the best. Even with a badass light, you still don't go quite as fast, so that's probably a good thing. I've almost wiped out a few deer too.... Son of a bitches will just stand right in the trail.
seth505
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8/3/2015 2:22pm
I run a single (1000lumen I think) light on my bars at night and it's a bit sketchy. I have been meaning to get a helmet mount light as well so I have 2 beams.
huck
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Mountain Home, AR US
8/3/2015 2:24pm
seth505 wrote:
I run a single (1000lumen I think) light on my bars at night and it's a bit sketchy. I have been meaning to get a helmet...
I run a single (1000lumen I think) light on my bars at night and it's a bit sketchy. I have been meaning to get a helmet mount light as well so I have 2 beams.
When I did that, it was actually harder to see...since they would cross and it would mess my eyes up. I just got a better one for my bars.
peelout
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Ogden, UT US
8/3/2015 2:33pm
seth505 wrote:
I run a single (1000lumen I think) light on my bars at night and it's a bit sketchy. I have been meaning to get a helmet...
I run a single (1000lumen I think) light on my bars at night and it's a bit sketchy. I have been meaning to get a helmet mount light as well so I have 2 beams.
i ran one of the one's in my post above on my bars and had plenty of lighting, but it would have been nice to have one on my helmet for the tight corners. i've heard that if you had to choose bars or head, that bars is the way to go.

i ordered two for the exact reason you stated, one for the bars and one for my dome
seth505
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8/3/2015 2:37pm
seth505 wrote:
I run a single (1000lumen I think) light on my bars at night and it's a bit sketchy. I have been meaning to get a helmet...
I run a single (1000lumen I think) light on my bars at night and it's a bit sketchy. I have been meaning to get a helmet mount light as well so I have 2 beams.
huck wrote:
When I did that, it was actually harder to see...since they would cross and it would mess my eyes up. I just got a better one...
When I did that, it was actually harder to see...since they would cross and it would mess my eyes up. I just got a better one for my bars.
Ya I have heard conflicting reports like that. For one, since getting lasik I think my night vision is a little weird (halos) and second, when I jump or manual shit I tend to cross up my bars and my light goes away so I'd like the 2nd beam for that and tight corners.
seth505
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8/3/2015 2:38pm
seth505 wrote:
I run a single (1000lumen I think) light on my bars at night and it's a bit sketchy. I have been meaning to get a helmet...
I run a single (1000lumen I think) light on my bars at night and it's a bit sketchy. I have been meaning to get a helmet mount light as well so I have 2 beams.
peelout wrote:
i ran one of the one's in my post above on my bars and had plenty of lighting, but it would have been nice to have...
i ran one of the one's in my post above on my bars and had plenty of lighting, but it would have been nice to have one on my helmet for the tight corners. i've heard that if you had to choose bars or head, that bars is the way to go.

i ordered two for the exact reason you stated, one for the bars and one for my dome
I might give one a shot for that kind of cheap money, right on.
MR. X
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North Tonawanda, NY US
8/3/2015 4:17pm
My wife and i did it a bunch when we first hooked up , it was always home from the bar and no amount of light was gonna help our vision .Grinning
Brad460
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Richfield, WI US
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8/3/2015 4:35pm Edited Date/Time 8/3/2015 5:21pm
My brother-in-law lives in Malaysia and only rides at night...works all day and the heat...He says you wouldnt believe all the glowing eye balls in the jungle- says it motivates him to keep moving fast! Anyways, looking forward to trying it when I visit..
Homey55
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Brandon, MS US
8/3/2015 4:37pm
Night riding is fun! I feel like you go faster because you are only looking where the light is, it also helps you react to the ground more instinctively because you don't see 1/2 of the stuff you run over at night. I have some old school Night-Rider Halogen lights for the bars that work well, heck, they seem brighter than my car lights.

You guys are crazy for riding at night, by yourself. There are a lot of bears and lions where I ride and I would not want to crash or be broke down with limited visibility.
peelout
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8/3/2015 4:44pm
Homey55 wrote:
Night riding is fun! I feel like you go faster because you are only looking where the light is, it also helps you react to the...
Night riding is fun! I feel like you go faster because you are only looking where the light is, it also helps you react to the ground more instinctively because you don't see 1/2 of the stuff you run over at night. I have some old school Night-Rider Halogen lights for the bars that work well, heck, they seem brighter than my car lights.

You guys are crazy for riding at night, by yourself. There are a lot of bears and lions where I ride and I would not want to crash or be broke down with limited visibility.
on the night rides i've been on i've seen a moose, a few elk, and about a dozen deer not to mention all the fucking rabbits that think it's cool to dart across the trail and make me almost eat shit. i love seeing all the wild-life, but i get a serious chill down my spine thinking about the mountain lions that are watching me and i never see them. pretty spooky.
MR. X
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8/3/2015 4:57pm
Mountain lions would scare the shit out of me too.
8/3/2015 5:36pm
Agree 100%, night riding rules. The only thing better than night riding is night riding when it's snowing. Now that's a trip!
IWreckALot
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Fort Worth, TX US
8/4/2015 7:23am
The first time I went night riding, I had just bought three of those headlight mounted lights from Home Depot. I learned real quick that I needed more light. We still pushed the pace through the darkness with those lights and it was a ton of fun.
IWreckALot
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8/4/2015 7:26am
Homey55 wrote:
Night riding is fun! I feel like you go faster because you are only looking where the light is, it also helps you react to the...
Night riding is fun! I feel like you go faster because you are only looking where the light is, it also helps you react to the ground more instinctively because you don't see 1/2 of the stuff you run over at night. I have some old school Night-Rider Halogen lights for the bars that work well, heck, they seem brighter than my car lights.

You guys are crazy for riding at night, by yourself. There are a lot of bears and lions where I ride and I would not want to crash or be broke down with limited visibility.
peelout wrote:
on the night rides i've been on i've seen a moose, a few elk, and about a dozen deer not to mention all the fucking rabbits...
on the night rides i've been on i've seen a moose, a few elk, and about a dozen deer not to mention all the fucking rabbits that think it's cool to dart across the trail and make me almost eat shit. i love seeing all the wild-life, but i get a serious chill down my spine thinking about the mountain lions that are watching me and i never see them. pretty spooky.
Your wildlife is better than what I've encountered. I've had snakes, possums, skunks, raccoons, wild pigs and most common armadillos. I had one damn armadillo that was in the trail. I was just going to ride around it but I guess it had other plans. It jumped out in front of my wheel and I was clipped in. It threw my bike straight into a tree.

The time I encountered wild pigs I almost shit myself until they started running away from me.
71Fish
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Ogden, UT US
8/4/2015 7:54am
I love night riding but hardly ever do it. I have an overpriced Jet light I bought 7-8 years ago that I've only used a handful of times. Went out only one night last year with a group. I really need to ride more.

Peely, what trails are you riding at night? My wife and dog and I almost got trampled by a cow moose protecting her calf on the middle fork (I think) trail during the day.
peelout
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8/4/2015 8:19am Edited Date/Time 8/4/2015 8:20am
71Fish wrote:
I love night riding but hardly ever do it. I have an overpriced Jet light I bought 7-8 years ago that I've only used a handful...
I love night riding but hardly ever do it. I have an overpriced Jet light I bought 7-8 years ago that I've only used a handful of times. Went out only one night last year with a group. I really need to ride more.

Peely, what trails are you riding at night? My wife and dog and I almost got trampled by a cow moose protecting her calf on the middle fork (I think) trail during the day.
we ride up Wheeler, ArtNord, Maples to the Ogden Overlook before sunset so we're doing that back down in the dark. it's pretty spooky coming up on a large animal like that. i hate Middle Fork. East Fork is great at night, super smooth and flowy except they built up all the water run-off humps last week and they're a total bitch going up because they're steep and really loose. maybe after this rain they'll be better. as soon as my lights come in we'll be riding BST South from Rainbow to Beus before sunset then that back at night.

if you're interested we should set up a little ride some time, i like to do a nice mild pace when i ride with others.


@Iwreckalot, i've had my fair share of rattle-snakes... i've almost wrecked a few times because my ass puckers so tight the seat gets stuck and i can't bail properly lol. also being clipped in and trying to ditch the bike doesn't work too well.
kevkx125
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Douglassville, PA US
8/4/2015 9:06am
I agree night riding is cool as hell. Totally different view then riding during the day. I like to use nightrider products myself.
71Fish
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Ogden, UT US
8/4/2015 11:08am
71Fish wrote:
I love night riding but hardly ever do it. I have an overpriced Jet light I bought 7-8 years ago that I've only used a handful...
I love night riding but hardly ever do it. I have an overpriced Jet light I bought 7-8 years ago that I've only used a handful of times. Went out only one night last year with a group. I really need to ride more.

Peely, what trails are you riding at night? My wife and dog and I almost got trampled by a cow moose protecting her calf on the middle fork (I think) trail during the day.
peelout wrote:
we ride up Wheeler, ArtNord, Maples to the Ogden Overlook before sunset so we're doing that back down in the dark. it's pretty spooky coming up...
we ride up Wheeler, ArtNord, Maples to the Ogden Overlook before sunset so we're doing that back down in the dark. it's pretty spooky coming up on a large animal like that. i hate Middle Fork. East Fork is great at night, super smooth and flowy except they built up all the water run-off humps last week and they're a total bitch going up because they're steep and really loose. maybe after this rain they'll be better. as soon as my lights come in we'll be riding BST South from Rainbow to Beus before sunset then that back at night.

if you're interested we should set up a little ride some time, i like to do a nice mild pace when i ride with others.


@Iwreckalot, i've had my fair share of rattle-snakes... i've almost wrecked a few times because my ass puckers so tight the seat gets stuck and i can't bail properly lol. also being clipped in and trying to ditch the bike doesn't work too well.
Maybe it was East Fork. It was the trail across from the Art Nord parking lot.

I'm actually training for a Jiu Jitsu tournament so I need to work on my cardio and weight management. Now is a perfect time to set something up. What is your schedule like?

As far as pace, I'm no racer boy, and I know the trails so don't worry about dropping me. I don't think I've ever said anything here about my mtb prowess that I have to back up, lol

peelout
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Ogden, UT US
8/4/2015 11:48am
71Fish wrote:
I love night riding but hardly ever do it. I have an overpriced Jet light I bought 7-8 years ago that I've only used a handful...
I love night riding but hardly ever do it. I have an overpriced Jet light I bought 7-8 years ago that I've only used a handful of times. Went out only one night last year with a group. I really need to ride more.

Peely, what trails are you riding at night? My wife and dog and I almost got trampled by a cow moose protecting her calf on the middle fork (I think) trail during the day.
peelout wrote:
we ride up Wheeler, ArtNord, Maples to the Ogden Overlook before sunset so we're doing that back down in the dark. it's pretty spooky coming up...
we ride up Wheeler, ArtNord, Maples to the Ogden Overlook before sunset so we're doing that back down in the dark. it's pretty spooky coming up on a large animal like that. i hate Middle Fork. East Fork is great at night, super smooth and flowy except they built up all the water run-off humps last week and they're a total bitch going up because they're steep and really loose. maybe after this rain they'll be better. as soon as my lights come in we'll be riding BST South from Rainbow to Beus before sunset then that back at night.

if you're interested we should set up a little ride some time, i like to do a nice mild pace when i ride with others.


@Iwreckalot, i've had my fair share of rattle-snakes... i've almost wrecked a few times because my ass puckers so tight the seat gets stuck and i can't bail properly lol. also being clipped in and trying to ditch the bike doesn't work too well.
71Fish wrote:
Maybe it was East Fork. It was the trail across from the Art Nord parking lot. I'm actually training for a Jiu Jitsu tournament so I...
Maybe it was East Fork. It was the trail across from the Art Nord parking lot.

I'm actually training for a Jiu Jitsu tournament so I need to work on my cardio and weight management. Now is a perfect time to set something up. What is your schedule like?

As far as pace, I'm no racer boy, and I know the trails so don't worry about dropping me. I don't think I've ever said anything here about my mtb prowess that I have to back up, lol

yeah sounds like that was East Fork if it was across the way from the Art Nord TH.

cool man, i usually ride 2-3 times per week around 7:00pm and then either Saturday or Sunday mornings up at Basin.

i'll PM you and we'll set something up, i'm no speed demon either i just ride a lot so i can usually pedal for a while without stopping.

JRT812
Posts
2730
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3/4/2014
Location
Cottontown, TN US
8/4/2015 9:27pm
peelout wrote:
hey guys, I don't know if many of you have tried riding at night or not but if not I highly recommend it. as I learned...
hey guys, I don't know if many of you have tried riding at night or not but if not I highly recommend it. as I learned when I first tried it, it's all about having proper lighting, which can get very expensive. my buddy let me borrow one of his lights and it was unreal. the ones we used are the SolarStorm 5000 lumens (link below). they were amazingly bright and from what my friend said, the battery life on them is about 3 hours on the highest setting. I just ordered 2 light kits and a couple spare batteries, I also ordered the light with 3 bulbs.

anyway, just wanted to give anyone interested the heads up on a great product that is very inexpensive, most decent lights out there range around $100 and these lights perform amazingly well. we were doing close to 20mph all the way down a ski-resort trail in pitch black and could always see far enough ahead to stay out of trouble.

Light kit link

What are your opinions for street? I'm in the market for a bar light to commute to and from work. The specs for that light are better than the ones I have been pricing. The only issues I have read are out running your light and being too bright for cars on the road. Those issues are only for the lights I have compared.
peelout
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Ogden, UT US
8/5/2015 8:27am
Crash82 wrote:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/201072048225?rmvSB=true This will get me on the trail right? I was thinking of trying it and waned to invest the lowest amount possible. Is it water...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/201072048225?rmvSB=true

This will get me on the trail right? I was thinking of trying it and waned to invest the lowest amount possible. Is it water resistant or water proof? Hold up in a rain storm?
oh yeah, this is the same light as i posted above. i believe they have 3 settings and then a flasher as well. as for being water resistant, if it's raining you'll be fine. if you hold it under-water i believe you'll have some issues. if I were you i would get at least one extra setup and keep it in your pack. i'm notorious for carrying too much shit, but an extra light and battery pack seems like a great idea to me.

@JRT812 - i'm not much of a road rider but sometimes i have to do a mile or so of road. if you're hauling ass you may out-run the light. we're usually around 20mph coming down the trails and it's plenty of light. they do have a few settings for brightness so i can't say much for blinding cars or not. but at $23 it's worth trying one out and if you like it get a couple more, if you don't you're only out $23.
DoctorJD
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Somewhere in..., GA US
8/5/2015 9:00am
Crash82 wrote:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/201072048225?rmvSB=true This will get me on the trail right? I was thinking of trying it and waned to invest the lowest amount possible. Is it water...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/201072048225?rmvSB=true

This will get me on the trail right? I was thinking of trying it and waned to invest the lowest amount possible. Is it water resistant or water proof? Hold up in a rain storm?
I've got a similar (China lights) and I've had a couple of incidents where I got caught riding in the rain. I got back to the trail head, dried them off, and I haven't had any issues. While I hesitate to say they're "water proof", they're certainly "water resistant". Crash, for that price, I'd go ahead and get two. One for your bars, and one for your helmet.

The great thing about these cheap lights, is that it's made night riding affordable for the masses. While the quality is certainly not in the same ballpark as NightRider or Light and Motion, the price is a fraction of what you'd pay for those brands. I ride with several shop owners and sponsored guys who run the top-shelf stuff. Their lights are better than mine, but they're not $500-$800 better than mine.

peelout
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Ogden, UT US
8/5/2015 9:32am
here's a pic from my ride last night, my buddy got a flat in his tubeless tires but luckily he was carrying a spare tube. unfortunately, the extra time to do the tire cut into our time for the full ride and my lights aren't here yet so we had to turn around and were still riding about a mile in the dark. came across a few Rattle Snakes once the sun went down, little bastards were stretched out across the trails trying to get some heat. we started and finished at the base of the middle section of mountains



JRT812
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8/5/2015 9:58am
Thanks Peelout!
71Fish
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Ogden, UT US
8/6/2015 6:33am
I think I'm going to take my dog on a night ride tonight. She should have fun chasing critters.

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