I did a 320km bike race yesterday and for less than $80USD these had to be the brightest lights in the peleton. With winter coming up in the Northern Hemisphere it’s good to have some Compared to my 35W Halogens from 5yrs ago- these are way brighter for a fraction of the weight on the same run time.
I ordered them an it arrived in about 2wks. The lights are made to fit on bike handlebars, but there’s no reason they can’t be modified to fit on a unicycle helmet.
My idea is to use a fairly bright Petzl headlamp on my helmet combined with a Petzle with a broadbeam attached to the seat post aimed at the ground in front of the tire. Total cost about $100 dollars.
dealextreme sells things like that for very little money. free shipping, direct from china!
if you poke around you’ll find they have shit like folding ninja stars, green lasers and 4gb flash cards for like under five bucks. it’s a pretty ridiculous site - also not a scam, and the shipping takes a few weeks but it will get there…
$100 of petzl for night riding will allow you to ride very slowly on non-technical trails, and be no use at all if you have a big wheel and ride fast, or ride anywhere that isn’t under street lights. 80$ of the thing ken linked will be about 10 times as bright, and allow you to ride anywhere you want at daytime speeds. Petzls are nice for walking, but they absolutely suck for unicycling or biking. The only use they really have for unicyclists is as an emergency light to stick in your bag in case your main lights fail.
Ken - Lots of people over here have those lights - I use the simpler torch version on my helmet - there is a helmet mount of the one you have, but I prefer not having the separate battery pack (and can cope with lower runtime - I have to change the battery once every couple of hours).
I keep toying with the idea of getting a set of these; they sound super for the money.
The only negative I have heard mentioned is that the battery bag is not waterproof so care must be taken to either make it waterproof or avoid getting it wet to avoid dead batteries!
I use this one on my helmet for my commutes: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.14450
It provides just enough light for the speed I’m going (10 to 15 km/h on gravel trail). Like Joe, I also have the P7 torch attached to the T-bar when I need more light (like trails I am not as familiar with, or a bit more technical), but I find it annoys the people I cross on the trails (mostly dog walkers) as it is almost too bright when at full power.
Yeah, there are a couple of design shortfalls. Having said that- the battery unit looks pretty well sealed. The battery itself is tiny. Also the mount is designed for handlebars only…some modification will be required to get it on your helmet. The light unit is actually very small and well sealed.
Having said that, for the price, getting a waterproof bag and modifying the handlebar mount…I think it’s worth it. Similar brightness units I’ve seen are at least 4-5x as much. And most of them are bigger and heavier. I wouldn’t be raving about them if they cost $300, but they don’t. I don’t think you’d even get a cheap heavy halogen light for $80.
The lights I ended up settling on are the Ay-Up’s - bright, light, robust, easy versatile mounting, long burn time, a lot cheaper than the big name lights, and… aussie made!
They’ve been excellent lights over the last year. As well as night MUni, use em for work and doing stuff around the place at night too.
Thought I would resurrect this old thread rather than make a new one, since the topic is the same. I am planning a 24 hour ride for later this year, and will need a good light for the 10+ hours of darkness I’ll be riding in. After a lot of research and surfing the net, I found what I think is the perfect light at a very good price.
After joining the Los Angeles Critical Mass monthly ride and using less then mediocre lights, I am now looking for new equipment as well.
I know David Howard highly recommends the MagicShine 1000 lumens on LACM rides. Underpowered ones can make an otherwise enjoyable experience quite a challenge. For me, the ideal setup would be two-light setup where one mounts to the uni and the other to the helmet. This is how I used to be configured on my MTB many years ago, giving great illumination and depth perception.
[QUOTE=MuniAddict;1602470]
Thought I would resurrect this old thread rather than make a new one, since the topic is the same. I am planning a 24 hour ride for later this year, and will need a good light for the 10+ hours of darkness I’ll be riding in. After a lot of research and surfing the net, I found what I think is the perfect light at a very good price.
Terry, Since you are doing it solo you are going to need two sets of batteries so that one is charging while you are using the other. Unfortunately batteries are the most expensive part of lights and the good price on the one you picked is because it doesn’t include a battery and their batteries require a longer charge time then run time (assuming you don’t run at the lowest setting).
Light & Motion have long run times with quick charging and high lums but they are very pricy. I have found Serfas to be the most reasonable for the run times and lums. The one that I used was about $300 with a 4.5 hour run at 750 lums. I didn’t get an extra battery but I would guess them to be about 100 to 150.
Since all this makes for an expensive venture did you consider renting lights? I’ve done a couple dozen 24’s on mtb and every one had lighting manufacturers on hand that rented out their systems for pretty reasonable prices.
I got the package which includes rechargeable batteries, battery charger and also 4 lithium batteries. I can get 6hr 40min for each battery pack, and when the first pack runs out, just switch to the other for a total of more than 13 hours, which is well more than I’ll need. This particular light will be mounted to my 36er. I will also have a 2nd light that will be mounted to my helmet, and with extra batteries already charged and waiting for that one too.
Which 24? If you mean which event, it will be my own route, which I will be doing solo and unsupported. I will be happy to have people ride along on any manner of conveyance, for as long as they want to ride. I chose very specific bike-only path that will not include any riding with car traffic. This was an imperative for me. As with my previous three centuries, I will be filming while riding.
I haven’t ridden with lights in a coupe years but remember the best setup being a “beam” on my head and a “flood” on the unicycle (and a red one facing the rear for safety). If there is a sharp cutoff on the flood beam on the unicycle the moving light pattern can be quite distracting if not riding perfectly smooth.
EDIT: Terry I just looked at the light in your link. I think that would be a great head mounted light, but might create too much of a bright spot if aimed at the ground in front of you as a unicycle mounted light. I used to use a cheep flashlight with a Cree XPG LED with the focusing lens removed for a great even spread as my unicycle mounted light.
