Tony only has 20W, but I think his eyesight is a lot better than mine. When we raced at the 24hr Moonride MTB race and the 12hr Day/Night Thriller the 20W is like a candle compared to some of the super powerful 35-50W lamps some of the MTBkers were using. I actually waited till they of them came up behind me before riding the more technical sections at speed.
I find that when riding a Coker you go fast enough to get some serious insect splattage- keep your mouth closed 
incidentally, if anyone is looking for a cheap lamp unit, these have been recommended by bike people, although I don’t know what the beam pattern or size is. At the price it’d be worth a trip to b&q to see though.
http://www.diy.com/bq/product/product.jhtml?PRODID=168112&CATID=167544
Comes with a 20w bulb & cable, all for £13. All you need to add is a battery, a charger and some connectors.
Joe
Re: Listen to Ken’s advice, get more Watts
No it’s not a joke. I’ve had a couple of near misses with tree branches in daylight so I reckon it’s going to be more of a hazard at night.
I’ve only just got some safety glasses myself (£3 from a safety equipment suppliers) so previous night riding has been without protection, and I’ve been aware of the amount of tree branches sticking out, even on footpaths.
lights for night-riding? - what an interesting concept.
With a bit of practice you can often ride by the light of the moon - a wonderful experience.
My current favourite toy is a blue superbright led bike light - made by cateye - I ride all the usual trails with this and it seems sufficient. Got the idea from seeing leo’s led rig at buc.
I agree with Joe M too - Ride anything at night. so long as you feel confident with it it’s fine.
One of my favourite night rides was with joe M on the flightpath at the FTF in CYB.
Joe
lighting idea
I ride mostly streets now but am going in the Muni direction and lighting came to mind about a month ago. I solved my problem bu buying a small battery powered light I could Velcro to the top of my helmet. My thinking is I want the light to be where I am going to be looking and it works out perfectly. There’s several brands that make compact lights that won’t add a lot of weight. {that’s a factor too}
For the street I added a red light flashing unit so I don’t get creamed from the back. Total cost was under $20.00!
Re: Night muni: A dummies’ guide?
GizmoDuck wrote:
> … if it
> starts getting foggy and you’re tired you will find it very difficult
> if you can’t see every bump coming at you. I would say get a 35W
> lamp if you can.
I would add that the value of high powered lamps in the fog depends very
much on where they’re mounted. Using a powerful helmet-mounted lamp in
thick fog or heavy rain just results in the light shining straight back
in your eyes. In that case, you’re better off with a lower powered
lamp or something positioned closer to waist level.
I’ve tried mounting my Lumicycles (10W spot & 20W mid, FWIW) to my waist
in the fog, but I found that the beam swayed from side to side to much.
Instead, I now just hold them in my hand.
–
Danny Colyer (remove safety to reply) ( http://www.juggler.net/danny )
Recumbent cycle page: http://www.speedy5.freeserve.co.uk/recumbents/
“He who dares not offend cannot be honest.” - Thomas Paine
I’d say that there are two schools of thought on this,
firstly, the give me as much light as possible so I can ride like daylight people. If you’re one of these then it’s worth getting the really high powered 35w+ lights.
Secondly, there are people who like riding at night for the extra challenge and excitement. If you’re one of these then you don’t need the really high powered lights.
Personally I ride most stuff with a 10 watt flood and hard stuff with a 12w spot which seems to work well. I really love the feeling of night riding and I don’t think you really get it with super powerful lights, it’s just like riding in the day. Okay for racing, but not for having fun.
Whatever lights you use, the real key is like I said before, feeling the pedal feedback and riding the terrain with your feet not just your eyes.
Joe
Exciting maybe…but the few times I’ve had to ride MUni night was whilst racing- it’s not too pleasant to be going hard and not know what’s coming at you!
Otherwise when I ride at night it’s usually on the street as I don’t like MUNi’ing by myself in the middle of nowhere in the dark. I can usually get by then with just the street lamps and moonlight otherwise.
But that’s half the point! - makes life very interesting
I love solo night muni, it’s great fun as a challenge, plus you get to see all sorts of animals and the trails are deserted. Also, it’s really incredibly peaceful being in the woods in pitch darkness with no-one else around.
You can stop and turn off your lights and just hear all the lovely forest noises, when you go to the top of a hill, you get beautiful views of all the lights in the towns. What more could you want?
Back to the technological thing, lumileds.com make special super bright leds, I think farnell or someone sell them over here and apparently they’re really rather good.
Joe