I’m thinking about something cool : riding an easy X-country trail at
night (I’d like to try a unicycle/camping trek next summer and part of it
would be done by night) . Did anybody try riding easy muni / road at night
with lights ?
Actually I was wondering was would be the best suited light set ? I’m
thinking about caving light (mounted on helmet) but I’ve never been
caving and I don’t know if they’re heavy / easily mounted on a
helmet,ect…
Any idea ?
Oli-
opaugamATaptilonDOTcom !
We did off-road in the dark at the Red Bull race. I’ve ridden river
towpaths in the dark too, both are a laugh, you’ll be riding a bit slower
on anything difficult, but easy stuff isn’t a problem.
Most of us were using some “Smart lights” that Roger Davies got hold of.
They’re about 10 or so watts, attach to the unicycle with a battery in the
bottle cage. I think those cost something like 30 or 40 pounds. I wear
head-mounted lumicycle lights, because I needed something good for
commuting to work. The lumicycle lights cost a lot (about £150 for a
double light set, a head kit and a smart charger), but they have the
advantage of being stonkingly bright and or lasting for ages and ages. I
have a 10w and a 12w which last for about 5 hours and 4 hours
respectively, or a bit over 2 as a combination. They’ve so far been
reliable even when rained on, which can be a problem, especially with some
of the American brands which aren’t designed for UK weather. Oh and they
have a smart battery charger which means you can just plug them in to
charge and go away.
For a lower expense level, if you don’t want to do this too often, you can
always just ride with a maglite or similar and point it where you want to
see. Or a Petzl head torch. You won’t be able to go so fast, but it’ll be
a lot cheaper than a decent bike light.
If you plan your trip for sometime near the full moon, you’ll be able to
see a lot more without the lights on, so you can ride with something a lot
less powerful and without much battery life and try not to use it unless
you really have to.
Joe
“Olivier Paugam” <opaugam@aptilon.com> wrote in message
news:FD35DC6A97CB2A4DBEBA1152E54452330A580F@EXCHANGE.aptilon.com…
>
> I’m thinking about something cool : riding an easy X-country trail at
> night (I’d like to try a unicycle/camping trek next summer and part of
> it would be done by night) . Did anybody try riding easy muni / road at
> night with lights ?
>
> Actually I was wondering was would be the best suited light set ? I’m
> thinking about caving light (mounted on helmet) but I’ve never been
> caving and I don’t know if they’re heavy / easily mounted on a
> helmet,ect…
Hi Oli,
I’ve used a Petzl Headlamp and that worked fine. I can’t imagine that a
light mounted on the uni would work that well since, unlike a bike, our
unis are not necessarily always pointed directly down the trail.
-Kris. — Olivier Paugam <opaugam@aptilon.com> wrote:
>
> I’m thinking about something cool : riding an easy X-country trail at
> night (I’d like to try a unicycle/camping trek next summer and part of
> it would be done by night) . Did anybody try riding easy muni / road at
> night with lights ?
>
> Actually I was wondering was would be the best suited light set ? I’m
> thinking about caving light (mounted on helmet) but I’ve never been
> caving and I don’t know if they’re heavy / easily mounted on a
> helmet,ect…
>
> Any idea ?
>
> Oli-
>
> opaugamATaptilonDOTcom !
>
Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with
Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/
A local unicyclist I know uses a rechargable helmet light.
Derek 
I’ve used my Niterider very successfully on muni rides. It mounts nicely
on the helmet and at its lowest power setting (6 watts), it lasts over 5
hours. On a bike at high speeds I have to use 12, 20 and sometimes even
the 32 watt setting, but on a unicycle 6, and sometimes 9 is plenty of
light. The battery fits in the outside pocket of my camelbak. The helmet
mount cost about $10 extra and was really worth it. See
http://www.niterider.com specifically
http://www.niterider.com/products/bike_digpro12lcd.html for the best model
Have fun - night riding is great!
—Nathan
“Olivier Paugam” <opaugam@aptilon.com> wrote in message
news:FD35DC6A97CB2A4DBEBA1152E54452330A580F@EXCHANGE.aptilon.com…
>
> I’m thinking about something cool : riding an easy X-country trail at
> night (I’d like to try a unicycle/camping trek next summer and part of
> it would be done by night) . Did anybody try riding easy muni / road at
> night with lights ?
>
> Actually I was wondering was would be the best suited light set ? I’m
> thinking about caving light (mounted on helmet) but I’ve never been
> caving and I don’t know if they’re heavy / easily mounted on a
> helmet,ect…
>
> Any idea ?
>
> Oli-
>
> opaugamATaptilonDOTcom !
Nite Rider (http://www.niterider.com/) and Lumicycle
(http://www.lumicycle.co.uk/) both do head mounted lighting. Having never
used either I can’t comment on how good they are tho.
Neil
-----Original Message----- From: opaugam@aptilon.com
[mailto:opaugam@aptilon.com] Sent: 20 August 2001 14:56 To:
unicycling@winternet.com Subject: unicycle by night ? Importance: Low
I’m thinking about something cool : riding an easy X-country trail at
night (I’d like to try a unicycle/camping trek next summer and part of it
would be done by night) . Did anybody try riding easy muni / road at
night with lights ?
Actually I was wondering was would be the best suited light set ? I’m
thinking about caving light (mounted on helmet) but I’ve never been
caving and I don’t know if they’re heavy / easily mounted on a
helmet,ect…
Any idea ?
Oli-
opaugamATaptilonDOTcom !
In article <AHECLPPMPEFCOBOOLPOECEIGCFAA.n.dunlop@kildrummy.co.uk>, Neil
Dunlop <n.dunlop@kildrummy.co.uk> wrote: )Nite Rider
(http://www.niterider.com/) and Lumicycle )(http://www.lumicycle.co.uk/)
both do head mounted lighting. Having never )used either I can’t comment
on how good they are tho.
The Nite Rider is a good light, it’s put together well and is bright
enough to see where you’re going. But, pretty much all of the bright
lighting systems out there won’t last more than about an hour on the
battery, and the batteries are heavy, proprietary and expensive. There are
a lot of low-powered systems that run on C or AA cells, but they don’t do
much of a job of showing you where you’re going. For extended night
riding, I’ve always liked the Soubitez dynamo light, which clamps onto
your fork and runs off the tire motion, but that probably wouldn’t work
for MUNI, because you stop moving for a lot of the stuff that you really
want to be able to see well. -Tom
Hey, Kris. Hi all.
My wife and I were watching TV last night and spotted you on the “You
Gotta See This” show. It was a good segment but too short (esp. in view of
the longer time they gave to a segment about an idiot who ran onto a
football field mid-game and ran into a tackle).
Well done, as usual. I think these sorts of things will help increase the
popularity (or at least acceptance) of unicycling…tho it’s hard to
imagine a day when I won’t hear someone sing the circus song as I ride by.
David Stone
Co-founder, Unatics of NY 1st Sunday / 3rd Saturday
2:30 @ Central Park Bandshell
Coker riding and muni riding at night is soooo much fun. Muni is totally
different at night.
Helmet mounted lights work the best for uni riding and are really the only
way to go. I use a NiteRider Digital HeadTrip and it’s been working great
for me. Just get a wide angle bulb for the light. Most lights come stock
with a spot beam. A spot beam is too narrow for uni. Get a wide angle bulb
with good wattage.
The NiteRider works well. It’s not the best light out there, but it’s also
not the most expensive (it’s not the least expensive either). My main
complaint with the NiteRiders is that the head unit is a little heavy and
can cause the helmet to flop forward on the head.
Check out the rec.sport.unicycling archives at http://groups.google.com
for some previous reviews of NiteRider and some other lighting systems.
http://www.mtbr.com also has some reviews of lights, but take some of the
reviews with a grain of salt.
john_childs
>From: “Olivier Paugam”
>
>
> I’m thinking about something cool : riding an easy X-country trail at
> night (I’d like to try a unicycle/camping trek next summer and part of
> it would be done by night) . Did anybody try riding easy muni / road at
> night with lights ?
>
> Actually I was wondering was would be the best suited light set ? I’m
> thinking about caving light (mounted on helmet) but I’ve never been
> caving and I don’t know if they’re heavy / easily mounted on a
> helmet,ect…
>
> Any idea ?
>
> Oli-
>
>opaugamATaptilonDOTcom !
>
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