Cree 1200, 3800 lumen lights

I highly recommend the Light & Motion for a helmet mount.

http://www.artscyclery.com/descpage-LMURB800AS.html?gclid=CIrlqabX-cgCFcISHwodeMUM9w

I ran the Night Rider and it was fine but always felt top heavy. The L&M is 50+ grams lighter & sits lower on the helmet. Almost can't tell it's up there. Same price (if purchased online but I suggest supporting your local shop :D) , same run times & slightly brighter. Super happy with it.
 
If you ride fast at night and only have one light, definitely strap it to the helmet. Optimally you want two; a flood on the bars to see whats right in front of you, and a spot for the helmet to see where you're turning. I usually ride with my single light on the bars because I'm slow and the shadows are nice to gauge the height of roots and rocks, but I can definitely see myself getting the 750 soon if I ride more at night. Only downside of just a bar light now is that I have to slow before turns unless I know the trail and kinda wiggle the bars into the turn to see what's down there.
 
Anyone try the cateye 700 or 800? Weight is in between the NR and L&M but the cateyes claim 2 hours on high, vs 1.5 for the NR and L&M
 
Something to keep in mind is don't just look at run time on high. Can't talk to others but I have the Dinotte XML3 and it is so bright on high I rarely use it in that mode. Med is more than enough for trails and road.
 
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rick81721 said:
Something to keep in mind is don't just look at run time on high. Can't talk to others but I have the Dinotte XML3 and it is so bright on high I rarely use it in that mode. Med is more than enough for trails and road.
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I have 2 of them and love them. I rarely run them on high, but that's really just a benchmark I'm using to compare lights since that's a typical mfg. published spec.
 
Kirt said:
I highly recommend the Light & Motion for a helmet mount.

http://www.artscyclery.com/descpage-LMURB800AS.html?gclid=CIrlqabX-cgCFcISHwodeMUM9w

I ran the Night Rider and it was fine but always felt top heavy. The L&M is 50+ grams lighter & sits lower on the helmet. Almost can't tell it's up there. Same price (if purchased online but I suggest supporting your local shop :D) , same run times & slightly brighter. Super happy with it.
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When on of my luminas die, I'll try one of these. You, pearl, Paul, and Dave all recommend them. The niterider is a little heavy on the helmet. Luckily wearing a winter hat seems to hide the extra weight of a light, and usually I'm wearing one....though not so much this year
 
jShort said:
When on of my luminas die, I'll try one of these. You, pearl, Paul, and Dave all recommend them. The niterider is a little heavy on the helmet. Luckily wearing a winter hat seems to hide the extra weight of a light, and usually I'm wearing one....though not so much this year
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Long time L&M user also. My only complaint with the urban and taz models (the single unit models) is that the batteries are really affected by temperature because there is
Minimal insulation due to the small size of the whole unit. All batteries are subjected to this though.
 
I think I mentioned this somewhere, but the Bontrager Ion700 is a great light:

upload_2015-11-5_17-40-5.jpeg

http://www.bontrager.com/model/10945

They bumped up the price a bit, but still smaller and lighter than the Nightrider Lumina. Has a nice beam pattern also. I'm going to put mine on my helmet since it's so small and light.
 
moray42 said:
My 2nd purchase after my magicshines was an army surplus ammo tin for charging and storing. I'm just going to have to try and forget that this happened while riding.
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This is why with any of the lights that use lithium-ion batteries it pays to do 2 things 1 charge them outside and 2 keep any eye on them as soon as they are charged disconnect them. I have had a bunch of these cheap lights from the MS to the china cree type and just follow these steps....
 
mike_243 said:
This is why with any of the lights that use lithium-ion batteries it pays to do 2 things 1 charge them outside and 2 keep any eye on them as soon as they are charged disconnect them. I have had a bunch of these cheap lights from the MS to the china cree type and just follow these steps....
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Is this the case for any Li-I battery system? I have a Dinotte light and charger and typically leave it plugged in overnight (in the office room upstairs). Never felt it getting even warm - it has a "smart" charger as well. Flirting with disaster?
 
rick81721 said:
Is this the case for any Li-I battery system? I have a Dinotte light and charger and typically leave it plugged in overnight (in the office room upstairs). Never felt it getting even warm - it has a "smart" charger as well. Flirting with disaster?
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No, having to perfectly time charges is a thing of the past if you buy from a real company. Smart chargers have been in common for more than 10 years and the lithium ion batteries do not have memory like the nimh nicd batteries did, which they were really, really bad with that. I remember my first lithium battery was a Blackburn light and it recommended to keep it plugged in whenever not in use. My urban 800 is basically plugged in all the time as well with zero issues doing this for many years.
 
rick81721 said:
Is this the case for any Li-I battery system? I have a Dinotte light and charger and typically leave it plugged in overnight (in the office room upstairs). Never felt it getting even warm - it has a "smart" charger as well. Flirting with disaster?
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Most of them will have a chip to cut the power before overcharging can happen. It is just that some of the budget China led lights were equipped with poor quality unbalanced batteries. Mine are post recall, but I still exercise caution. Only charge while around, on a cement patio, away from highly flammable stuff, and in an ammo can with the lid popped open a little to avoid creating a bomb in the worst case scenario.
 
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