light question

If riding road only then yes.

If riding dirt, especially tight singletrack, then helmet light is a must IMO.

On dirt I think helmet light is more useful than a bar light.

Having 2 lights in the woods is the way to go.

Good luck.
 
If you only have cash for one light get one that has 2 mounts. Throw it on the bar for road, helmet for dirt.
 
The seca has a better beam pattern than most lights on the market. I have a seca 1400 and have used it as a single light on the bars and didn't need another light. If you plan on hammering at daytime pace then you will most likely want a second light. When I do want more light I pair this with a magicshine mj872. I prefer more flood than a bouncing focused light. Also keeping the source lower to the ground will help you to go faster as it allows the light to create shadows showing you the imperfections in the trail surface. A helmet light completely washes this out. Now go have fun night riding.
 
I use two lights in the woods now but was only using a bar light for a long time. Something that throws that many lumens should be plenty for just a bar light. The only places I want two lights are the technical places like the Sourlands.
 
Not that I have much experience in this but I found that even with a very bright light on the bars (dinotte XML3), on twisty trails like 6mr, I had trouble without a helmet light.
 
I Ride Bikes said:
The seca has a better beam pattern than most lights on the market. I have a seca 1400 and have used it as a single light on the bars and didn't need another light. If you plan on hammering at daytime pace then you will most likely want a second light. When I do want more light I pair this with a magicshine mj872. I prefer more flood than a bouncing focused light. Also keeping the source lower to the ground will help you to go faster as it allows the light to create shadows showing you the imperfections in the trail surface. A helmet light completely washes this out. Now go have fun night riding.
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I have the same Magicshine. Do you run that one on the bars or helmet when using two?
 
I always preferred 2 lights. One on the bars to see where you are steering, one on the dome to see where you are looking.
 
2 lights definitely helps. I have a 900 for the bars and another smaller headlamp. As mentioned by others, you could always just switch up the mounts. Helmet mount allows for better locating turns at night as long as you are looking ahead like you would riding turns in the day. You do lose some peripheral vision that you would have with a 2nd light on the bars.
 
1sh0t1b33r said:
I have the same Magicshine. Do you run that one on the bars or helmet when using two?
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I use the 872 on my helmet. The seca has a much wider beam pattern so it works much better on the bars. The 872 wastes a lot of light in all directions but I prefer this for a helmet light.

A few of my friends are running Mj880s and those things are really nice. You can buy 2 of them for the price of one seca.
 
I'd agree with everyone else, that 2 lights helps quite a bit. You don't need a stunningly powerful light for your head, but a tight beam pattern helps a lot.

You certainly don't need to spend as much on a headlamp as you did (will?) on the Seca. I use a PrincetonTec Apex rechargeable for that, and I've found it adequate for everything but high speed (25+) descents. I particularly like it because it is low profile, doesn't stick up like most others. Helps prevent an expensive 'low bridge' type accident.
 
Bontrager just came out with a nice 700 lum for $100. I run a 750 night rider on my head and its all I need. I generally am able to leave it in low when in a group.

Lights now are way better than they were 10 yes ago.
 
I had really good like w Cygolite Expilions. Currently running a 800 on the bars and a 680 on the helmet. Good burn times and removable battery sticks. You could carry extra sticks if you wanted for longer rides. I can run them on max and get about 75minutes of burn time or over 2 hrs on medium (which is enough for group rides).
 
Especially with the Seca 1700 being as "light" as it is. I would keep it on the helmet. A bar light would compliment nicely but with the Seca its not a must.
 
Related to this thread - my Knog red blinky light rubber strap just broke. Really like the light but it only lasted 5 months and it doesn't look like there is any way to replace/repair it. For tonight I just taped it on with clear packing tape - ghetto but it worked. Is the standard life for these things?
 
Call knog and see if they'll warranty it, or go through where you bought it. I've got something similar that is going on twice that time with no problem.
 
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