Head/taillight suggestions? It's getting dark!

[nmrt]

I commute through 15 miles of gravel roads at 9 pm at night. At this time, it is dark as it it could be and more so when I get home at around 10 pm. So I could use every bit of light. So, I bought a Bontrager Ion 1300 lumens and use it at max setting for throughout my ride. In the rear I have a Lezyne Zecto Max 250 lumen tail light. I use that at the max as well.

I did have a niterider 750 lumens that i used for the same ride. I did not find the 750 lumens to be enough for the level of darkness that I ride in and for the speed that i ride in.

Originally Posted by djg

So how many folks are using high settings on lights advertising 1000 lumens or more?

I have an L&M 650 from a few years back or so -- it's been reliable and has seemed a good light. In most conditions the high setting seems plenty bright and there are many where the medium setting seems fine. Sometimes, here and there, I wonder -- maybe not as much when it's pitch black, I think, as when it's dark and the light environment, if you will, is challenging, with car headlights of varying types coming in and out of the picture, maybe odd bits of glare or reflective surfaces, etc. Sometimes I think about going brighter and sometimes I think that there are situations that aren't fixed even by good car headlights, and wouldn't be helped by somewhat higher output on my little bike light. I mean, it's cheap, relative to a crash, so there's that -- just wondering if folks, at least subjectively, find the extra "power" helpful.

[trener1]

These guy are not that well known but this light is really bright
https://ridepdw.com/collections/ligh...nt=24756532545

[joosttx]

I am a real big fan of the Lupine brand. The rotlicht rear light is awesome. Attaches to the seatpost or uses an adapter to attach to the saddle. The mount is angled so it gives a level view when attached to the seatpost. 160 lumens, accelerometer which causes the light to act like a brake light- that works most of the time. German engineering feel.

I like the piko front light too

[simplemind]

Garmin Vario RTL510! Once you try it, you won't want anything else!

[stien]

We use niterider lumina front, sentinel rear, and l&m vis 360 on helmet. Nobody misses us. Let me know if you want to check them out since you’re down the road now.

[Keith A]

I have owned variety of L&M and NiteRider products over the years, and want to share a couple of thoughts.

Pros for L&M
• The Urban series headlights have some visibility from the side
• The strap is easier to get on/off compared to NiteRider
• Many of their models have a "fuel gauge" to let you know the battery charge level. NiterRider doesn't have this except on there Lumina OLED models.

Pros for Niterider
• The Lumina headlights and some of their taillights can easily be removed from their strap making charging the light easier. With L&M, you have to remove the entire unit, or have a long USB cord for charging.
• The headlights seem to do a better job of dissipating heat, at least the L&M is warmer to the touch.

I think their beam patterns are both good, and don't have any issues with either one. The Lumina OLED is pretty cool and it's nice knowing how much time you have left on the light.

[weaponsgrade]

I’ve been using a niterider solas for awhile now and still think it’s a great light - especially for the price. I haven’t had any problems with the mount twisting on bumpy terrain and actually like that it sticks out a bit because I don’t have a whole lot of room on my seat post. I had one incident where the silicone strap somehow broke. I sent niterider a pic and they sent me a new strap.