This week I have been doing a bit of research into what decent off road lights there are on the market. My first reaction is that there are some awesomely powerful, over 2000 lumen's, light sets that you could get. My second reaction is to the prices of them. Seriously, I've seen them escalate to up to £850. Granted they give you stadium light brightness but then I begin to wonder whether they are defeating the point of fun off road riding. Why make night into day with mad lights?
Now most people buy their lights to extend their rides or to be able to go out on a winter. However, I have started to look at them for a different reason. In a phrase, '24 hour racing'. I've competed in 24 hour races in the past with team mates and have enjoyed, suffered, hated and loved the experience. Whatever my emotions the one thing is it is something I probably won't forget and experiences like that in life are always worth doing.
The difference this time is that I want to for fill an ambition. I want to do one SOLO. Yep, this is usually reserved for the insane but its popularity is growing. Even if I only get to do one, then at least then I can say I've done it, or given it my best shot. So plans are in place and I'll talk more about that in future posts.
The Hope R4 belts out 1000 lumens set on max and will last up to 2 hours 45 minutes, but there are options to run this lower so preserving the battery life for a few hours more. The endurance set that I've looked at also comes with two batteries so one can be used when the other runs out and put on charge. I also like the versatility of this light in that it comes with a decent handlebar clamp, helmet clamp and also a head harness (which would be useful for my trail running). The two Li-ion batteries endurance pack comes in at £295 although I've seen it cheaper.
What are your wants for this week?
To join in then please go to my tab page marked Want It Wednesday and follow the instructions to join in, and also be able to see who else is taking part in the party!
Those that have written their wants this week and you can read are Paul
2 Comments:
I'd go for an Ayup setup or something from 4Fourths for 24hr solo, they have great runtimes at pretty good prices. Most of the guys I know who race at night use Ayup and the full on endure setup they sell is brilliant value.
Last night race I did was with an Exposure Joystick on my head and a Maxx D on the bars, more light than I needed at full power tbh. The Maxx was borrowed, my usual bar light is a £35 Deal Extreme P7 jobby. Works well enough, probably under the claimed 1200 lumen but enough for a few hours of local singletrack playing.
Cheers for the advice Matt! The ayup light systems had completely gone off my radar. They do genuinely look a fantastic set. I love the fact you get two sets of twin lights for the same money as a hope light AND get three batteries meaning you can run one on the helmet and one on thehandlebars. Pretty much the perfect set up. Love the box they come in too and just all the attention to detail. That's completely blown 'my want' out the water. I'll have to put them up in a fortnights time instead!
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