The
3 Most Important things you need to know about lighting systems
So
you want to take back the night! That's great!!
But
before you jump right in and buy a light, we want you to be aware of the
drastic difference in night riding enjoyment between a light that provides
you with 10 feet of light versus 100 feet of crisp, clear illumination.
Consider
these 3 important things and trust us; in the long run you'll be glad
you stopped to ponder for a few minutes.
- When
you read the "lumen" or "candlepower" output rating
on a light, think more about how the raw light power is focused onto
the trail than how BIG the written number is.
The
lumen rating tells you how much usable light
is created. While having more light is always better, how that available
light illuminates the trail - commonly referred to as the "beam
pattern" - is far more important than the raw power. A
super powerful light that puts its light in the wrong place is essentially
useless! For example, a light might provide a powerful long-range spotlight
that offers no peripheral illumination; or the other way around. And
if the manufacture is not showing you real life pictures of what you
get with their light, be very VERY cautious.
A couple additional tidbits for the tech savvy:
1) A
higher watt rating doesn't mean more light. Example
>>: A 15 watt Halogen gets blown away by a 10 watt LED. Also,
the higher the watt rating, the faster your battery drains. More
about watts>>
2) Consider how the light rating is stated. Some will talk real-life
trail projected lumens, while others state a lab value of just the LED
given to them by the bulb manufacturer. What good is lab data
when we ride down trails? In the real world optical losses and operating
temperatures will lower this Lumen figure significantly. Lab numbers
will always be much larger, and therefore better for marketing. More
about lumen ratings >>
- Check
not only the battery run times, but also how big and heavy the battery
pack is.
At
minimum you should get a solid measured
(not estimated) 2-hours of battery life, but also remember that burn
time will always be a compromise between how powerful your light is
and the SIZE of the battery pack. Hauling around a 10 lb. battery
brick in your water bottle cage is no fun, so unless you really need
that 6 hour burn time, maybe you should pass on carrying one!
Also
one last tech tidbit; given a similar burn time, Li-Ion (Lithium-ion)
packs are always much smaller and lighter than both NiMh (Nickel Metal-Hydride)
and NiCad (Nickel-Cadmium). More
about battery types>>
-
Finally,
ask yourself what kind of trails you ride and how fast you ride them
because you may really need an additional helmet mounted light!
We
ask this final often overlooked question for one simple reason; you
may need to compromise on light power and price tags so you can afford
two lights. If you plan to ride fast, winding single track, lots
of downhill, or if you just plain want to be as safe as possible while
riding at night, it's a good idea to use a helmet light. While a bar
mounted light illuminates the path directly in front of you, a helmet
light allows to you to look further down the trail to anticipate bad
terrain, sharp turns, and heavy braking. Essentially a helmet
light allows your light to follow your eyes around corners!
Do
this: During your next day ride, take a moment and imagine you are
riding at night. Notice where you eyes look, how they scan the terrain,
anticipate turns, and how far down the trail you need to see to brake
safely. Take that in, and then realize that without a helmet light
you won't have any of that extra vision during a night ride. Maybe
it's ok for you, maybe it isn't?
So
that's it. Those 3 are what we consider to be the most important considerations
when shopping for your next light.
So
the next question is, how does Luminous DIY stack up? Product
Comparison >>
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