Submitted by
Dan McDonald
a Cross Country Rider
from White Salmon, WA USA Date Reviewed: December 6, 2002
Favorite Trail:
Cortez (The Killer)
Duration Product Used:
More than 3 years
Price Paid:
$100.00
Purchased At:
Night Sun
Strengths:
Lite light module, fairly light battery pack
Weaknesses:
Cheesy wiring that shorts/breaks near the switch. The wsitch is near the battery pack instead of the light where it shoulb be. The wiring lasts about 12.1 months and the warrenty is for 12 months!
Similar Products Used:
Nightrider, Vista lights
Bike Setup:
Moots Ybb, XTR, Sweetwings, Bomber Marathon SL
Bottom Line:
The light part is excellent, except the switch is near the battery which is in your pocket or pack. The switch should be close to the light to be accessible. The tiny wiring is too long and shorts out and eventually breaks near the solid switch. This has happened on 2 of the 3 sunsports I've purchased. I called Night Sun about this and they acted like I was the only one who had this problem. All you have to do is hook it up and you'll see the switch is in an odd place. I called them and they said too bad you're a week late on your warrenty. So much for sutomer service. I've bought four headlight systems from Night Sun. The first is not a sun sport and it is still functioning although the original battery wore out. Now I'm using my Dewalt 12 vlt. Battery. Two of the three Sunsports have crapped out. They're more than happy to sell me a new wiring set up for $25.00. No thanks, I'll go to the hardware store and rewire something that actually works. If you like to have stuff that wears out early, comes with no service, and gives you plenty of trouble buy this.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Rex Harrison
a Racer
from Mississippi Date Reviewed: January 17, 2002
Favorite Trail:
Any
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Purchased At:
The Bike Rack
Strengths:
Lite, Very bright for it's size.Runs time is very good.
Weaknesses:
The wiring sux.I cut it where it leaves the back of my helmet and put anothe connection. This is so I can leave the light on the hemet and not have the wire hanging off. It's a pain to take the light on and off.NIGHT SUN, ARE YOU SEEING THIS???
Similar Products Used:
none
Bike Setup:
98'Y-33, Hayes disk brakes
Bottom Line:
I bought the XC light also. I am not happy with it for the riding I do. The XC only runs for 40 mins on full power. It will light the trail good along with the SunSport but it just won't last long enough. I ordered a Cay Eye Stadium 3 today. Looking VERY forward to it.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Mike
a Weekend Warrior
from USA Date Reviewed: December 21, 2001
Duration Product Used:
2 Years
Strengths:
This appears to be a product that nightsun screwed up on and made fairly reliable and long lasting.
Weaknesses:
If you ever have a problem with it, bend over, spread your cheeks, borrow some money, and try to relax because Nightsun likes to sell you lights and shove it up your...
Similar Products Used:
Used nightsun for 10+ years but "saw the light" and am using Light and Motion.
Bike Setup:
Ibis
Bottom Line:
This light will only work in combination with a handlebar light. It is the most reliable nightsun light I have ever used. Understand that nightsun is an evil company and customer service = selling you a new light. I am carrying this light as an emergency back-up for my Light & Motion HID light. Unfortunately, I talked some of my friends into buying the nightsun light and now one of them has had trouble and is getting the "bend over and spread em" treatment perfected by nightsun. If you are considering a nightsun light, poke yourself in the eye with a sharp stick instead and you will get the same effect.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Tim Johnson
a Cross-Country Rider
from England Date Reviewed: November 22, 1999
Favorite Trail:
Parrots Drumble
Duration Product Used:
2 Years
Strengths:
Superlight weight,easy to mount,nice little battery-fits in a camelbak pocket,long enough burn time.
Weaknesses:
Switch position relative to battery location,maybe beam is a little too focused.
Similar Products Used:
Home made specials!
Bike Setup:
Merlin Mountain or DeKerf Singlespeed.
Bottom Line:
Excellent little, extra light,don't try to use it on its own,seems pretty tough,I rammed my head into the floor after an unexpected endo and the light kept on shining(I killed my helmet though!).If you have one try bunching the wire up and sitting the battery in your highest camelback pocket, this should put the switch on your shoulder.
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
RobInfo
a Cross-Country Rider
from Downingtown, pa Date Reviewed: August 19, 1999
Favorite Trail:
French Creek
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Strengths:
Light weight, bright, last long, tough.
Weaknesses:
Switch inconvinient. Beam is a bit narrow.
Similar Products Used:
VistaLight
Bike Setup:
Nightsun Team XC also
Bottom Line:
This light is excellent, light weight (you don't even notice it), well-constructed, and very bright. I had tried a friends VistaLight helmet light once, it was so heavy it made my neck hurt. Because the beam is so narrow, you definitely need a bar flood as well. The switch for the thing is is at the battery pack, which is in my camelback, so you can't switch it off when you take a short break, you have remember to tilt the light up so you don't blind you riding buddies while your talking to them. Fortunately the thing runs for almost three hours so you don't really need to switch it off. On one ride, I blasted a low branch, and the light unit just popped right off (there's no wires between the light unit and it's mounting base), I just popped the light back in the base, no harm done.
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
sak igarashi
a Weekend Warrior
from whistler,bc Date Reviewed: August 8, 1999
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Strengths:
light weight small
Weaknesses:
could be brighter could have a longer watt/hr battery
Similar Products Used:
niterider headtrip
Bike Setup:
bow ti
Bottom Line:
The nightsun is the probably the best head lighting system out there because of its light weight and the rubber mounting system. You can't feel it on your head and in technical riding so the light doesn't bounce around like other head lamp systems. The rubber mount besides making it light also makes the light bomber. You can't really break it when you fall. The metal pin may come out but nothing really gets broken. The light needs a handle bar lighting system as well but I believe that all head mounted lights are one piece of the entire night riding equipment. I did the 24 hours of adrenalin in canmore, AB and my brother used two sunsports on his lid. That worked out great. I bought a niterider headtrip to try out and find that although the light is stronger and the battery is better the weight is too high. This light is almost perfect
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Christian Evans
a cross-country rider
from berkeley, CA Date Reviewed: October 22, 1998
Bottom Line:
I bumped my head (lightly) while using this light and now it does not work. A week ago, I caught a bit of air over a paved street bump and the light fixture fell off: I spent 15 min. in the dark looking for the ligght under a car. The helmet mountain system in not convenient and it's too bad there's no connector with the wire at the helmet mount. I hope their customer service is better than the lights design or durability. $90 was too much for the light. I had also bouth a $30 xenon tail light that had a weak and cumbersome mounting system that fell off. Must not have been designed for mountain bikes in mind. Too small, too weak, inconvenient connectors/mounting, and over priced. After two months of nearly daily use and few camping trips, was not impressed.
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Matt OToole
a
from Southern California Date Reviewed: February 28, 1998
Bottom Line:
I boutght this light as a lightweight, get-me-home light, in case I'm caught out after dark. Mostly, I'm really pleased with it. It's very well thought out. It's so light I can't feel it on my helmet, and it never gets too hot. I like how I can easily reach up and reaim the beam while riding. It's not perfect, however. To get maximum brightness from such a low power light, Nightsun made the beam narrower than usual. I think they made it too narrow. It is indeed bright enough to throw for hundreds of feet, but I'd gladly give up some distance for a bit wider swath. At 20', the beam is only about 3' wide. Otherwise, it's an excellent design, and the only thing like it on the market. If it weren't for such a narrow beam, I'd give it full marks.
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Mitch Patterson
a weekend warrior
from CA Date Reviewed: February 6, 1998
Bottom Line:
Really lightweight and bright (for its weight). I wouldn't do without it. Excellent secondary lighting system. Mounting system stays put even through a bad, muddy crash. Rode with it during a cold night and the charge lasted over two hours. I wish that the lens had the protection cage of their higher line models. Darp is Prad spelled backwards. Only 4 chili rating because you can never have enough candelas....
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Matt Gersib
a racer
from Lincoln, NE Date Reviewed: January 30, 1998
Bottom Line:
As much as I don't like Nitesun, they're doing good with this light. It's best attribute is it's lack of weight. It isn't the brightest light out there, so a handlebar light is a must, but for it's intended purpose, it's da' bomb. I had a branch knock the bulb and carrier out of the helmet mount. Since it was dark (duh...) I was bummed because I thought it was broken. When I got home, all I had to do was pop it back into the carrier and I was cooking with gas again. Sweet design.
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Andy
a racer
from Tulsa, OK Date Reviewed: January 30, 1998
Bottom Line:
This is a great light for adding a little extra kick to a handlebar system. I wouldn't be comfortable riding offroad without an additional light source, but it certainly serves the purpose of letting you look side to side and around corners. It is very light (less than a pound including the battery) very compact, and pretty cheap (I paid $80 for mine) I have found that this with a 20W handlebar light is a really great set up for riding even the most technical riding.
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Andrew Hedin
a cross-country rider
from Berwyn, PA Date Reviewed: January 23, 1998
Bottom Line:
Really nice light to use as an secondary light if your primary lights are bar mounted. Could be used as a primary light source for fire-road riding but I wouldn't suggest using it for technical singletrack without some other additional lights. With that understood, this light is great. It's lightweight so I haven't even noticed the additional weight on the helmet. The battery is nice and compact and easily slides into a jersey pocket or Camelback. Great product.
Overall Rating:
What's New
»
BEST OF MTBR - Check out the highest rated bikes, parts, & gear!
»
LED BIKE LIGHT SHOOTOUT 3 - We test all the newest products and latest light and battery technology in this comprehensive guide»
$ 99.95
Overall Rating:
Overall Rating:
