Submitted by
BaliBoy
a Downhiller
from Bali, Indonesia
Date Reviewed: October 24, 2009
Strengths: Daul Beam gives you very good depth perception. A great idea. Lightweight.
Weaknesses: Battery run time is low. 1:45 on a full charge. You will get the infamous red warning light come on at 1:15 telling you that you only have 30 mins left.
Bottom Line:
A nice idea. But, the battery life is just way too short. Only 1:15 mins before you are get that infamous red warning light (how annoying)
Similar Products Used: Cygolite Milion. NiteRider Flight 1.5. NiteRider Minewt X2. NiteRider Minewt Mini USB.
Bike Setup: Trek 8000.
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Submitted by
trekusps
a Cross Country Rider
from Fremont, CA
Date Reviewed: February 18, 2009
Strengths: Light weight, easy to install, blinking mode for road use.
Weaknesses: Weak bar mounting system, marginal amount of light for off-road use. Slow to change steady to blinking mode function.
Bottom Line:
Like the flashing mode for on-road use. You will be easily seen but for any serious off-road use, you will want something more sturdy with more light. I feel that I am outrunning these lights at about 20-25 mph on my usual off-road trails. Also, the mounts are very weak. I have broken several rubber O-rings but to Niterider's credit, they have replaced under warranty. These same mounts over time have not held up the headlights on rough terrain well. The headlights have drooped on rough terrain and the rubber mounts on the bottom of the headlights have come off because the glue has melted and became sticky. Like others have said, going from a steady light to a flashing light mode takes time and can be a bit annoying due to the long time delay. Run times are spot one but it would have been nice if they could have provided some type of helmet mount with this light. Ended up replacing the Niterider with a Cygolite MityCross that is brighter, has a much more sturdy handlebar mount, much longer run time and costs less. Much better choice over the Niterider in my opinion. Better luck next time Niterider.
Similar Products Used: Niterider Dual Beam, Niterider Trail Rat, Cygolite MityCross 350, Cygolite TridenX, Light and Motion Stella 120N
Bike Setup: Trek Fuel 80 with Shimano LX and SRAM components
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Submitted by
anomicbum
a Cross Country Rider
from Portland, OR
Date Reviewed: January 8, 2009
Strengths: Great light for commuting, especially on strobe/flash
Weaknesses: The switch is balky, for example have to hold for about 8 seconds to switch on the flash mode. No tactile "click" feel. My cheap rear blinky light has a much more user-friendly switch. Also, no way to switch from both lights to just one - that seems like a very basic feature that would be easy to include.
Bottom Line:
The balky switch and inability to switch the light from two to one light modules are my only complaints.
Submitted by
omaha
a Cross Country Rider
from Omaha, NE, USA
Date Reviewed: November 22, 2008
Strengths: Use for daily commuting 1/2 hour each way. Flash mode gets the attention of cars in full daylight. Excellent light output. Can still see the street when on-coming cars don't dim their lights. Good at 20+ mph on streets. Went from a Cateye EL-500 (a good "be seen" light). I didn't realize just how much of an improvement this light was until I had to go back to the Cateye...I went back to driving my car until I got my MiNewt back. Mounted the lights with zip-ties, including several along the wires (to keep the lights from walking off when parked in the rack at work).
Weaknesses: Short battery life. Wish they would double the battery life. Battery died at the 3 month mark. The light on the switch would go on, but the lights would not come on. NiteRider replaced under warranty. The battery contains both the battery cells and the control electronics, the electronics went bad. The good news is that the electronics are covered for 2 years. To the other reviews that had battery problems...send them in for warranty repair. NiteRider was very responsive.
Bottom Line:
Was hesitant about spending $180 for a headlight (I ride a 20 year old bike). After using this light - no regrets, worth every penny. Great buy when Performance runs their 20% off sale. Only gave a 4 on overall because of early battery death (replaced under warranty).
Strengths: size
weight
mounting. ive read reviews about people not liking the the rubberband mount. just to clear things up, its not the rubberband off of your office desk. they wont break anytime soon. and with cold hands after a cold ride, its difficult to remove the rubberband, so accidental release is not possible.
Weaknesses: short batt life
steady to strobe transition. if your are starting in strobe, you can go directly into steady beam with a single push, but going from steady to strobe, the light turns off first leaving you in the dark for about 7 seconds.
Bottom Line:
I use this light primarily for road riding. 300 lumens is plenty for the road, but minimum for the trails. On low setting (184 lumens) you can get away with riding road at night in complete darkness, but be familar with the road.
these are bright enough to piss motorists off. Its been 2 weeks and so far (using strobe), I've had two car completely pull over, three people yell at me, and one lay the horn on me. another started flashing his high beams on and off on and off.
the way i see it. be seen or be hit. if i were a motorist, i would appreciate the cyclist taking all the precautions to be visible, so i dont see why they are getting angry. the last motorist that hit me lost 60,000 dollars (i wasnt visible enought with a small led blinker he says, but i still won the case). there should be no excuses this time, and no complaining.
get this light, unless you do epic rides. i ride a hour before sunset, so i can get almost 3 hours in total using this light to end my rides. the light quality is 5500 kelvin, about day light quality in color. it makes car lights look very yellow, and i have out shined some older motorcycle lights that pass me. for the price, quality, weight, and ease of use it gets a 5
Submitted by
riderguy67
a Cross Country Rider
from boston ma
Date Reviewed: October 28, 2008
Strengths: seems to be bright enough in woods if used in conjunction with head lamp. Unit is very light and easy to mount. Battery mounts right on stem..very secure quick on and off.
Weaknesses: had problem with switch.....returned to lbs no questions...however battery life and wiring may be a litte suspect...hopefully the replacement will be ok. I will re-review when I know better
Bottom Line:
verdict not quite out yet...i hope niterider reads this blog
Submitted by
Dr. Jimbo
a Weekend Warrior
from Santa Barbara, Ca.
Date Reviewed: September 24, 2008
Strengths: Way bright, sweet looking and the battery pack fits right under the stem.
Weaknesses: Could see the mounting bands breaking in time, I'll just keep an extra set in my backpack.
Bottom Line:
As I said, I could see the mounting bands breaking as reported in other posts but I ran my "Y" cable for the lights under the Velcro strap, so if they do pop a band, the light won't end up in the spokes. It's also great that I don't have to remove the battery pack to recharge it. When setting up the alignment, I only snugged the screws so I can still adjust them according to my needs (trail, commute, street, etc.)
For serious trail riding, I'd add a headlamp. That way you can see where you want to go before you turn your handlebars.
Submitted by
hani1
a Cross Country Rider
from Bosotn, MA USA
Date Reviewed: September 12, 2008
Strengths: Weight, Brightess, Cost(unique in my case), ease of use
Weaknesses: No extension cord or helmet mount
No remote switch
Bottom Line:
This is a great light super bright. I ride in New England with tons of roots and rock so i need some extra power this certainly does the job over what I had been using. I rather mount it to the helmet so I was disapointed it did nto come with the hardware. However using the rubber bands I was able to mount both lights to the helmet, but the combination of both lights and the battery is bit heavy for my liking. So I will eventually get the extension to put it in my hydration pack.
Bike Setup: Kona King
Rock Shox Reba Team
XTR Drive
Juicy 7
Race face Stem, Bar, Seat post, cranks
Mavic Crosstrail
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Submitted by
rbagany
a Weekend Warrior
from Martinez, CA, USA
Date Reviewed: September 8, 2008
Strengths: Very bright, fast charging.
The strobe light is great at dusk when car drivers do not pay much attention to bicyclists. It definitely catches their eyes.
Weaknesses: None so far. Of course, a little expensive, but all products in this area are not cheap either.
Bottom Line:
To the guy whose mounting O-rings snapped - and to all the other users: everyone should strap the light cable(s) close to the battery with the velcro band, so even if the O-ring fails, the little light will not end up in the wheel/spokes.
Similar Products Used: Performance Gen3 Digital light.
Bike Setup: 2002 Specialized Enduro Pro FS
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Submitted by
supernootz
a Cross Country Rider
from Orange County NY
Date Reviewed: September 3, 2008
Strengths: Very easy to mount. Bright lights. 2 headlights look cool.
Weaknesses: Battery doesn't last long.
Bottom Line:
I like 'em. Very bright. Excellent for around town at night. I don't ride in the woods at night so I can't comment on that.
Like other reviewers have said already, they don't last as long on a charge as Niterider claims. I get about 1 hour run time on high. Low beams aren't much dimmer than high. I still can't think of a use for the strobe function but it does look neat.
Mounting them is super easy. I happen to like the rubber band mounts and have not had a single problem with them or complaint to report. Mounting the battery is easy with the included velcro mount, it will hang down from any horizontal surface pretty much anywhere near the handlebars.
I recommend them highly, unless you routinely plan to ride more than an hour at a time at night.
Weaknesses: This is a re-review after using the light for about a month. I started having problems switching from 'on' to 'strobe'. The light would turn off, but the power indicator would remain on, and the light could not be turned back on for several minutes or until the head units were unplugged and plugged back in to the battery pack. I replaced it with another X2 Dual. The second system failed on the first ride, and now I get a battery error when charging. I'm going to check out an L&M SECA when they are released. Lastly, 1:45, the battery life at 300 lumens, is too short for most night rides.
Bottom Line:
I really liked this light, but Niterider seems to have some reliability issues.
Submitted by
singleandtracking
a Cross Country Rider
from Bay Area, California
Date Reviewed: July 26, 2008
Strengths: Brilliant bluish light. Dual head lights provide nice coverage and the stupid rubber band allow quick and easy refocusing the light beams. Brighter than their own Halogen.
Weaknesses: Quality control. One light is dimmer than the other. The second set was worse. The rubber band don't fit well and fall off if not constantly tightened.
Bottom Line:
Make my story short, I had the Nite Rider Halogen 3" from this Luxeon LED. Turned out the Halogen light, great, turned on this LED, the Halogen disappeared.
Decided to contribute this story because once again tonight a couple oncoming riders cursed me for blinding them; I felt sorry for a girl the night before who almost crashed because she thought I was an on coming car.
I do night ride deep in the woods in absolute darkness, so this light is a necessity since I got no ambient light. But gas is 5 bucks, so I have to ride my bike home as well after my woody excursion thus the unfortunate encounters with the street cyclists. Damn oil speculators.
Similar Products Used: Paid premium at REI but they take back anything I don't like. I tried everything they have in store and settle for this Nite Rider.
Bike Setup: Specialized Stumpjumper Pro Carbon.
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Submitted by
bonzo2007
a Cross Country Rider
from Chicago
Date Reviewed: July 2, 2008
Strengths: Bright enough for 20mph on dark roads. Fantastic strobe elicits complaints from oncoming riders.
Weaknesses: O-Rings are clean, but suspect for failure. The switch requires a 5 second press-and-hold to go from on to strobe. During this time the light turns off and you are left one-handed in the dark.
Bottom Line:
I returned my recently purchased L&M for the Niterider after reading the MTBR light shootout. With 4x the light output for $60, it was well worth the premium.
Submitted by
djs`
a Weekend Warrior
from Yucaipa, CA, USA
Date Reviewed: June 15, 2008
Strengths: I love the brightness and the flexibility of the two lights. The battery life is decent.
Weaknesses: I've only used the lights a few times. I've recharged the battery maybe twice. The bike sat for awhile and I tried the lights. The low battery indicators were red. I recharged the battery till it was blue. Mounted it on the bike. Turned on the lights and the battery indicator was blue, but NO lights. I reconnected, tried all settings, etc. NO luck. That sucks!
Bottom Line:
It sucks that the blubs appear to have gone bad so quickly! Both of them.
