[Milkman]

So I'll be doing my first 24hr race with a 4 person team. I'm comfortable with my racing experiece but I haven't even ridden a trail at night so I need all the help you all can give me.
First thing I need a light. I didn't think it be more overwhelming than buying a dig camera but it is. Bat type, lamp type, burn time, charger etc etc. From what I've read HID (stands for what hidding in Dark) seem to be pretty good. But I saw this blackburn x6 lamp system that seems charge quick, good burn time. My only hang ups are Will it be bright enough and it seems a cord running from my jersey/hp to bar or frame to helmet might P me off when I'm fatigued since one bat powers both a helmet and a bar mount.
So maybe I should just get a resonable bar mount and a good helmet to avoid cord issue, but I don't know if it would be an issue.
So second thing If I get a basic bar mount like a cateye opticube 500 can I use my energizer AA 2500 nimh bats that I use for my mp3 in it and then get decent helmet light, and what would that be?
Next I don't know what is a realistic price. I'd like to keep it under 200 if it wouldn't get me killed on the trail or if I could go under 150 that'd be fine too. especially when I don't know if I'm going to like this type of riding.
So I'm all ears please give me some tips, thanks.

 

[borregokid]

In my last 24 hour race at the Old Pueblo it seemed pretty standard that almost everyone had an HID light. Also most racers have two lights, one on the bars and one on the helmet. The HID's put out quite a bit more light than the LED's of Cateye and Blackburn. If your race has rental lights then you might be able to rent an HID for $30 or so and that would be the cheapest option. I wouldnt go out on the course without two lights. If you have to run two night laps make sure your battery charger can get the batteries up for the second lap.

Others might disagree but I think the minimum you need is one 20 watt halogen or equivalent LED and a 10w halogen. You can find these fairly inexpensive at Nashbar, Perfomance. etc. Stepping up in price but short of the HID would be the Cateye Triple. A couple of Ebay sellers have it for about $200. Finally the HID is still the best and Trail Tech has one for about $200 and Jenson, Pricepoint, Nashbar and Performance have at times been selling HID's in the $275-$300 range. I would put the HID on the helmet and the 10w halogen on the bar. Dont wait till the last minute to get the lights, make sure you check everything out a few days before the race and get some night riding in.

 

[EBG 18T]

There are so many options. I have always used Turbocats but I just received my Nightrider Flight and Light in Motion Arc Li-Ion Ultra. I also have a set of TurboCat S15's. So i am going to try out these combo's in the coming weeks and decide what i like best. You might want to check out the same lights. They are all in the same league and very similar, just slightly different options.

 

[Milkman]

thanks for the suggestions just a little more info

Thanks guys I think some of the lights are just plain more than I want to spend. I get the feeling that I should go with a hid(might have to take out a loan). I was curious about those trail tech lights. borregokid have you used them. What type of set up did you use. Could a guy use that spot on the helmet and a opticube on the bar, or would that not be enough. Is the switch just a basic on off then is there a low indicator. I may have to just call them. I'm interested in any info.
Thanks

 

[borregokid]

Trail Tech is ok

I looked pretty hard at the Trail Tech but ended up with a Topeak. Batteryspace sells the Trail-Tech with the helmet mount for $200. I dont think anyone can come close to that price. Where they cut corners is with the battery. The Ni-MH battery is $50 cheaper than the Li-on battery. If your on a budget its the way to go. If you do a forum search there are a couple of complaints on the Trail Tech set up posted but I would probably buy early enough to check it out. I think Trail Tech sold all the stuff separately with the cost coming about the same, not sure which battery they had. Once you get the HID set up for the helmet your bar mount will basically be your backup, in fact you might find you can just shut it off during the race. The helmet light is pretty much mandatory because if you flat or break a chain you are almost SOL with a bar mount.

 

[miSSionary]

If you are serious about this type of racing you need to go with an HID, just my 2 cents but I can't count how many times someone is trying to save a hundred bucks on a light and then realize that they didn't get what they needed. So now the $250 has turned to $650...Great Deal!! ut: Anywhoo, it is big money, you may want to demo one first, if you do beware...you will be buying one. Good luck.

 

[Milkman]

Thanks the race went great so did the light

I just wanted to say thanks especially to borregokid. I got the trail tech and it totally rocked the house. I did the 24 of nine mile. and found the run time and charge time perfect. My only issues (and these are nit picky) The switch is too close to the battery when it's in a hydration pack I think i'm going to make a new cable, and the battery is a little heavy. I know I could have got a lith ion from batspace but I trust the good guys at trail tech I think if I have a problem they will take care of me a bit better knowing everything is theirs. all in all the light exceeded my expectations. a lot of people moving over on the trail before I got close to them but the light was so good they thought I was right behind them. I used a product called fusion 142 to fill a vent on my helmet and then sanded it down for a nice surface to put the light. And also burrogo kid was right I had a 1 watt led on the bar but I turned it off because the hid just over powered it. How often do you get it right the first time not often Thanks again