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[ # ] Winter Biking Tips: Bike Lights
November 29th, 2006 under bike commuting, biking, cycling


The eco-warrior blog on the TimesOnline has posted 10 tips on how to be a winter biker. Good stuff. It looks like the problems I noticed are fairly universal: keeping hands and feet warm.

Other than those two, the biggest challenge I’ve encountered is the lack of light. My commute from Eden Prairie to Minneapolis is almost entirely on a rails to trails trail with little lighting. For some reason, suburbs don’t seem to find the money to invest in lighting the trail with Minneapolis does.

Since I’m on trails rather than the road, my biggest concern is having a head-on collision with another biker or plowing into a dog walker or runner. All could be ugly for all parties involved. I decided to pick up this cateye light to help make myself more visible to oncoming trail traffic and cast some light on the trail:

CatEye Bike Head Light HL-EL500

What I like about this light is that it’s easy to install, runs on four AA batteries, so it’s easy to keep charged (I use rechargeables), and it’s pretty darn bright.

I’ve mounted it on my fork just above my breaks to keep it from sliding down. This worked out well because I already have a handlebar bag crowding out room on my handlebars. The only challenge with the fork mounted position is getting the light to point down or straight rather than up due to the angle of the fork. The mount can be adjusted with a screwdriver to correct for this, so you shouldn’t have any problems unless you have a particularly curvy fork.


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    Read the Comments

    [ # 23 ] Comment from sportcrazy [November 30, 2006, 8:04 am]

    Not a bad light, throws a decent spot. I’ve recently upgraded to a “big boy” HID from Light and Motion, this thing provides plenty of light to see the trails by in the pitch black - I’m very happy with it :)

    My review: http://sportcrazy.net/cycling/review-light-and-motion-arc-nimh/

    Al.

    [ # 24 ] Comment from Ed Kohler [November 30, 2006, 11:04 am]

    Al, thanks for stopping by. Great review of the Light & Motion ARC. Thanks for pointing that out. If I was touring rather than commuting, I’d definitely step up to the light you recommend or something similar. I can’t imagine riding somewhere like rural roads in Ireland without something brighter than the current Cateye light I’m using now.

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