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Lighting for Unsupported Events
edited by John Hughes
If you are riding a 24 hour race, BAM, BMB, or PBP, you are going ride at night. In these events, you're self-contained - you don't have a pace van with headlights, rear flashers, and spare bike lights. Having a good lighting system(s) is essential! Veterans of BAM, BMB and PBP give their recommendations.
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System Requirements - John Bayley
Cateye and Helmet Lamp System - John Hughes
Nite-Rider Super Sport and Cateye HL-500 II Headlights - John Bayley
Generator Lights and Schmidt Hub - John Bayley
Night-Rider Dual Beam - Jodi Groesbeck
VistaLite 6-volt System - Ed Kross
System Requirements - John Bayley
Long burn-time is the first requirement. In these events it is typically 60-120 miles/100-200 km between checkpoints. You need a minimum of 4 hours of continuous light or up to 10 hours for a full night's unsupported riding.
Reliability is an obvious requirement; however, if you talk to enough riders, you will hear of problems with every available lighting system. Don't rely on any one light. Always use two completely independent lighting systems with no common point of failure, front and rear. Having two rear lights is especially important because it is not always immediately obvious to you, the rider, if one fails when riding on your lonesome. Carrying spare bulbs is also a good idea. and a requirement in many events. Know how to replace bulbs on the side of the road and have the necessary tools.
Versatility is also important. A lamp that can be used to read a map, route sheet or street sign, or to help in night-time puncture repairs is also indispensable. If it can also double as a useable backup light - for example, a Petzl climbing/caving headlight - all the better.
Visibility is critical: reflective tape on the cranks, spokes, forks and seat stays, A reflective Illuminite jacket is particularly useful, combining wind shedding and reflective abilities.
Finally, the most objective requirement is decent light output. In order to ride through the night, one must go with lower power lights than one might otherwise use. Don't become obsessed by power/wattage figures. What matters are the Seymours, the useful light that ends up on the road. This can be maximised by mounting the light low, which creates a longer pool of light and which makes picking out holes and bumps easier by casting shadows because the lamp is now further from your line of sight.
Light weight is also important. Lugging heavy equipment up the 30,000 or so feet of climbing in BMB/PBP is no fun
A Simple Cateye and Helmet Lamp System - John Hughes I've used a 6 volt generator driven by the tire sidewall, which slipped in the rain and drove me crazy. No problem, I substituted a 6 volt lantern battery next time . . . but, you can't buy these at the controls, so I carried a spare. Too heavy. Now I use two Cateye or Vista lights on the handlebars. One light will last about half the night and is adequate for riding in a pace line or climbing. The second unit is my spare batteries and bulb. On the rear, I have non-flashing Vista LED taillight and a Cateye. I also attach a mountaineering lamp (from REI) to my helmet with zip ties and the battery pack goes in my jersey pocket. The light has a switch: I turn it on when descending or leading a pace line and off the rest of the night. With 2 lithium D-cells it will last for two nights. I can point the helmet light farther down the road for descents and around corners before the handlebar light gets there. I use it to illuminate the route sheet and cyclometer, scan the roadside for route arrows, flash at oncoming cars with their brights on, and to see to fix a flat. Nite-Rider Super Sport and Cateye HL-500 II Headlights - John Bayley The Cateye HL-500 II with optional 4 D-cell battery holder is another possibility, though not one that I've used myself. It uses a 2.4W bulb and the light itself will also take 4 AA batteries, which might be a useful feature in a squeeze. The drawback to the above battery lights is that the voltage of alkaline batteries declines as they are used, resulting in the light getting dimmer as the night goes on. To get around this, you could use a voltage regulator which will provide a steady voltage level to the bulb; however, this approach requires not inconsiderable electronic knowledge and working ability. Information on voltage regulators . Several other options are available by mail order from abroad. The AXA HR, Nordlicht 2000 and Union Turbo tyre sidewall driven models are all simple and efficient. However, they can be a little more tricky to mount than the bottom bracket models unless your frame has cantilever brakes, in which case a neat bracket called a Dynashoe, which attaches to the cantilever braze-on, is available. The ultimate generator setup and arguably the ultimate randonneur setup is the hub generator made by Schmidt in Germany. I have been using one myself and I have found it completely smooth and quiet in operation. It is 65% efficient and its drag when the light is switched on is equivalent to climbing 6 feet per mile. I can't tell when mine is switched on - except that there is a bright swatch of light out in front of me. The hub and light cost ~$180 and you need to factor in the cost of a rim, spokes and maybe wheel building on top of that, but I reckon that mine will pay for itself in very short order.
Riding five PBPs, I've observed that:
I've used the Nite-Rider Super Sport extensively. This takes 5 alkaline D-cell batteries, which, in combination with a 5W bulb, will enable one to ride through the night. However, I have had one battery case with bad contacts, the batteries can be difficult to change (Duracell being easier to fit and remove than EverReady), the light mount is just adequate at best and the lighting head requires a non-metric allen key in order to change the bulb.
The ability to ride all night without worrying about batteries running out can be quite liberating as can be the simple pleasure of generating your own light. The most common generator in the US is the Union/Marwi bottom bracket model which runs off of the centre of the tyre. These work well, though they are in the worst possible position for attracting dirt and mud, and on bikes with short chainstays they can make fitting and removal of the rear wheel difficult.
I use a dual-beam Nite-Rider equipped with 5- and 12-watt bulbs, a pretty bright light. I have two batteries of my own and I've been able to borrow spares from friends to stash in my bags at the checkpoints. I try to plan my ride beforehand so I can figure out when I'll need a battery. Of course, it's a rare race that goes according to plan so, beginning with the first night, I always have a back-up light with me: a Petzl headlamp works well - you can direct it at your cue sheet and also at those confusing street signs in the Boston suburbs. Remember to stash lots of extra batteries and bulbs for the headlamp in your checkpoint bags.
I recommend starting with a 6-volt system because it is easy to find commercial batteries for a bargain. There are two ways to go - disposable lantern batteries (about $5~7 each) or rechargeable.
I use a VistaLite 2-lamp system which came with a 5 amp-hour rechargeable battery and battery charger. One lamp is 6 watts and the other is 10 watts. If you plan to ride all night, this system won't do it for you. My VistaLite system lasts just under two hours with both lights on continuously. Even if you only use the 6 watt light, it will last 5 hours.
You need another battery pack and these VistaLite battery packs come at a price. A cheaper way out may be to use alkaline lantern batteries. The Duracell MN908 has a 13 amp-hour rating; however, it cannot handle a load of more than about one amp. The solution for a two-light system here would be to carry two such batteries (one in each bottle cage - they fit just right). One battery will burn for about 6 hours with the 6-watt light. Since I do not use the 10-watt light continuously (about half the time), I can get about the same out of its battery as well. Count on four of these batteries to get you through a summer night.
Connect the batteries to the lights with 18 gauge zip cord from Radio Shack (not thinner wire). They also have the connectors to fit the VistaLite (Cat. No. 274-1573A, coaxial DC power plugs, 5.5 mm O.D, 2.5 mm I.D.) and some alligator clips to attach the wires to the batteries.
There are a couple of limitations to disposable batteries. First, they perform poorly in cold temperatures (lasting only half as long at 32F than at room temperature). Second, they do drop some voltage under heavy load such as your lights. This means that they won't burn as bright as the lead-acid rechargeable that comes with the lights.
What I did was go down to Home Depot's emergency lighting section and bought a few lead-acid rechargeable 6-volt, 10 amp-hour batteries at about $18 each. Then I found some nylon pouches at a sporting goods store and sewed some Velcro slings around them so I could hang them from the top tube of my bike, just like the original battery pack. I also used a 2-circuit connector between the pack and my lighting harness for quick battery changes, and put an in-line 5-amp fuse just as a precaution. I use the charger that came with my lights since it was designed for lead-acid batteries already. (If your system doesn't have a lead-acid battery, do not use the charger for the batteries I mentioned here. Fire can result!)
Total cost: $30 per pack, not much more than four disposable lantern batteries. Total weight: approximately three pounds, compared to two pounds for two lantern batteries.
And for the rear light, use an LED-type with fresh batteries. It will last a couple of nights. Even better is two of these.
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Contacts for generator lights
Peter White Cycles Schmidt (dynohub)
666 Mass Ave.
Acton, MA 01720
USA
E-mail Peter@PeterWhiteCycles.com
Peter White Cycles website
Cyclists' Touring Club, (Schmidt dynohub, Dynashoe bracket and other miscellany)
69, Meadrow,
Godalming,
Surrey GU7 3HS,
UK
Phone from the US: 011-44-1483-426-994
Cyclist's Touring Club website
St. John St. Cycles, (Union Turbo generators, Shimano Nexus dynohubs)
91-93 St. John Street,
Bridgwater,
Somerset TA6 5HX,
UK
Phone: 011-44-1278-441-501
St. John St. Cycles website
Longstaff Cycles, (AXA generators)
Albert Street,
Chesterton,
Newcastle-under-Lyme,
Staffs. ST5 7UF,
UK
Phone: 011-44-1782-561-966
FAX: 011-44-1782-566-044