I was just finishing some more bits on my book (yes, I'm writing a book) and one of the things I've written and just re-read is

Looking back, it’s hard to see how bikepacking in general and the world of ITT in particular, could have become what it now is, were it not for the developments in lighting.

Just think about that for a second. Where would the world of ITT be if we were still strapping a kilo of lead and acid to our bikes in the hope of producing two hours of dim halogen light?

It’s a very good point

But I believe gps technology is a significant influence as well

I do not miss my early days of racing at night with lights that feel like the equivalent of having a glowworm in ajar attached to my bike.

I remember doing my paper round and wondering if the weekly wage was enough to cover the cost of the D cells in my Evereadys!

Oh, so true. Dunno about ITTs but bike travel too. Back in 1990 trying to get from San Francisco to Anchorage before winter set it, I had a mid-sized Mag-lite torch that I had Heath Robinson'ed to my handle bars with two big rubber bands.

It was the best lighting I could afford, and having experienced the joys of 1970s dynamo lights as a kid, I was thankful for it.

But it did chew through batteries, and had a habit of slowly fading, fading ... then nothing. One early evening, sundown at 6pm, I had to ride about 15 miles on a miserable rutted icy road to get to my overnighter in the arse end of nowhere with about 10ft of visibility, if that. Easily the scariest thing Ive done on a bike, given the trucks coming the other way and overtaking me.

If I was doing that again (I'm not doing that again) it would be a modern dyno hub powering something great and recharging a back-up which would be equally great.

But I believe gps technology is a significant influence as well

Yes, that too Dave. Quite hard / interesting to imagine what things would be like without (apart from slower). If we still all used 30w Cat eyes, I suppose the now quite common tactic of going without sleep wouldn't have emerged?

Did distance racers use dynamos 10-15 years ago? My L+M Secca 1400 is still a very good light with a Lith-Ion battery and it's 10+ years old, but the recharge time could count it out for ITTs needing a few rounds of over 6hrs of light vs someone with a dynamo (assuming the route wasn't so technical that a dynamo wouldn't cut it).

My Exposure packed up (ha) on night 2 of the HLC so I had to ride the rest on a miraculously lucky find of some SWAT-looking torch at the roadside. Maybe 80-100 lumens. Mounted to my helmet with a zip tie which is a crap place for your only light source. Made night riding really tiring, really wasn't good towards the end. Still perhaps better than the average pre-Cree lights.

Back in the late 80's me and my mates would spend our pocket money in Tandy trying to develop the brightest lights for our ATBs

Lumicycle changed the game for me. I can still remember being blown away by the Ridgeway at night after saving up for my first set. I feel they should get more credit fir leading the charge (sic) on modern lights

Dave Barter wrote: ↑Wed Jan 27, 2021 8:51 pm Lumicycle changed the game for me. I can still remember being blown away by the Ridgeway at night after saving up for my first set. I feel they should get more credit fir leading the charge (sic) on modern lights

I remember getting the Lumicycle Halide light. Unbelievably expensive at the time, but it enabled me to get out at night. At the time I thought it was amazing, but it would probably be pretty poor by today's standards.

Dave Barter wrote: ↑Wed Jan 27, 2021 8:51 pm Lumicycle changed the game for me. I can still remember being blown away by the Ridgeway at night after saving up for my first set. I feel they should get more credit fir leading the charge (sic) on modern lights

I would agree with you there Dave, they seemed to be one of the first companies to develop off-road specific mtb lighting systems. Then Exposure came along with their 'cable free' units to take it a step further.
Mind you, these days you can light up the night with the lumens available; if I'm in front on a night ride these days I end up riding in my own shadow

When I moved house last year I found one of my old Petzl Zoom headtorches. I'd forgotten how big and heavy they are, and as mentioned above, the expensive of the batteries, never mind the availability. I was lucky to live in Cumbria with easy access to a few climbing and outdoor shops that stocked them, but for most people they were probably a mail order item.
They seemed really good until I got my first LED headtorch, at which point it was chucked into a box and forgotten about, and modern headtorches are so much better than those first generation ones.

Still got my Lumicycle halogen copies (but binned the battery) - used to spend ages searching for the right halogen downlighter bulbs. (12W spot and 20W flood worked well). Then upped the game with a HID light (bought from the US on a test trip) - still got that as well as you can't even give these things away.
LEDs & Lithium batteries have changed the game - small, light, long runtimes and durable. And can be cheap.

Looking forward to reading about all this in the legendary book at some point!

I remember three of us riding down the track towards Craig with those Petzl torches as our only illumination one January, terrified we couldn't see where we were going but also panicking we wouldn't make it back to our hotel in time for food. It made for an exciting post-Munro ride out.

My first "proper" bike lights, that I actually bought to go mountain biking, were the Blackburn X6. A 3W spot on the helmet and 3W flood on the bars. It felt amazing. Suddenly a whole new world opened up. Folk thought I was crazy heading into the hills at night. It took a couple of years before I'd regularly see other folks lights when out and about. Battery life was still pretty poor though and it was always a balance of time and distance, trying to juggle settings to make sure I had enough light to get home. I guess modern lights have just extended that range - a lot. With my current Exposures even the low power settings are great so range seems massive.

Looking forward to reading about all this in the legendary book at some point!

Really, don't get too excited Steve. Although, Dee did do some layouts last week and it was really nice to see it laid out and looking like a book with proper pictures an' stuff

Similar to above - Petzl Zoom, Lumicycle halogens (yes I enjoyed all the tinkering with different bulbs too!), avoided the HIDs luckily, then Lumi Explorer, and finally added the usual Joystick. Use Joystick or Explorer more or less at random.

We had a thread about lights a while ago didn't we. One thing that was said by me and others (not many admittedly!) was that there was something very enjoyable riding with very low lighting in the dark. Atmospheric. Also as Stu I think mentioned, OK it's dark, well stop then! Enjoy the evening. Have a brew. Have a beer. Look at the stars.

RIP wrote: ↑Thu Jan 28, 2021 12:43 pm something very enjoyable riding with very low lighting in the dark.

I always think that's the point of riding (or running) at night. I have the minimum light I can get away with. If you have enough light that's it's like day time then is that a night ride? Or just a day ride in the night?

sean_iow wrote: ↑Thu Jan 28, 2021 12:58 pm

RIP wrote: ↑Thu Jan 28, 2021 12:43 pm something very enjoyable riding with very low lighting in the dark.

I always think that's the point of riding (or running) at night. I have the minimum light I can get away with. If you have enough light that's it's like day time then is that a night ride? Or just a day ride in the night?

That depends. If you're stuck working all day and it's dark before you've even finished then night might be the only chance you get. If you still want to get in some decent distance or you have a particular route in mind or even just want to engage in some gnarr then yes, I suppose you are just day-riding at night.

If I'm out with my time-constrained buddies then I usually tone it down on the ride back (to the pub) to make sure I enjoy the night bit.

The Petzl Zoom was a game changer for climbers when it came out in the mid 1980s - prior to that you had poor lights that connected to bell batteries! It also won "Lambing aid of the year" in Farmers' Weekly Pretty well every farmer had one, Lyon Equipment (the importers) must have wondered what was going on! These days probably every tradesman has LED headtorch.

First of the "modern" LED lights I got was the Hope Vision 2, being nearby all the locals had "ex-factory" purchases I'd get home from work, changed and out of the door in under fifteen minutes for a night run.

ScotRoutes wrote: ↑Thu Jan 28, 2021 1:02 pm or even just want to engage in some gnarr then yes, I suppose you are just day-riding at night.

I fully understand that, I turn my lights up when needed, but I've seen people riding up a fire-road at walking pace with about 3000 lumens blasting out, perhaps they're just scared of the dark

Oh, there's definitely that. Folk can't understand why I don't feel afraid riding and running in the dark. The whole concept of bivvying is just too far beyond their comprehension

Me and a couple of mates made up lights using two union dynamo lights with 3W halogen bulbs powered by 5 high capacity D cells in a bit of drain pipe with glued on end caps...... After every ready night riders it was great.

Funnily enough my lighting epiphany was a lumicycle light too.

jameso wrote: ↑Wed Jan 27, 2021 7:23 pm Did distance racers use dynamos 10-15 years ago?

Audaxers certainly did. State of the art back then was a Schmidt (or maybe Shimano) dynohub with either multiple halogen headlamps with a homebrew switch or one of the new breed of LED lights, like Solidlights or Supernova. IIRC, Busch and Muller had LED headlamps available too.

From my very first ride with the Blackburns



I think the snow cover flattered them somewhat. It's generally easier to see where you're going when it's all covered in snow.

Lummi halogens got me out but cree homekits and Troutie lights were the game changer for me [ and what i still use inc the batteries which seem determined not to die ]
Personally I think you can have way too much light as part of the fun is its still actually dark and almost all my night rides are local so I dont need that much.
For me , as a late to MTB as, i was a roadie the big game changer was suspension- a very controversial choice for on here