Kurt's Take: The best lights for bikepacking, ultraracing, and all-around night riding

[@robertbergman1305]

Thanks Kurt. Great info! That 65T V2 should be a great mtb combo with my Outbound bar light or night gravel rides😀

[@PMK7734]

I've been using the Princeton Tech Snap system lately. I love the versatility of a light that can be a bicycle headlight, a headlamp and a tent lantern. I just have to carry some extra AAA batteries. The magnet is very strong and holds everything in its place.

[@slowwerthensnot]

The technology with lights is just amazing, i remember running HID setups in 24 hours! Completely agree on the dynamo opinion

[@kurt.refsnider]

Seriously!!

[@nicholaslegan1339]

Thanks for sharing Kurt!

[@AVHayek84]

I agree on the dynamo. I have one and like it, but I wouldn't buy it again if I was re-building my bike. I had figured the dynamo started to pay off at around 4 days, its good to hear your assessment is similar.

[@kurt.refsnider]

Agreed. I've got a wheel with a dynamo, and I rarely use it on any trips. But for longer trips with a lot of fast miles, dynamos can indeed be a great option for charging if that's something that's needed.

[@schattenspender_ch]

I basically use the same setup and on longer tours I also take a Fenix ARE-D1 battery charger which supports USB charging and discharging. This means I can also charge my smartphone or GPS using the lamp batteries if necessary.

[@kurt.refsnider]

Yup, that kind of versatility is so nice to have on long tours

[@garycasperson4106]

Thanks for the review and the explanation. I just started gravel racing this year (as a retirement project) and after lots of research bought a BC26R a couple of months ago. My thinking is very similar to yours in terms of liking the swappable batteries with USB-C charging. If I start doing more riding in the dark, I’m pretty much going to copy your setup. The ultra-cyclist Watt Wagon relies on the Fenix headlamp as well.

[@kurt.refsnider]

I think you'll love that pair you bought!

[@DaveHarris7]

Nice breakdown, Kurt. Do either of the lights have pass through charging?

[@kurt.refsnider]

As far as I understand, they're not designed specifically to dissipate the additional heat from that, but in my experience with this handlebar light, it does indeed work...maybe just not as well on warmer nights?

[@kurt.refsnider]

My understanding is that they're not designed with that in mind (specifically to dissipate the additional heat), but in my single quick test, the handlebar light can do that.

[@niclashjerdt]

I noticed Fenix sells some rechargeable batteries with the option of "usb-c charging" and others without this option. What type works with the headlamp you use?

[@kurt.refsnider]

Both work - some just have a USB charging input on the battery itself so you can charge the battery on its own

[@dw-adventures]

Is this what you used on the contentenial divide trail? And if you did how many batteries did you bring? Thanks for sharing your knowledge too!

[@kurt.refsnider]

Yup, that's the same setup! I didn't do a lot of night riding on that trip until the final few weeks in New Mexico since the days were so dang long for much of it (and I was sleeping 8 hours most nights!). I didn't carry any spare batteries, but I did used an 18650 cell in the handlebar light (instead of the bigger 21700 cell) with the ALF-15 battery adapter so that I could swap batteries between headlamp/handlebar light just in case one died completely. That did come in handy once.

[@ErikaVanMeter]

Hi Kurt! Just wondering if these make for good cold weather lights (ie: ITI, etc)?

[@kurt.refsnider]

Yes, I used these on my tour to Nome and through the -40F night at Fat Pursuit last winter, and they worked great. The run times definitely aren't as long in the cold, but they were still quite reasonable (maybe 60% of what you get at temperatures above freezing?)...and the beauty of night riding in the snow as you know is that you need so little light, so running these on low was more light than needed!

[@ErikaVanMeter]

@@kurt.refsniderThanks Kurt! Might have to get these two lights!

[@alakshak333]

Thanks Kurt! Are those models rechargeable?

[@kurt.refsnider]

They sure are, and you can easily swap out for fresh batteries on the fly if you're carrying spares.