NiteRider Lumina 650NiteRider has been around since the days when bike batteries were the size of water bottles. The advent of LED lighting systems has made big, bulky batteries a thing of the past, with modern lights burning brighter and weighing less than ever before. The NiteRider Lumina 650 fits in the middle of NiteRider's bike light lineup. It is a rechargeable, self-contained (
the battery is built in) light which can be run helmet or handlebar mounted (
both mounts are included). The light has 5 total settings – high, medium, low, blink, and walk. As the name implies, the Lumina 650 has 650 lumens of light output at its high setting. At this setting, run time is 1.5 hours. At the medium setting, light output is 400 lumens with a 3 hour run time. The low setting drops light output to 200 lumens, but run time is 5.5 hours. When the battery capacity drops to 15-20% the blue indicator light turns red, and when the battery level drops even further, the light will automatically go to the low setting, locking out the high and medium beams. Actual weight for the Lumina 650 is 138 grams without any mounting hardware, and charging time via USB is 5.5 hours. MSRP $139.99 USD.
NiteRider.com |
| The Lumina 650 isn't as powerful as some larger options out there, but it is far lighter and more compact. The helmet mount needs further refinement before we can fully recommend this light. |
 | The arrival of shorter days and longer nights in the Northern Hemisphere means that night riding season is upon us. There's no better way to make trails you've ridden hundreds of times in the daylight feel completely foreign than to mount up a light and head out into the darkness. The majority of our rides with the Lumina 650 took place on technical singletrack in a heavily wooded area, riding conditions where the more light, the better. For more open areas, less technical trails or commuting, 650 lumens will provide plenty of illumination, but we preferred to pair the Lumina with another light to eradicate as much darkness as possible. The Lumina's beam pattern is even and wide, providing excellent trail coverage. The handlebar mount was easy to install and remained secure throughout the test. We appreciated the handlebar mount's ability to swivel side to side - it simplified the effort needed to find the right light position. We were less satisfied with the helmet mount. While the mount attaches easily and securely to the helmet, the light was able to move forward and backward on the mount. There was a noticeable (we could hear and feel it) clunk when the light slid back and forth. This would also bounce the beam up and down, creating less than ideal lighting conditions. A zip tie around the light and the mount snugged things up, but we didn't feel we should need to resort to MacGyver fixes on a brand new light. Burn times were close to NiteRider's claims, although we did notice there wasn't much time between the indicator light turning red and the high and medium beams getting locked out. The Lumina 650's reasonable price and small size make it an excellent choice for the rider looking to add another light to their system, or as a backup light, just in case a long ride turns into an epic adventure. - Mike Kazimer |
ODI Lock-On fork bumpersBest known for their extensive lineup of lock-on grips, ODI's product range now includes lock-on fork bumpers. Designed to replace the stock fork bumpers on dual crown forks with 40mm (
Fox) or 35mm stanchions (
RockShox BoXXer), the bumpers can be installed without removing the fork crown. A single 3mm hex key snugs it into place, keeping total installation time to less than 5 minutes. The elastomer bumpers are available in black, blue, white and red, so you can color coordinate with your bike and race kit. Eyelets are built in to the front of the plastic ring which holds the bumper to provide a spot to secure a race number place. Made in the USA. Weight: 32 grams (
pair). MSRP $15.49.
ODIGrips.com  |
| Simple, effective, and inexpensive; the ODI fork bumpers make a lot of sense. |
| ODI's lock-on fork bumpers fall into the ''Why didn't I think of that?'' category. Anyone who has struggled to move a fork bumper into the proper position has thought ''there must be an easier way.'' ODI thought the same thing, but then they did something about it. The bumpers installed easily and remained in place with no twisting or slipping throughout our testing period. Of course, as with any fork bumper, you'll want to make sure the bumpers contact your frame in a spot that's strong enough to handle some force - you don't want to put a dent in your fancy race machine. Once installed, the bumpers even gave us a little extra turning radius, as they're a few millimeters shorter than the stock bumper on the BoXXer we put them on. For the gram counters out there, the ODI bumpers weigh a miniscule 10 grams more than the stock bumpers on a BoXXer. - Mike Kazimer |
Hydrapak E-Lite VestHydrapak's E-Lite Vest is a hydration pack stripped to the bare minimum. The E-Lite Vest has a sleeve in the back designed to hold Hydrapak's one liter, BPA and PVC free reservoir. The E-Lite Vest has two zippered front pockets on the shoulder straps, along with four smaller elasticized pockets intended to hold energy gels or bars. The reservoir's hose has a small magnet attached to it which allows it to stick to another small magnet clipped onto the pack's sternum or shoulder straps. MSRP $59.99
Hydrapak.com  |
| Perhaps too minimalist in its design, the E-Lite Vest would benefit from a pocket or two. |
| The E-Lite Vest's small size and limited water carrying capacity make it best suited for shorter (less than 2 hour) rides. You're not going to be able to load this up with all the tools, parts, pads and food needed for an all day ride (but that's not its intended use). This vest will keep you hydrated for a hotlap on your local trails, but that's about it. At first, we were concerned the lack of a waist belt would make the E-Lite Vest shift around on technical terrain, but the vest's small size helped keep it in place. The vest doesn't sit low enough that a waist belt would work - the vest only extends to about mid-back (depending on the user's height). Given the small size of the vest, we found the the length of the tube on the reservoir to be out of proportion. It's much too long - we were able to keep it out of the way by affixing the magnet to the far side of the sternum strap, but we would have preferred it to be short enough to remain on the right shoulder strap. It's easy enough to trim the hose, but it would be nice if this was already done. When we were loading up the vest to head out on a ride, we realized there wasn't any dedicated gear pocket on the back. The reservoir pocket has a hole on each side of it, eliminating the possibility of tossing a small multi-tool in there. We're not huge fans of using under-the-seat bags for mountain biking, so we did everything we could to make our flat fix kit and multi-tool fit into the E-Lite Vest. We managed to squeeze a tube and a pump into the reservoir pocket, and a multi-tool and tire lever into one of the front shoulder strap pockets. On the trail, the vest's light weight was immediately noticeable - a significant difference from the hydration packs we normally wear. The breathability of the shoulder straps and back panel were much appreciated when the temperature climbed. However, we would like to see some refinements before recommending the E-Lite Vest for mountain biking. The addition of a tool pocket and pump holder on the back panel would let the E-Lite Vest retain its minimalist styling, but it would make us more likely to use it on short rides. Without a place for a tube and pump it's basically a water bottle you wear on your back, at which point we'd rather have a traditional water bottle and not have anything on our back. - Mike Kazimer |
