# Helmet mounted light with a remote battery pack for longer rides



## DaleinTexas (Mar 27, 2016)

Like the title says, I'm looking for a helmet mounted light system that has a remote battery pack that can be put into a rear pocket on a jersey for longer use times for endurance racing. Does anyone know of such a light?



Did a quick search and came up with some old threads from 2015, figuring there has to be some newer items on the market..


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## formula4speed (Mar 25, 2013)

Honestly there are a ton of options.

Do you have a budget? How many lumens you think you might want? What kind of run time are you looking for?

I'm a fan of my Gloworm from www.action-led-lights.com but need more info to narrow down what you need.


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## RAKC Ind (Jan 27, 2017)

Here's a good couple options. Wireless remotes, tons of run time available, solid output and good bang for buck:

https://www.rakclighting.com/collections/mountain-bike

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk


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## Cat-man-do (May 16, 2004)

Yes, there are lots of options. I'm a fan of the Gloworm lights and the ITUO lights. I use the ITUO XP3 but the XP2 would make an excellent helmet light as well. If you go Gloworm you can order with the optics you want and the emitter tint as well. ITUO lamps come stock with neutral white emitters ( which are great ) but not sure what optics are stock. Since I use mine on the helmet I have it setup with all spot optics and it absolutely rocks.

Rakc sells the M-Tiger Sports line which he took a lot of time to get setup from the manufacture the way he knew people would want. While I've not tried one of them myself I think they might be worth looking into. ( I believe all M-tigers are setup with NW emitters ) If you don't want NW emitters you might have to look more toward Gloworm or Gemini. That said I'd rather run GWorm than Gemini.

Right now AFAIK you can only get the ITUO lamps on Amazon. Amazon has some in stock right now. Not sure if they come with an extension wire for the helmet but they do come with a helmet mount. Now if you want to order more spot optics you might have to order those either from the manufacture or from another dealer.


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## Outbound (Aug 23, 2017)

The Outbound Trail and Road edition has an extension cord that is purchaseable for the exact purpose you described!

https://www.outboundlighting.com/store/

If you already have a bar mount light then the road lighthead will work great on your helmet for more punch. If your only light then I would suggest the trail version. You'll have an incredible width to work with and not lose that depth perception that happens with a lot of tightly focused spot-like lights.

Can check out the entire thread here: http://forums.mtbr.com/lights-night-riding/outbound-lighting-focal-series-discussion-1055278.html

15% off till we start shipping at the end of the month too!


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## DaleinTexas (Mar 27, 2016)

I'll be using it for a upcoming 24 hr endurance race in the semi desert north west Texas. So I'm guessing a lower lumen light will do the trick to get as much run time as possible. I will start looking at all the suggestions above.. Thanks for all the input!


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## RAKC Ind (Jan 27, 2017)

Dont want something crazy but something like a dual emitter like the DS: https://www.rakclighting.com/products/m-tiger-ds-wireless-1800-lumen-mountain-bike-light-kit

Have 6 cell pack available for it and running mode 2 or 3 would run for 10 hours easily. The light itself weighs next to nothing, put the pack in your pack/Jersey pocket and good to go.

Could even go the bigger tripple emitter light on mode 1/2 and accomplish the same thing.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk


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## MRMOLE (May 31, 2011)

DaleinTexas said:


> I'll be using it for a upcoming 24 hr endurance race in the semi desert north west Texas. So I'm guessing a lower lumen light will do the trick to get as much run time as possible. I will start looking at all the suggestions above.. Thanks for all the input!


You've not mentioned what bar light you are planning on using in combo with the helmet light if any at all. Important information for the best recommendation. Are you doing the race solo or as a team? I do a lot of longish 5-6 hr. night rides and while none of the recommended lights are excessively heavy it's worth mentioning that to me there's a big difference in neck fatigue comparing 70 gram helmet mounted lighthead to a 110 gram (or even a 90 gram) one after riding that long. Of the recommended lights the triples are great for max. throw but are heavier than similar doubles and while they also draw the most current @ their approx. 2500 lumen output they actually draw less than a similar double when set to a similar output of the doubles max so will run longer on a similar battery @ approx. 1600 lumen output. All these lights use xml2 emitters (unavailable Outbound is the exception) and have similar throw/current draw to lumen output when using similar optics. These are all good lights (I own every single one of them / waiting on the Outbound) but if it were me I'd consider something a little different. Compared to the recommended lights the Gloworm Alpha is smaller @ 69 grams (I don't even notice it other than the power cord) and uses a different emitter (xpg3) which produces a tighter more focused beam that allows it's 1200 lumens to have similar throw to the best 1500-1800 lumen xml2 doubles but only drawing about 60% of the current they require so a smaller lighter battery can be used. The triples actually have similar current requirements vs. throw but again are more fatiguing after long hrs. in the saddle. Beam pattern is a bit narrower than a similar xml2 double but more than adequate as long as used with a bar light. Running just a helmet light or riding your race as a team I'd go with a triple.
Mole

https://www.action-led-lights.com/collections/gloworm-lights/products/2018-gloworm-alpha-1200-lumen-bike-light?variant=46351841106


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## DaleinTexas (Mar 27, 2016)

It will be a solo event, and for now the plan is to run just a solo helmet light to cut back on overall weight. I have a friend that has a magicshine MJ900 (72 grams) that I plan on messing with over the next few days on some night rides to see if I like it or another option.

I know in the 24hr I will be well over 100 miles, luckly it will be a 12.5 mile loop so hydration and food are not a big issue. The guy that won my class last year cranked out 187 miles...my goal is to just make the podium.


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## scar (Jun 2, 2005)

If you are looking for a small, light weight, kick ass light that is made by a fellow mountain biker shoot me a PM. Been building them for over 8 years now. Got lots of endurance riders using them. Just had someone finish the AZT 750 using one (on the bars).









***


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## MRMOLE (May 31, 2011)

DaleinTexas said:


> It will be a solo event, and for now the plan is to run just a solo helmet light to cut back on overall weight. I have a friend that has a magicshine MJ900 (72 grams) that I plan on messing with over the next few days on some night rides to see if I like it or another option.
> 
> I know in the 24hr I will be well over 100 miles, luckly it will be a 12.5 mile loop so hydration and food are not a big issue. The guy that won my class last year cranked out 187 miles...my goal is to just make the podium.


FYI all the recommended lights have a considerably different beam pattern compared to a MJ900. Most can be modified with optic changes to go from floody to fairly tight spot style beams while the MJ900 will only give you a flood beam (wide but limited distance) with less overall power than any of the lights previously mentioned. Try the MJ900 and see what you think, lights recommended here should give at least twice the throw distance of the MJ but with a narrower beam and be more efficient on power consumption vs. light output since they all have more than one emitter (MJ only uses one). One thing that might narrow down available choices is do you have a budget limit in mind?
Mole


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## DaleinTexas (Mar 27, 2016)

I had a decent budget set aside for lighting, but when I entered the race I used a large portion of it for a donation. Since then I have spent what was left helping my family prepare for what was coming. The whole reason I entered was my Dad and his fight with cancer, I lost him hours ago..
All I can say now is **** cancer.

Thanks to everyone and their suggestions , I will have to make due with what my friend is loaning me..


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## MRMOLE (May 31, 2011)

DaleinTexas said:


> I had a decent budget set aside for lighting, but when I entered the race I used a large portion of it for a donation. Since then I have spent what was left helping my family prepare for what was coming. The whole reason I entered was my Dad and his fight with cancer, I lost him hours ago..
> All I can say now is **** cancer.
> 
> Thanks to everyone and their suggestions , I will have to make due with what my friend is loaning me..


Sorry Man.
Mole


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## DaleinTexas (Mar 27, 2016)

MRMOLE said:


> Sorry Man.
> Mole


Thanks to Everyone. I learned that there are some genuine real people still left in this world and one of them is a Lighting Sponsor here..

Losing Pops hit pretty hard and Life has been moving forward, work, family..

Update on the light fun, I did use my buddies light the other evening for my first night ride, wow, kinda played with my depth preception but in all it was a learning experience and I was only 4 minutes off of a decent daytime lap.

oh and spiders SUCK too


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## Cat-man-do (May 16, 2004)

scar said:


> If you are looking for a small, light weight, kick ass light that is made by a fellow mountain biker shoot me a PM. Been building them for over 8 years now. Got lots of endurance riders using them. Just had someone finish the AZT 750 using one (on the bars).
> 
> View attachment 1196467
> 
> ...


Scar, love that GoPro helmet mount. Do you sell those? If not can you supply the link. I might like to buy one.


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## RAKC Ind (Jan 27, 2017)

Amazon: "GoPro helmet mount". I have a couple of them. Their the GoPro Official vented helmet mounts

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk


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## Action LED Lights (Nov 11, 2011)

DaleinTexas said:


> Thanks to Everyone. I learned that there are some genuine real people still left in this world and one of them is a Lighting Sponsor here..
> 
> Losing Pops hit pretty hard and Life has been moving forward, work, family..
> 
> ...


DaleinTexas,

That MJ-900 you used is only about 700 lumens at best. You might want to look at the Gloworm Alpha. A true 1200 lumens that would give a solid 4 hours run time at 100% with the 4 cell option. We could pair that for you with a Gemini 8 cell battery (or 2 - 4 cells) and get you double that or program it to run at 60% - 80% to stretch it out even more. (user programable, interchangeable optics)

Sounds like you found a few spider webs on your ride.


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## Cat-man-do (May 16, 2004)

RAKC Ind said:


> Amazon: "GoPro helmet mount". I have a couple of them. Their the GoPro Official vented helmet mounts
> 
> Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk


Took a couple minutes because Amazon has so much to chose from. I had to expand the search to include "straps" but I found a nice setup that includes all the various slide-in mounts and has the locking cam-type straps. Can't wait to get it . I'm tired of messing with the Velcro straps on the ones I use now.


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## RAKC Ind (Jan 27, 2017)

Their not bad but I like the Velcro ones as I leave mine on. Cleaner looking IMO.

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## Vancbiker (May 25, 2005)

Cat-man-do said:


> Took a couple minutes because Amazon has so much to chose from.


For an "add-on" helmet mount, I'd advise sticking with genuine GoPro mounts like shown on Scar's Amoeba light. I've seen or been told of a fair number of poorly made 3rd party mounts.

On a molded plastic GoPro fitting the mold must use zero draft on the tab portion to properly hold the dimension and parallelism needed for a proper and secure fit. Zero draft on a mold section makes ejecting the part from the mold difficult. Cheap mount builders avoid this by adding draft to the tab portion to ease molding at the expense of proper fit and security.


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## Cat-man-do (May 16, 2004)

Vancbiker said:


> For an "add-on" helmet mount, I'd advise sticking with genuine GoPro mounts like shown on Scar's Amoeba light. I've seen or been told of a fair number of poorly made 3rd party mounts.
> 
> On a molded plastic GoPro fitting the mold must use zero draft on the tab portion to properly hold the dimension and parallelism needed for a proper and secure fit. Zero draft on a mold section makes ejecting the part from the mold difficult. Cheap mount builders avoid this by adding draft to the tab portion to ease molding at the expense of proper fit and security.


Yeah, I know but damn, the off brand versions are so cheap I figure it's worth rolling the dice on. If I buy the official Gopro brand stuff it will cost 4X as much. Gopro brand name stuff isn't cheap.

*@Rakc.*., Yeah, the Velcro ones I have ( ITUO ) work okay but sometimes the Velcro will get stuck on something inside the helmet while I'm setting it up and that at times is a PITA. Not to mention that I've had one of the buckles on the ITUO version break before so I tend not to trust it too much ( even though I have a backup if needed ).

The Gopro versions ( with cam buckle ) reminds me of an old DiNotte helmet mount I had at one time. The only down side to using that was that you had a bit of loose strap after you got the mount tightened down. That really wasn't a big issue though. I used to tuck the loose bits under the tightened portion and that seemed to work most of the time.

Anyway, I'm still gonna try the cheapie Gopro. At $9 it's worth trying.


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## MRMOLE (May 31, 2011)

Had my alpha out the other night, what a nice helmet light! I came with this Gloworm Gopro compatible helmet mount that lists for $9.99 on their website. I didn't see it @ Action but I'm sure Jim could get it on request. He carries just the base plate but I didn't see the whole kit. Gloworm quality!
Mole


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## Vancbiker (May 25, 2005)

Cat-man-do said:


> Yeah, I know but damn, the off brand versions are so cheap I figure it's worth rolling the dice on. If I buy the official Gopro brand stuff it will cost 4X as much. Gopro brand name stuff isn't cheap. .......
> 
> Anyway, I'm still gonna try the cheapie Gopro. At $9 it's worth trying.


Yeah, I understand that. My gripe with ordering the cheap stuff is sometimes you have to wait weeks for it to show up and when it finally does and it's crap.....

If one has alternatives they can use while waiting for the dice roll your way then all is good.


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## RAKC Ind (Jan 27, 2017)

That's why if your going to roll the dice with Chinese lottery, use Amazon. Not quite as cheap but at least return/refund is hassle free.

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## MrGT (Aug 19, 2005)

Sweet looking setup Mole. When would you choose the Alpha over say the XS or X2 on the helmet?


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## MRMOLE (May 31, 2011)

MrGT said:


> Sweet looking setup Mole. When would you choose the Alpha over say the XS or X2 on the helmet?


Longer rides. Comfort is the main advantage to the smaller Alpha. 
Mole


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## Cat-man-do (May 16, 2004)

RAKC Ind said:


> Their not bad but I like the Velcro ones as I leave mine on. Cleaner looking IMO.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk


Well it finally happened, the original ITUO Gopro mount I have just had the other strap break as I was tightening with the buckle... I can still use it by just using another piece of "real " ( not Chinese ) Velcro but by not having a buckle it makes it real hard to get it tight enough so the mount doesn't move.

hmmm....I just reattached the broken piece together again using metal staples. Don't know how long it will hold up but it's working for now.


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## Cat-man-do (May 16, 2004)

Vancbiker said:


> Yeah, I understand that. My gripe with ordering the cheap stuff is sometimes you have to wait weeks for it to show up and when it finally does and it's crap.....
> 
> If one has alternatives they can use while waiting for the dice roll your way then all is good.


Well I rolled the dice with the cheap helmet Gopro mount and here's what I got. I bought the Gopro helmet ( strap type ) mount from Amazon that was a bundle package. Some good and some bad. The strap mount itself seems to work fine although I wish the platform that holds the mount had some rubber or foam under it to help keep it from sliding although I can likely fix this myself. The bad part is that the smaller Gopro slide-mount won't work right. Seems when the lamp is mounted into the slots the adjustable screw won't reach the nut on the other side. Other than that all the slide mounts slide into the mount platform with no problem.

Looks like the nut on the other side is not embedded far enough into the mount for the screw to meet when using a lamp. From what I can tell it's not fixable. The longer slide mount ( the one that is off-set ) that came in the set works fine, go figure. Sad because I prefer the smaller lower profile mount. Looks like I'll have to go through Amazon to get another slide mount. If I'm lucky the seller will just send me another set for free ( and then hope like hell the replacement doesn't do the same thing ). In the mean time I can still use the setup but it will mean I have to use it with the lamp sitting a little more forward on the helmet than what I usually prefer.

( **edit...what the hell, Amazon didn't charge me for the original order nor do they show any record of it being sent or ordered....very strange. Can't complain if you have no records showing it was even ordered. meh....I just went ahead and ordered another one. The set was less than $10 so I'm not going to lose sleep over this if it doesn't turn out. I just hope the next one they send has a working smaller slide mount.....( shaking dice )....7 come 11... )


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## Action LED Lights (Nov 11, 2011)

MRMOLE said:


> Had my alpha out the other night, what a nice helmet light! I came with this Gloworm Gopro compatible helmet mount that lists for $9.99 on their website. I didn't see it @ Action but I'm sure Jim could get it on request. He carries just the base plate but I didn't see the whole kit. Gloworm quality!
> Mole
> 
> View attachment 1198754


I'll try and make it easier to find but we do have the Gloworm Universal Helmet Mount.


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## Cat-man-do (May 16, 2004)

Action LED Lights said:


> I'll try and make it easier to find but we do have the Gloworm Universal Helmet Mount.


That could work. I'll keep this in mind if the new one I have on order doesn't work.


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## Cat-man-do (May 16, 2004)

Continued from my previous posts: 

I just had a good laugh. I needed it too because the weather outside just continues to suck every time a weekend comes around but I digress...
Amazon dropped off the replacement Gopro helmet mount set and just now I hurried to see if the new one was going to do the same as the first one I already had. Good news, bad news. The good news is that the lower profile slide mount actually works on the new set. (Yeah!)...the bad news is that the one I had on the mount ( the off-set mount ) at the time broke as I was removing it.

I guess that means that the plastic these things are made of is brittle as hell. Not that I couldn't tell that when I bought the first one but I was hoping that this stuff would at least last a season. Well...I guess I can kiss that idea goodby.  Seeing that the first one broke so easily I'm going to try to be real careful with the new one. Sadly I have a feeling that once I start tightening the straps that at some point, either the base plate or the buckle will break. Such is life when you buy on the cheap. Anyway if any of that happens at least I know where to buy the better stuff. In the mean time I have back ups so I'm ready if these new ones crash and burn.


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## Cat-man-do (May 16, 2004)

Just a quick follow up on the cheap Gopro mount;

I believe I mentioned before that when I use the Gopro mount on my helmet that the base plate ( the part that holds the slide mount for the lamp ) tends to slide a bit, even after tightening the straps. Today while looking around for a piece of rubber off an old tube to see if it might help I stumbled across something I had laying around that I had completely forgot about...."friction tape". In my case I still have half a roll of the "Lizardskins" brand that I bought at the local sporting goods store. Sticky on one side with an almost leather like material on the other, this stuff totally rocks. Base plate is now rock solid and won't slide around on the helmet at all. Works so good I just had to pass the tip on to others who also might have the same problem.


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## DaleinTexas (Mar 27, 2016)

Cat-man-do said:


> Just a quick follow up on the cheap Gopro mount;
> 
> I believe I mentioned before that when I use the Gopro mount on my helmet that the base plate ( the part that holds the slide mount for the lamp ) tends to slide a bit, even after tightening the straps. Today while looking around for a piece of rubber off an old tube to see if it might help I stumbled across something I had laying around that I had completely forgot about...."friction tape". In my case I still have half a roll of the "Lizardskins" brand that I bought at the local sporting goods store. Sticky on one side with an almost leather like material on the other, this stuff totally rocks. Base plate is now rock solid and won't slide around on the helmet at all. Works so good I just had to pass the tip on to others who also might have the same problem.


I'm guessing it varies with helmet design and location of the vents, I had zero issues with mine but your fix sounds like it worked great.


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## Desert City MTB (May 30, 2018)

This is one of my favourites, it's light in weight and very bright, also it's configurable and comes with an awesome bar mount remote.

https://gemini-lights.com/products/duo?variant=17556518727


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