We are about to head to Germany/France for 4 weeks of touring and I’m still yet to come up with a front light solution.
We are riding Canyon Grail Al’s - very standard bikes (no hover bar) but with handlebar bags, out front compter mounts, etc, and there is no way to mount a front light via the bars (without half the beam hitting the bag, etc).
I know there are accessory mounts that rise up above the bars but that’s an ugly solution. The forks (carbon) do not have a crown mount hole so I can’t fit a light there and it’s a thru-axle so all the QR mounts don’t work either. No mounts down the side of the fork either.
So, given my limited options I’m hoping I can find something I can strap to the head tube. The light doesn’t need to be mega bright and I won’t be riding for long periods of time after dark. It’s more to be used in a tunnel, back to our accommodation of an evening after dinner, to see a bit as we cruise along in suburban streets after dark, etc.
Any suggestions for lights or a way to mount something?
If you have the RouteWerks handlebar bag, it offers multiple stable locations to mount a front light. But that of course will require purchasing a new bag and it may not be compatible with your existing cockpit setup.
If you have space on the stem, you can put some kind of bike computer stem mount temporarily for the bike computer while you use the out front mount for the front light. Every Garmin head unit comes with a stem mount that is attached to the stem by a couple of rubber bands.
Yes I have a box of assorted mounts, o-rings, rubber straps, etc from 15 years of cycling purchasing (too good to throw, into the stuff box it goes), but I still end up with a light beam hitting the bag.
Maybe something like these would help? They do toggle between white and red (front/rear) modes easily, with decent run times. They’re also shipped with various mounts, which could suit the front facing curvature of the headtube/fork.
The supplied o-rings might be a little small for what you’re intending to use them for, so you’d probably have to find a larger one; o-rings tend to be pretty cheap wherever you are anyway (and available from most hardware stores).
Please post a photo of your bike’s frontend with bags @David_Rafferton
Hard to see a solution without moving your bags / swapping to a different one that doesn’t block any decent light.
One thing you can think about is adding an accessory bar or a rigid bag holster to your handlebars, then mounting the bag to that - it should move it down and forward a bit, getting it out of the way of a light mounted on your handlebars.
Miss Grape Ilcoso is one (expensive) option that’d solve your problem, there are others.
Or maybe a front rack that mounts like Jack the rack would help?
The Ravemen 500 lumens light looks like it would do the trick. Thanks. Now to see if I can get 2 quickly (leaving Monday morning). Perhaps in Singapore (8 hour stop over) or in Germany when we arrive. Will do some googling.
Depending on what the time is, when you have your stopover, you could consider picking the FR300 from New Era Cycle, located not too far from the Paya Lebar MRT station, itself not too far from the airport, by train on the East -West line.
Didn’t see any FR500s available in Singapore at the moment.
Thanks for the heads up in Singapore. Ideally I’d prefer the 500 lumens light so now I’m pondering setting up my current lights as helmet mounting.
Ideally I’d (if I had a 3D printer) print a custom mount to wrap around the fork leg, using the mudguard mount bolt hole (inside of the fork leg) to hold the mount in place, with a nub that any light can mount onto.
Sadly a lack of time and equipment means make shift solutions for this trip.
Peter White Cycles has something even simpler, a nubbin on a hose clamp (and I’m pretty sure I’ve seen these elsewhere). You could put something like that on a fork blade to mount a light.
Lots and lots. I think the M5 bolt can be your best friend, mount it on a fork leg. Two options are (1) Paul Chino which screws straight into one of the many many fork leg holes, and (2) my favourite, Nitto’s lamp holder. For what it is worth, battery powered lights give you lots of flexibility for mounting, but do yourself a favour, smash that credit card and build up a new front wheel with a SON dynamo, and open up a world of incredible lights such as the KLite, SON Edelux, and plenty from B&M. Happy riding … mortally jealous of your upcoming adventures.
