I have already posted this on a cycling forum, but figured there might be some knowledge to draw from here -

Aside from being a dedicated climber, I am also a dedicated cyclist. I own several handlebar bar mounted lights for cycling and also own a nice headlamp for climbing. However, without a bunch of tinkering, there is no cross-compatibility between the application of these devices.

I am looking for a light that I can wear on my bike helmet while mountain biking for close-up visibility (again, I already have several bar mounted lights), but that I can also throw into my climbing pack as a backup headlamp in the event my main headlamp were to fail. I don't want to but two lamps as I feel that it's rather frivilous to have two devices for very similar applications.

However, the closest thing I’ve found to a headlamp that does double-duty as a bike helmet lamp is the Petzl Tikka for which they make this “ADAPT” kit - http://www.petzl.com/us/outdoor/headlamps/tikka-zipka-tactikka-accessories-0/adapt-tikka-family. HOWEVER, having a big doofy looking piece of plastic semi-permanently stuck to your helmet means that is blocks ventilation holes, cannot be easily removed and applied to one of your other helmets, entrusts the security of whatever adhesive they’ve chosen to strongly adhere to the ridges & irregularities of your helmet, and did I say it looked doofy?

Anyhow, does anyone have any suggestions? Please!

Hi, I am an avid mountain biker and road ciclyst. I use a helmet mounted light for any biking. Bar mounted lights are pretty useless when riding singletrack since usually the bike mounted light aims all over the place and the light needs to aim where you are going.

I use a light and motion stella 200. Its quite light and very bright for its size. The only downside is that the rechargable battery pack cant be mounted on the helmet, needs to be on a shirt backpocket or a pack. (most powerful bike lights are like this). The stella can be mounted on the bars or on the helmet so its quite versatile. The charge lasts 3-5 hours depending on power settings.

I also have a Tikka Plus2 light and its not nearly as bright as the stella but its much much lighter, i got it for climbing/hiking at night and camping where weight is key. On a bike one is moving fast and one needs a much more powerful light so I would not use it for that unless its an emergency. Its a really nice light though. I guess you could mount it on a bike helmet but you really need some sort of tabs to hold it in place like the ones that come on climbing helmets (which is what the light was designed for)


http://www.bikelights.com/info.asp?uid=316&p=13 <--- light n motion stella

I do both climbing and biking and my suggestion would be to keep both lighting system separate. Especially if you already have different lights, what would be the benefit of trying to combine? There is a ton of inexpensive decent headlamps for climbing. Really, 99% of the time you not really "climb" technical rock by headlamp, it will be more approaches and descents, camp chores. Get something small that you can always carry ion the pack so you don't get caught without a light.

Sometimes I take my "climbing" headlamp when biking if I am worried about juice running out on my bike lights.

But is it ethical to use a climbing headlamp if the first ascent party used a bike headlamp ??

TheOrglingLlama wrote:But is it ethical to use a climbing headlamp if the first ascent party used a bike headlamp ??

only if you speak French or live at 7,800 feet

kovarpa wrote:

TheOrglingLlama wrote:But is it ethical to use a climbing headlamp if the first ascent party used a bike headlamp ??

only if you speak French or live at 7,800 feet

The point needs to be made in ALL CAPS !!!