Lights

As the days get shorter, you need to consider riding at night if you want to ride at all. Lights can both help you to be seen, as well as to see where you're going. Both aspects need to be considered here.

• Biker's head lamp: I picked up a cheap LED head-lamp from wal-mart which I mounted on my helmet with a strap. It takes 3 AAA batteries, and produces 22 lumens, which is really great for a single LED. (it has 4 LEDs on the front, but 3 of them are different colours). This lamp also has a (somewhat wimpy) red tail-light on the battery pack, which is on the back of the strap. Lightweight, long-battery-life, decently bright, watertight make this a good first choice.
  
  

• Bell Lumina bike light set: The biggest drawback of the headlamp is that because it is on your head, it doesn't cast alot of shadows. So it's hard to see bumps and dips in the trail. I purchased this second light to mount down low on the frame, so I could see the trail better. And the tail-light is much brighter and more visible than the one on the head-lamp.
  
  I mounted the headlight fairly low on the seatpost, pointing down, just in front of the tire. Unfortunately the cover on this light is easily knocked off, and I ended up taping it on, after losing it twice during night rides.
  The tail-light is designed to mount on a seat post, so that part was easy, but the mount is much more flimsy, and easily broken. I ended up mounting it up high under the seat to protect it, but find that I snag the mount when grabbing the back of the seat. Also there is the potential that wearing a long shirt or jacket will block the light where it is at. Next time I would choose a tail light that sits vertically near the seatpost, rather than sticking so far back.