Front light for trails at night

Bad enough as I am on them, the only time I can get out is after dark.. looking for a good front light to show me the way..

lumens.. beams.. charges...

Can anyone recommend a good light for night riding? Is 500 lumens a good start?

grma

500 lumens is too low
Hope vision 4 is the man for night biking have some in the shop if your local

Hope 4 the business for techie rooty night mtb, but exposure joystick decent for general night use and less technical riding....self contained too so no cables and battery packs etc.

Lots of choice with cheap chinese brands but they tend not to last very long and often the beam is very focused (not enough spread)

I use a Nite Rider Minewt 600 (600 lumen) on the bars and also use a cheap €40 light on my helmet with battery at the end of a lead.

Nite Rider stuff is good quality with good after sales support and fixed price repairs.

My cheap '7dayshop.com' light is 1200 lumen rating and very bright but no better than the 600 lumen unit as it doesnt spread the light out.

There are many options about lights for night vision on the bike.
I agree with the said, 500 lumens will only give you enough light to ride at night, but won't allow you to hit the trails hard and fast.
The vision 4 will light the trails well, and has a separate battery pack that connect to the light with a lead.
I personally prefer the performance of the torches and I mainly use torches as in the attached pictures.
The big one has 3800 lumens and, a super beam big enough to make night rides great and enjoyable. In my opinion the torch format has the advantage of having the batteries in the same unit, so you can carry spares and replace them easily if needed.
I recommend the battery in the picture, a Panasonic NCR18650. There are many Chinese 18650 batteries but, I'll suggest not too buy them as high lumen lights draw around 2000 mAh, and from experience only the known batteries as the one above can give you the performance.

I organize the Monday Spins, which all are now ridden at night from 7pm. You are welcome if you fancy to come one night along and I'll be happy to give some advise or show their performance.