Help! Best lights for endurance night riding

[Joe Low]

Ok, am extremely confused trying to find lights to ride TransBaviaans.

 

Whats the best light thats going to give me 10 hours of reasonable visibility on jeep track?

 

I did do a Hub search but this along with various shop and manufacturer websites did my head in - too much jargon and non-comparability.

 

Nancy says Exposure Tora - but its 275 quid - I'd be happier to get away with under R2,500 if possible.

 

What do you say?

[Weight Weenie]

Don't know if there are lights that last that long ?

Maybe buy a magicshine type light with the bottle battery and a helmet light ?

 

Let's see what the others say

[Agteros]

Ok, am extremely confused trying to find lights to ride TransBaviaans.

 

Whats the best light thats going to give me 10 hours of reasonable visibility on jeep track?

 

I did do a Hub search but this along with various shop and manufacturer websites did my head in - too much jargon and non-comparability.

 

Nancy says Exposure Tora - but its 275 quid - I'd be happier to get away with under R2,500 if possible.

 

What do you say?

Nance is hard-core, a bit of moonshine (the full moon type!) and she is game to ride any mountain, even hallowed ones, at night - irrespective of lights!

 

Do they still have Magicshine/light charging stations on the TB route, or was it just a once-off affair?

[Guest Frail4Life]

Ok, am extremely confused trying to find lights to ride TransBaviaans.

 

Whats the best light thats going to give me 10 hours of reasonable visibility on jeep track?

 

I did do a Hub search but this along with various shop and manufacturer websites did my head in - too much jargon and non-comparability.

 

Nancy says Exposure Tora - but its 275 quid - I'd be happier to get away with under R2,500 if possible.

 

What do you say?

Lots of Guys will say 'Magic Shine', around R1200. But i have Always used LED Lenser, 10Hours easy. Too much choices.

[Bike Lore]

Gee wiz with R2500 you should be like a kid in an candy store.

 

The problem is that the real information is never given. for endurance you need to find a light that produces the most light for the longest weighing the least.

 

That means you need to look at real data. Which is hard to find. I will tell you what I know so I hope this helps

 

The 3 mentioned factors distills down to 2 things. How good is the light in converting power(Watt) to light(Lumen) and how much power is stored per weight(g).

 

At the moment I do not think there is any LED that beats the efficacy(Lumen per watt) of the Cree XM-L LED. The CREE MTG is based on the same technology . So I would not conceder a Light that does not make use of them.

 

Second would be the driver of the light. How much power is wasted when it converts and controls the power from the battery to the LED.

To date my respect goes to Gemini Olympia(+95%. close on it heals is the Magicshine/MJ868(92%) I sell it as the Pyro1100 because the Pyro lights uses 4000K leds. the Magicshine MJ808E is not very good in converting the power. it is close to about 75% eff.

 

Regarding power storage density/battery pack. Most lights sold today fall short in this are. there are much better cells out there but there extremely pricey. Wh/g. The panasonic sells to date has the highest Wh/g and you can find a battery pack on my store with it. Super High Density Battery 46Wh for the same weight as the standard battery 32Wh.

 

What i would suggest is getting the Pyro1100 but add the Super High Density Battery. On low you would get 400 lumen for 13h or on high 925 for 5h. The set-up will weigh just under 380g. And then you can leave the standard battery at the last check point for backup.

 

Or you can go for the Pyro2000/Magicshine MJ808 4000K it is not the lightes setup but it will give you incredible options.

It has 5 power options which you can use to extend the runtime.

 

% _____________10______25______50______75______100

runtime(h) ______23______9.2______4.6______3.1______2.3

Lumen Real_____ 260_____596____1038_____1380____1700

 

 

What very few people know is that LEDs are much better at converting power to light at low power levels. So on 25% your light will be very close the what the OLD Magicshine mj808 could do on max but at 3x the run time.

 

I hope this helps. I do apologize for only naming a few lights but these i know the best.

 

edit: ok table is not working will have to make a plan

Edited June 21, 2012 by Hannes Zietsman

[Bike Lore]

the Exposure Toro uses the old P7 that is about 6 years old LED. The same LED was used in the Magicshine MJ808 900 lumen light that came out a few years ago. It is done and dusted. You can do much better than that.

 

I am not a fan of having the battery pack with the light it self but that is just my opinion.

 

edit oops got the wrong light when i googled. Exposure Toro

Edited June 21, 2012 by Hannes Zietsman

[Velouria]

the Exposure Tora uses the old P7 that is about 6 years old LED. The same LED was used in the Magicshine MJ808 900 lumen light that came out a few years ago. It is done and dusted. You can do much better than that. I am not a fan of having the battery pack with the light it self but that is just my opinion.

 

Umm - the Toro uses 3 Cree XPG R5 LEDs:

 

Toro Mk.3 bike light

 

The Toro is the leaner brother of the MaXx-D; shaving 59g off the weight and still producing nearly 1000 lumen punch.

 

The beam pattern of the Toro and the Diablo are identical making them perfect partners.

Weight

(incl. bracket): 278g

 

Output:

975 lumens

 

Power:

7800 mAh Lithium Ion battery

 

Burn time:

High (3 hrs) Medium (10 hrs) Low (24 hrs)

 

Emitter:

The Toro uses three Cree XPG R5 LEDs. The Cree XPG R5 is a more refined, higher quality LED of the same type used in the 2011 range. It keeps the same great beam patterns and colour temperature but the light has an additional 7-10% output over last year’s models. We are quoting 325 lumens per LED rather than the 300 in 2011.

I'm a fan of the Exposure range, having a 2005 Enduro which just doesn't want to die, despite my best efforts with countless 24hr events and 8 Trans Baviaans races, and a Joystick. I recently bought MaXx D "for my wife". 337g for an all contained unit with no cables and battery mounts etc for 1285 lumens.

Have a look at Bike Radar's bike light review : http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/article/best-mountain-bike-lights-28195/

Edited June 21, 2012 by Velouria

[Bike Lore]

oops i goggled and got this Exposure Toro. could not for the life of me understand why someone would want that http://www.exposurelights.com/product/000016/toro-mk.1/

[covie]

Don't know if there are lights that last that long ?

Maybe buy a magicshine type light with the bottle battery and a helmet light ?

 

Let's see what the others say

Ok, am extremely confused trying to find lights to ride TransBaviaans.

 

Whats the best light thats going to give me 10 hours of reasonable visibility on jeep track?

 

I did do a Hub search but this along with various shop and manufacturer websites did my head in - too much jargon and non-comparability.

 

Nancy says Exposure Tora - but its 275 quid - I'd be happier to get away with under R2,500 if possible.

 

What do you say?

 

for R2500 you get yourself 2 magic two lights and one extended battery, (fits into a bottle cage) thats should keep you lit all the way, however if your willing to fork out some $$ then ayup is the way to go

[Bike Lore]

Umm - the Toro uses 3 Cree XPG R5 LEDs

 

"XLamp XM-L LEDs offer the unique combination of very high efficacy at very high drive currents, providing a 20% efficiency gain over the XLamp XP-G LED at the same current. With this available efficacy," from Cree website http://www.cree.com/led-components-and-modules/products/xlamp/discrete-directional/xlamp-xml

 

that is why i don't suggest using a light that makes use of the XPG. XML will give you free light out.

[Velouria]

"XLamp XM-L LEDs offer the unique combination of very high efficacy at very high drive currents, providing a 20% efficiency gain over the XLamp XP-G LED at the same current. With this available efficacy," from Cree website http://www.cree.com/...ional/xlamp-xml

 

that is why i don't suggest using a light that makes use of the XPG. XML will give you free light out.

 

That is at high drive currents. Exposure get around this by using multiple LEDs at a lower current, thus increasing performance. Lupine takes this idea to the max, using 7 LEDs, producing the brightest, super efficient lights, but at quite a cost.

 

Also, the optics options for the XML are more limited, and tend to be more flood than throw.

[brad890]

guys guys, everyone is forget about one old school solution, the good old faithful Dynamo light no battries and if you want the light brighter go faster

[Joe Low]

Thanks a lot for the responses.

 

Am getting that brain-soggy feeling again, but will plough through and come up with something from what's been said.

 

Dynamo - i remember that as some serious drag with it spring-loaded against the rim.

[Bike Lore]

That is at high drive currents. Exposure get around this by using multiple LEDs at a lower current, thus increasing performance. Lupine takes this idea to the max, using 7 LEDs, producing the brightest, super efficient lights, but at quite a cost.

 

Also, the optics options for the XML are more limited, and tend to be more flood than throw.

 

I agree about the first part. More LEDs = less power load per LED = higher eff. But also more money. the best would be, like you said, more XMLs. Then you start with the best most eff LED and then gain the multi LED bones.

 

Not so sure about the second part. I actually think the multil LED of the MJ872 are a lot wider. more flood. and a lot of people complain about the small hot spot of the XML from the MJ808E and MJ868 which gives amazing throw. are sure you don't mean the other way around? The MJ880/Pyro2000 has excellent throw and flood combination.

 

Here is a review http://www.thehubsa....arative-review/

 

I really don't think there is the "best option" every lights has his pro and cons But I don't see a point in importing a light from over sea just because of a name. Lights sold in ZA are on par when it comes to a tech point of few. With out the price tak

Edited June 21, 2012 by Hannes Zietsman

[Velouria]

Agree fully - which is why I think products like Magicshine, Magic Lights, Pyrolights etc are fantastic - gets more people out on their bikes in the dark at a reasonable price.

 

Great for road riding too - where seeing you are going is almost as important as being visible to motorists.

 

I did my first Baviaans with one of these:

 

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Images/Models/Original/5241.jpg

Just carrying 5 spare C batteries weighed a kilo.

 

Here is a blog post I did ages ago about Baviaans : http://www.velotales.com/2008/06/trans-baviaans.html

[Bike Lore]

haha. that is cool. my first light was the Princeton Tec Switchback 3. cost me a R3500 produced 250 lumen for 6h and weighs 1kg. I have upgraded/modded it over the years and now it does +1000 real lumen, has 9 x Cree XP-G LED S2. Was a good light for TB. it was just before the MS revelation came. recently gave it to a friend. I see it is still being sold crazy. poor suckers that don't do there homework and buy it.