Bike lights

[ZorgusPrime]

There are a lot of posts about lights on the hub:

https://www.bikehub.co.za/forum_posts.asp?TID=22510&KW=lights

https://www.bikehub.co.za/forum_posts.asp?TID=21690&KW=lights

https://www.bikehub.co.za/forum_posts.asp?TID=12916&KW=lights

 

was just wanting to get upto speed on what the decisions were...

ZorgusPrime2008-05-26 12:20:34

[Agent Orenge]

depends on your budget, but if you are serious about lighting there is only one light. BETTY!!

1450 Lumens 7x5w LEDS

Battery life 13hours odd.

[ZorgusPrime]

depends on your budget' date=' but if you are serious about lighting there is only one light. BETTY!!

1450 Lumens 7x5w LEDS

Battery life 13hours odd.

[/quote']

 

1400 Lumens & 6 hours battery @ $1000+

 

It's price lets in some of the opposition I'm afraid.

You could double/triple up on some other lights for the same results.

[Agent Orenge]

Zorgus that is true, but all the other bits that it comes with make the full package. The charger is in a class of its own, solid billet machined ally, auto regulation and charge process to ensure optimum charge and battery life over time. The way it mounts is so super simple and yet adjustable. i know it is a sh*t load of money, but last years Trans Bav, When we left the top in the dark, not a single team past us after that. We were down the hill at 60ks an hour. You could spend 100k on the best bike in the world, but you would not get down that hill faster than a pick and pay special with a Lupine light.

My mate is bringing them in. He is trying to get a good deal on some Betty's. I use the Wilma's , a little lighter when worn on your head.

[ZorgusPrime]

Don't get me wrong, they have been on my christmas list since last year

;-)

 

[Agent Orenge]

Zorgus, the other lights which have impressed for different reasons have been the new Hope lights. I like the way they intergrate into the hope stem. I am busy machining new STem covers for the Thompson stem so that I can hang the Wilma on it. We will also make a stem to take 2 Wilmas, one short throw and one long.

 

The Hope 2 is a great light for helmet mounting.

 

The Hope one is also going to function well as a rear light as soon as we get a red cover for it. Nobody makes a decent rear light cluster with mount that we know of.

 

What lights are you currently running.

 

[ZorgusPrime]

Dinotte have a pretty decent backlight with mount

http://store.dinottelighting.com/shared/StoreFront/default.asp?CS=dinotte&StoreType=BtoC&Count1=265285670&Count2=182426095&ProductID=10&Target=products.asp

[Agent Orenge]

Ya, this could work, I am going to investigate thouroughly, thanks for the headsup

[Apache]

Any views on this Petzl??

 

 

Description

Powerful headlamp with 3 lighting levels, Boost mode and Wide Angle lens

Powerful and versatile lighting

3 lighting levels : maximum, optimum, economic,

flood beam for even, proximity lighting (with Wide Angle lens),

spot beam shines up to 45 meters,

Boost mode : shines up to 65 meters for 20 seconds.

Battery level indicator light

warns when the batteries are 70% and 90 % discharged.

Comfortable and stable on the head

adjustable elastic headband,

top strap included (not attached) for increased stability.

Light beam can be aimed

light body can be tilted,

switches are protected from accidental operation when light body is in upright position.

Certification

CE

Technical specifications

Water resistant for all-weather use.

Wide Angle Lens made of impact resistant polycarbonate.

Operates on 3 AA/LR6 batteries (included).

Weight : 175 g including batteries.

3-year guarantee

[ZorgusPrime]

That's the new MYO XP I think.

 

I haven't used this, but I can try put it in perspective:

(these are the only options with headmounts that I know of):

 

 

Lupine  = 1400 lumens

Ayup = 320 lumens

MYO XP = about 85 lumens (150 boost)

"Normal/Other" Petzls = 16 to 35 lumens

 

The battery is supposed to last 80 hours, so that is definately something.

 

 

ZorgusPrime2008-05-26 14:27:47

[WillemT]

I think you can even build your own light that out perform the xp. I'm starting on a project now to build my own light and i'm aiming for at least 500 lms when i'm done.

And for a battery pack i'm looking for a decent lithium pack that'll give me some 6 hours plus on light. I'm still looking around wich LEDs i should use to get the best lm/watt.

 

Have any of you ever considered building a custom light?

[Agent Orenge]

dont forget if you build a light and spend real money on the bats, you will need to build a proper charger.

 

The Petzl is great for using when you are digging things out your bag on the epic, but it is not an option for racing the Trans Bav or similar

 

Building your own lights will be fun, but I would rather ride more and have fun that way. Unless you have access to serious engineering, it is hard to get the light to work well and look great which is also important. else we would all be dating the fat chick!

[Baaisikilist]

www.brighter-lights.com

[Brighter-Lights]

Those other lights (not gonna mention names) use Z-Power led's.

 

I've built 2 Revelation-3's - one with Z-Power's which a few use, and one with XR-E (which I use). 

 

What a difference... I had to underexpose this photo because the XR-E is so much brighter even though they have the same lumens acc to datasheet... but the XR-E has a 90deg primary angle and Z-Power is 135 deg...  

 

Used 15 deg optics in both. I first used the same camera settings as in the MTBR lights shootout, but everything were overexposed, so I made the shutter 2 seconds faster... been very conservative.

 

Also, these might appear dimmer with lots of ambient light around you. Best viewed in a darkish room.

 

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Man, is there a difference in those pics... The Crees that you are using, it looks like they're the "warm white" variety. Is this true?

 

If i had the money, i would buy one - but lack of money leads to home build. Still with Cree LEDs, but less professional looking housing.

 

 

[Brighter-Lights]

no they're not warm white, but they're between 5000k and 6000k color bin... very nice natural color...

Camera was set to daylight white balance in manual mode.

 

I had a big lights shootout a week ago but need time to complete the new webpage before I upload anything.

I'm getting a Light and Motion HID for comparison tomorrow night so probably early next week.