Brighter-Lights... what's coming!

[Brighter-Lights]

I'm one of the early pioneers to have used new genaration LED's in bike lights. I decided to build my own light because what was available in the shops were not very bright, or didn't burn long enough, and I wanted a light which would enable me to do 70km/h on gravel at night.

 

When I started out in 2006, the internet had very little info about high power LED's, because at that time they just started to become available and development was slow. There were no 'how to build's'  with photos like there is now.  

 

It started as a very costly excercise, I had to buy small quantities of everything to test, 3/4 of the parts and LED's I received wasn't good enough for what I wanted in a bike light. 

 

There's Brighter-Lights systems out there that'll soon do their 4th Trans Baviaans. 

 

Technology is advancing faster than we can design new products and that's very exciting, and a bit frustrating. If you want to stay ahead, using the latest available technology, you have to manufacture small quantities.

 

I consider myself an expert when it comes to LED illumination. I've not only read it all, but I've actually had most of what is and was available on my test bench, and I chose what works best, and I'm a perfectionist.

 

So what's coming from the Brighter-Lights store? Quite an amount of manufacturers emerged in the meantime and they're using what I've used yesteryear.

 

In the last 2 years LED's have increased in brightness by over 40% and became 50% more effecient. Right now, LED's of more than 100% brighter are being tested. That's very exciting for the future.

 

In the next few of months I'm launching some very exciting lights.

 

System A, which most people will buy, is only 500g incl. battery, and delivers over 800 Lumens for 8 hours. Why the long burntime? Because with such a long burn time, you'll only need to charge the battery every other week, which means you'll get a greatly extended battery lifetime and excellent performance for years to come. 

 

System B is just 600g and capable of delivering 1900 Lumens for 3 hours. It's actually capable of 3300 Lumens at 40 Watt's, but with Watt's comes heat, and to keep the light lightweigth and very small, it's tuned down to 1900 Lumens. You'll be shocked how small it is...

 

System C is a portable emergency/survival light system which uses the same hardware as system A, but with a 120 Watt per hour battery, (700g) which would give you 800+ lumens for 17 hours, or 110 lumens for weeks at a time. You won't need the 110 Lumen setting though, as the lightweight 60 Watt solar panel, which I'm building myself, will charge your battery in just 3 hours in bright sunlight. Alternatively, the panel is powerful enough to direct drive your laptop, or charge a multitude of other portable devices at the same time.  

 

Here's a sneak preview of the first prototype I'm using now...

 

 

 

[ichnusa]

NICE!

[Taps]

Bring it on!! Just wish I could afford one of your great systems. Maybe one day .....

[Mighty Atom]

 

 

Technology is advancing faster than we can design new products and that's very exciting' date=' and a bit frustrating. If you want to stay ahead, using the latest available technology, you have to manufacture small quantities.

 .

 

In the last 2 years LED's have increased in brightness by over 40% and became 50% more effecient. Right now, LED's of more than 100% brighter are being tested. That's very exciting for the future.

 [/quote']

 

Very exciting technology advances and also big drops in LED production costs (reportedly 50% in the last year). I know that the LEDs themselves are only one component of a light but do you see significant price drops in lights any time soon? Paying thousands of Rands for lights is something I just cannot afford, however much I might like to try night riding!

[Andyr249]

Sounds good. Any idea on approximate prices?

[Dirtbreath]

Good to hear.

 

Will you only supply complete units? How about something in kit form to bring costs down and make your product more accessible.

 

[Brighter-Lights]

The NEW Revelation-1100 - the smallest, lightest, brightest and most advanced light available anywhere!

 

110g light head - 100% waterproof.

 

400g battery - recharges in 2 hours.

 

1100 lumens for minimum 5 hours, or 800 lumens for minimum 7 hours high beam.

 

Up to 100 hours burntime at 110 lumens.

 

Microcontroller driven - fully programmable.

 

Choice of 4 dimming programs let you customise dim levels and let you decide how bright you want each dim level.

 

Build in thermal protection and battery level indicators.

 

 

 

 

[Slowbee]

price BL ?

[AndreZA]

is this still using a water bottle battery?

[_Daemon_]

Very nice, but how does the battery look and where does it mount?

[Spud]

I hope Joe doesnt mind me answering on his behalf as I see he has disapeared for the moment. The battery can be in a water bottle but what he is also doing is a bag that can be mounted to the top tube with velcro straps. I will ask Dirty Twin to post a pic of his one. The cost I am not sure of but I recall that the previous lights were going for about R5500, but don't hold me to this. Most of the group we ride with use Joe's lights and personally I do a very long Tran Baviaans and my lights last right through till 2.30 am and once until 4am.