Yeah, I know, this is a lot like Playboy magazines - people say they read the articles but without the pictures no-one would buy the magazines. So here's a few photos of the build just to demonstrate what a no-brainer this was.
This Vision X units use (not included) a Trail Tech helmet mount and a proprietary adapter plate. I have several issues with the Trail Tech helmet mounting system anyway:
(1) It can't be aimed
(2) Its intended for full-face helmets as their HID lighting systems are targeted at off-road motorcyclists and downhill bicyclists.
(3) It’s a quick release system that uses a plastic tab that'll break off in cold weather.
(4) The 3M adhesive will also likely let go in cold weather too.
So I junked it.
Then after taking a few measurements, a Zefal MegaBelt Halogen headlamp that had seen a lot of use over the past 20 years was cannibalized. Even if still perfectly functional, it was probably obsolete years ago.
Simply drilling out the metal rivets and adding a couple metal spacers was just about all that was necessary to let the Vision X unit drop in place.
A small cut-out was also made under the light for additional clearance. The thru-bolt is standard issue on the rear of Rollerblade inline skates and needs no machining. A piece of foam to protect the helmet and keep everything in place and you're good to go.
The straps I'm using are Velcro reclaimed from some Zefal anti-flat canisters but any Velcro straps will do the job. This whole conversion thing is literally a 15 minute operation.
The result is solid, can be aimed, is about 10x brighter than the original Zefal halogen headlight, has about 3.25 hrs runtime on 2400mAh AA cells, and is slightly smaller in overall size.
The runtime of the original Zefal MegaBelt halogen was only 2h 20min. Runtime using a Lipo battery depends on the battery capacity of course and can easily be 8 hours with a 6.6Ah 450g Lipo battery. Reasonably sized, plastic housed Lipo batteries are available in capacities up to 12.6Ah but the case actually weighs more than the battery so have to think about it. Cage Rockets weigh less and will already hold multiple 6.5Ah batteries.
I could side-mount two of these lights on the same helmet but that’s overkill for the city and before considering that I'll be testing multiple fork and bar mounted combinations with cut-off lenses and spots to see what gives the most effective light distribution for off-road and on-road use anyway.
The mounts used to fork-mount or bar-mount the lights for testing are Manfrotto 386B Nano Clamps. Weight is 3.8 oz (110g), payload is up to 8.8 lbs (4kg) so multiple lights can be mounted using only one clamp.
Threaded mounts are 1/4-20in and 3/8in female sockets. That's combined with a 3/8in to 1/4-20in converter, a plastic plug, stainless bolt and rubber washer to give a solid mount and keep as much water out as possible. This'll do for testing but I'll probably come up with something more suitable once other details are worked out. Fork clamps for motorcycle steering dampers are a good bet.
The weathers been funny and it’s hard to say how safe the lake is at this point but might have some shots of the power packs and fork and bar mounts up later in the week, even if I can't get some beam shots done on the lake.