Originally Posted by
DScott
It's worth double fredelicious points for eventually spending as much, or more, than a good purpose-built light system would have cost in the first place!
I didn't reply to the original bait because it's the OPs opinion, and I quit caring about what other people think about what I wear or attach to my bike a long time ago. But your statement can be evaluated with some objectivity so I'm curious to see some examples of what you're talking about. I have $30 invested in a flashlight-based system that is rated at 215 lumens using two AA batteries (the actual output is probably less but still a valid number for comparison). What off the shelf lighting system can come close to that for $30? And if I would have spent $55 instead on a P7 based system, I'd have a light that rivals some HID stuff for a fraction of the cost.
I guess I should add the cost of a charger and batteries for my $30 system and bump that up $45-$50. But I already own a bunch of devices that run on AAs (two-way radios, remotes, etc) so I didn't have to spend on that separately. That's probably the case for a lot of other folks.
I have a Nashbar catalog in front of me. Here's a few examples of output in lumens vs. price (and these are on sale).
85 $119
120 $79
400 $349
85 $149
150 $199
So where are the systems that can touch a flashlight-based system on a cost basis?