Recumbent - Cat Eye EL-500 is AWESOME!

For $39.95 at Nashbar, this light is awesome! It's hard to believe all that light comes from ONE 15W LED.

Also the Blackburn Mars 3.0 is an awesome tail light too. I think I chose well.

I believe that's a 1-watt light, like my EL-510, which puts out less candlepower than the EL-500 (1000 vs. 800). I've largely stopped using my Cateye 10-watt halogen setup, because of the convenience of not having to recharge batteries after every commute.

What's better than an EL500? two. Before going to HID I used to EL-500s and found them to be great.

DOH! It is 1W, I had a mind hiccup! I was thinking of my buddy at work saying that the LED inside it cost $15

Does the light look bright to look at or does it put a lot of light on the road? I need one that puts lots of light on the road but doesn't necessarily have to be bright to look at.

A couple of years ago the LED would have been about $13 in small quantities. The regulators can be about the same amount. It's pretty easy to build your own.

DOH! It is 1W, I had a mind hiccup! I was thinking of my buddy at work saying that the LED inside it cost $15

Ha, no way they are that much. More like $4-$5. I bought 3W LEDs for $8.50 each.

Just so you know. ;)

I've largely stopped using my Cateye 10-watt halogen setup, because of the convenience of not having to recharge batteries after every commute.
At the risk of boring everyone to tears, let me chime in regarding another low wattage alternative, Schmidt E6 lamps powered by a SON hub generator. True the initial investment is pricey. But I run these during the daytime when the lighting is overcast and they easily rival daytime running lights on automobiles.

The amount of light they put down on the roadway is very nice and easily adjusted by aiming the lamps. I highly recommend them as an alternative to battery powered lamps as your primary lighting. I still use the EL-500 as a standlight.

redline- the EL-500 puts a lot of light on the road, plenty for me. And if you look straight into it, it is quite bright and hurts your eyes. I'm very impressed with this little 1 LED light. For 1 LED it's amazing!

I am puzzled why they haven't made a 3 Watt version yet. It would need 4 more batteries and better heat sinking, but I think it would be ideal.

bkrownd- 8 AA batteries would be pretty heavy no? 4 as in the EL-500 is quite a few ounces.

http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=101&subcategory=1067&brand=&sku=15893&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=

Is it this one?

Koffee

http://www.cateye.com/en/products/viewProduct.php?modelId=17&catId=7&subCatId=2

this one....

bkrownd- 8 AA batteries would be pretty heavy no? 4 as in the EL-500 is quite a few ounces.

I'm not THAT much of a weight weenie. ;)

I have the 1000 candlepower Cateye setup with the single LED and Opticube technology. I find this light totally inadequate for nighttime riding. Granted the thing was only $60... but really to me, its worthless. My roommate's 16W halogen setup from Nightrider is WAAAAAY better, and was only $120.

Everybody's going to have different requirements.

Cateye EL-500 is one of the few affordable lights that has a horizontal cutoff similar to Automotive lighting:

http://tinyurl.com/rfwam

As friendly as this is to on coming traffic I still prefer the 3W MXDL I use on the Rans Fusion. It has no cutoff and is a standard flashlight pattern thus lighting up the whole side of the road, not just the ground. I still use the EL-500 when I'm on the Giro but when I switch to the Fusion I notice traffic really takes notice. I use 4 1000 MAH AAA batteries in the three watt and it lasts a long time between charges.

3W MXDL http://tinyurl.com/mx6we

Cateye EL-500 is one of the few affordable lights that has a horizontal cutoff similar to Automotive lighting:

http://tinyurl.com/rfwam

As friendly as this is to on coming traffic I still prefer the 3W MXDL I use on the Rans Fusion. It has no cutoff and is a standard flashlight pattern thus lighting up the whole side of the road, not just the ground. I still use the EL-500 when I'm on the Giro but when I switch to the Fusion I notice traffic really takes notice. I use 4 1000 MAH AAA batteries in the three watt and it lasts a long time between charges.

3W MXDL http://tinyurl.com/mx6we

Be aware that the MXDL flashlight in this auction does not use a real Luxeon LED, it uses a chinese knockoff. However, the body of the flashlight is great if you want to drop in a REAL Luxeon. I used two of these flashlights, swapped out the LED, wired up the lights to an extrnal pack, and created a dual-3W headlamp that simply dazzles. I'm planning an even brighter version for my trike.

When I'm riding down the street at night marveling at the amount of light being projected why am I concerned weather my Luxeon is original or a "knock-off". At $8.99 I dont expect Philips Lighting.