Commuting - Lighting

I am thinking about setting myself with some lighting for comuting and touring. What are you using? What would you recommend?

I have the niterider digital pro plus the taillight. I love it. Lots of light, lots of options, very quick to recharge (5 hrs), and the smart charger makes charging hassle free.

You can tailor your light modes to the conditions around you, and to your anticpated length of ride. 6 watts to 32 watts of power, and various flashing modes as well. (great for fog, or daylight (or in andy's case... always)). I think the operation length varies from 7 hours to 1.5 hours depending on the watt combinations used.

On rainy days I do attach a Nite Rider trailrat to my helmet for even more visibility and a steeper angle of light. (helps w/ the wet road reflection of your light).

The taillight has 19 LEDs and is very bright. I noticed a bit more respect from cars in how they pass me at night.

So if you want to be seen, and if you want plenty of light to see by, I am very happy with the Digital Pro. I also love the taillight.http://www.niterider.com/products/enlarged/lg_images/lg_dp12lcd02.jpg

Well, here's my inexpensive, less powerful but more efficient system. The charger and 4 Nimh AA and 2 NIMH AAA batteries cost $40 and are top notch items. I started out with the Cateye Microhalogen headlight and I'm now using the Cateye 5 LED headlight. Run times with the halogen light are over 4 hours with the high capacity batteries. I'm not sure of run times with the LED headlight. I just recharge the batteries even couple of weeks.:D

The Cateye taillight runs on the 2 AAA batteries and again I just recharge them every so often. This taillight is also a reflector.

I've used expensive Vistalite systems in the past and there are some advantages to my new setup. First the batteries are easy to get and inexpensive. I don't have to pay $80 to get a replacement battery when they die. I can also just throw in some alkaline batteries in a pinch. Secondly, the lights have quick releases and can be removed in milliseconds. The batteries are housed in the lights, so there is no auxilary battery to mount and wires to run. Simple

No, this setup doesn't put out as much light as my old Vistalite 10watt setup. But the light it puts out is focused just where I need it. I may have been more visible to cars with the old system but I use many reflectors on myself and the bike for visibility. The roads I ride at night are mostly lightly traveled two lanes and I have no problems being seen by motorists.

If you want an interesting project, you can always make your own. There's any number of resources on the web from your basic battery/switch/light to complicated electronic gizmos.

I built my own LED light some time ago and have been very happy with it. It's quite bright, and the batteries last for ages between charges. see this page (http://members.optushome.com.au/clanmclaren/headlight.htm) for the write up.

Originally posted by thbirks
Well, here's my inexpensive, less powerful but more efficient system. The charger and 4 Nimh AA and 2 NIMH AAA batteries cost $40 and are top notch items. I started out with the Cateye Microhalogen headlight and I'm now using the Cateye 5 LED headlight. ......snip.... I'm not sure of run times with the LED headlight. I just recharge the batteries even couple of weeks.:D


I've never heard of "Power X" brand batteries. This is what I use.

Radio Shack NiMH 23.528 AA rechargables $19.79http://www.radioshack.com/images/ProductCatalog/ProductImage/23/23-528.jpg

Radio Shack 23.335 Portable Ni-Cd/Ni-MH Charger w/Battery Conditioner $11.59 http://www.radioshack.com/images/ProductCatalog/ProductImage/23/23-335.jpg

I use these in my Cateye EL300 and have had NO problems.

For touring I would go with a dynamo powered system. You can never be certain of a recharging point. For a bottle dynamo, the secret of an effective system is in the mounting. I have a metal tab brazed to my bikes chainstay, to avoid the hassles of those stupid clamps. Hub generators are verry effective, and the Schmidt Dynohub is standard equipment for UK endurance riders.

For my commuter bike, I use dynamo 3W/6V lamp unit, powered by a rechargeable battery inside an old waterbottle. Modern computer designed bike lamps such as Lumotec are more efficient than the generic sealed-beam units of most "bike" lighting systems, and people have commented on how bright the lamp appears. The recharger I use has a bulk and a trickle charge (ie it is a constant voltage design), and switches automatically. SAgain it is superior to those found in most bike systems, but is not very expensive. I used crimp connectors and purchased all the battery/charger/electrical stuff from an electronics store, total cost was £45, but an equiv bike shop version would have been double that.

Supergo was just unloading some SPecialized Fireballs light systems. I know our store was having a hard time moving them and there were still a stack of them there last time I went through. I think last I saw they were down to 30$. They have 6, 12, and 18 watt settings. I have been quite happy with mine for the price I got it for. Apparently the MTB crowd (who they were designed for) hated them and specialized is getting out of the high end light business which is why they dropped the price so far (originally 180$ I think).

The fireball is not bad, I bought one a short bit ago, but the battery packed died after a week. And woudl not last more then 15 min.. Not sure if was just the one I bought or if this is a problem.. and Specialized does not give any warranty at all on the battery...

Originally posted by thbirks
Well, here's my inexpensive, less powerful but more efficient system. The charger and 4 Nimh AA and 2 NIMH AAA batteries cost $40 and are top notch items. I started out with the Cateye Microhalogen headlight and I'm now using the Cateye 5 LED headlight. Run times with the halogen light are over 4 hours with the high capacity batteries. I'm not sure of run times with the LED headlight. I just recharge the batteries even couple of weeks.:D


how have you found the 5 LED "horn" headlight and rechargeables ?

I have the cateye opticube cube single white LED (so basically 1/5th of the horn) and find that the NiMH aren't that flash. They only really put out 1.2V, and it seems to need 1.5V. The halogen copes ok, but not the bright LED.

I like the idea of a compact light with batteries that are easy to change and inexpensive, so the 5 LED sounds like a winner to me.

Originally posted by bfb2003


how have you found the 5 LED "horn" headlight and rechargeables ?

I have the cateye opticube cube single white LED (so basically 1/5th of the horn) and find that the NiMH aren't that flash. They only really put out 1.2V, and it seems to need 1.5V. The halogen copes ok, but not the bright LED.

I like the idea of a compact light with batteries that are easy to change and inexpensive, so the 5 LED sounds like a winner to me.

Yeah, this was a concern of mine also. Although Alkaline batteries are rated at 1.5V they are only putting out that much when they are brand new. The power level continues to gradually fall thoughout their life cycle until the power level no longer gets the job done . Rechargable batteries are rated at 1.2v but they retain that voltage thoughout their cycle and then quickly lose power at the very end of their cycle.

So when the Alkalines are fresh they will provide a little more light than rechargable batteries but they'll soon be putting out the same or lower voltage as the rechargable batteries. The rechargable batteries will continue to put out that 1.2volts throughout their cycle.

The opticube and the older microhalogen, though similiar, light up the road differently. The opticube concentrates a circle of light right in front of you and also throws a little light out to the sides. The light has a blue hue to it that I haven't really adjusted to. The Microhalogen puts out white light and seems to put more light out to the sides of the road but has kind of a spotty beam directly in front of you.

I think that this type of setup has advantages for many cyclists but may not be suitable for everyone.

Here are a couple of Make your own sites

http://www.crw.org/CheapLights.htm

http://www.bikeclub.org/lightspa.htm

I have several Home made systems usually using High Power halogen Lights , I want to try and Build something using LED's , I have seen a 12 LED fixutre in an MR-16 bulb , suppose to be use to replace spot kights in Track Lighting, Looks like it has Potential.

Homemade light system......This idea is fanning my tinker flames....:D As soon as my first check comes in, I'm building a light system. I've got a Schwinn M.O.D setup right now, but you can't beat homemade.

If you check the "world's ugliest taillight" thread you'll see my first cut at a home-brewed taillight. I'm increasing the number of LEDs and decreasing the size for the next one.

John