Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets - LED Headlight Suggestions

I would like to get one, but not spend tons. My 20W halogen flood is doing ok, but I'd like to have a backup plan. So, I'd prefer:

-cheap. Prefer $30 or less, unless if it's a really good light (3W, long life, etc)
-more focused beam. The 20W halogen is current w/o a reflector; good cone of light but a bit weak dead ahead
-decent handlebar mounting. I don't know off hand what I have for a bar diameter, but if it was a good light, it might wind up on a different bike anyhow.

Thanks.

Given the $30 budget, the Cateye HL-EL530 is one of the best performing light IMHO, you can just see using it and the traffic will definitely see you. Good as a supplementary light when aimed further up the road.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Cateye-HL-EL530-POWER-OPTICUBE-BIKE-LED-LIGHT-HEADLIGHT_W0QQitemZ320152847043QQihZ011QQcategoryZ22689QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I would like to get one, but not spend tons. My 20W halogen flood is doing ok, but I'd like to have a backup plan. So, I'd prefer:

-cheap. Prefer $30 or less, unless if it's a really good light (3W, long life, etc)
-more focused beam. The 20W halogen is current w/o a reflector; good cone of light but a bit weak dead ahead
-decent handlebar mounting. I don't know off hand what I have for a bar diameter, but if it was a good light, it might wind up on a different bike anyhow.

Thanks.

Well heck, you could just get a 3W LED flashlight for that price, and mount it to your handlebars with a homebrew clamp. It'll use regular batteries and it will be detachable if you need to do repairs in the dark.

Check out this one...

http://cgi.ebay.com/3-Watt-Luxeon-Star-Bike-Bicycle-Headlight-Flashlight_W0QQitemZ220144830992QQihZ012QQcategoryZ22689QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

A buddy of mine bought one of their 3 Watt flashlights (2 AA model) and it is a really nice flashlight; Quality seemed to be on par with Maglite and it's just as bright as my brand new Dualcross Li-ion!

If you do get one, please post a review as I also plan on getting one in the future for my MTB...

-Josh

Well heck, you could just get a 3W LED flashlight for that price, and mount it to your handlebars with a homebrew clamp. It'll use regular batteries and it will be detachable if you need to do repairs in the dark.
I purchased a cheap ($7.20 on sale) Schwinn dynamo light kit as a backup for my Mag-Lite 3-watt LED flashlight. On my first trip out after dark on the MUP I found I was using the dynamo as the main lighting system and the Mag-Lite flashlight as the backup! It's not as bright as the Mag-Lite but I'm saving batteries. I'm in the process of replacing the cheap head and taillights with an LED dynamo headlight.
I used a 1/2" EMT conduit hanger (clamp) with a plastic blinkie clamp. I glued bits of old inner tube rubber in the hanger to prevent scratching it and provide a firm grip around the flashlight. I also used a thumbscrew instead of the screw that came with the clamp so I could take it on and off without tools.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r154/n4zou/Hpim0292.jpg

Pretty nifty; I did not realize the Maglights could run 3W. I'd think short run time on just a pair of AA's, but still. I'll look into that option also, as it may be cheaper than the Cateye solution.

I have the same cheapo Schwinn generator, just have not gotten around to hooking it up. Right now, it's more pride than anything, as I religously monitor my average speed. :) Plus, I haven't felt going and figuring out overvoltage protection etc--I can cruise upwards of 18mph (in some spots), and tend to hit 36 (momentarily): my night rides are for fitness, so I tend to crank along.

Once again: Thanks.

Pretty nifty; I did not realize the Maglights could run 3W. I'd think short run time on just a pair of AA's, but still.
The Mag-Lite 3-watt flashlight does make an excellent bicycle light except it and you cant been seen from the side by traffic. I solved that problem by using an amber blinkie as can be seen in the photo.
You're right about batteries! It burns up a pair of AA's in 2.5 hours. That’s not bad if your not riding after dark too much but when you do several hours almost every night battery costs can add up after a while.




I have the same cheapo Schwinn generator, just have not gotten around to hooking it up. Right now, it's more pride than anything, as I religously monitor my average speed. :) Plus, I haven't felt going and figuring out overvoltage protection etc--I can cruise upwards of 18mph (in some spots), and tend to hit 36 (momentarily): my night rides are for fitness, so I tend to crank along.

You don’t really need over voltage protection as long as you use both the 2.4-watt headlight and .6-watt taillight bulbs together. Still the bulbs are only good for a few hours before they exceed there design life of a few hours. I already burned out my taillight bulb and expect the headlight bulb to burn out soon as well. It's very hard to find replacement bulbs other than in bicycle shops and they want $5 for them. It would be cheaper to just buy another dynamo kit just for the bulbs! I scrounged up a small bridge rectifier, 25 volt 100 uF electrolytic capacitor, and a 7805 5-volt regulator. I hooked it up to my dynamo and tested the output. The dynamo and voltage regulator circuit worked nicely. The output voltage ramped up quickly to 5 volts and held no matter how fast I could go, even going down a very steep hill exceeding 35 MPH. I had a cheap dollar store LED flashlight so I hooked it up with a 20-ohm resistor to compensate for the LED voltage of 4.5 volts maximum. This worked just fine and the cheap LED flashlight is much brighter than the Schwinn headlight and is bright even at low speed. I'm going to order some 5mm 18,000 Mcd LED's for my home brew head and taillights.

Hmm, all good info. Right now, I'm stuck doing battery shopping: my SLA died on me, so I bought a cheapie from Walmart. Went to open it up, and found it was cracked--so that'll have to go back tomorrow. Actually, after doing some reading today, it's not so good to buy old SLA's, they apparently don't age well, nor sit well when uncharged.

I'm tempted to dish out some money for a NiMH pack, if I could get about 12V/3000mAhr or more, for a reasonable price. I'm thinking not. I'll probably just pick up a new SLA at Radioshack on the way home, and pitch all my old UPS pulls.

Speaking of Radio Shack. I picked up a four of their 6 cell remote control car batteries last year and wired up two 11-cell 3300 mah batteries together.

Pretty nifty; I did not realize the Maglights could run 3W. I'd think short run time on just a pair of AA's,


My Fenix L2D runs on 2 AAs and puts out 135 lumens for 2.4 hours. More than a Mag-Lite. (Not dissing Mag-Lites, I use 'em too. A sound tech's best friend!)

I just bought a River Rock 3AA K2 Luxeon headlamp from Target. It puts out 85 lumens on its highest setting, also has a medium, low, and flash setting. It's a nice focused beam, pretty smooth. It has a spot type cast (about 250 feet max), though it has a slight residual flood effect (not a whole lot). It will REALLY light up something with reflective tape or plastic reflectors from a much longer distance. For the price it's an absolute steal ($24.95). I was about a quarter mile away from some train track gates and was blown away by how bright the reflectors on the arms lit up.

It does have a bluish tint to the light, but is ostensibly white. It tilts up and down in five places, is very lightweight, and even has a bonus rear flashing red led light built into the battery pack. Batteries will last 16 hours on the high setting.

I used it this morning and was very impressed. It's much brighter than my Princeton Tec Switchback Xenon bulb (the original headlamp version, not the newer Switchback 2 and 3 bike light varieties) or my Black Diamond Spaceshot. Highly recommend.

I recently bought a Blackburn Voyager 3.0, which is pretty darn nice. I agree with some of you about using a 3W flashlight, which is nice and bright, but be careful that you build a really good setup to hold them.

I made something with a plastic reflector holder, and it came apart on me during my 10-mile commute to work one day, from the constant vibration of the road.

Honestly, you can ride the road with something as simple as a rubber LiveStrong bracelet, like this:
www.instructables.com/id/E6XNVE9MYKEP4HD9XX/ (http://www.instructables.com/id/E6XNVE9MYKEP4HD9XX/)

Oh, BTW, I created this instructable.

Sorry guys but the 3 watt Mag light is a piece of trash. I bought one and returned the darn thing 5 times because the head got loose3 times and the bulb after about a month or two would turn on for about 5 to 15 seconds then turn off then only flash after that. I exchanged it for a Xenon version and so far so good. But neither light is very bright; the only difference between the brightness level of the 3 watt job and the Xenon is the color of the light. Also the adjustable beam on the LED is far more limited then on the Xenon. Personally I wouldn't use either on a bike, but that's just me.

Instead try this: http://www.szwholesale.com/ultrafirereg-5mode-1xlir123arechargeable-p-1034.html On high this thing will go to 200 lumens which is about 130 lumens brighter then the Mag or the Target light for almost the same price.

Sorry guys but the 3 watt Mag light is a piece of trash. I bought one and returned the darn thing 5 times because the head got loose3 times and the bulb after about a month or two would turn on for about 5 to 15 seconds then turn off then only flash after that. I exchanged it for a Xenon version and so far so good. But neither light is very bright; the only difference between the brightness level of the 3 watt job and the Xenon is the color of the light. Also the adjustable beam on the LED is far more limited then on the Xenon. Personally I wouldn't use either on a bike, but that's just me.

Instead try this: http://www.szwholesale.com/ultrafirereg-5mode-1xlir123arechargeable-p-1034.html On high this thing will go to 200 lumens which is about 130 lumens brighter then the Mag or the Target light for almost the same price.

Which one? The 2xAA MAglite 3W LED or the 2-4 x C/D 3W LED Maglite? I own the 2 x C and 3 x D 3W LED retrofit Maglite and it's pretty good.

Here is a photo of my homemade Dynamo light showing the inner workings.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r154/n4zou/guts.jpg
It's slightly brighter than the Schwinn dynamo headlight. Nothing to write home about but it works without batteries! I've used it for more than 5 hours now without any problems. I'll be taking the Mag-Lite off the handlebar as a ready backup light so it won't look so cluttered. BTW you had to get over 12 MPH for full brightness with the Schwinn headlight. The LED headlight hits full brightness at 4 MPH!

Which one? The 2xAA MAglite 3W LED or the 2-4 x C/D 3W LED Maglite? I own the 2 x C and 3 x D 3W LED retrofit Maglite and it's pretty good.

It was the 2AA Maglite 3 watt job.

yes the 2xaa mag died in the same fashion only after 2 months of use. complete junk

I figured out how to power my Mag-Lite flashlight with a dynamo! I've already tested it for more than 5 hours with slightly over 50 miles covered. Read about it here.
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=339965
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r154/n4zou/prototype.jpg