i'm a litttle confused by all of the options on the dinotte www site.

i'm interested in daytime use only, so amber front and red in back.

i ride 3 different bikes (trek upright, rans crank forward, and a recumbent) and would like to be able to easily and quickly swap from one to another. would helmet mounting be the best way to handle this?

AA or lithium -- i already have some rechargeable AAs, charger, etc. is lithium worth the price premium?

thanks for any suggestions!

If I only had one light I personally would prefer it helmet mounted even with only one bike. You can find a lot of sources that say if you only have one to mount it on the handlebars. But I like to see where my eyes are looking, not where the handlebar is pointed. So that would be my suggestion.

You will still have the tail light and battery pack to move between bikes. But it can be done without tools and quickly. You just have to remember to do it.

The advantage of lithium is lighter weight and longer run time. If AA's are adequate and you already have that capability, I would go with AA's unless you foresee a dramatic change in your needs.

I've been using the 200 lumen version at night for almost 2 years. I like the AA version. It is a great light.
Good Luck.

Choose your battery based on the run time you need. They're both good, but meet different needs.

I have a tail light and a 200 lumen front light with AAs only because I had lots of cells and a charger . The front light is bright enough to ride my road bike at night in total darkness . I would get the white light and a piece of yellow filter then you can have both options, mine came with a helmet mount. Also the customer service is very good they reply to questions and are very helpful.

Jon

great comments -- thanks!

john is that yellow filter something that comes from Dinotte, or elsewhere?

it sounds like for me that a helmet amber (or clear with filter) and a red rear with AA pack is the best way to go. i don't need long runtimes for day use.

the www seemed to indicate that lithium gave more light output but sounds like i misinterpreted that.

thanks again

I'll second the recommendation to get a white front light. It's extremely visible when you put it on strobe mode during the day (no need for an amber filter) and if you ever get stuck making an unplanned night ride you just put it on steady mode and it will get you home.

Swapping between bikes is a lot easier than you'd expect, especially if you can get an extra battery pouch or two. Flicking the O-ring off and putting it on another bike is somewhere between clip-in and velcro in terms of speed.

If you ONLY will be riding in daytime, 100% of the time, get the amber. It will be much better than the white light with an amber filter. "White" LEDS put out very little in the amber spectrum, what you are left with after filtering the white/blue light is significantly less than amber LEDS will produce.

A white would give you the option to ride at night either by choice or necessity. Either will be very visible. If you get a white light, forget the amber filter and just run it white 100% of the time.

They are similar to the way my lights mount. It takes a few second to swap, but isn't that big of a deal. It sure hasn't ever made me change my mind about which bike should be ridden.

Couldn't you just get the white light, and then put an amber filter over the front? Best of both worlds.

Couldn't you just get the white light, and then put an amber filter over the front? Best of both worlds.

It was mentioned already that white LED lights don't have much amber to begin with. All an amber filter does is block everything but amber/yellowish light, and if the light makes everything but amber, the filter will block most of the available light. This isn't so much of a problem with halogen/incandescent bulbs.

If you've got really thick glasses like I do ;) , you could separate the LED's spectrum by looking through the outer edge of an eyeglass lens and break up the "white" light into its bands of blue, green and a very slight tinge of red. The Dinotte amber is a very pure amber that doesn't have much extra color at all that I can see.