Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets - Dinotte 400L

I've been out of the "bike lights" loop for a while. I am looking for a bang for the buck and I after spending hours reading about all the different lights on here I have narrowed it down to the 400l.

I would like some advice on this before I make the purchase. Is there a better light for less?

I am also looking at the Trail Tech HID SCMR16 which is $30 more.

Check out this very recent review of 2009 LED lights. http://www.gearreview.com/LEDs09_intro.php

I run two 400L headlights and the matching rear. One was enough light, but two was better.

Both are set up on the bars so that I get a wide spread of light. Most of the time they run on 50% power and provide more than enough light to see the road in front. When I need it I have the full power option of "high beams." I also chose to run them on seperate 2 cell batteries so that I have independent systems, should one ever fail.

The flash modes are great for the daylight hours.

Basically, they look great, they light great, with two batteries the value for the dollar is great.

I would buy them again.

Cdalefan, would you happen to have any photos of the setup?

I have a single 400L and the 140L taillight. Awesome setup, highly recommended. My only advice is to get at least one 4-cell battery for longer runtime.

Cdalefan, would you happen to have any photos of the setup?

I don't, but, I'll take one today and post it

I have this setup:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v285/NoRacer/DSC00780.jpg

But, to lighten (weight) the load, I no longer mount the Lights & Motion ARC HID, using the other two Dinotte headlights and a Dinotte 140L tail light for daily commuting.

The 400L has enough light in most circumstances. I usually turn the 800L down to low when the ambient light is low, but I could actually turn the 800L off, because the 400L is bright enough on it's own.

With the 400L and 800L on high at the same time, you can compete with car headlights.

I have had trail tech hids and they were somewhat unreliable and they come with really cheap batteries. the dinotte is far better in quality and workmanship

Ok, here are three pictures of the lights.

The first two show the dual 400L on the bars and the last is the rear light (like there is anything to see there)

Any way, I hope you like the set up. It s hard to tell from the pictures but I flipped one of the mounts to get them both to point to the outside, then I flipped the light on that mount so that the lights were both right side up.

One of the 4 lenses is the wide angle so that I get a splill right in front of the bike and the other three are the narrow beam to get more throw.

I have the same setup, but on an MTB. I'd never thought of running the lights wide/separated on the bars like you. I have them mounted so that they are as close as possible to each other. I also run an 800L in addition to the two 400L's. On the 800L mount, I unscrewed it and turned it 90 degrees from how it would mount on the bars and mounted it to the stem. You can then mount it either over or under and all you have to adjust is the tilt on the light head.

It's a great setup that gives much flexibility in the amount of light - you can really fine tune it.

Ok, here are three pictures of the lights.

The first two show the dual 400L on the bars and the last is the rear light (like there is anything to see there)

Any way, I hope you like the set up. It s hard to tell from the pictures but I flipped one of the mounts to get them both to point to the outside, then I flipped the light on that mount so that the lights were both right side up.

One of the 4 lenses is the wide angle so that I get a splill right in front of the bike and the other three are the narrow beam to get more throw.

Wow, cool!

Have you used any other Dinotte lights to compare your setup to?

The reason I ask is because I have a Dinotte 600L myself. It's a nice light, don't get me wrong - with the 600L on the handlebars and a 200L on my helmet, it's nearly like riding in daylight. However, this setup forces me to always hold my head at a certain position which gets tiring on a long ride. The 600L doesn't *quite* reach far enough for really high speed road riding without the headlamp. It's very close, though, and the headlamp is definitely needed for any sort of downhill. So I contacted Dinotte's *EXCELLENT* customer service, and they offered to swap my 600L for 2 400L's, saying that I might like the more focused beam better.

So what do you think? When you're cruising on a straight downhill at 20-35 mph, do the dual 200L's throw light out far enough ahead? :D :D :D

Wow, cool!

Have you used any other Dinotte lights to compare your setup to?

So what do you think? When you're cruising on a straight downhill at 20-35 mph, do the dual 200L's throw light out far enough ahead? :D :D :D

The 400's were the first and only DiNottes that I have used. I guess if the the right number of bikes is n+1 than the correct amount of light is 2N. Like I said above I normally use the 50% setting on both lights to ride by and have the 10% setting in reserve. I keep my built in "2N" by doing that; it always seems brighter.

I am surprised that the 600 doesnt give you the distance that you want. Is it angled so far down, to give you the light in the front of the bike, that you dont get the throw? I fixed that by mixing the lenses on the 400's.

I cruise at about 18mph on my commute home and have enough light to see what I need to. Basically, I am very happy with my setup.

The 400's were the first and only DiNottes that I have used. I guess if the the right number of bikes is n+1 than the correct amount of light is 2N. Like I said above I normally use the 50% setting on both lights to ride by and have the 10% setting in reserve. I keep my built in "2N" by doing that; it always seems brighter.

I am surprised that the 600 doesnt give you the distance that you want. Is it angled so far down, to give you the light in the front of the bike, that you dont get the throw? I fixed that by mixing the lenses on the 400's.

I cruise at about 18mph on my commute home and have enough light to see what I need to. Basically, I am very happy with my setup.

Believe me, it's not because I've tried other angles. It just doesn't put out light far enough ahead for me. Combine it with a 200L headlamp, and that's just fine (well, you know, I always *wish* it would go farther, but I don't feel like I *need* it to at that point). The problem is is a real strain to keep my head at the perfect angle for an hour long ride each way. As I think I mentioned, the 600L lights up the road better than the 200L, but doesn't light it up *farther* by much.

Are you just biking on partially lit city streets? I found I didn't need as much throw on those - something about them being wider, or being able to see big objects ahead.

To be fair, the last review I read of the Light and Motion Seca 700 also mentioned that they didn't think it put out light quite far enough down the trail for cruising down a hill at full speed on your road bike at night, either.

Oh, and when I say "not enough light" what I really mean is "not enough light to go 100% full speed like it's daylight out". :-)

I have a 600L and a 140L tail light connected to one 4 cell Dinotte battery. It works fine for me is more than enough light.

When the batteries were new, I would get about 2.5 hours of run time before the low battery indicator would come on. I typically ride less than 2 hours so I don't know if this has changed.

I like the one battery solution so that I only need to charge one battery and I always have a spare battery to throw on the bike for my nightly ride.