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08-26-09, 04:29 PM
I've contacted Light & Motion about this. Hope to hear back from them soon (what's below is essentially the email I sent to them), but I thought I'd see if anyone else was experiencing this.
As a PADI divemaster, I have always been impressed with Light & Motion products. When I got more serious about cycling recently, I was happy to learn that they make bike lights, as well.
After looking around at the variety of bike lights available in the market, I was pleased to find a Vega 120 at a local bike shop that, while being a little more expensive than I had budgeted, seemed to fit what I was looking for.
I decided to go ahead and buy it. Much of my decision was based on the Light & Motion name.
The light itself met all of my expectations, and I was the envy of everyone in my riding group every time I turned it on.
However, near the end of the second time I used it, it separated from the bracket about 20 miles into the ride. Fortunately I was on a MUP and near the back of the group. I was able to turn around and retrieve it from the grass where it landed.
I got home, screwed the light back onto the mount and rode another time without incident.
However, on the fourth time that I rode with it, I noticed the light seemed to be bouncing around about 5 miles into the ride. (I did inspect it before leaving the house and it didn't appear to need tightening.) I took it off the handlebars and inspected it, and while it did wiggle some, it appeared to be fairly solid. If I'd had a phillips screwdriver with me, I would have tightened it, but that's not an item I typically carry on my bike. We started up the ride again, and not two miles down the road, the light separated from the bracket again. This time, it was a little trickier situation. I was in the middle of the pack, so several cyclists had to dodge a large, bouncing piece of metal. It landed in a busy street, so I had to watch for traffic while retrieving it. Fortunately, nobody ran over it before I could get to it.
From what I can tell, the problem seems to be the screw connecting the bracket to the light itself. There's no bolt to hold the screw in place, and the vibration from the road gradually loosens the connection. Also, the screw is used both to hold the light in place, and to rotate the light into the correct position. When the light is rotated to aim the beam, it compromises the connection to the bracket.
I'd love to have a Vega that stays attached to my handlebars. I simply can't run the risk of injury to others in my cycling group and to myself given the almost certainty of another separation from the bracket, and I also can't risk being left without a headlight in the middle of a ride.
Has anyone else run into this problem? Anyone know of a fix?
As a PADI divemaster, I have always been impressed with Light & Motion products. When I got more serious about cycling recently, I was happy to learn that they make bike lights, as well.
After looking around at the variety of bike lights available in the market, I was pleased to find a Vega 120 at a local bike shop that, while being a little more expensive than I had budgeted, seemed to fit what I was looking for.
I decided to go ahead and buy it. Much of my decision was based on the Light & Motion name.
The light itself met all of my expectations, and I was the envy of everyone in my riding group every time I turned it on.
However, near the end of the second time I used it, it separated from the bracket about 20 miles into the ride. Fortunately I was on a MUP and near the back of the group. I was able to turn around and retrieve it from the grass where it landed.
I got home, screwed the light back onto the mount and rode another time without incident.
However, on the fourth time that I rode with it, I noticed the light seemed to be bouncing around about 5 miles into the ride. (I did inspect it before leaving the house and it didn't appear to need tightening.) I took it off the handlebars and inspected it, and while it did wiggle some, it appeared to be fairly solid. If I'd had a phillips screwdriver with me, I would have tightened it, but that's not an item I typically carry on my bike. We started up the ride again, and not two miles down the road, the light separated from the bracket again. This time, it was a little trickier situation. I was in the middle of the pack, so several cyclists had to dodge a large, bouncing piece of metal. It landed in a busy street, so I had to watch for traffic while retrieving it. Fortunately, nobody ran over it before I could get to it.
From what I can tell, the problem seems to be the screw connecting the bracket to the light itself. There's no bolt to hold the screw in place, and the vibration from the road gradually loosens the connection. Also, the screw is used both to hold the light in place, and to rotate the light into the correct position. When the light is rotated to aim the beam, it compromises the connection to the bracket.
I'd love to have a Vega that stays attached to my handlebars. I simply can't run the risk of injury to others in my cycling group and to myself given the almost certainty of another separation from the bracket, and I also can't risk being left without a headlight in the middle of a ride.
Has anyone else run into this problem? Anyone know of a fix?