Commuting - Interesting little 3-LED HEADLIGHT

You know how I love gadgets. Here's one that seems pretty useful. I just built up a new bike and didn't want to put a headlight on it, plus the fact that I have been looking for a little light to read by when camping. This thing does both as well as serve as a flashlight. It clips onto a little bracket on a headband which easily fits over my helmet. It can be unclipped from the headband and clipped onto a cap brim or anything else the clip will fit or just used loose as a flashlight. The 3 LEDs are at least as bright as the little 2.4 watt bulbs in my Cateye Micro Halogen. Throws a nice little beam that is quite adequate as a bike headlight on my morning commute in the dark though I wouldn't do any downhill mtbing in the dark with it. It will light up reflective street signs 100 meters away! Swivels any direction and 3 AAAs supposedly last 80 hours! All for 15 bucks. Check out sportsmansguide.com catalog stock number CX2C-59933. I love this little thing. It won't replace the Vistalite on my regular commuter, but gives me a headlight when I ride my road bikes without the hassle of clamping on the big battery and light.
FWIW,
Raymond

RainmanP - is the Cateye 3 LED version of the micro-halogen (same casing but silver) available in the US yet? After a winter's use I highly recommend it for use as a backup/additional light or in town use.

Richard

I picked up one of the 3-LED lights in Japan before they came to the USA.

Like Richard says, they are good for winter because the batteries last longer than regular lights.

However, the light just doesn't seem to have much more value than as a signal to motorists.

That is, in my opinion, the light is not bright enough to be able to see the road when bicycling in the dark - especially if you are bicycling at any speed and need to see farther ahead.

Richard and Mike,
Yes the Cateye 3-LED headlight is available. I looked at it at my LBS, but it costs $30 and not really what I wanted. I was not so much looking for a bike headlight as a multi-use camping tool. The fact that it has the headband that will fit over my helmet just made it a pretty darned neat little headlight for riding a road bike I don't want to mount a headlight on. Mike, you are right. This would not be the best thing for cycling on a really dark night at speed. However, my commute is urban with most streets reasonably well lit. I am actually more interested in making myself a little more visible. There are a few areas where it is dark enough to actually be usable and it does a pretty decent job. I would feel comfortable at 15-16 mph with it, but probably not 20+. It throws a definite beam which, as I said originally is at least as bright a 2.4 W light, probably better.

It's not the world's brightest headlight, but it is EXACTLY what I wanted and does a credible job as a helmet light on my commute.
Regards,
Raymond

RainmanP
The part number is WX2 - 59933 (changed?)

BTW, I didn't see your comments on the the rear view helmet thread. Surely that interesting gadget should have caught your attention!

Eddie

Originally posted by RainmanP
Mike, you are right. This would not be the best thing for cycling on a really dark night at speed. However, my commute is urban with most streets reasonably well lit. I am actually more interested in making myself a little more visible

Raymond, my bicycling brother. We must live parallel lives.

I commute under similar conditions and have an LED light for the exact purposes. In fact, I am getting ready to commute home right now. The only light on that bike is the LED light.

Like I said, I get my LED lights in Japan for about $10.00 each. They are made for bicycles and have handlebar mountings.

If you want more, let me know and I will pick some up for you when I go to Japan next time.

I bought the Cateye LED headlight a few months ago. I, too, have found it makes a great back-up light, but doesn't light the road much. On my morning commute I use it along with a 15w Vistalite. I figure the combination adds to my visibility and since my Vistalite has the tendency to suddenly die, it is nice having the LED to get me the rest of the way to work.

Is it just me or do LED lights show up better than low wattage halogen at dawn/dusk?

Richard

about a month ago i bought a simlilar 3-LED white headlamp from Black Diamond(Petzel also has a similar one). I originally bought it for climbing and ski touring (becuase it's super light and the batteries last like 40 hours)...

but i've been using it over my helmet for cycling and rollerblading too - it's super light, so you can just throw it in the bag before dark and then put it on after dark - i haven't used it much for commuting since i have a light on the bar, but i bring it on my MTB rides for after dark when i have to ride back through the city or on auto-streets...

not really enough light to ride by, but i think it really provides good visibility for cars - especially for the weight and battery life...

mine was more like $25-30 i think, but like i said it's really designed for extreme climbing/touring so it's also pretty rugged design - but i recommend something similar.

Are you guys talking about the Cateye HL-EL100? If so, it's interesting what you say about how bright it is. They claim to put out 50,000 millicandela, which is a fair amount of light. From what you're saying, it seems it isn't putting out anywhere near this much light. For example, my homebuilt LED headlight is made with ten 6000 mcd LEDs giving a theoretical 60000 mcd. My light lights up the road very well, and due to it's semi-complete state od construction, it also spills a fair amount of light at right angles either side (it's not a design flaw, it's a safety feature).

Originally posted by Allister
Are you guys talking about the Cateye HL-EL100? If so, it's interesting what you say about how bright it is. They claim to put out 50,000 millicandela, which is a fair amount of light. From what you're saying, it seems it isn't putting out anywhere near this much light. For example, my homebuilt LED headlight is made with ten 6000 mcd LEDs giving a theoretical 60000 mcd. My light lights up the road very well, and due to it's semi-complete state od construction, it also spills a fair amount of light at right angles either side (it's not a design flaw, it's a safety feature).

It's the light I'm talking about, anyway :)

I would say for the first 15 hours it lights up an unlit road reasonably well, but is a little diffuse (at least as bright as 2.4w halogen but not as focused). After that it works as well as a 1.2w krypton bulb for about another 15 hrs, after that it's merely clearly visible for another 100+ hours.

This is all very subjective though... ;)

Richard

Allister,
This little LED light is just a stopgap until you go commercial with your rig. :D Seriously.

Eddie, I don't know how I missed the rear view thread. I'll have to chase it down.

That WX2-59933 may be the same thing. I think the prefix and often the price changes according to the catalog issue. The one I ordered from had it as CX2C-59933 for $14.97.

I've just managed to have a close up look at the Cateye LED headlight. In fact it's sitting on my desk right now pending an LED replacement.

I haven't tested it on road, but it looks like a pretty serviceable little light, and certainly a big improvement on my old 2.4W faintly glimmering Cateye headlight. The guy I'm borrowing it off actually runs two of them. I'm replacing the existing white LEDs with much more powerful green ones. According to one poster on the bikecurrent email list, the bright green in combination with a second white light gives a much improved light output for seeing where you're going. I'm very interested in seeing how this actually works out.

Anyway, the light as it is definitely is nowhere near as bright as my homemade (gloat, gloat). I must get around to writing up a complete set of plans for my website or Rainman is going to give me a good transpacific slapping.

Thought I'd post a little update on this light since my camping trip. This thing is UNBELIEVABLY handy. If you've ever dug through a bag in the dark looking for something, you can imagine how much more convenient it is to have a light on your head leaving both hands free. I used it several times. It was also great for reading in my tent before falling asleep. And it is definitely brighter than a Cateye Micro Halogen when used as a bicycle light, pretty close in brightness to my 5W Vistalite. In fact, I like it better than the 5W because the light is bluish white and crisp where the halogen is yellowish and soft. In other words it may not be technically quite as bright, but things seem to show up better.
Regards,
Raymond