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10-10-04, 04:26 PM
I scored a year or two old NiteRider Storm HID for $75.
Tried it out last night while riding downtown to rent a movie. No more "do they see me" nervousness like when I was using the little 3-led light on the handlebars. Turn your head in the direction of a car getting ready to pull out and they *will* see you. Or at least they'll see a blinding, blue light and stop ;).
I'm almost looking forward to commuting in the dark now.
My one worry, battery longevity. If I'm going through one or two charge cycles a week (Figure a 3 hour burn-time and 3 or 4 1-hour commutes per week, plus a 1 1/2 hour Wed. night mtn. bike ride.) how much life can I expect out of this battery that's already got a year or two of semi-regular mtn. bike usage and a 24 hour race or two? Those batteries are expensive, and I'm wondering if I wouldn't be better off using my older Niterider dual-beam halogen (I just recently built a new battery-pack for it. So it's probably got plenty of battery life.) and keeping the HID for exclusive off-road use where the extra bright light makes a *big* difference. On-road I've always found the halogens to be adequate, I just like the option of placing the beam where I want it with the helmet mount. Can't do that with my dual-beam handlebar setup...
-Trevor
Tried it out last night while riding downtown to rent a movie. No more "do they see me" nervousness like when I was using the little 3-led light on the handlebars. Turn your head in the direction of a car getting ready to pull out and they *will* see you. Or at least they'll see a blinding, blue light and stop ;).
I'm almost looking forward to commuting in the dark now.
My one worry, battery longevity. If I'm going through one or two charge cycles a week (Figure a 3 hour burn-time and 3 or 4 1-hour commutes per week, plus a 1 1/2 hour Wed. night mtn. bike ride.) how much life can I expect out of this battery that's already got a year or two of semi-regular mtn. bike usage and a 24 hour race or two? Those batteries are expensive, and I'm wondering if I wouldn't be better off using my older Niterider dual-beam halogen (I just recently built a new battery-pack for it. So it's probably got plenty of battery life.) and keeping the HID for exclusive off-road use where the extra bright light makes a *big* difference. On-road I've always found the halogens to be adequate, I just like the option of placing the beam where I want it with the helmet mount. Can't do that with my dual-beam handlebar setup...
-Trevor