Mountain Biking - HID Light Shootout

I am in the market for a high end light for my night rides. Last night, I whent on a night ride with my local shop (Cyclepath in Hayward, CA) and was offered to demo a Topeak Moonshine HID. Wow. Demo a $400 light? Of course. Wow. This thing was bright! I had been using a Performance Viewpoint halogen, and had one on my helmet, and the topeak on my bars totally engulfed the viewpoint. The Topeak's high beam is 10 watts with like 2 hours of burn time and 2.5 hours at 7 watts. I've been looking at the Light and Motion Arc lights and am totally impressed. 3 hours of burn time at 13.5 watts and 3.5 at 11 watts. They are both 400 bucks. I'm pretty sure i'll get the Light and Motion. Any body use either of the lights? By the way. I dont like Niterider.

Check out www.mtbr.com for rider reviews of just about anything bike related.

I ended up with a NiteRider H.I.D. system.

More light than I could ever have hoped for!

Oh yeah, if you shop around you can find an H.I.D. for about $230 + shipping.

remember the L&M has a non user replacable bulb. you have to send it in to get it replaced. and it has less the great optics. nightrider is about the lowest rated light.

I have no used any light systems, but I have read rave reviews all over the net about JetLites. Look them up on mtbr.com or check out JetLites.com I think. They also have a rental program you can use to demo if you can't find a dealer.

I've tested a Lupine edison, L&M ARC Li-ion, NItRider Blowtorch and Topeak MOonshine HID.

The best of the lot is the Lupine Edison10 but it costs $750! Still I bought one and have been veryhappy with it. It's the brightest HID currently in production (The Cateye Stadium is no longer in Production).

The L&M ARC has the best beam but it's let down by a finicky on/off switch. Still it's a lot better than the NiteRider and the Topeak in terms of functioning.

The Topeak hasa good beam and useable features but it works best on the helmet mount . The other mounting bracket are very flimsy and break easily.

The Niterider is nothing special and the on/off switch is a pain to operate as well.

I rate them as follows:

1) Lupine Edison (helmet or Bar mount)
2) Light & Motion ARC Li-ion (Helmet or Bar mount)
3) Topeak Moonshine (helmet or Bar mount)
4) Niterider Blowtorch (Bar mount)

I'll probably get the L&M. My friend wants a Niterider blowtorch. I've read that they suck. Is this true? To me, the Niteriders just look like a light that has alot of burn time and nothing else. TimB. If you had to choose between the L&M and the Topeak, you'd get the L&M right.
thankes
greg

I have had my night rider blowtorch for three years, it's a very good light. If you want more power than ALL the other lights on the market get an Edison 10 it has many reviews on www.mtbr.com. I now need more run time than four hours so I bought another light.
On low it is equal to my Nightrider blowtorch I have tested this as carefully as I can. It will run 8 hours on low. On High it is 16 watts HID equal to about 65 Halogen. It still goes 5 hours.

What i never really understood is how a light could cost 400dollars. What makes the price so high? Can somebody clue me in.

What i never really understood is how a light could cost 400dollars. What makes the price so high? Can somebody clue me in.

Check the prices of the 32 watt and higher halogen lights they are not that much less, and on high, they only go less than an hour. As opposed to four hours plus.
You get what you pay for. There is no other way to get that much light for that long, with a battery small enough to even be reasonable ........period.
The top of the line HID lights are $899 not $400. And much much brighter and more run time. And lighter in weight.

How can a bike cost $6,000.? How can a car cost $100,000 ?

research Metal Halide bulbs on line. Find Welch-Allyn the bulb maker and read about it.

try this and go to the picture of the exposed bulb read about it. It's complicated.

http://www.lupine.de/en/produkte/produkte.php

I'll probably get the L&M. My friend wants a Niterider blowtorch. I've read that they suck. Is this true? To me, the Niteriders just look like a light that has alot of burn time and nothing else. TimB. If you had to choose between the L&M and the Topeak, you'd get the L&M right.
thankes
greg


Greg, if i had to choose between those two lights I'd take the Light and Motion.
It's a very good light. It's switch ca also be a pain so try before you buy but when I tested it I was still impressed, more so than with the Moonshine.

Moonshine HID is a rebadged Trailtech HID. Their website is http://www.trailtech.net.


I'd still get a Light& Motion ARC Li-IOn but with the Ultra battery for 6 hours of burn time @11W

for 270 bucks I'll stick with my cygolite HID

Yeah, no kidding... it's not perfect but for the money, it's the best deal going right now. I get a solid 4+ hours of runtime out of my light and haven't had any problems with it at all. I've ridden 12 miles in a torrential downpour and the light still functioned perfectly fine. If you can deal with the switch being on the battery instead of on the head, it's a great light. I've also heard that cygolite's customer service is pretty darn good too.

I know I am going to go with the cygo when I get the money. I thought about going for the NiCad for 208, but I think I will throw in another 60 and go with the NiMh. That way I don't have to worry about memory and battery performance after sitting for a long time and what not. (I raced electric R/C cars for awhile so I know about NiCads) Plus it is a smaller size and you get longer burn times.

I demo'd a L&M Hid at Pedros fest last year , and I Tried a Niterider HID also
Both were helmet mount

Over all I like the L&M better , the light unit it self was lighter than the Nite rider , the L&M's mout is eaier to put oin the Helmet , and I like the strapping system Better. when you come to a stop on the trial you can easily flip the L&M to point striaght up so as not to Blind every one.

I did not like the switch on either , the L&M you had to Press it twice to do any thing , the nite ride you barely touch the on/off switch and it turns off and the switch is very eay to hit when You try to adjust the angle of the light.

the night riders batty last longer for what feels about the same weight.

all that said I got a Niterider. I was offered a Niterider HID and Niterider Trail Rat ( halogen ) for $200 for the both of them . how could I turn that down ?

I guess then the Cygo has the advantage there? The switch is on the battery and it takes a full stroke to turn it on. The system as a whole is insanely well-sealed as it withstood a good hour and a half in a horrid downpour. I don't think I've spent a better $300 yet. The beam pattern is flat out wonderful with a really nice white bright spot in the center and a decent flood to illuminate everything in front of you and off to the sides in the front. At this point, I see absolutely 0% reason to spend the extra amount of money on the NR or the L&M. They seem completely overpriced in comparison. Perhaps time will tell if the cygo can handle the rigors of daily commuting use in all types of weather. PWRD and I will certainly keep you updated.