michaelnel

Oh. OK, but I'll have to wait for nightfall again.

michaelnel

I have the Carradice SQR mount for mine, and the top of the Barley lays at about a 45 degree angle ... which works out just about right for a clip-on blinky which will sag on the strap a little. It ends up being pointed pretty much straight back.


I too have a Road Morph. If you put the pump handle into the pump position (at right angles to the shaft) it makes it *just* short enough to fit inside the Barley.

sircycler

are the batteries in the pack aa size? if so, sanyo's new eneloop batteries would work great in there, since they don't lose charge nearly as fast as current nimh batteries.

michaelnel

I believe they are AA. But the Vega is not user-serviceable without voiding the 2 year warranty, so I won't be opening it to experiment with different batteries.

Dchiefransom

The pic of the battery from the L&M Vega on the L&M website.

geog_dash

I've had a Vega for about six months. Appart from the intensity, compact design, and ease of charging, the durability is impressive. I regularly ride on a bad stretch of road, with lots of bumps, cracks, and seams. It also goes downhill, and I don't bother to slow down much. I just stand on the pedals, hunker down, and let the bike pound through. My tail light endured about two sessions of this, and then disintegrated. (It's replacement goes on my belt now.) The Vega, which gets a more violent ride on the handle bars, continues to work without complaint. They're pricey, which would discourage putting one on my bike rack bound commuter bike, but for my trainer, it's just the ticket.

geog_dash

Doh! Thought I was in the road forum. I hasten to point out it is easy to detach and re-attach, although I haven't done so as a matter of routine. I would worry about it eventually loosening. Does anyone out there remove and reattach their light every day?

Cyclist0383

I do. Several times a day, in fact.

blackDoggy

Does anyone know how much Light & Motion would charge for a new set of batteries for Vega? I consider buying Vega, but the fact that you can't replace the batteries makes me think twice. It's clear that they try to profit from refurbishing batteries, to be honest, I must admit that so do all other light manufacturers, but I the prices from L&M seem to be somewhat unrational. For example, have look at the prices for the replacement batteries for their HID systems. 129$ + shipping! The same money would buy you 3 batteries at Batteryspace. And consider that they are buying them in bulk, so in reality you end up paying 4 times as much as you should...

jnorcross

What about weather tolerance? Right now, I'm running a Cateye Opticube EL-400, which is just barely ok, but it's waterproof. It works as a be-seen light, but doesn't do much for me actually seeing anything. My plan would be to get the L&M Vega as a bar mount and run the opticube as a helmet mount. I'm in the Houston Bay Area, so it's very humid and it could rain at any point in time, so I need a light that will hold up in wet conditions.

landstander

The light appears to have been constructed with weatherproofing in mind, although I couldn't find any mention of this in either the manual or website. I haven't been caught in the rain yet, so no firsthand knowledge...

OldeRider

I've had the Vega for about a month now and really like it. The fastest I've ridden with it is 28mph and it was more that adequate. The only real problem is it's difficult to adjust rotationally, wish it had a little slip to it. I bought it because I commute home in the evening and the flash mode is good for when the sun is setting and you want to be seen but there's still enough daylight to see where you're going. It's also a little pricey...

michaelnel

Call 'em and ask 'em. They aren't user-replaceable though, so any quote you get will be for THEM to replace batteries out of warranty. I don't think they'll sell you the batteries as a part.

I'm not worried about it though. The thing has a 2 year warranty and I seldom hang onto anything that long. And I have other NiMH batteries I've been using for 3 or 4 years and they still work great.

chipcom 

Hmm, mine rotates easily, my problem is it's such a pain to get off the 'quick release'. Have you tried loosening the screw under the pivot a hair? (or are you talking vertical rotation rather than horizontal?)

michaelnel

I put some dielectric grease on the mount, that helps it slide in and out easier. I also found that if I use my thumbs to push on the base of the light while squeezing the handlebar mount with my fingers (kind of a pinching action) it is easier to slide it out.

As for rotation, if anything mine rotates too easily. I tightened the phillips screw, but it seems to have had little effect. It stays pointed right when I'm riding, but it's easy to bump it out of position while handling / carrying the bike.

chipcom 

I was thinking of grease. Funny, it seems that each one of the lights mentioned in this thread have different little quirks. I guess the question is, is it normal or an indication of a quality control issue?

michaelnel

Well, I guess nothing is perfect, but so far I'm very pleased with the Vega... enough so that I have put my NiteRider Storm system and LED tail light on EBay. I won't be needing them.

OldeRider

"Hmm, mine rotates easily, my problem is it's such a pain to get off the 'quick release'. Have you tried loosening the screw under the pivot a hair? (or are you talking vertical rotation rather than horizontal?)"

I was talking about vertical rotation, I've got it adjusted for riding in the dark but at dusk with it blinking I would like to rotate it up a little so cagers can see it better...

jnorcross

Regarding the weather tolerance of the Vega light and how to change the battery, I emailed customer service. Here is my question and their response. I've replied back with a question about how much it would cost to replace the battery.

Customer Comments:

I'm a bike commuter and was looking at your Vega LED light. It looks like a great light for my situation, but I live in the Houston area, which is very humid and at any moment, I could get caught in the rain. How does the Vega stand up in wet conditions? Also, when the battery finally does die, can just the battery be replaced or do you have to buy a completely new light.

Jason-

Thanks for your interest in the Vega LED light. It's a great light for commuting and you don't need to worry about the humid conditions or rain.
All our lights are resistant to water under normal conditions.

For the battery life, you can expect to have about 3-4 years use if you take good care of the battery. If the battery starts to act up on you, you can send the light back to us and we can replace that. You will not need to buy an additional light.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Trish Jones

Light & Motion
300 Cannery Row
Monterey, Ca. 93940
831.645.1538 ph
831.375.2517 fax
tjones@lightandmotion.com
www.bikelights.com

Savas

Outstanding. I once sent two emails to Niterider and they never responded. Light and Motion is great.

michaelnel

I have emailed NR several times too, never a response. Of course everyone says "Well, just call them, they're great!", but sheesh, they have a website and a contact email form, if they aren't going to respond to email it shouldn't be there and there should be a statement that says "Look, we don't read or respond to email, so call us instead, we're great!".

That's BS.

Savas

You're not kidding. The two emails I sent were the same one, spaced apart by around a week, giving them some slack after the first non-response. It involved having taken a picture and sending it for verification of something, so email was preferred. Nevertheless, I called later on and during the discourse, mentioned about the emails. The person went around to several computers trying to track it down to see the photo, but returned with no luck finding my email.

Mach42

If you could take some pics of the brightness compared to your HID, that'd be great. I'm thinking of picking one of these up myself, and the coupon code expires tomorrow! It'll be replacing a CatEye EL400, so I think that I'll be in for quite a surprise, both in illumination and sticker shock.

michaelnel

I can't. The HID is all packaged up (I am selling it on EBay). The comparison pics exist though, taken by someone else, and appear in another thread in the Commuting section.

2manybikes

Some where on Nightriders web pages it says they don't take email for service repairs. One call is all you need.