mechBgon

Ok, so I was on a night ride with a pal and I took along my 3W Luxeon flashlight that I got from Lowes Hardware, as well as my dual-beam 12W/20W/32W halogen system and my 13W HID. My friend had a Cygolite HID that I don't know the precise wattage of.

Anyway, here are some photos that were shot with the same manual camera settings, so you can get a feel for the output of the flashlight, compared to some conventional bicycle lights. To make a long story short, the 3W Luxeon is dominated by my 12-watt halogen alone, so I wouldn't recommend it for fast off-road trail riding. As a light to go down a dark MUP with, it might be OK. As a "see-me" light on the street, it would be fine as long as you don't need any side visibility from it.

In real life, regarding the amount of light the different lights put onto the trail, the HID is more impressive than the halogen (which seems orange by comparison) and the Luxeon flashlight is not very impressive. The flashlight did come in handy when my friend had a flat, since I could unclip it from the Wald snap-in holder I mounted it in

mechBgon

Oh, and for general amusement, here's a 2MB video with snippets from the ride. mechBgon crashes while being an idiot Tip: do not attempt to shoot video with a handheld camera while riding one-handed on tricky trails

seeker333

Yep, 3 watters ain't much compared to a 15w or 20w halogen rig with good lamps.

It amazes me when I see 3w based headlamps being sold for $X00.00.

It amazes me more that folks don't seem to know this.

I hope one day to get an hid rig. I've been looking at batteryspace for a long time.

I find led headlamps to be useful in flash mode (for being seen), riding in areas with good street lighting. I have a princeton tec quad mounted sans elastic band, works pretty good (non luxeon leds). The quad is inexpensive ($17+5 sh from ebay) and underrated as a backpacking etc headlamp, I reccomend it. Superior to the petzyl tikka plus, and for the money a better deal than the p.t. eos. I also have a petzl myo xp - its a good light if you can get it cheap - the flip down diffuser lens is extremely useful.

You are probably aware of this, but many of the walmart/lowes/etc lights labelled 3W are not luxeon 3W and not as bright/efficient. The new maglite series are disappointing in this respect.

Check out candlepower forums, good source for led info, parts.

https://candlepowerforums.com/

mechBgon

What I would like to try sometime, is a Nova BULL or Whelen TIR3 with white LEDs. The Nova is pretty good in red (uses 3 x 1W Luxeons), here's a comparison between the Nova on steady-fire and my 13W NiteRider HID.

Oh, and they now have a BULL that, instead of having strobe modes, simply has eight levels of illumination power: https://www.strobe.com/products.asp?id=103&view=product

2manybikes

Thanks. That was great !! LOL.

One of the best parts of off road riding is watching someone who is stopped fall over anyway. Especially if you are about to do the same thing. I loved seeing that, I have not done that in a long time.

n4zou

This is sort of like comparing apples, oranges, and bananas. Of course the LED is not going to provide the light output of a halogen or HID. It's a completely different animal just like the difference between the halogen and the HID. Something else to remember is the wattage rating has nothing to do with the measure of light brightness. Wattage refers to an electrical measurement of power being used. What is important is proper choice of tool for the job at hand. I really like my Mag-Lite 3-watt LED flashlight for several reasons. It provides enough light for my commute, its weight is small which is important to me, I love the adjustable beam pattern unavailable on any other light, and best of all it cost so much less than other options. I don't need a brighter light and its corresponding larger and heavier battery nor do I need to worry about rechargeable batteries and the proper care and feeding of them. I do have an MR-16 20-watt halogen light and rechargeable battery system but its simply overkill for the type of riding I do.

2manybikes

In the fall there are some threads from people that don't know much about the difference between HID Halogen and LED ,and are looking to buy a light. The ad copy is useless when shopping for a light.
The beam comparison photo is useful for some bike light buyers or someone looking to upgrade.