poohbear

Hi there. Just found your forum. Does anyone know this light? A friend turned me to this light but I don't know anything about. I ride quite a bit and I find I need something brighter when I'm riding at night. All I have right now is a 1W flashlight which does not do the trick. I've looked at the other lights and this light is what I'm leaning more towards. I ride on/off road.

I spend about 2 hours in the dark when running errands or coming home. I like how it has 4 hours on high mode. I've tired flashlights, bike lights, and some LEDs before. I don't want HID or halogen. HID's are too prone to blow out from all I've read if you hit them hard enough and the on/off cycle shortens the life of the bulb. Yes I know HIDs are the brightest but I want something that can last longer and I do believe LED's are the future with some of the stuff I've been seeing. Some areas I ride are tree covered at night and a 20W would be good to zoom away quickly if I take a shortcut away.

I've spoken with some friends and they said to post on a forum to get help and opinions so we got together and they gave up with some questions to ask seeing how the company has not replied to my email in 1 weeks time after sending two emails once a week.

Perhaps someone canhelp me out here.

1. How many lumens is this light on HIGH?

2. What LED model bulb are you using? (Lumiled? Luxeon III? Luxeon K2? etc..)

3. What is the wattage per LED? (we're not talking halogen equivlence here)

4. What is the power comsumption per LED? (Chris says something about over driven is bad)

5. What is the length of the cord from battery to headlight? Please specify if the cord is part coiled or straight in your measurements.

6. What is the water repellency of this unit? Can it be used in rain? Is it fully sealed?

7. Is the light regulated to maintain consistant light output?


Thanks in advance for answering my questions. Also where is the cheapest place to buy this light? I checked out this store called Beyondbikes and they sell it for $154.99 US. Tho I have heard of Preformancebike has a sale with this right now but it's more expensive but they do price match and would like to know if I pricematch will I get the lower price plus 10% off?


Angie

billyt1963

Angie,

I can't answer all your questions, but I can answer the first one.

I own the Cygolite 300 DualCross. I have had it about 3 weeks. My riding is all on street with some dark areas. The light works well for my use, I am not sure how good it would be off road. So far the stated battery light is overly optimistic. I have been riding in cool to cold weather and I think that has a lot to do with the life.

I bought the light from Performance. I had some "team" points to use and they did match the price from Beyond Bikes (I think it was Beyond) and I got the discount from the coupon that was posted here on the boards.

If you have any specific questions about this light let me know.

Billy

CreepShow

[5. What is the length of the cord from battery to headlight? Please specify if the cord is part coiled or straight in your measurements. ]

I'll check the length when I get home but as an idea of how long the cable is, I have my battery mounted near the front of my rear rack. The cable then runs along the top tube to the light mounted on the handlebars. The top tube on my bike measures 56.5cm and there is about three to four inches of loop in the cable that I have zip tied to the stem. Again, I'll get a better measurement when I get home. The cable is straight and has no pre-shaped coil.

EDIT: Measured from battery to light, the cord is 41" straight.

roadfix

I've been using my DualCross 300 since November and have been happy with it so far. It does the job for 99% of the type of riding I do at night.....including our weekly Griffith Park Observatory night rides... I think the price/performance ratio on this light is very good. I see PerformanceBike has the Li-Ion unit on sale for $50 off now. I believe the cord on this battery is much shorter, but since the battery is much smaller and lighter it can be mounted anywhere up front.

superslomo

I don't have all the answers here...

I do own a dualcross 300, and like it quite a lot. It's not as good as the L&M ARC, obviously, but I do use it happily in instances where I need to turn light on and off repeatedly and/or the rides are shorter and make the L&M not worth wasting (bulb life, battery life etc.).

You supposedly can use it in the rain, and it seems well sealed for that purpose. I have the NiMH, which has a bit more runtime than the LiIon, but with a bit more bulk.

The clip that holds the light on the bars is kind of crappy, it doesn't seem to want to lock down with the cam lever ever, so I just use one of the spare velcro straps that came with the light for cable management and wrap it around the lever, which does the trick fine.

The battery life indicator on the body of the light is quite useful, and it gives good light for the price, weight, size and battery life.

The Dualcross 300 has a smart charger, and also has a method to regulate the light so it remains constant while the battery runs down (supposedly).

I actually keep the battery in a bento box at all times when I use it, so I will have to check the cable length when I get home.

thekorn

I have the dualcross 300.
The first one I bought had a bad seal and filled up with water. REI replaced it, no questions asked, and so far the new one is watertight- I've ridden in some serious downpours.
I don't know anything about the technical specifics. My commute is an hour each way. The frame attachments are good and the cord is plenty long enough.
I ride part of the way on a bike path and my only complaint is that even on the dim setting, other cyclists have told me the thing is too bright and blinds them, so I have taken to just covering the light with my hand when passing cyclists coming from the opposite direction. Of course the cyclists complaining to me are also blinding me with their lights- in pitch black any light in your face probably seems too bright.

Zero_Enigma

The light specs say equiv. to 20W halogen on the website https://www.cygolite.com/2-Products/1-DualCross300.htm . I take it you wanted the 300 because of longer run time (not much over the li-ion) and the 4hr charger so you don't have to wait overnight to charge if if you have to go somewhere?

If it is a 20W equiv. as they claim and having read a little on the Dinotte 3W (which states around 10W halogen equiv.) I would think the LEDs are 3W each. I don't know. Not even sure if a 1W pair over driven can give you 20W equiv. I do know there are some electrical and lighting people on this board that know a lot on electronics. Perhaps they may chime in to help you out with lighting brightness in comparisons of the light.

Grun

So would this 300 be brighter than the Light and Motion Solo?
Should I go with NIMH or Li-Ion?
Which is better in cold climates?

Grun

Does it have a quick release mount in case i have to lock my bike outside?

EXCALIBUR

Yes, there is a quick release so you can take the headlight with you. The battery can be fastened to the stem or top tube. It is held on with velcro and can also easily be taken off when you leave your bike. The only thing remaining would be the headlight mounting bracket fastened to the handlebar. I don't think a thief would be interested in that.

The Cygolite DualCross 300 is a very nice "to see" light. I got mine from beyondbikes.com At night on brightly lit streets, the beam tends to get washed out. In that case, I switch to the strobe feature so cars can see me better in traffic. However, on darker poorly lit roads, The beam is plenty bright enough to see with.

Grun

any idea how many lumens it gives off?

and how it would compare to three Fenix L2D CE's stacked together?

EXCALIBUR

Sorry, can't help you there. The Cygolite DualCross 300 is the first "to see" light that I have ever used. Prior to that, I used a Catyeye EL400 "be seen" blinky. I often like to do some of my rides at night rather than during after work rush hour traffic. That's what led me to the Cygolite DualCross 300. It's plenty bright enough on dark roads at cruising speeds of 15-20 mph.

Grun

Have you done the car deflection test? Meaning if you drive straight at night and a car is about to turn across you, e.g. make a left turn into you, that they would stop or slow down dramatically because your lights are so bright and they think that you are another vehicle (motor vehicle)?

Do your lights resemble a car headlight at night, or even a motorcycle headlight?

Grun

I am kinda tossed between this and some of the Fenix Cree Editions that I keep reading about.
One can generate up to 160 lumens, and three of them generates about as much lumens as a 20W halogen (assuming 25 lumens/watt). It would be nice to confirm how much the Cygolite DualCross gives off to give a better comparison for me. If the Cygolite DualCross 300 generates about 450-500 lumens, I would rather buy that than three of the Fenix Cree Edition's.

www.fenix-store.com

EXCALIBUR

Cars definitely notice the Cygolite DualCross 300. When I want "to see," I set the headlight to a steady beam. When I am on relatively lit street, I set the headlight to flashing beam. The strobe effect actually lights up street signs way down the road. The Cygolite DualCross 300 is by no means the ultimate in lighting systems. It serves my purpose and budget.

Zero_Enigma

Has anyone been able to find outthe lumens on this? I emailed Cygolite three times with this before and only got one email back saying "20W halogen equiv." and questioning why I wanted to know in lumens stating something about "those are not nomral questions asked". WTF!!?? Not normal questions? Gezz... it's not like I'm asking them for the technical wiring shematics or something.

Nice light from what I've heard and I like how if one button breaks the other works as well. to cycle the modes tho two buttons are better so you can quickly go up or down the modes then scroll only one way to my knowledge.

Zero_Enigma

Excaliber,

I'm curious now but can you get photos of the battery and charger if you can? I'd like to see the power specs on this unit.

Grun

exactly!

there has to be some fudging of values here.

they won't be liable for values given in lumens

equivalent could mean that it is 50 lumens less...

i emailed them and got the same response

a 20W is actually quite bright and could generate around 400 lumens

i don't know if this is the same for the dualcross 300

for all we know, it could be 315 lumens, but subjectively, through paid subjects, they could say the subjects said it was the same brightness.

i got one of them fenix's recently

wow!

and to note that just being shown something at 135 lumens and maybe 100 lumens, i could probably not tell them apart,

something like point a light at 135 lumens down this way, and point something even at 90 lumens down a few metres beside it, and i probably couldn't tell the difference

so if you had a 20W halogen one way, and a 295 lumen cygolite dualcross 300 and put them side by side, maybe the dualcross would appear to give off less light, but because of its whiteness, may appear almost, or equivalent to a 20W halogen

some 20W halogens may even give off 590 lumens...

so 3 Fenix P3Ds would give off around 480 lumens and it would cost about the same as a cygolite dualcross, but it is much more of a hassle to mount three P3D from Fenix onto a bike.

that might be where cygolite would win out

i would like to do a cygolite Dualcross 300 (295lumens- 340 lumens, i am guessing) plus a fenix light on my handlebars

and a powerful flashy on my helmut for maximum visibility

the dualcross would go on the left and fenix on the right

and

these velcro straps to do up the fenix on the handlebars,

i could also shimmy a sheet of plastic to make a mock twofish mount:

https://www.staples.ca/ENG/Catalog/ca...affixedcode=WW

kleng

Definitely bright, I've had cars coming the other way slow down, as they can't figure out whats coming along.