Anyone tried the new MiNewt X2?
 

I just bought a MiNewt single and noticed they were on sale, so I was going to get my price adjusted...turns out they went on closeout. They have a new version, which is supposed to be twice as bright as mine, for $20 more. Don't have it in stock yet, but should soon, thinking of exchanging mine. Thanks

Mine is on the way from alfred e bike (135$). Will post a review when it gets here.

I finally upgraded from my original minewt single. Had planned on getting the new Minewt X2 single but, the first day they had the new models in stock, they were on sale. Woo hoo!, ended up getting the X2 dual for about a buck more after exchanging the original single. $179+tax (yeah, I paid too much for the original).

The original was adequate for most situations...not enough spread to take turns fast, not enough distance to go full speed all the time though. Any ambient lighting that wasn't actually lighting your way took away a great deal of its usefulness. This version has def. solved those issues. Worth whatever the diff in price from the single of either version. It might not be an HID, and I have never used one, but I can't imagine myself needing much, if any, more light than this unit provides. Color of the light seems good, I could stand a little more yellow as I suspect it may wash out pretty bad on wet ground, but it isn't blue like some LEDs are. very white.

Looks good, the older models black housing matched my bike better (and blended in), but it isn't as gold as the pictures make it seem.

Only had 1 ride with it, but my only complaints are: I wish you could choose to run just a single lamp at times. Trivial, and would add to complexity, but I would still appreciate it. I had to exchange the first one I got this morning. I got home, plugged it in to charge, and the charge/on led indicators on the battery were fluttering dimly and there was a high pitched whine coming from it (the battery itself). not loud, but definitely there...and not supposed to be. I did get it to act normal after a couple tries of unplugging and plugging. I still returned for a new one which works perf.

Any question feels free. took pics, but they really don't show the diff in brightness very well.

tdister,
Could I see those pics? I don't think I've seen pics of the illumination of the X2's.

I'm in the market for a light and am weighing my options..

Illumination is great. I was out tonight with only my single minewt X2 (after figuring out exactly how long the batteries last on my homebrew dual cree setup, oops) and was happily pedaling along for 20min(completely dark rural road, light rain). Stopped to retrieve a banana and I realised I had it on LOW. Will do beamshots once weather clears. Its a very good balance of spot and spill.

Does anyone know if NiteRider will offer a opportunity to upgrade the first-gen MiNewt somehow, or sell the light only? Seems lke the only technical difference between the two is the LED itself. I really like my first-gen, but brighter is always good, especially if the price is right.

Sure, I will post them tonight, going to take a couple more with different beam arrangements too. Overall, they are individually very similar to the original minewt (as far as pattern). Since they are overall brighter the outer part of the spread works much better.

I'm still playing with how I like them aimed. So far I like having the left a bit closer and the right a bit further with each pointed outwards just a bit and overlapping just enough to have a uniform intensity in the middle. This will probably change depending on conditions and location, but they are easy enough to adjust on the fly.

sorry for the delay, having some troubles. will get them up ASAP

OK, got some pics up. I apologize for several reason. First, they are blurry. I don't know how
to work my camera, it is WAY too fancy for me. Second, try as i did, they really don't do anywhere close to decent job of depicting the actual ouput/beam. Tonight was a high full moon and you could have ridden without a light pretty easily (as far as seeing). Where it looks black in the pics is often well lit by the light, but i think the spot portion makes it look very dark. It doesn't show distance or width anywhere close to accurate, but if you follow the outer beam you can get an idea of what will be lit.

to show compared to a typical HPS street light
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...g?t=1188284113


http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...g?t=1188284571

down part of my driveway and across the street. you could actually see much further than it shows
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...g?t=1188284997

this one is misleading too, not only can you see further but, since it is on a hill, it looks really dark beyond. It looks like the beam stops at the mail box, but it is actually effective over half again as far away. the sides are lit much better than appears too.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...g?t=1188284839

sorry, best i can do right now

Thanks, tdister. The pics gave me a good impression of what the output is like which helps for my purposes.

Here is a better pic I got after I posted those....road out early to a darker area to watch the lunar eclipse.

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...g?t=1188339624


the right portion of the beam is closer to what it looks like overall. i guess the curb reflects enough light to make it stand out better.

Hey - can I use this thing as a runner? Like strapped to a backpack loop? Or does it overheat too quickly? That would be an awesome thing for me (I run a lot at night...and occasionally bike on the side.)

minewt X2 is the bomb ! it gets warm but not hot. would be OK to run with. wicked lightweight and small but throws tons of light

tdister took some accurate pics. that is exactly what the MiNewt looks like when I use mine

as you can see in the above pics though, the lower right and left of the picture, yes those dark areas are the real look of an X2...
so high speed cornering downhill...may be scary with a single X2. on the MTB, ditto. you can crank pretty fast, but if the X2 is on the bars you
may not be able to see the corners as well as like, a full HID or TriNewt.
if you mount the twins askew they may hit the sides better


the X2 is a great light

So those pics are of DOUBLE X2s - just verifying. (2x the list cost, then?)

two lamps, one battery. not twice the cost...about 20% more than the single
from memory. Got my dual for $179.

Not sure I would want to MTB with it over something else, but it works awesome for the street.

I would say it has a fair bit better side lighting than most of the pics show. The last pic (post #11) is more accurate as far as the right side shows. the left is brighter than it appears in the pic. On the other side of the yellow center stripes it appears dark, but was actually lit well enough to easily see. I will try to take some pics off road tomorrow night. It tried but the tall grass reflections make the pics almost useless.

Maybe I don't ride fast enough through turns, but I have yet to be wondering if I am about to hit something. It does just fine IMO. the sides aren't as bright as the center by any means, but bright enough to easily identify anything hazardous.

I left mine on high just sitting still for 10 min and the lamps were warm, but not hot. I can not advise if this is acceptable to regularly do. Left on low they were just warm enough to know that they had been on. Low would give more than enough light for running.

I can't say I have much experience with other lamps, I just know these work great for me. Any questions feel free, any pic requests also

those are doubles but he has the beams overlapping. those pics really looks the same as a single X2


he had the lights overlapping...if he aimed them both dead straight it would be much wider. but a single beam X2 has the same look as the pics he took.

a single is all anyone really needs

Some pics are doubled up, some were not. The last one (post #11) has them side by side (actually, pointing away from each other a bit...toe out, if you will), but just far enough apart to keep a consistent light pattern in the middle. That is not the pattern you will get with a single, not even close. the inside lane lighting you see is almost all from the left beam,
you can just barely see where the beams meet just to the right of the white stripe (towards the far end of the pic).

Not saying you won't be fine with a single, I wish I could run mine that way at times, but don't expect that pattern...the others weren't all that stacked either, the pics just didn't turn out all that great.

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...g?t=1188927352

another one I took with them together and on low, didn't include it because of blurriness and the inside lane being far better lit than it appears (it also light farther than appears). I think the main beam washes the rest of the pic out or something. this gives you a closer idea to a single light's beam pattern. I have some with only one light aimed forward, but no access to them right now. I will post them if I didn't erase them. If I erased I will take some more :).

well..good pics. and I will punch anyone in the face over tcp/ip who disses the X2. because it rocks.

Cool pics thanks. Those lights do a nice job. Led bike light beam shots really interest me. What does it have for telling you battery life left. Different colored lights on top or something?

The light on the battery pack (and the ring of the head unit too I think) turns red, I think with 30min to go(an hour on low).
Mine is helmet mounted with battery in pocket though, so first I know is when it goes out.

Only ran out once, managed to get the 3.5 hrs claimed runtime(mine is a single head).

I ran mine down to red once. I turned it to low (had it on high just because) and made it the 45 min back to my house. not sure how much longer it would have gone.