L&M Solo - 390 lumens???
 

I have a L&M Solo. I've found it to be only barely adequate for suburban road riding at modest speeds. I've been thinking about upgrading.

I see on the L&M web site it's rated at 390 lumens? Jinkies, is that for real? If this is 390 lumens, I'm in trouble. I had hoped 200-300 lumens would be a significant upgrade based on people's reviews and photos. I don't think I have really bad night vision, but the rating seems like such a disconnect from what I've read here.

I had a similar question a while back. See this thread:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=359988

There is quite a range of responses as to how many lumens are enough.

I also have the L&M Solo Logic and find that it's only adequate up to about 15 mph on unlit roads. 390 lumens is a reasonable spec. High is 13 watts and halogens typically put out about 30 lumens/watt. My next light will probably be around 800-1000 lumens, but I'll use the Solo until either the battery or head dies.

I did see that thread. It's a pretty good thread. But I was wondering if maybe the Solo's rating was B.S. How do you measure lumens anyhow? Can you screw around like the makers of audio components did with power output in the 70s?

My best advice to you is that you are the only one that is going to be able to determine how much is enough. Or if you can find someone that has the exact same opinions as you regarding specific lights then you are probably okay to follow their advice. The ideal is to get your local LBS to let you take one for a test ride.

I would estimate that the majority of riders would find the Light and Motion Solo adequate for riding at higher speeds than you reference. Either you are conservative or have below normal night vision. I have found many riders that rave about the Light and Motion Vega and I purchased it for the convenience factor and group riding only. But at 85 lumens I personally found it barely adequate for group riding and totally unsuitable for solo riding. I have since purchased a Princeton Tec Switchback 3 and using it as a helmet light makes a good combination with the Vega on the bars. Recently I acquired a Fexin L2D CE Q5 Cree flashlight for my helmet and moved the PT SW3 to the bar and dropped the Vega. If I had purchased the Fexin before the PT SW3, I would have left the Vega on the bars and not purchased the PT SW3. At 180 lumens with effective spill as wide as a 2-land country road and only costing $63 and change delivered, the Fenix flashlight is a great, cost effective solution. You might want to try it as a helmet light to compliment the Solo. I do not have anyway of knowing if it will be enough, but it would increase your light by more than 50% and give you visibility into turns at a low cost. Search Fenix on this forum and you will find many discussions on the various models. Mine just started shipping at the end of October and is a white light. Some people prefer the more yellow Rebel LED.

Lumens is output, right? My 20W mr11 puts out, analytically (and empirically, if you stare into it), quite a bit of lumens, but after some kind of 12* reflector, the actual illumination in front of me is quite diffuse, and swamped by most any ambient light. Pretty decent in pitch black though (which I do get routinely depending on route time of day etc...). Lux is how much light is on a target in front of you. You can get more or less of them from the same amount of lumens depending on how they are focused, a factor of both lens and reflector.

In general I am baffled by any comparison of lights that doesn't involve seeing them in person. There seem to be a lot of potential caveats on any kind of checklist comparison. I keep lurking in this forum in hope of illumination (so to speak) but it's not hitting me yet. And I don't have time to keep shuttling between radio shack and home to keep trying different assemblies until I finally internalize all the permutations.