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Alternatives to the NiteRider Lumina 550?

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Alternatives to the NiteRider Lumina 550?

Old 04-06-14, 09:31 AM
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Alternatives to the NiteRider Lumina 550?

I'm considering the NiteRider Lumina 550 as a "best value" commuter light. I only need 30 to 60 minutes of battery life and I need the USB charger feature. Are their other products I should also consider?
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Old 04-06-14, 10:39 PM
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Light and Motion Urban 550 or 700. I have a Lumina 650 and I like it but I recently found it doesn't mount on my newer bike and that is NO BUENO in my book. So I will probably go with a L&M either Urban 700 or go nuts with the Taz 1000 or 1200 plus if I get those I will have some side lighting as well which the Lumina doesn't have.

Also their rear Vis 180 and micro are super bright and worth a shot. The 180 is 50 lumens the the micro version is 25. I have two micros (one was a free replacement from L&M after the on/off button had come off which got fixed with old tubes) and always feel confident I will be seen and have good quality lights behind me.

However I can say Niterider does have a 3600 Lumen beast while L&M only goes up to 2000 Lumens but who in the hell needs even 2000 lumens even on the darkest singletrack?
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Old 04-07-14, 01:52 AM
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Originally Posted by veganbikes
Light and Motion Urban 550 or 700. I have a Lumina 650 and I like it but I recently found it doesn't mount on my newer bike and that is NO BUENO in my book. So I will probably go with a L&M either Urban 700 or go nuts with the Taz 1000 or 1200 plus if I get those I will have some side lighting as well which the Lumina doesn't have.

Also their rear Vis 180 and micro are super bright and worth a shot. The 180 is 50 lumens the the micro version is 25. I have two micros (one was a free replacement from L&M after the on/off button had come off which got fixed with old tubes) and always feel confident I will be seen and have good quality lights behind me.

However I can say Niterider does have a 3600 Lumen beast while L&M only goes up to 2000 Lumens but who in the hell needs even 2000 lumens even on the darkest singletrack?
Don't know much about lights but I did see a great article about this very subject:
the perfect headlight by Peter White Cycles

I did research lights for a bit a month back and on most lists the Light & Motion headlamps comes out tops - I would have gotten that if not for the fact that Amazon don't ship it overseas. I got the 2nd/3rd best (depending on the list): Cygolite Expillion 680 which is a great mid-priced light that offers amazing performance for about US$90 @ Amazon. I'd recommend it to anyone.
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Old 04-07-14, 04:54 AM
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I'll review the lights suggested, thanks. I'm looking to spend $50 to $100. The light needs to have some kind of easy and quick install and removal, the bike will be parked in the city.
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Old 04-07-14, 07:25 AM
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Best Value

The Ixon IQ is now at a greatly reduced price. It's my best
deal in a battery powered headlight.

Ixon IQ without batteries or charger, 50 lux, Part #
B&M192QM, Price: $ 60.00
Ixon IQ with 4 AA NiMH batteries and
charger, 50 lux, Part # B&M192QMLA, Price: $ 80.00
Busch&Muller battery powered bicycle lights

Not sure how easy it is to take off the bike
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Old 04-07-14, 08:39 AM
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I have a Lumina 650. Very pleased with it. When I had some problems with the switch, their customer service repaired it under warranty (2-year warranty by the way) with no issues. I wouldn't hesitate to buy from another Niterider product. A couple of my friends at work use a Cygolite 400 (or something like that) that seems OK as far as output, but the quick release mount is very finicky and difficult to remove the light from the mount at the end of the ride.
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Old 04-07-14, 01:46 PM
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I would either say the NiteRider Lumina, Light and Motion Urban 500, or Cygolite Metro series for a high quality good value USB rechargeable light.

I will say the the L&M has the best beam pattern I have seen from these (and other) similar options, making it very effective. Even the L&M urban 200 my wife has gives some brighter lights a run for their money.
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Old 04-07-14, 05:24 PM
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Originally Posted by keyven
Don't know much about lights but I did see a great article about this very subject:
the perfect headlight by Peter White Cycles

I did research lights for a bit a month back and on most lists the Light & Motion headlamps comes out tops - I would have gotten that if not for the fact that Amazon don't ship it overseas. I got the 2nd/3rd best (depending on the list): Cygolite Expillion 680 which is a great mid-priced light that offers amazing performance for about US$90 @ Amazon. I'd recommend it to anyone.

I do have a couple Cygolite lights, the Pace 750 and Metro 360. At the time, they were good values for me in rechargeable lighting. I have since moved onto a dynamo setup on my primary bike and will be selling both of the Cygolites to fund a Light & Motion to use as a helmet mount replacement for the Metro 360. While the Cygolites give you a lot of lumens for the money, I am not overly impressed with the mounting brackets, nor with the USB connector plugs on either light. They tend to work themselves loose and I need to make sure they are secure before riding in the wet stuff. I also have a Light & Motion VIS 180 which I love as a secondary rear light, and it is easy to move from one bike to another.
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Old 04-07-14, 08:55 PM
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I read GearJunkie pretty much daily and came across this today:
Bike Light is 'World's First To Display Battery Life' | Gear Review | Gear Junkie

It could be something quite nice. When I first saw the article I was like "great another low lumen light that will probably cost a lot" but it is actually a decent number of lumens and $160. For what it does is pretty on par with other lights in it's class. It is not without problems that the author mentioned and that I could think of but not problems to the point of it being junk. If anyone has tried this light or knows someone who has an can review I would be curious.
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Old 04-08-14, 06:00 PM
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It's more ($99 currently on Amazon), but I would buy the Serfas True 500 again in a heartbeat. Something that is sometimes overlooked is how well the mount works and how inexpensive it is to replace if needed. The Serfas mount has excellent holding power, easy to adjust to different bar sizes, and cheap to replace (although after 1.5 years of regular use it still looks and performs like new). Extra batteries were $25 the last time I looked. I get about 1 hr 20 min on the highest setting at winter temperatures and probably 1 hr 40 min in warm weather. It charges with USB.
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Old 04-08-14, 06:22 PM
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Originally Posted by Barrettscv
I'll review the lights suggested, thanks. I'm looking to spend $50 to $100. The light needs to have some kind of easy and quick install and removal, the bike will be parked in the city.
Best easy and quick install and removal is a helmet mounted light. I've been very impressed with the light and motion vis 360, Amazon.com: Light and Motion VIS 360 Degree Bike Light: Sports & Outdoors. I stopped using it for a few months when the weather turned bad. With most lights, the batteries discharge after a few months and then I have to recondition the battery. Not this sucker. The battery is still going strong.
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