Originally Posted by
no1mad
They don't specify it as such, but I think that the Serfas Shield (the -60) is a 2w light. However, it suffers from the same design flaw of most other lights- too focused of a beam.
The TL-200 may not be as powerful or have the intensity of the Shield's steady beam, but I think it's actually better as a blinky. It has 2 0.5w emitters, but one is a 'spot' and the other a 'flood', so it's a bit more forgiving if it isn't properly aimed. I just looked at the product vids for the Shield and the TL-200 on the Serfas site (really wish all manufactures would make a video presentation like these for their tail lights), and it appears that TL-200 is a bit more noticeable than the Shield.
Here's a couple dumb personal observations:
The TL 200 has one lens equipped with a Fresnel type spreader which is SUPPOSED to make it more of a flood. Covering first one lens and then the other - I couldn't see ANY difference between the beam coverages projected on a wall. Not at a distance of 2 feet and not at a distance of 10 feet. I also expected that they would attempt to spread the beam horizontally but no - the horizontal orientation of the Fresnel lens pattern indicates they want to spread it vertically. The logic escapes me.
I also couldn't see any apreciable difference in visibility when viewing the light from different angles. BOTH beams are pretty narrow and appear equally narrow - in spite of the 'flood' designation of one lens. Big FAIL on the 'flood'.
It was a tossup getting two TL 200s or one TL60 (the price is about double) but I'm interested in taking this one apart (TL60) to see if the battery is replacable or if this should be considered disposable once the battery no longer takes a charge.
Not sure what the wattage is but you could be right. I have a 3 watt red LED here and its definately brighter, but that TL60 is surprisingly good.
Another dumb comment - the LED is red, but the light output is so focused it causes sensory overload when looked at directly even from a distance of 20 feet and looks more yellow than red. The reflected light is definately red on surfaces it hits and that might be the best way to use this - pointed to light up the road at night.