Originally Posted by
sfrider
I have a 5-6 year old Dinotte 200L that failed on me and I'm looking for a replacement. I don't use a light that often, but I do like to have one on hand. This is for road riding, not mountain biking or commuting. It lives in the saddle bag and gets pulled out maybe 10 times a year and almost never in summer.
- Needs to run 1-2 hours on a charge
- Needs battery technology (or lipo grade) that can hold a charge for months and still be usable
- Needs 200+ lumen; I need to be able to see the pavement on descents down dark back roads
- Main center beam a ways out - 40-50 ft or so would be ideal
- AAA is fine (I'd use eneloops), but a small integrated 2S lipo pack is better
- Needs to be small so I can keep it in the saddle bag for the relatively rare occasion when I'm still out after dark
- I don't want to have a bracket permanently on the bars and don't want one in the saddle bag; the Dinotte rubber o-ring mounting is perfect and works even with flat-top road bars
- Integrated unit would be ideal - less wiring and no separate battery bracket: quicker, simpler setup
Thoughts? It seems everything I look at has those crappy plastic clamps that never stay put and either clutter the bars permanently or add unnecessary junk to the saddle bag. The Dinotte o-ring takes no space whatsoever, even with a spare, and works as well on wide flat tops with bar tape as narrow little round steel bars.
Finding the right item is more important than price...
Well to me it sounds like you are a candidate for a bar mounted XM-L torch. Small, light-weight and self contained ( 18650 li-ion cell ) that can be switched out when needed . I use one myself but only for back-up while mountain biking. Mine has only L-M-H modes, no flash. Can run for three hours on medium which puts out about 250-275 lumen. High is about 600 lumen. If you want some links I can provide them but I'm only going to do that if you ask.
Otherwise one of the upper models of the Cygolites should fit your bill. I heard good reviews of the "Metro" ( 500 lumen max ) but that model doesn't include the replaceable battery feature. It is affordable though. I believe the models that are 600 lumen and above have the switchable battery feature. Like torches these lamps are self contained although you might not like the mounting system.
Lastly,
one of these might appeal to you. Buy a good Li-ion two cell to go along with it and you should be *set ( *you will need a charger as well ). The XM-L2 emitter will blow the old DiNotte 200L lamp out of the water. Still, rather than the single emitter lamp I linked to I highly recommend the Solarstorm X2 model ( same website ) which can also be bought as "lamp head only". It will be a little bigger that the single emitter lamps but it has a better User interface > H-M-L with a "press and hold" activated flash mode. This means you don't have to cycle through a flash mode when changing modes. I own one of the SS X2's and find it very useful when used on the bars for a road bike. High is about 1000 to 1100 lumen. More output than you need. Uses the same O-ring mount as the other lamps. Medium about 500 lumen with low about 200. Buy a two cell battery from a reputable dealer and you're set. Compete set-up with a good quality two cell should cost about $50. ( If you need advice on where to buy a compatible battery ( and charger ) I can supply that info too. )