Originally Posted by
gecho
I recently got an IXON IQ Premium, and despite a much higher output than the old model, still has a pitifully small lumen output. It would be nice to see a high power shaped beam light. I'd contribute to a kickstarter for one if someone was going to design something non gimmicky. Good lens setup, 500 lumen range and uses plain old protected 18650 batteries.
Interesting, have you actually ridden with it on the road for some time, or were you just disappointed from a cursory use of it?
I have one, and it's been "sufficient" but I do start to feel like having more light would be more reassuring. I'm not even sure it's really the lumen output - the annoyance is mostly the color distribution that the led puts out, it's not ideal. It's one of the best lights I've used (imo) but there's room for improvement. There's an aspect I enjoy about it that I feel like I can see the road without it negatively impacting my night vision to see outside the main beam. Wondering if running two of them on the bars at the same time would do the trick, lol.
You definitely might enjoy the Phillips Saferide more. The older version (the v1.2 one they were selling on us amazon when I bought it) uses a 5k led which is the crystal white you see on a lot of wide light output bike lights. It makes it harder to see outside the beam, but it's a well shaped beam with a cutoff and you really feel like it lights up the road.
The more recent version of the Phillips Saferide (v2) that I ordered from a specific site in Europe where I knew I'd get the latest version from, the color temperature is in the middle - seems brighter than the ixon iq, but can still see outside where the beam hits pretty well.
If you really want higher light output, right now your best bet would be to buy and run 2 of them at the same time. There's a video on youtube of a guy who does that. But if you just feel it's a little to dim, the Phillips Saferide is a similarly designed light that might solve your problem as well.