Originally Posted by
JohnJ80
I've found are that the Lupine batteries are probably the best in the business. Most of my Dinotte batteries started having issues with capacity after about 2-3 years. I have Lupine batteries that are over 5 years old and appear to be just fine. Lupine offers many more battery options too. I have had Dinotte batteries that were finicky from the start. Dinotte's batteries are a lot cheaper, but that is one of the places I don't think compromise is good if you are going to be going somewhere where the loss of light is a critical problem.
I also found the beam spreads on the Lupine to be better for my purposes but that is going to be an individual preference. My Lupine lights concentrate the beam ahead but they give a nice spill side to side. If you were riding down the middle line in a two lane road, the Lupine lights would give you decent illumination from side to side with decreasing intensity and a broad bright center.
Battery Quality - Assuming that Lupine batteries last 5y, and Dinotte last 2.5y, but Lupine are 2x as expensive ... um, that yields essentially no difference (minus a discussion of time-value-of-money). My guess is that this is a wash, let me know if/how you disagree...
Beam Spread - It's my impression that Dinotte beam spreads are wider, and Lupine longer. Given that I'm not the fastest cyclist, and not off-road, but that I'm planning on a headlight only (no helmet-mounted light), I'm guessing that it's kind of a wash here too. Maybe a slight advantage to Dinotte.
(not mentioned above)
Mounting Options - Lupine has a "GoPro" mount adapter, together with the BarFly Roadmax mount allows the light to mount underneath a Garmin on one mount. This is really appealing to me (saving handlebar space), and with the bluetooth control of the Lupine, there's a real advantage here. For the cost of ~$250 addnl, approx.
Originally Posted by
JohnJ80
Finally, I'm sort of a Lumen hog. I think it's fair game to have about the same lumens as a car headlight if you want to get respect as a vehicle on the road. These lights to that.
According to Wikipedia, HID car headlamps put out 2,800 - 3,500 lumens. That's Wilma territory (remember that a car has two), so one Betty at full power is about a whole car. Wow.
Originally Posted by
JohnJ80
The workhorse of the Lupine line is the Wilma for the bars and the Piko for helmet. That's a great combination that will serve you well for years.
Lupine has been pretty good about providing upgrades for the Wilma the Betty lights. I just upgraded my 5 year old Wilma from 1500 lumens to around 2000 and my 2400 lumen light to about 3200 lumens. I should probably sell one of these....
Let me know by PM if you're serious
