Originally Posted by Daily Commute
I'm looking at a
Trail Tech 13w HID with Li-ion battery and a smart charger for $280 delivered. That's 5.5 hours (advertised) run time. Repair and replacement parts seem reasonable, especially when compared to the $100 each Cygolite wants to replace the lamp and/or ballast of the HID I bought from (a light that lasted less than a year and a half).
What's the catch? Was I just stupid to have bought a Cygolite? Are Niterider HID buyers similarly stupid?
Also, if you think it's a good light, would you recommend the 6 degree spot or 12 degree flood? I mainly do urban riding, with some early-morning MUP riding. I'm also concerned about visibility in low-light conditions, like rain.
Edit: Another light on the page is even less for what appears to be the same quality. What makes these lights so much less expensive? Just a lack of a promotion budget and LBS mark up?
Thanks!
You should look at this before you buy one.
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=78470
Evidently there are many frustrated tt owners out there. It appears that the tt company lacks the expertise to design and implement a reliable control unit for the light. The link indicates they are on a 3rd generation controller which is still problematic. Batteryspace has a workaround: they sell the light with a lower voltage battery, which eliminates the need for the controller ( is 11v vs 14.4v, i think, working from memory). Pros: no controller failure, no loss of light and return hassle, lighter battery to carry, lower cost, longer lamp life. Cons: lamp is not overdriven, so less light produced.
Based on what i've read, it seems like TT is not going to work out the controller problem soon, so the lower voltage light is probably the better choice.
btw did you notice the 30w mr16 sized hid lamp theyre selling now, only slightly more expensive than the 10w mr11 size lamp. you'd need a bigger battery to keep her going for long, so $.
i think that 30w would be ideal for offroad use. btw you need wider beam angle for offroad than road. on roads you could blind driver, but then again you need to put some into their eyes to wake em up. i think the 12 deg hid would work on roads but i havent used one personnally. the halogens i've used range from 10-24 degrees, which seems to work ok. the quality of the light beam from mr11/mr16 halogen lamps varys widely so hard to judge.
l&m lights have an excellent reputation, but they've made some some duds too. lights are their only business, i expect they have more expertise than TT and would provide better cust service. this is partly what you get when you purchase a $500 hid sys from them.
below is link to a good resource for bicycle lighting. the author makes a strong case for diy lights utilizing mr16 lamps and sla batteries. stuff you can buy at lowes/hd/walmart. for under fifty bucks if you dont object to a 4 lb battery and a distinctly diy looking light.
http://nordicgroup.us/s78/#Myths%20a...ting%20Systems
15-20w halogen has proven adequate for my needs, but i would love to have some li batteries and an hid lamp.