Originally Posted by Doug5150
...I just ordered a HL-530 and a Superflash for another bike I have coming....
Okay, my lights came in today.
Mini-reviews:
Cateye HL-530 - Compared to last year's EL-500, the EL-530 front light has a power regulator and a brighter LED, and is supposed to get longer runtimes out of the same battery types as a result.... -but
the beam shapes are not the same--the EL-500 has a short but wide beam produced by a reflective beam shaper in front of the LED, and the EL-530 is just a hemisphere-lens LED in a round reflector, resulting in a tight round spot. The 530 appears a bit brighter, but not 50%. .....I'll have to get some road time with the EL-530 on this matter before deciding if I like it or not. Right offhand, I would guess the EL-500's beam would be more useful.
Planet Bike Superflash Blinky - The optic on the large LED does produce a bright viewing area, but that area is a rather narrow cone. I will use the Superflash, but I think that in practice, the Serfas TL-2000's are better even though they cost a bit more ($30ish vs. $25ish).
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