Originally Posted by
Grun
That is not true at all.
Jet Lite fire off around 600-700 lumens, brighter than some H.I.D.'s.
Current Cree XR-E, and Seoul's LED generate around 150 lumens per bulb, and this is only situated in a small spot. Minimal and week spill. Halogen is thorough, light about the entire area. Huge difference.
Even the Cygolite's new TritonX will not compare, at 500 lumens.
$350 for the Jet Lite Dual and get about 1200 lumens for an hour and around 700 lumens for 2h
$350 for a spot of 500 lumens for the TritonX.
$350 for TriNewt (Niterider) 486 lumens, only spot becomes useable
Even the Trinewt from Niterider only gets you 480 something lumens and at 3 and a half hours. That is
Having used halogen for years, and having switched to LED, I can say from personal experience that LED is far superior in both run time and color tone. The color tone of LED compared to halogen makes a huge difference in visibility for the urban commuter.
As for spot vs flood, for commuting one doesn't need a massive flood. I have found that a spot LED (Cateye Double Shot) provides enough spill to see the complete road with.
But to each his own, enjoy your halogen.
EDIT: 400 lumens is plenty for commuting. 1200 for commuting is simply dangerous as you'll blind on coming cars.