Originally Posted by Becca
I barely know the luxeons exist; care to give a crash-course in these things?
The Luxeon Star I, III and V are sort of a surface-mount LED light that are "damn bright" the Luxeon I emits about 1-watt of light and is the light-source used in the popular Planet Bike SuperSpot light and I think the Cateye EL-500 Opticube.
The Luxeon III is a 3-watt emitter that pumps out about 60-lumens of light, and is comporable to a 10-watt halogen under the right conditions.. This is the light source used in the expensive Light&Motion Vega system.
I think an excellent, excellent light project would be to replace the emitter from the Planet-bike or Cateye with a Luxeon III.. that would be a "damn bright" bike light.
The maker of Luxeons also have a Luxeon V that is really "damn bright" that pumps out about 120 lumens, but as said before it has a shorter lifespan than the Luxeon IIIs and needs to be cooled pretty good. I don't know of any bike-lights made with a Luxeon V but you can buy several handheld flashlights on the internet made from these around the $80-100 range.
On the LimeLeds website, the maker of Luxeons, I have see literature on a Luxeon V "Portable" variant that is supposed to have a lifespan and durability of the Luxeon IIIs and aren't as hot. but I have yet to find where to buy them. A single Luxeon V costs around $30 on a cheap end (you can find them on ebay!) a piece.