Thread: Total Geekiness
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Old 01-23-05 | 02:12 PM
  #624  
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Jean Beetham Smith
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From: Norwood, MA

Bikes: Felt F-70, Terry Madeleine, Novara Safari fully customized by me

Originally Posted by Becca
Okay, this makes me want to go out and get a 3W Luxeon bulb and replace the 10W bulb in my headlight.
If I remember correctly (always a big "if" at my age) you are running NiteHawk Duals. Those bulbs are physically smaller than the MR16 Luxeon's I found so you can't do a direct swap. I've used the NiteHawk Duals since 2000, and have found them to be reasonably good lights at a very economical price. My 3wLuxeon was $56, plus $20 for the Optronics lamps that I used for the base only, plus $15 for the Mag-lite that I chopped down, and $20 for the battery pack and charger. So for $111 I've built a long running system, then add the $35 tailight, and $24 for the fork mounted marker lights, and $12 for the car horn and button and we reach a total of $182. At least in my hands, home-made does not equal economical.
Nor is it as light weight as a commercial system. With 2 SLA batteries, and my emergency winter gear, my winter commuter weighs in at 57 lbs (yes, 25.9 kg). I try to think of it as training for touring, but I need to tour for that to be real.
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