Don't be too surprised if you have reliability problems. I picked up a NiteHawk Raptor (10w halogen) in March, and I've already had to have the battery and the switch harness replaced (under warranty, fortunately). On the plus side, the light itself does a fine job of illumination and recharges quickly. I just wish it was something I could really depend on.

Yes. A good charger will switch from a faster charge to a trickle or maintenance level when the battery is at the right level and you can leave it plugged in without having to monitor the thing.

If you have a 30 min. ride twice a day you could get by with any of the 1.5 or 2 hour run time lights.
(buidling in some extra run time for a flat in the dark or whatever). Sounds like you do not have to spend a lot of money. There are plenty of good brands out there. You can probably find a more expensive light on sale for less than $100.


[QUOTE=Patriot]I use the Cygo-Lite 16w Night Rover Xtra (Nimh). It's a 10w-6w dual setup. I like it alot, and get about 5-6 hours of runtime on the 6w alone. Airbomb has them for $80.[QUOTE]

What's the run time on 10w and 16W ? This seems like a good value to me.

I get about a smidgeon over 3 hours with thte 10w, which is perfect, because my commute one way is 90mins, so it starts going dead just about the time I get home from work.
I get a good 90+ mins on the full 16w. I rarely need that much, unless it is super rainy and foggy, and even then I can get by easily on the 10w. I usually just use the full 16w on my way home to drain the battery down to cycle and prep it for charging. I normally don't do this though.
I have been thinking of getting a smart deep cycle charger for it. Then I can plug it in and forget it.

Does Cygo offer a smart charger for that?
Even without one, that seems like a good value to me for $80.

For some reason I read.. "coffee sport changer"... Man I need some sleep.
The best part about systems that use generic halogen bulbs is you can always go to a lighting store and buy like a 20-30 watt bulb.

I must be getting tired too, that totally cracks me up !!

I just saw that Jet Lites has discontinued its i6 product. I think I will go with the L&M Solo.

Cygolite Explorer NiMh has dual beams with a total light output of 25 watts for $100.

A good choice.

Pick up a $5 lamp timer so you don't overcharge the battery.

Just placed the order at phattire.com. The price was $105 (of course, S&H is a nice chunk )

Thanks for all the responses in this thread. I'll post my experiences with this light once it comes in and I get a few miles under the belt.

With NiMH batteries time is not the problem. Temperature is. You need a charger that will detect a temperature spike and it will shut off the charger. NiMH are very sensitive to temperature at the end of charge and any overtemperature will kill the battery. Any good factory system should come with a smart charger. If it doesn't get a Maha C777+, possibly one of the best chargers available.

The L&M Solo is at Nashbar for $99. I don't know how S&H compare.

I knew it !! I checked them a day or so back and they had it for $129. Looks like they dropped the price since then. Shipping was $10 with phattire.com. Oh well...

Eh, you'll never miss the $5. Be happy you got a great light.

Are those the same lights with different batteries?

Patriot,

I have the same Cygolite as you. Here's a smart charger with a 7.2V 4000mAh Li-Ion Rechargeable Battery...all for $40 bucks:

https://www.batteryspace.com/index.as...OD&ProdID=1256

Seems like a good replacement/backup battery for the 6V Cygolites. 7.2V will overvolt your system, giving you a slightly whiter, brighter light.

I got this Cygolite for under $100

https://www.cygolite.com/light/produc...lorerNiCad.htm

Took it out for a spin tonight. It's awesome. It has a narrow beam of 15W and a wide beam of 10W. With the narrow beam I could see ahead but was scared to turn; with the wide, I could see okay but had to go slow. But with both on. I could basically ride like it's daytime. I'm so glad I have this much power. Very good lighting. I can't attest to either battery power or weatherproofing, but it can light up the road.

Doesn't have a smart charger though. That's the main sucky thing.

Buy yourself one of those cheap lamp timers and just set the timer for as long as you want to recharge, and the timer will shut the charging process off...automatically!

I've had no problems with rain with my Cygolite Metro.

As I've said before, a timer and a NiMH battery are a recipe for disaster! The NiMH chemistry is very sensitive to temperature. If you get the battery too hot during charging, as can happen when using a timer, you will kill the battery! Not if, will.

You need a charger that measures the change in voltage (dV) and measures the change in temperature (dT).

My understanding...which is limited, is that if the battery takes for example 8 hours to fully charge and you don't have a timer but set the timer to shut off after 8 hours then how is that different then a charger with a built in timer that shuts it off after 8 hours? The temperture is the same regardless if the charger shuts it off or the timer does it after 8 hours. Supposely...note I said supposely, that the Cygolite company claims that their NiMh battery has more time latitude before damage can be done to the battery then other NiMh's which is why other companies use smart chargers. BUT I have sent Cygolite a E-mail concerning this problem and will see what they have to say and will share it with you all.

It would be difficult to precisely estimate how much charge is left in the battery and how long it should take to recharge it precisely. Smart chargers will back off the current when the batteries are fully charged so that they do not overheat. Doing it manually will be a guessing game.

You are assuming that the starting charge is the same each time you charge the battery. You generally have no way of knowing what this charge is. If you have too much charge left, you could end up overcharging and causing the battery to overheat.

Or what if you have a lower charge than you think when you start to charge. Then you won't have a complete charge.

Since the battery tends to be the most costly part of any system, why not get a good charger and maintain your batteries like you should?

Didnt see any comments on the Planet Bike Alias so I will add mine. I have been running fro 2 seasons of Darkness now and have no real complaints ('cept that someone pinched the first one). The light output and pattern is good. The lamp assembly is light and compact. The low output setting lasts a few days or more. The blinking mode is bright and effective in high traffic areas. Before I bought it I researched thoroughly and while I now dont remeber all the pro's and con's of my research, I am happy with my decision. When it was stolen I didnt hesitate getting it again.

There ya go.

As promised, some feedback regarding the L&M Solo. I got the light yesterday. It is very solidly constructed. The light itself is made of fiber-reinforced thermoplastic. The bar mount has a nice rigidity to it compared to clamps that come with cheaper lights. The lighthead can be turned side-to-side, up-and-down and the beam width can be adjusted by rotating the bezel. The light is very powerful and the pattern is excellent with good lighting on the periphery of the main beam regardless of the width (L&M says that the pattern spans 180 degrees, and this claim is fairly accurate). The "throw" of the beam is quite long and seems to be more than adequate for my commuting purposes. The battery weighs about a pound and comes with a strap so that it can be secured to the frame. The kit comes with a helmet mount; I don't plan to use this for now since I would have to then lug the heavy battery in my pocket. The charger is a trickle charger type. They recommend buying a timer to prevent leaving the charger on the outlet for too long. I wish I had bought the "turbo-charger" that has dT/dt monitoring.

Overall, I am happy with the purchase. I haven't actually taken it out for a spin, but will do so soon and report the details.

Planet Bike Alias here also

-I like its compact lamp design. Every 1/4" saved on the bar is room for more gadgets

-I like the open bottom that throws some light downwards

-I dislike the slew of wiring to be mounted

-I dislike the lack of side-side adjustment.

Overall very pleased