I can't take the dark, rainy ride home downhill through an unlit cemetary anymore and need to add a light to my cateye blinky. I'm flexible on price-range ($250 is probably the cap), but the elusive VALUE quotient is really what matters to me. Also, I like the idea of a helmet light but I'm extremely concerned about putting something on my helmet that will change it's ability to slide on the concrete if the unthinkable happens. Anyone know "real world" facts on this?

On the halogen front, I've seen a lot of favorable stuff on here about L&M's custom reflectors. I've found a Solo Logic w/ Nimh for $150, or the Solo Logic with Lion battery and turbo charger for $250. For those of you with this light is it worth the $100 to upgrade? I don't need the longer burn-time so it's really a question of whether the turbo charger and superiority of Lion v. Nihm add up.

I could also homebrew a light set, but to get a good Nimh or Lion battery with charger, housing, bulbs, switches etc. I'm probably looking at $100 or so, (+ a hundy worth of my labor--I'm in law school so every hour counts) and for me the convenience of having good customer service a phone call away is worth the extra $50 for the L&M. I'm open to other recommendations, though.

Another option is the Trailtech HID set-up on batteryspace.com. Full kit with voltage regulater and Lion battery is $240. Seems like a good price for HID, but it could be overkill for my needs. What's the skinny on HID v. halogen regarding quality of light (I know there's a whole debate about cost, replacability, yadda-yadda...)

Will I wish I had gone HID if I get the Solo Logic?

Should I just get the Solo Logic with Nihm and spend the extra hundy on other bike toys?

Riding over a dead black cat in the dead of night was enough to convince me into getting a NiCd battery light. I ordered a discontinued 7 watt night hawk model that after three years still works well. It was only 29.99. Handle bar mount only but I find myself tring to figure out how to stick it on my helmet and carry the battery in a backpack. What ever kind you get you'll be asking yourself why you didnt get one before.

Go with the Solo Logic, better yet two of them. I run a 50 watt MR16 halogen homebrew light with a one watt Xenon strobe in back. I have never seen anything while commuting that can compare to that strobe. Power is safety; you may only need 10 - 15 watts to see, to be seen power=survival. I had a 100 watt PAR36 light once. Check out the lighting thread and the geek thread. Over-driven ultrabright LEDs are not as efficient as a good halogen. Just lighter (pun intended) and stylish. Oh, strobes; check www.allelectronics.com and look up the Amber Xenon Flasher.

I have the Solo Logic MV Li-Ion and I really like it. It is bright, goes for a couple of hours on 10 watts and charges in <2 hours. I can't compare it to the NIMH version but if the voltage is the same it should be as bright. The new L&M charger works with both battery types but the charger itself is pretty expensive.

My only complaint is that I blew a bulb after about 3 weeks and it cost $20 to replace. I think I unscrewed the bezel too far and got water in it. Be careful if you decide to change the spot size.

HID are wicked bright. We use them at work for underwater lighting. I thing they are better illumination than halogen for bringing out color and contrast at a distance. I'd probably get one if they weren't so expensive. Seems excessive to put a $400 light on a bike I paid $500 for in 1982.

Ironically I think halogens are better for contrast on land, HID's deaden the road for me.
The nimh and lithium ions differ by 0.3 volts (10.8 vs. 11.1) so you shouldn't be able to tell a difference. Where it matters is weight really. Plus you get the turbo charger which is MUCH MUCH better than a dumb charger.
For regular use, I'd go with the l&m unless you want to make your own stuff. I have better things to do with my time so both my halogen and HID lights are l&m. Generally you can make your own units for about half the price. I like the hassle free sleek packaging I get from a store bought unit.

check out Planet Bike sport spot 4 headlight, $25.00, eBay. mounts to helmet, by headband, or handlebars. get 3 or 4 blinkies (flashing lites) to mount on trunk-rack and pannier sides and youre good to go for +/- $40.00 fyi, they have a "70 - 100 hour lifespan" using AA or AAA batteries!

You should also read the light reviews at mtbr.com, where you'll find hundreds of opinions.

That's interesting, because I feel the opposite, that the whiter HID or LED beam brings out the contrast. Hmmmmm.

Either way -- to the OP --, go with L&M, good product, good company.

-James

Just a plug from a very satisified customer for www.bicyclelights.com

I have all three of the systems.

Do you run any red lights on the back of the bike, or only the Amber flasher? Just one?

On a dark rainy road, the vision is pretty poor. The rain makes it a lot worse sometimes. I would get the brightest light you can afford that has the run time you need. There are a few happy L&M light owners, with plenty of miles on the lights on the forums and I know a couple too. The quality of L&M lights is known to be good and so is the beam. The battery space light seems like a good value, but I don't think any long term owners have posted here with a report. So long term reliability may be an unknown factor. You can also get the Cygolite HID for about $250. There are a few happy long term owners here, and I have a friend with one. The quality of the light is fine. I think the beam pattern is better on the L&M HID, but the cygo light is OK.
If you can spring for the L&M HID that would be more money, but the power and quality will please you. The L&M Solo logic is good enough, but more light is better. It sounds to me like you need to see the ground well were you are riding, I would get a bright HID light myself.

batteryspace HID..no reports about long term ownership, plenty of light for the $$$

L&M top quality a little more power that the solo logic would be nice. Plenty of long term owner satisfaction. The HID would be ideal if you can afford it.

Cygolight HID. Good long term owner reports. Plenty of power for the $$. However the least expensive HID does not have a smart charger.

A smart charger is a huge help in the long run. Worth every penny.

I had a Niterider HID. Bought a L&M Vega, sold the NR HID. Broke the Vega and sent it in for repair, while waiting for it I bought an L&M ARC HID.

I won't be stepping down to less than an HID again.

The Vega sold the day I got it back from L&M.

Yup, just the one. One/half watt-second compressed into a millisecond flash and sent out in a full 360 degree hemisphere lights up everything for quite a distance. I wear white or yellow to bounce light to the rear. Other cyclists refuse to get within 6 to 8 feet of me at night. Red blinkies would just disappear next to it. It goes on top of the rear rack.

What about Jet lights? Seem to be a hit at MTBR, yet nobody has mentioned them...

I looked at the Jet lights and was tempted. Unfortunately, they sell mostly direct which means you end up paying full list price for their stuff. I ended up with an L&M HID for a whole lot less than I could have bought a Jet HID for, and I think the L&M has the better beam pattern.

Try Dobbers suggestion wwwbicyclelights.com .I got 30 watts for $100 delivered.It will last at least 1.5 hrs at full 30 watts,or close to 3 hrs at 15 watts.I use it as a hb light-I don't want anything other than the helmet on my head..Luck,Charlie

PS 30 watts is about as much light as you get from the pricy HID lights.I prefer the halogen to HID light-the white blue of the HIDS is cool,but I see better with the slightly yellow halogen.

There are many different brands of lights out there that would fit his needs. Part of the problem is narrowing down the choices so you can decide what to do. I chose just to give info about what I have seen first hand or owned, or had a report from someone that actually owns one. It gets complicated if you spend a lot of time looking at all the lights. The Jet lights are probably very good lights, but I have never even seen one. I'm just trying to keep it simple. Do you own some Jet lights?

There are a lot of night riders on the forums, I don't remember anyone saying they owned a Jet light.

Maybe there is someone ??

No, I don't own one yet. I have been looking at the threads at the various boards and I walked away from MTBR thinking that they were the most highly recommended. The individual user reviews were equally good. I will be purchasing a "high-end" light probably by the end of February, mostly to be used as a commuting light, but also for a MTB night trial light and 24 hour MTB race light.

I'm just interested in the discordance between boards, how one could so highly recommend Jet and the other essentially ignore them.

-L

Good question.

I don't remember them being advertised in the bike magazines much compared to the others. I don't see them at the mail order places or advertised much on line either. That would go along with what michaelnel posted. Maybe a lot of the other forum members frequent a shop or website that offers them ? Just a guess.

Edit post: I just went over to MTBR and went to "lights" to take a look. There is a huge banner for Jet lights on the top of the page and another over on the right side. Jet is one of the main advertisers on that website. Seems like I found the reason.

When you do email with Jet Lights, you get the owner of the company who is also the designer. He seems like a great guy, extremely responsive. If it was possible to get their stuff at a discount they'd move up near the top of my list. Their dual halogen setup almost won me over, but I decided on the L&M HID based on price and relative lack of complexity.

If we start conversing this much more, I'll start a new post. Check out this link of NR vs Jet: https://www.hammerheadbikes.com/light.htm

Looks good to me...

I'd consider Jet Lights, but I haven't seen them in local shops. They're also not available through Nashbar, Performance, REI, etc. As a "research it online and then go check it out at the local shop" kind of guy it makes it difficult to drop several hundred on a light just because a lot of people like them. A lot of folks like L & M lights, too, and I can actually go to my LBS and play with them. That tips it for me.

L&M ARC HID - yes, better beam pattern! just excellent. My wife sees me coming home and says it looks like an airplane landing.

I know I try to bash NR every chance I get but..
The NR HID light in that comparison is running on empty. Look at the power button on it, it's RED, meaning the battery has run down.

I'm not sure if you are refering to the Cygolight HID when you say no smart charger or not, but as an owner of one (NmH version), it most definately does have a 4 hr smart charger. I'm not sure about the NiCad version. I'm also not sure Cygolight is still making them, since they don't show up in the product list on their website anymore. Anyway, the beam pattern on the cygolight is something like a target, bright center, then dark area, then bright outer ring. I'd compare it to the NR beam pattern of my digital evolution, but way brighter and a bit wider.