dragonflybikes

First some background:
I am looking at upgrading my lighting on my bike (I currently have a 1 watt Planet Bike) and you commuters seeem to have the best knowledge on lights. I ride 1 or 2 night rides with a group per week where we go around a 4 mile loop in a neighborhood with very few street lights. I like to start an hour before the group to get some extra riding in and the group ride lasts about an hour. I am not willing to go up to $300 for my new light but I am willing to go up to around $200.

I have been looking at the Cateye Triple shot for $200 on ebay, but after reading here and looking at the reviews it seems that all of the LED systems have the flaw of no wide light and everything looks flat.

Since all of the HID lights I have found run at least $300 that rules them out.

I want something bright. I have looked at the halogens where the systems have two lights to get 20 watts or more, but their run time is usually nly around 1 hr.

Here is my idea:
Buy 2 lights!
Option 1: THIS IS MY FIRST CHOICE Buy an LED light (Blackburn X3 $120 or Cygolite HiFlux $110) and a halogen 10-15 watt with around 2hrs runtime (Light & Motion Solo 13watt $100 - Nite Hawk Raptor 10watt $50 - Planet Bike Alias 15watt $75)

Option 2:Buy 2 of the halogen models listed above (two different brands so that the light spread pattern is different thus filling in any dead spots)

With running each light off of a different battery my run time of 2 hrs should be easy. If I do the LED and halogen option then if I ride longer at least I will have a decent LED light with lots of run time left in it.

My concern is in running an LED and a halogen together, will the halogen just wipe out the LED or will it work like I want and the LED will shine a white light far and the halogen will get me the width? I am assuming that running 2 halogens will just get me the same as the units where there are 2 halogens built in together.

Has anyone run an LED and halogen together? Any suggestions or comments or insights?

Thanks

mechBgon

Aebike.com has the NiteRider Classic Plus for $185. https://aebike.com/page.cfm?PageID=30...ils&sku=LT9009 Max runtime is 3+ hours using the 12W spot. The charger is fast, and it's a smart charger so you don't have to remember to unplug it.

Since you're looking for 20W but it sounds like you want more of a spot pattern, remember that you can substitute a 20W spot bulb in place of the 20W flood, too. That should get you about 2 hours of runtime if you just use the 20W.

Planet Bike's 15W ones might be worth a look too, they have smart chargers and are down near $100.

cyccommute 

I have a NiteHawk LED (actually the Performance version) and a Halogen system. I use the NiteHawk early in the season when I don't need a lot of light and would rather not do the whole charging thing on my halogen system. The LED runs off of several AA batteries and will last for a very long time but, as you have pointed out, the LED is a rather flat light. The blueness of the light makes contrasts very difficult to pick out. I used it recently for a ride very early in the morning and while it gave good illumination, it just isn't that good. Paired with a halogen, it's just going to be washed out. You might as well carry dead batteries for all the good it would do.

Now let me offer another option: build your own! NiteHawk sells just the head light assembly for $30 for a 12V system. You can get the cords and handlebar mounts etc from them too. Then you can get batteries for RC cars from just about anywhere that have a capacity of around 3.3 Ahr which will run a 12 v light for around 2 hours. You will need 2 batteries per light and will need to wire them in series so that you will have 14.4V going to the lights. This shortens the life of the bulb some but I've been running the same bulbs for a couple of years and have yet to blow on. Overvolting the bulb also increases the output dramatically so you get a brighter light.

You can get 2 or even 3 light heads (put one on your helmet since it's a much more useful light then the handlebar mount), batteries, wires, connectors (Dean Ultra Connector at a hobby shop) and a little sweat equity for way less than $300 and you end up with a system that you know how to fix if anything goes wrong.

P.S. I have a source for relatively cheap 3.8 Ahr batteries but I don't have the link right know. PM me for the link if you are interested.

jeff-o

If you get an LED system that has a dual-emitter, then you could put a yellow filter over one of the emitters to help bring out contrast in the terrain.

2manybikes

Here's your $200 HID light that will make LED lights look sick and run for four hours.

TrailTech Eclipse HID Bar Mount Bike Light with Smart Charger and waterproof cable $199.95
from batteryspace.com

n4zou

Drop by your local big box building supply store like Lowes and look at their track lighting fixtures. Find a fixture that accepts MR-16 halogen bulbs. These are the same bulbs found in most high output MTB light systems. You will need to do some surgery on the track light you purchase by removing the part of the light that clips in the track. Doing this is usually easy. Use a front reflector clamp to attach the now modified light fixture to your handlebar or the reflector mount on the fork. You will have a pair of wires sticking out the back of the light fixture. Use some Zip cord lamp wire available by the foot from the electrical supply section and a light switch for on/off control. I use a 12-volt, 4.2 Amp-hour Gel-Cell battery in a large blowout bag as a battery. This will easily power a 20-watt halogen MR-16 bulb for 2 to 3 hours. These bulbs are available in the outdoor lighting area in the store. This site has MR-16 3-watt LED bulbs that plug in directly in the track light fixtures.
https://autolumination.com/mr16.htm

ken cummings

www.night-sun.com I have been using one of their team issue set-ups ($175) for eighteen (18) years, replacing batteries and bulbs as needed. Add one of their red triangular Xenon strobes and you are good to go. I run a halogen in front and strobe in the rear. LEDs, even Luxeons, are in the efficiency range of halogens and just do not have the same raw power.

dragonflybikes

Have you, (or has anyone else) used this light? Is it a good light? Is it as bright as 30 watt halogen?

ItsJustMe

I have that light, with a different battery. It's a friggin' blowtorch. I used a 20W halogen for a year before I got this and this is definitely the brigher light. If it died tonight I'd get another one in a second.
For comparison:
20 watt DIY halogen:

Trailtech 13 watt HID:


I got the 6* spot, if doing it again I'd get the 12* flood. It's got plenty of light to spare so might as well spread it around a bit, though be careful when aiming that you don't blind drivers.

If I had UNLIMITED budget I'd go with one of the super-nice L&M or other big-name HIDs, but I don't so this is my baby.

FWIW, I'm riding with a 4.5 AH NiMH bottle battery and a smart charger; the combo cost me a bit over $200 from batteryspace. I went NiMH because I do ride when it's below 0*F and NiMH does better than LiIon in the cold. But this setup would have to be a strong contender if I had to buy again. It would keep the bottle cage open for one thing.