More DiNotte 200L Praise
 

... as if anyone needs convincing here...

For my usual commute, I'm riding in the dark anywhere from 30 minutes to two and a half hours depending on the time of year and the weather. I bought the DiNotte because it could handle three hours at full brightness or in blinking mode.

I went on my first 200k brevet yesterday. We shoved off at 3:30 AM and there was a threat of fog and rain, so I was a bit worried about lighting. Since I wasn't going to be hammering it much, I ran the 200L in low mode and that was ample to light my path in the wee hours. I cranked it up to high a few times on downhill sections where speeds approached 25 MPH or faster while coasting. Then turned it back to low.

With the light rain and fog dominating most of the day, I decided I would just leave the DiNotte on for the whole ride. On low with about 10 minutes of high beams, the light lasted the entirety of my 12 and a half hour ride without dropping into warning mode (red power button), much less limp-home mode (fast strobing that's really dim).

I'm running Energizer 2650 mAH NiMH Rechargeables in it, and they've been really good to me, squeezing out almost 4 hours at full brightness, although they drop into warning (but not limp home) mode after a while.

As far as the rest of the ride went, I can see why some of my bike commuting friends are into Centuries, Brevets, and bicycle touring. But damn, this was a butt-kicker of a ride. Perhaps I should have gotten my road bike fixed up instead of riding my modified late-90s mountain bike?

Ride report and pics for anyone who's interested:
http://kc-bike.blogspot.com/2008/06/...rt-part-1.html

Mostly, I ws just impressed with how long really good LED lighting lasts. The DiNotte's light output on low is about what I was getting from my old Blackburn Quadrant, but with a lot better light pattern on the road.

I have to agree about DiNotte. Caution, Noah---lighting is addictive and you develop a tolerance to it. I had a first generation DiNotte Ultralight for a few years. 140 lumens and I thought it was awesome. Then I upgraded to a 200L---and I couldn't believe I rode with the Ultralight for so long. I followed that with a DiNotte 600L---wow. Now when I ride with just the 200L I find myself longing for the light of the 600L. :-)

And----holy crap! You rode 200K on a bike with flat bars? No wonder your left hand was still numb. Drop bars, man. Nitto Noodles, especially, are your friend. They're perfect for your situation. I can't imagine riding any sort of distance with only one available hand position. That's a good way to develop a chronic injury.

I have an ultra 5 and the 140R taillight. Good stuff. I would like to upgrade to a 600L but am not sure it would be worth it for me with how much commuting I have planned in winter. Going to start weight training more and taking a few spin classes.

Cool pics. How'd you get some of those shots? Camera mounted to your bike?

I couldn't imagine just having a 200L in low mode. Well, I can because I used to ride with a light that was probably about that bright or dimmer, but it was miserable then and unimaginable now. Now, I run two 200Ls up front, each on high usually. Lots of light :)

I suppose you'd freak out if you heard that on top of riding 137 miles on a flat-bar hybrid-ized mountain bike, I actually lean over to the side (sometimes at excess of 30 MPH) and shoot with the camera a few inches off the ground?

I actually have a 15W halogen that I use in tandem with the 200L on occasion. That's about 500 lumens of light but the halogen only lasts about 90 minutes. I just didn't feel like throwing it on the bike for this ride. I had enough weight on it as is, and I'm not a weight weenie. I just didn't see the need for that kind of light output for the kind of (lack of ) speed we'd be maintaining in the first few dark hours of the ride.

There's a guy I ride with on occasion that has a Nexus-8 equipped Rockhopper rigid frame with drop bars and slick tires. I see some cheapo road brake levers and drop bars in my future for Hybridzilla, perhaps. Or I could just fix my road bike. That sounds like a better idea. It needs a new rear wheel badly.

[QUOTE=ax0n;6971028]...there's a guy I ride with on occasion that has a Nexus-8 equipped Rockhopper rigid frame with drop bars and slick tires. I see some cheapo road brake levers and drop bars in my future for Hybridzilla, perhaps....[QUOTE]

Check out http://www.bikeisland.com. They've got a cheap, complete set of tektro calipers, levers, cables and housings for 40.00 w/no shipping. I'm getting a set for my singlespeed bulid.

ha! Yes... surprised. :thumb:

More strange angle shots here (not from the 200k tho)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kc-bike...7605149592582/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kc-bike...7605149592748/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kc-bike...7605149592748/

And some not bike related:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kc-bike...7605308204415/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kc-bike...7605308204415/

Dunno why. I really like taking pictures of things from awkward positions and angles.