Question: How well does it light up the road? I like the idea of a dyno light, but just concerned about how well I'll be able to see versus, say, a Fenix flashlight or a Dinotte.

Poorly. It's about like a Lumotech round. Low quality optics make for a weak beam and bad pattern.

For really seeing the road, the Lumotech Oval is a much better light for a reasonable price. The B&M IQ Fly is the best (IMO) you'll find in the under $100 range for dyno driven lights.

Thanks, Clifton. I checked out the manufacturer's web site, but without a degree in electrical engineering or optical physics, I have no clue. :D

Have you checked your local craigslist? Not that there are very many used mid to high end lighting systems floating around but if you read many lighting reviews on mtbr.com, many of those guys are on their second or third light because they didn't like their first. Check CL.

Just get a Dinotte. You'll be satisfied.

+1. Save some money. I'm very happy with my Single Shot. (not the Plus) Get a Planet Bike SuperFlash for the rear and you're set.

Get a Fenix L2D Premium Q5 ($62)

https://www.fenix-store.com/product_...roducts_id=362

Mount it with twofish lockblocks (3 for $15, IIRC)

It uses rechargeable AAs and gives you 180 lumens for over 2 hours. That's plenty for commuting at night - but if you need more light, buy another one and use both.

+1 for the Dinotte Lights. I agree you can get more light for the $$$ with DIY, but the reality is some of us do not have the skills [or enjoyment] for DIY LED lighting. In the time it takes someone to figure out what they need for a DIY light project, ordering the parts and building the thing I will have made the $$$ at work to buy a couple Dinottes and I can spend my free time doing stuff I like such as riding my bike.

BTW - one a recent night ride it was pretty clear that reflective material was FAR brighter than a Planet Bike Superflash when viewing a rider from the rear. I like the Superflash lights, but also invest in a couple $2 reflective leg bands.

About $50-60 will get you an E20 from the Fenix Store (Their newest offering), a bike mount and a set of batteries and charger from deal extreme. Very happy with the first run on this tonight.

My review on the local message board.

Took 32 posts for something reasonable in my opinion. :)

You can probably get more light output with a homebrew lighting system. But if that isn't where you want to spend your time, then I still think the best, most reasonable (if you can think of $150-$250 as reasonable) lighting system is a dinotte.

If I could build my own light, I'd do it. But, then again, I probably wouldn't stop there... I might as well try to build myself a carbon fiber frame. I can't do it.

Good luck with the electrical engineering degree and the flashlights. In the meantime, I'll spend my money on a dinotte, and my time on the bike.

+1

Thanks for that post. I built similar system last fall using your description. It is brighter than anything that I've seen so far. And cheap, too.

Mine's a halogen system. (Click on the underlined bit;)) And it does require more battery power than LED and is, therefore, heavier. But I went for light output over weight. The ones that I've built are around $90 per unit with the battery, switches, mounts, etc.

You can't play with voltage on LED like I can on halogen. By boosting the voltage input, I can boost the light output for a halogen lamp. An increase in the voltage of 20% (12V to 14.4V) doubles the light output while drastically cutting down the bulb life (to about 10%). Since most halogens get 2000 hours of life this translates to 200 hours on the bike which is still a lot at 50 or 60 rides of around 1.5 hours each per year.

If you try to boost the voltage input to an LED all you get is smoke:eek:

The P7 is indeed bright and LEDs are advancing rapidly. I'll probably go to them in the future. For now however, it's hard to beat the light output of a halogen system.

If I could have sourced better equipment over here in NZ I would have gone for Cyccommute's build.

The wife finally threw her hands up in the air; after a bike shop's home-made system I had bought off of the NZ eqiv of Ebay wiring arched and caught fire!!:twitchy: That was fun as he had hardwired the connectors to the 12v battery terminals so I had to snip the cable, (which was on fire at the time). Then my cheap, (not that cheap $200 NZ dollars on special), recharable nightpro system died after a couple of months of commuting. So she bought me one of these iblasst 2.

http://www.nightlightning.co.nz/adve...g_products.htm

Probabily overkill for you but does the job and more for me here is my review

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=440522

they have cheaper lights also.

I still run my own home made 30 watt light on my MTB that runs off a 12v battery. Very simple. battery+switch+light.

I just went for it and did the NiteRider Moab with their rear taillight. The link is to the Flight 2.0, but that's the same head unit as what the Moab was - just a different battery. The Moab/Flight puts out a bit over 400 lumens. I can't imagine what the new SlickRock is like at 900+ lumens. Daylight!

Thanks, I figured out the link thing too late (how do you make a link that doesn't say "http:/www...", anyway?). I'm sure you get more power for dollar from halogen (for now). Of course, you sink some dollars in new bulbs. I like the 100,000 hour life on the led's, and they don't break from bouncing.

I am hoping for a P7 that takes 12 volts in the future. Maybe there is an effective way to power at 3.6 without running a bunch of parallel batteries. Wouldn't you need something like 4 separate packs of 3AA's, each needing separate charging, to power one of these emiters for a couple hours?

P.S. I like this thread, but I can't believe it hasn't been bumped to the electronics forum yet!

On the reply screen there are a bunch of icons. Highlight the text you want to use for a link and then copy the link to the icon that looks like this

http://www.bikeforums.net/images/editor/createlink.gif.

If you want to post pictures, copy the image location to the icon that looks like this

http://www.bikeforums.net/images/editor/insertimage.gif

I was all set to pick up a MiNewt, but this thread almost has me sold on the Dinotte 200LI. Is anyone running this with a helmet mount?

I did not read the whole thread, but I have had my Nite Rider rechargeable for a week and love it so far.

My NiteRider TrailRat is a very good light, but the battery has no low charge indicator. (I think the MiNewts are the same.) The TrailRat would continue to live on my touring bike, and I'd use the Dinotte or the MiNewt as a helmet light. (There's no room on my folding bike to bar-mount a light.)

I ended up with the CygoLite Nite Rover NiMH XTRA Headlight 16 Watt Halogen.

High Performance Dual Beam Halogen with High-Capacity Nickel Metal Hydride Battery for Endurance Ride

Features:

16W dual beam halogen headlight
3 beam patterns
(6w wide, 10w narrow, 16w combined)
6 hour run time on 6w single beam
Battery low L.E.D. indicator
Compact Nickel Metal Hydride battery
Exclusive high beam pitch for better road coverage
Side-to-Side swivel for excellent peripheral vision
Sleek, low profile, tough thermo-plastic casing
Quick release mount
smart charger included (100v - 240v)

It has two independent beams, one to help with being seen, the other projects out ahead about 100 feet. I consider the light to be good for commuting, but it could be over-riden at speeds greater than 17mph.

It cost $80 on eBay.


Mchael

+1 on the Fenix L2Ds.

I run two Fenix L2D Premium Q5s on my handlebar, in addition to my blinkers. I also carry a spare set of 4AAs for them, in case I want to do a long 4 hour night ride for fun.

I use them in Turbo mode for dark places and the 107 lumens mode (2nd brightest), if I am on a well-lit street.

I'm sorry but I made that same mistake also before I discovered the Fenix flashlights. My Cygo has been sitting ever since. I would have given you mine for next to nothing.

I can't imagine ever using it again. :o

The 180 lumens of the Fenix blows away 16 watts of halogen light.

I was about to recommend the Cygolite when I saw you bought one.

I have the dual cross pro NiMH. The light isn't as "warm" as the halogen, but it's all I need, and I'll never have to replace the batteries.

But what I was going to say is that for $250 you can build a Shimano dynohub wheel with Sun CR18 rims AND get a relatively good headlight.

I have the Cygo, but I'm considering heavily bumping to a dynohub. I ride mostly on pitch black MUP, but I get really sick of pluggin' in. riggin' my bike has become the biggest threat to my continued commuting. Simpler is better, and the quicker and easier I can get my system down the better.

The MiNewts do have a battery indicator. When the battery is discharged below some limit (about 30% I think), the power button (which normally glows blue) will start to glow red.