Woohoo, new lights!
10-10-04, 04:26 PM
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Woohoo, new lights!
I scored a year or two old NiteRider Storm HID for $75.
Tried it out last night while riding downtown to rent a movie. No more "do they see me" nervousness like when I was using the little 3-led light on the handlebars. Turn your head in the direction of a car getting ready to pull out and they *will* see you. Or at least they'll see a blinding, blue light and stop
.
I'm almost looking forward to commuting in the dark now.
My one worry, battery longevity. If I'm going through one or two charge cycles a week (Figure a 3 hour burn-time and 3 or 4 1-hour commutes per week, plus a 1 1/2 hour Wed. night mtn. bike ride.) how much life can I expect out of this battery that's already got a year or two of semi-regular mtn. bike usage and a 24 hour race or two? Those batteries are expensive, and I'm wondering if I wouldn't be better off using my older Niterider dual-beam halogen (I just recently built a new battery-pack for it. So it's probably got plenty of battery life.) and keeping the HID for exclusive off-road use where the extra bright light makes a *big* difference. On-road I've always found the halogens to be adequate, I just like the option of placing the beam where I want it with the helmet mount. Can't do that with my dual-beam handlebar setup...
-Trevor
Tried it out last night while riding downtown to rent a movie. No more "do they see me" nervousness like when I was using the little 3-led light on the handlebars. Turn your head in the direction of a car getting ready to pull out and they *will* see you. Or at least they'll see a blinding, blue light and stop
.I'm almost looking forward to commuting in the dark now.
My one worry, battery longevity. If I'm going through one or two charge cycles a week (Figure a 3 hour burn-time and 3 or 4 1-hour commutes per week, plus a 1 1/2 hour Wed. night mtn. bike ride.) how much life can I expect out of this battery that's already got a year or two of semi-regular mtn. bike usage and a 24 hour race or two? Those batteries are expensive, and I'm wondering if I wouldn't be better off using my older Niterider dual-beam halogen (I just recently built a new battery-pack for it. So it's probably got plenty of battery life.) and keeping the HID for exclusive off-road use where the extra bright light makes a *big* difference. On-road I've always found the halogens to be adequate, I just like the option of placing the beam where I want it with the helmet mount. Can't do that with my dual-beam handlebar setup...
-Trevor
10-10-04, 06:31 PM
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Depending on how much use the old owner had been putting the battery though plus the levels of discharge, that battery could be anywhere from dead to half dead.
10-10-04, 07:19 PM
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Sumanitu taka owaci
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Originally Posted by TrevorInSoCal
My one worry, battery longevity.
When your batteries don't perform anymore, bring your old ones in to a store that specializes in batteries and they'll be able to replace them. They might cost twice as much as you paid for your used HID system ($75,) but that's still a bargain, especially since you now have new batteries. A new HID system could cost you $400 or more.
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