cryogenic

I commute 2.3 miles each way to work... along with 15-25 miles of around town riding per day on my off days. A good bit of it is in the dark, but a good portion of the roads are at least somewhat lit. Knowing this, I went completely overboard and bought a cygolite Z-force NiMh 12w HID light. I consider it my birthday present to myself (my birthday is the 29th). It's obviously more lighting than I'll ever really need but I figured I'd rather go for overkill than underkill. I picked it up for $290 shipped 3-day select from beyondbikes.com because they pricematched another site I found here. $269.99 for a 12w HID was a deal I couldn't pass up. When I get it, I'll report back on how it works out. I'm sure even if it's not up to snuff with the L&M or even the NR Flamethrower (or Blowtorch) it should still be sufficient for my needs. I like the fact that it recharges in less than 8 hours (3-5 they say) and gets 4 hrs of runtime. I do often spend 3-4 hours out in the dark just riding around, so even though the actual amount of light is complete overkill, the runtime and charge times aren't.

slvoid

I'm pretty sure no matter what company its from, if you got 12 watts of HID shining in someone's face, it's pretty damn bright.

cryogenic

That's kinda what I was thinking.. says it's equivalent to a 40w halogen.. and they have a nice picture of how bright it is. I think I'm going to like this thing a LOT. lol

https://www.cygolite.com/light/products/1zForceNiMH.htm

Sloth

You'll like it, and it IS overkill for many situations. I've got one, and love it.

Corsaire

At night nothing about lights are overkill, the only one who could get overkilled if not bright enough is you, so, good you got a very bright light, more power to you.
Corsaire

cryogenic

That's kinda the way I was looking at it. $290 for something that could save me a ton of money in hospital bills (or even funeral costs) was well worth it to me. Better to be too bright than not bright enough. With no frontal lighting at all, most cars don't see me until I'm practically at their driver's door. With such a bright light, people will have a VERY hard time not seeing me. I figure with the shorter days almost all my riding is done at dusk or dark, so a light with a long burn time would be a huge benefit.

Wasn't

I doubt you'll ever regret buying a good light. I hesitated at exceeding my self-imposed $150 limit when I bought my Nite-rider Classic Plus, but that didn't last long when I started using it. My commute is about 35 miles round-trip, and at this time of year I really appreciate that light. Yours will probably be even brighter.

Having nice equipment makes night-riding so much more enjoyable, and it really extends the number of hours in a day you can ride. So, as long as you can afford it, enjoy your new light and don't think twice about it.

2manybikes

[URL=https://www.lupine.de/en/produkte/komplett/edi10.html]

I agree! There is no such thing as too much light at night! I have a Niterider Blowtorch and I need the power sometimes. I need more than the four hours so I just ordered one of these - 8 hours on 10 watts halide - 5 hours on 16 w halide.

2manybikes

Oops.... I did something wrong with the link, I believe, I'm a newbie.

Go to this

https://www.lupine.de/en/produkte/produkte.php

scroll down to "Edison" 10 and click on the picture, the details will then pop up.

traindabrain

So I have 4 white lights, 2 red, and the reflective tape in between. Might be a bit obsessive, but hey, better a big glowing orb of light floating down the highway than a cloaked klingon. I never understood why klingons wanted to go cloaked. Wouldn't they run the risk of smashing into each other?

Anyway, my light set-up has a light and motion halogen, a 4-AA Cateye clipon, a thinkgeek roundclip on LED white light, and a helmet with a princeton headlamp on it. That's the forward facing component.

I only have two red flashers in the back. One larger cateye with battlestar galactica ceylon motion, and a smaller simple flasher.

That's what I have.

operator

Cloaked is cool. Ninja cloaked is even better. Sneak up on people and whack them and nonchalantly speed away.

2manybikes

So Cateye had a contract to supply Battlestar Galactica with tailights?

Cool!

Sloth

In principle I agree. In practice, the HID really does blind oncoming riders, so much so that I point it to the right and then shield them with my hand when they get close.

And then there was this groups of teenagers walking the path towards me. They stopped and stared as I got closer, then screamed and got off the path. I don't know what they thought I was.

2manybikes

I shield my light with my hand too for oncoming traffic sometimes. I have had a few teenagers tell me they thought I was a cop, and I had some run into the woods too.?!

Must be they had a guilty feeling.

w&odguy

I was one of those riders who resented oncoming bikes with HIDs not pointing down enough.

Now I am one of them (NR Flamethrower).

It is better to be one of them. No such thing as too much headlight.

cryogenic

amen to that one... I got my Cygolite and absolutely love it... rode home last night and signs over 1/4 mile away were lit up. I dunno how I rode without a headlight before (very carefully, obviously). I think I need one more rear light to clip onto my bag or something of that nature. I made a thread in the mountain biking forum about my overall impressions of the cygolite so far. Needless to say, I'm impressed.

CPcyclist

The best part of the Cygo HID is that I have had cars slow down coming head on.

cryogenic

I had one last night that dimmed his brights when he saw my light as he rounded a corner... must have thought I was a car or a motorcycle. Either way, it means that he acknowledged my presence, which is a good thing. Anything to make sure I get seen in the dark is good with me. Could you imagine having one on your bar and one on your helmet? THAT would be overkill!

Sloth

Yep, or dip their high beams. I've even been flashed once. I moved from the bike path to the road, just thanks to the HID. Cars really REALLY know I'm there.

Daily Commute

The only thing I don't like about my Cygolite HID is the lack of a low-battery warning. When the red light clicks on, manufacturer's specs say to turn off the light immediately. The L&M HID says it has an earlier warning. NR Flamethrower has built-in, back-up LED's. If you buy the Cygolite, I'd suggest buying back up "get me home" LED lights. I have one on my helmet and one on my handle bar.

On the plus side, the Cygolite is blinding. I have noticed a change in behavior from motorists and pedestrians. I've had people flag me down just to ask about the light.

Edit: I just ordered the a 10w halogen to be my back up. Bottom line, the Cygolite HID is fantasticly bright, but you need a back-up system for when the battery dies. Depending on your needs, it might be more economical to buy a more expensive HID system that has its own built-in back up or an earlier low-battery warning.

Edit: As I explain in this thread, my Cygolite died after about 18 months of use. The company wants $100 to $200 to replace the lamp and/or ballast. That's a rip-off.

slvoid

Motocross, heh.

froze

This appears to be a section for aircraft pilots who need landing lights! What the heck, 40 watts of lighting just to ride a bike on the street? I test rode a 25 watt light and found the darn thing to be to bright with the glare of the light bouncing off the pavement into my eyes. My entire light system cost me under $100 with my Cygo Metro 12.5 watt headlight ($48), Xenon amber flasher ($8), barend lights ($18) and then Cateye LD600 rear taillight ($20). I have no problems seeing with the system even at speeds over 20mph, nor does anyone have problems seeing me (in fact I've had people come up to me to comment on how well they saw me).

Granted if your riding techinical offroad trails then maybe an HID is what you need. But 40 watts for the street is close to what a car uses at 70mph!

Daily Commute

On the road, cars treat me differently with an HID headlight. The extra bright light helps me to see exactly what that dark smudge on the road is. It also helps me to ID potholes and other cracks much more easily. On the trail, the HID makes a huge difference because I can see overhanging branches and can see road conditions. It is particularly helpful in the rain. When it gets icy and snowy, the light will make even more of a difference.

I'm glad your lighting system works well for you. It sounds like it is well designed. I agree that people should think twice before buying an HID system. But if you regularly ride at night, you should get the best lighting system you can afford.

2manybikes

QUOTE=Daily Commute]On the road, cars treat me differently with an HID headlight. The extra bright light helps me to see exactly what that dark smudge on the road is. It also helps me to ID potholes and other cracks much more easily. On the trail, the HID makes a huge difference because I can see overhanging branches and can see road conditions. It is particularly helpful in the rain. When it gets icy and snowy, the light will make even more of a difference.

Good point, well explained. Better than my explanation really.

There are many times when a bright light is not needed, for most things really. To see an animal or a person it's pretty easy with just about anything. I specifically bought my bright light for really only some conditions like you say small holes smudges etc.

When going fast on my expensive bike that has a $850 wheel set, 23 mm tires thin as paper,( yes Kevlar belt) I want to see every tiny pavement variation. I am very careful about getting flats. I don't want to damage a wheel. Because I have a bright light, I can see tiny specks of glass that I would go right over with other tires. I can see the glass, a crack in the pavement, sand, oil, etc.
And as you say exactly, when the oncoming traffic is bright and there is a lot of ambient light, if you want to see the tiny bits of glass you need huge power. That's really what I bought the light for, not other easier situations. It works, I got one flat this year on that bike in 3,000 miles, it was when I was not looking. I hit a small rock. when I look it's OK. I got one flat on that bike the last two years also, about 6,000 miles.

Riding down an unlit bike path is different, my eyes adjust, and if I have stronger tires I can get by with my LED light. If I rode my mountain bike all the time on the road, I would really not even need it. But it really does help off road, on fast descents on loose surfaces.

For a lot of situations it is not needed. For many types of riding it is not needed.

operator

Looked up that Cygo Metro... it says it uses D batteries (darn), but how many? How waterproof is that battery holder? Do you use recharegeables (what kind?) Run time?