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MiNewt 600 vs. a minivan

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MiNewt 600 vs. a minivan

Old 12-02-11 | 09:26 AM
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MiNewt 600 vs. a minivan

No, I didn't get hit. Last night I took a couple of pictures comparing the headlights on my minivan to my new NiteRider MiNewt 600 Cordless light. I set my camera to manual and adjusted the f-stop and exposure time to get a reasonable image, then used those same settings for both pictures. The camera is sitting on the roof of the van, which accounts for the diagonal line across the bottom of the picture.

Here's the minivan in the driveway pointing at the field across from my house.



Here's the MiNewt (on high) on my bike sitting just to the left of the van (with the van's lights off).



In fairness, the minivan's high beams would probably have given it the edge.

I realize a number of other lights in this price range would have similar results, and maybe a MagicShine or two that you can get slightly cheaper, but the point is that I feel pretty good about this light.
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Old 12-02-11 | 09:35 AM
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I've been using that light for over a month now, and really like it.
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Old 12-02-11 | 09:44 AM
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I tried last year's model, and found the mount was not stable enough. Too much jiggling, which was really annoying, considering a good portion of my commute is on rough surfaces. The light is very bright, but more than I need, considering it is used in combination with a second bright light. Also, didn't like the greenish hue.
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Old 12-02-11 | 10:01 AM
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Originally Posted by alan s
I tried last year's model, and found the mount was not stable enough. Too much jiggling, which was really annoying, considering a good portion of my commute is on rough surfaces. The light is very bright, but more than I need, considering it is used in combination with a second bright light. Also, didn't like the greenish hue.
I haven't noticed any greenish hue with mine. The mount is a minor problem. My handlebars have that ridiculous 31.8 bulge in the center and taper over the entire area down to my bar tape. Even with that, I've been able to get it reasonably stable. I do wish they had a better mount though. Maybe I'll switch to 26.0 bars.
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Old 12-02-11 | 10:05 AM
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Originally Posted by alan s
I tried last year's model, and found the mount was not stable enough. Too much jiggling, which was really annoying, considering a good portion of my commute is on rough surfaces. The light is very bright, but more than I need, considering it is used in combination with a second bright light. Also, didn't like the greenish hue.
Previous to this I was using a P-7 flashlight with the Two Fish block mount. Now that set-up jiggled. When I first mounted it my MiNewt 600 would slowly slip down. Then I realized it was because it was clamped where the bar tappers down. I built up the tappered side with electrical tape and all is now good. Greenish hue? Mine looks white to me.
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Old 12-02-11 | 12:29 PM
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I'm talking last year's 450 or whatever it was before they came out with the 600. Same design as curent model, but not as powerful. Could be I had a bad light, but compared to my other lights, it definitely had a slight greenish tint to the light. I have an older Minwet that is a nice yellow-white light, and a Cygolite Expilion has ever so slight bluish tint.

Couldn't live with the mount though, so ended up returning the Niterider.
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Old 12-02-11 | 04:21 PM
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I use the 600 and yes, the bracket does vibrate the light down over rough surfaces (railroad track do it!) but overall I like it.

Way bright enough and a quick / easy mount on the handlebars of my DaHon folder. Haven't noticed any "greenish" tint to the light.

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Old 12-02-11 | 04:40 PM
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I just picked up this light while on sale at REI for 20% off last week. So far I like it a lot. Some parts of my commute are pitch black, and this thing lights it up as if it were daytime. The spread is really nice, and lights the width of the roadway. Mostly the "walk" setting is enough for me on normal roads, but for the darkest portions I have to go up to low or medium. The high setting is insanely bright!
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Old 12-02-11 | 05:23 PM
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I always use my MiNewt 600 on high because my wife says I'm on a power trip. But when I'm riding down the street and a car passes me on the left going my direction, it is clear that my light is brighter, sometimes much brighter, than most car's low beams. I think there's others in this forum that have said oncoming cars flash their brights, although that has never happened to me. For the price, the 600 Cordless is a monster.
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Old 12-02-11 | 05:48 PM
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Originally Posted by zoltani
I just picked up this light while on sale at REI for 20% off last week. So far I like it a lot. Some parts of my commute are pitch black, and this thing lights it up as if it were daytime. The spread is really nice, and lights the width of the roadway. Mostly the "walk" setting is enough for me on normal roads, but for the darkest portions I have to go up to low or medium. The high setting is insanely bright!
Yeah, this is why the 1.5 hour claimed battery life doesn't bother me. As I recall from the documentation is says if you run low on power in high it will automatically switch to low and run for another 2.5 hours and if that doesn't get you home it will switch to walk mode and run for another 20 hours or something. On low it's about the same output as I got from my DiNotte 200L.

I paid full price ($150) for mine at REI the week before it went on sale, but then they gave me my $30 back. That's the kind of policy that led me to buy there even though I found it online for $107.
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Old 12-02-11 | 06:53 PM
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Same here, online it was $102, and I paid $130 with tax and everything at REI. I always feel more comfortable with a purchase like this when I know I can return at any time for any reason.
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