planet bike alias HID
 

I have a planet bike alias HID that I bought sometime in 2009, maybe 2010... don't remember exactly. I'm noticing you can't buy it any more on Planet Bikes website. What's wrong with the headlight? I still like mine!? Is it old tech? I haven't had to replace the bulb since I bought it. Charge lasts 2 trips to work, not an issue that I need to charge it every two days... doesn't bother me to do that. Puts out a good amount of light, enough to see the road ahead & for cars to see you and not turn left in front of you. So, I wonder why it's not on Planet Bikes site anymore? Yeah, the battery & bulb is expensive to replace... is that why? I love the self containeness to it.

I'm assuming it's because HID technology is rapidly becoming obsolete. LED's have changed the game. They have far too many advantages over HID's. In fact, the only real disadvantage to them is (was?) the cost. Not really any more.

Hmm... so what's a comparable replacement that will provide just as much light as the Alias? Are there any without all the messy wires? Not gonna replace any time soon, at least not till I need to buy a replacement battery or bulb... then I might see what's out there.

http://reviews.mtbr.com/2012-bike-lights-shootout

My vote is the Magicshine for off-road and Philips Saferide for commuting. The former is not "self contained" though; there are PLENTY of other self-contained LED options.

One thing that has really undergone a revolution in the past few years is portable lighting. LEDs have finally gotten good enough to compete with incandescent and HID lighting from the light output perspective, while having large advantages in the durability and power aspects. Nothing wrong with HIDs, but I don't think they offer any advantages over LEDs these days.

I don't know how much light the Alias puts out but I would figure 200-300 lumens (I could be wrong). You can get a fully self-contained LED light that puts out double that. That is due to the drastically greater energy efficiency (therefore less batteries needed, so can be self-contained). I went the flashlight plus two hose clamp route. Flashlights on average will be cheaper than anything targeted at cyclists. Personally, I like AA lights. I know NiMH have a lower energy density that Li Ion, but they are ubiquitous. (And I have enough rechargeable AAs to take off on a month long trek without ever needing access to a charger).

I'm a big fan of DiNotte lights. They were one of the first companies to get behind LEDs, they constantly improve their product line, and are made in the US(if that matters to you).

http://www.dinottelighting.com/products.html

MTBR liked the Cree series of lights.

It's still on their 'Lightfinder' page.

Why don't you ask them?

http://www.planetbike.com/page/support/customer/

LEDs and HIDs have BOTH improved since that unit came out. HID is still probably still the preferred choice for off-road racing, but commuters want other features like a flashing mode, variable outputs and low cost models that you just aren't gonna get from any bike specific HID currently on the market.

Wait, they still make those? Do you know who? The only advantages I can think of are color rendering, which are largely irrelevant to most cyclists, racing, commuting, or otherwise, and easier throw, which is important to MTB'ers but largely work-around-able with better optics.
Note that the Alias replacement bulb is listed at $110 on their site.

You may mot like the price, but they have about 4x the light output of what you have now: http://www.cyclopsadventuresports.co...products&id=95


http://www.cyclopsadventuresports.co...=products&id=1

You can also check out: http://trailtech.net/lights.html

Well, I'll be! They do exist. That being said, its telling that TrailTech's comparison graph of bike lights from MTBR's Shootout is several years old. Niterider and Lupine, among others, have much brighter offerings now. LED technology is improving much faster than HIDs. Not that I'd be running to upgrade my HID if I had one....

But in general, HIDs are far from dead. Its just that bikes don't need the kind of light output and can't supply the kind of wattage that are needed in some off-road applications where 20,000lumens does't raise too many eyebrows.
http://www.visionxusa.com/

And not sure what you meant by saying that comparison graph was several years out of date. As far as I can see it compared current models. Did I miss something?

http://reviews.mtbr.com/lights-shoot...r-measurements
Current and past Shootout light measurements. The chart given is from 2008. Pretty much every LED model in that chart has been superseded at least once over. That being said, it took four years for LED lights to catch up, but there's a lot of lights now that are measurably brighter according to the tests (wish they used an integrating sphere...). Its still impressive how cheap the HID lights are in comparison, though if I'm going to be dropping $400 on a light I'd try building my own first in any case.
That last site is pretty impressive. I kinda want to take up motorcycling now.

:innocent:OK - you're absolutely correct! Guess I didn't initially go looking far enough! Interestingly enough, that Betty keeps increasing output but stays around the $1,000 mark and I'm suspecting it has as much to do with battery technology costs as anything else. From a strategy point of view, I'd personally run a headlight and bar mounted combo rather than a single high output lamp and for the same or less money, (and a little more weight) that puts quite a few other lights listed on that comparison on an equal par as the Betty.

Yeah - motorcycles are a lotta fun. I've been a BMW motorcycle rider myself for more years than I want to remember and the light installation and video put out by Gateway BMW is something I'd love to do myself just for fun. Customized at GATEWAY BMW, this is their R1200GSA with their idea of a "lighting upgrade".

http://m.youtube.com/#/profile?user=loveandgasoline66

Thats about 15,000 real world lumens more than stock. Older people do have decreased nightvision - maybe I can use that as an excuse. :innocent: