rekmeyata

Glad you pointed out that miserable battery life, that's a very crucial point you made; I think you should go on Amazon and review the light pointing out that major downfall.

JohnJ80

Power required is really going to be application, driver "culture" and terrain dependent.

J.

1nterceptor

I mentioned the model in my 1st post; Blitzu Cyborg 168T. Latest model I think.
The Hotshot micro rated at 30 lumens looks brighter. But the 168T's beam is more
spread out; while the Cygolite Micro's is narrower/tighter.

1nterceptor

Ok; got my hands on a few more models. My brother loaned me his Blackburn 2'fer.
UPS tracking promised to deliver a NiteRider Solas 150 and SIGMA SPORT Micro today.

I'm doing side by side shots with the light pointing at a wall to get an idea of the beam spread.
Taking photos from the side and 45 degrees to check side angle visibility. Of course straight
back as well. Have taken weight measurements; not sure if I'll put those in. Useful for riders
interested in helmet mounting and weight weenies. Someone already asked for battery life
tests; I said no. Takes too much work/time. Some of these lights can go on for a few hours.
What kind of tests/pics do you folks want to see?

Top to bottom - helmet mounted Niterider Lumina Flare is mine. Knogg Blinder 4, Cateye Rapid X2 and
Light & Motion VIS 180 Micro were borrowed. Thanks BFold of New York City, I'll bring them back this week

Rear lites test, East River path NYC by 1nterceptor, on Flickr
Rear lites test, Timessquare NYC by 1nterceptor, on Flickr
2'FER VS Hotshot Micro by 1nterceptor, on Flickr
2'FER vs Cygolite Micro by 1nterceptor, on Flickr

01 CAt Man Do

( above )....a photo taken in a city environment between tall buildings ( heavily shaded ) is not what people mean by normal daylight. Like was said before a camera photo can't represent what the eye sees. If you doubt this look at the red traffic lights in the distance. These types of lights are thousands of lumen but in the photo you barely notice them. Viewed in person the traffic lights would be very bright. If you were going to use a rear lamp in this type of daytime city environment ( heavy urban traffic with short lines of sight ), I would think something like the Red Zone 8 ( or another lamp that is super bright with a wide output ) mounted to the back of the helmet would be the most useful.

rekmeyata

Ok, I would have to say that light is nowhere near 168 lumens from appearances in the photo.

By the way, if you can when you get those lights to try to take the photos the same way you did with the first group, that way we have a means to compare. Thanks.

canklecat

The Blackburn 2'Fer is a good helmet mounted light. Very lightweight -- I hardly notice it's on the back of my helmet. Pretty good dispersion considering there's no diffusion lens, and better side visibility than comparable small USB lights I've seen locally.

That Knog Blinder 4 appears more effective than I'd expected. The apparent size of the red patch makes it pop against a busy urban background, which is already cluttered with red lights.

The vertical orientation of stacked lights is a good plan, even if you set this up only for the test. At a glance it's reminiscent of a railroad crossing light or traffic emergency light. And the separation helps drivers more easily judge distance and approach speed.

For the past few months I've been running at least two rear red lights, usually the 2'Fer on the helmet in flashing mode (it lasts longer) and a steady taillight on the rear rack. A new-to-me used bike I just got last week came with a Bell saddle that has a surprisingly effective horizontal row of seven red LEDs. Even though the original protective lens is missing the lights still work. And because these are the older style, slightly less bright deep red LEDs, they're still effective even with a red colored lens. The newer, brighter LEDs are more whitish orange rather than deep red, and need a red lens to have the same appearance. You'll probably notice this quirk with the Blackburn 2'Fer, especially with some digital sensors -- it'll appear nearly white rather than red, although it appears red enough to the human eye.

01 CAt Man Do

Like I said before; lamps with wide dispersing beam patterns are are very hard to judge for estimating total lumen output. You might want to take a look at ( featuring the same lamp ). At the start the reviewer displays the lamp on the rear of his helmet during the day. In daylight it's not too impressive, no surprise there. At the 2:04 mark he displays the lamp inside his garage in a little darker environment ( not total darkness ). It is there that you get a good idea of what the lamp has to offer. The camera is off to the side so if it was viewed head-on it would likely look even brighter.

Personally, I don't know the electrical characteristics of the micro-led panels being used. I don't even know what company makes them but if you can find a data sheet on them it should be able to list typical outputs ( with varying current inputs ). Only then are you really going to know the actual lumen output. The reviewer listed the run time on high ( steady ) as being 1.5 hrs. ( Longer run times on flash and lower modes. For the sake of the argument I have a Gemini IRIS rear lamp rated close to the same output but doesn't use micro-leds. The IRIS is rated at a max of 180 lumen and has three leds. The instructions though do not give details of the lamp at that particular output. More than likely if you set the lamp for maximum ( 180 ) on steady it will only run about an hour or less. Actually there is no steady mode with the IRIS but you can use the program mode as a steady mode if you wanted to. Gemini only lists details of the 100 setting on "flash" as the brightest setting ( 2 hrs ) If set for 180 ( flash ) likely about an hour. When I use mine and want the brightest ( 180 lumen ) output, I set it to "pulse". On that setting it should last about two hours. Most of the time though I use it on "flash" at the 50% output level. That should give me 3.5 to 4 hrs. and is still damn bright.

Gosh I swear most of the people making those Youtube videos seem to know nothing about doing a good video review of a bike light. The guy I linked to at least did a fairly decent job. Would be nice if they would show the lamp actually working for more than a couple seconds Also would be nice to see some three-sided wall shots.

rekmeyata

I watched the video, I'm still not convinced...HOWEVER...it is low cost, and if someone is on a tight budget I think that would be an excellent light to have as long as they don't ride too long at night.

01 CAt Man Do

At less than $20 it's hard to beat. They are though, "cheap Chinese lights".

Interesting comparison > Serfas Thunderbolt, uses 30 mini Leds and is listed as 35 lumens on high. Cyborg is listed as using 50 micro-leds and claims 168 lumen.........Could be Cyborg is only about 60 lumen but that's providing that they are using the same type leds. (?) There in lies another good question.

ItsJustMe

Going by the lumen output on the datasheet only provides an upper limit to the light output. It's where you get $30 lights that claim to be 1600 lumens. The LED can theoretically put out that much, if you have perfect optics and a perfect driver and have a huge heat sink that can keep the LED at the perfect operating temperature. Just something to keep in mind.

All that said, I think probably some of these cheaper lights do provide good light output. What I think they lack is good design and durability. They are unlikely to have excellent mounting systems, and they are unlikely to work for many years.

rs23

I have the same blitzu taillight featured above. its pretty decent. My Cygolite pro 100 shipped so i am looking forward to replacing the current set up with it!

rs23

I received my cygolite 100 yesterday and i am very very impressed with it coming from a blitzu. I really like the patterns and output. it was easy to install and few people even asked me what tail light it is after seeing the power and performance

a1penguin

The Cygolite 100 is on sale for $30 at REI (online only). https://www.rei.com/product/110173/c...ear-bike-light.

American Euchre

I tested niterider solas 30 during the day. It is very visible from 100-150 feet away approximately. Not bad at all. Certainly satisfactory as a daytime light. Perhaps someone can do a comparison later of the 30/100/150.

Dunbar

I'm very interested to hear how bright the Cygolite Pro 150 is. I have the Axiom Pulse 60 on my e-bike but I might have to upgrade if the Pro 150 is approaching Dinotte Quad Red brightness for 1/4 the price.

01 CAt Man Do

I have the Axiom Pulse 60 as well. I'll let you know how it compares when I get the Pro 150...hopefully in a couple weeks.

reppans

I'm a flashlight geek.....FWIW, you can use the light meter in DSLR to get a rough measure of relative lumens if you want. Even a smartphone camera with free app (although not as accurate).

rekmeyata

Hmm, ok, maybe I don't understand what you're saying. I have two light meters, one built into and SLR and a really old handheld GE light meter, all they do is give you recommended F stop and shutter speed, or you change one or the other and it recommends the missing factor. All they do is check exposure in an attempt to make a perfect balanced picture. The only light meters that are used in photography are Cine light meters which are not in cameras that I know of and are separate units, and these will measure lux and foot candles. I would assume that IF there is a camera on the market with a Cine light meter it would be very very expensive and for strictly professional users.

reppans

Yeah, it's a work around using the camera's suggest shutter speed. Way it works is this: assume you have a trusted calibration light that is 125 lumens. You shine the 125 lumens into a DIY lightbox, with the SLR point into it as a meter, and you vary the ISO and aperture settings until the camera meter suggests 1/125th sutter speed for that calibration light's output, then you lock those ISO and aperture settings, and the camera meter has been "calibrated."

Then, if you shine another light that is twice as bright (250 lms) into the light box, the camera will suggest a new shutter speed of half the time exposure to yield a proper exposure, or 1/250th of a second. If you try a 30 lumen light (~1/4th the output) the camera will suggest 4x the 1/125th time exposure, or 1/30th of a second.

So once the camera meter is properly calibrated, the reciprocal of the suggested shutter speed is your lumen estimate for whatever light or mode you are testing and it even works at sub-lumen ("moonlight") levels - fractions of a lumen are seconds on the camera (eg. 1/10 of lumen is a 10 sec shutter speed).

01 CAt Man Do

Continued from my last post ^...; I received an email from REI just the other day. The email says that they have run out of the Cygolite Hotshot 150 and want to know by 9/15/16 if I want to continue with my order.. Strange. When I ordered the 150 it was a "pre-order item" and wasn't expected to come into stock until a month. I probably just got a automated email because I was on the list. Anyway, it might be a while before any of us who ordered from REI see these.

Photok

I think what he/she is saying is you can use your in camera light meter to get an idea of the light out put difference. One f-stop in photography is twice or half the amount of light output. The in camera meter is a reflective type meter, meaning it reads light reflecting off of an object, perhaps you could face them towards a white wall and see how much difference in f-stops there is. If you have an ambient hand held meter you can hold that facing towards the lights and see how many fractions of, or full f-stops different they are?

American Euchre

I'm assuming we won't be charged until the item ships. At least that's standard procedure elsewhere.

I'm not confident we'll ever see this light either. REI is usually on the up and up but the lack of info on the ship date and availability is disappointing.

Actually the item just disappeared from their website for a couple of days.

a1penguin

Yeah, I was going to order the 100 because it was on sale and then it had disappeared. Now I see the 100 and 150 have returned. Not sure which one to order and Cygolite's web site does not provide details specs for runtimes in each mode :-/

rekmeyata

Finally Cygolite posted the information on those two lights.

https://www.cygolite.com/product/hotshot-100-usb-2/

https://www.cygolite.com/product/hotshot-pro-150-usb/