I saw this Oculus Lights

Oculus Light - Oculus Lighting

Thanks for the link. Great looking product and wish I had one. Really bright with a bike specific lens design. I really like that someone is finally talking about "grams per lumen" as an important metric. Including the extra 26650 battery is a nice bonus, too. Hope it's not needed after 45 minutes, though. Don't scoff at the price. Buying cheap Chinese bike lights in America may one day become a distant memory.

Thanks for posting.

only 150 bucks..wow

is Barry selling many of these? I recall when he was coming up with the design.. he was active on a few of the bike & light forums.

Anyone here tried one? It would be interesting to hear how it compared to the lights from the large manufacturers.


Steve in Peoria

It would be nice if the manufacturer's website was a lot more transparent about the specifications so you could make an intelligent comparison with other lights. It is not listed on the bike headlight database https://www.bikelightdatabase.com/headlights/ where you can compare lights side by side. Doesn't list the light dimensions, the battery capacity, average run time in each mode, and weight. As to "literally outshines car lights", this is true since an H1/9004 headlight puts out 700 lumens in low beam and 1200 lumens on high beam. So, it is brighter than a car on low beam but not on high beam. However, a simple single CREE XML-T6 flashlight run on a 18650 battery can put out 1070 lumens according to the CREE website. The idea of a replaceable Li-ion battery is a plus but I wonder why they chose the rather oddball 26650 size (19.5 x 65.4 mm) rather than the very common 18650 (18.6 x 65.2 mm) when the capacity of the two are almost the same.

As a matter of fact yes....I've been riding with an Oculus light for a couple weeks. I bought one based on the LA Times article and so far it lives up to all the claims. Crazy bright. Excellent beam spread for the 40 feet or so in front of the bike and while it's not obvious to me that the beam is split the down-range light illuminates road markes, signs, etc quite well. I run it on level 3, which is plenty bright and get 4 12-14 mile night rides between charges.

I've only used cheapie AA light in past so I can't speak to how it compares to a $300 light but it's lived up to its billing for me. It comes with a second, smaller battery which I haven't even charged. It is $150 with a $10 shipping charge.

cool!

I could never figure out why anyone would want to start a small business and try to compete against a number of established manufacturers in a business where there's not a lot of money to be made, but I hope Barry at least makes a few bucks and has a little fun at it. Also glad that the light has been a pleasure to use!

One of the great things about LEDs is that they should last for a very, very long time! For anyone who has had an incandescent bulb blow in the middle of a dark bike ride, it's a great technical improvement. For that reason, it kind of bothers me when people put aside good lights because something better has shown up on the market. On the plus side, LEDs are becoming a mature technology, so not much will change in the future.... which means you should be able to use this headlight for many, many more years! Being able to replace the battery is an important factor in that, since batteries don't generally last more than a handful of years.

Thanks for the report, and happy trails!

Steve in Peoria

Here's a review, and a very long and detailed response from Barry Burr.
Oculus Bike Headlight Review

thanks!

that review has probably the best indication of the beam pattern that I've seen. I like that it tries to produce a roughly wedge shaped beam, nominally to match the shape of the roadway that it will illuminate. I think it could be improved by putting more of the light near the top, where it will have to travel further and light up a relatively large amount of road.

It seems like the hardest part of the design of a bike light is the optics design. Companies like B&M and Cateye have been doing bike lights themselves for decades, and can produce a more sophisticated beam. Their design software must be getting better, because their beams have improved in each generation. I never asked Barry who did the optical design for his light. It's definitely better than the basic round beams, but it seems unlikely that it would be more advanced than the companies who've been doing it as their core business for decades.

Anyway... Barry and this light have been the subjects of some rather heated discussions over the years, so I'm grateful to see some objective feedback & comments on the light!


Steve in Peoria

Looks promising, although it probably should be mounted more like a car headlight -- perhaps on the head tube or just above a fender, aimed down toward the road.

That's how I usually mount my Light & Motion Urban 500 and Serfas SL-255. Better pattern where I need to see it. The lower angle emphasizes road texture and hazards better. And it's less likely to blind oncoming cyclists, joggers or pedestrians.