fietsbob

Manufacturing company link? 'page not found' does not help..


nor does "outboundlighting.com. uses an unsupported protocol."

a flaky crowd funded startup? skepticism may be in order ..








​​​​​​​...

rantoie

https://www.outboundlighting.com

fietsbob

I use my bikes mostly in town now all year..


so I dropped out of the 'my light is brighter than yours' game long ago ..


So, in summary.. ... You have to figure out your own "is It Worth it ?" for yourself , mate..




...

unterhausen

that looks like a nice light. It really depends on how much you are going to use it. $200 is not unreasonable assuming it is reliable

noglider 

I don't think it's crazy to spend $200 on a headlight, now that I've spent much more than that on many headlights. Your satisfaction might depend a lot on the lights you've tried already. The battery pack is clearly a minus. And ease of removing and reinstalling is a point.

I think Cygolite products are good. I have one of their headlights, and it doesn't have a nice shaped beam, but it otherwise works well and has a really good mount, easy to put on and take off, without a rubber band. Cygolite headlights have a "steady flash" mode which is great: it has a high-intensity beam on all the time and then it gives an extra high intensity flash every second or so. I notice oncoming bikes from a long way off when they use this mode.

But having said all that, my favorite headlight (among the many I own) is a dynamo-powered on that is bolted onto the bike. Oddly enough, people don't steal it. And it comes on whenever I roll the bike. I leave it on during the day. It doesn't flash, which is a shame, but it's OK. It has a shaped beam. The light isn't amazingly bright, but it's bright enough for me. I've received compliments on how clear and focused it is. It does illuminate my path so I can see, and it does a fantastic job at helping me be seen. Busch & Müller makes my light, and they make a ton of models of dynamo-powered headlights, all with shaped beams.

unterhausen

almost all Cygolyte headlights now have a shaped beam. they do it with a fresnel lens. I keep forgetting about the shaped beam. There was one time I was on a road with a lot of short, steep dips, and I turned on the Cygolyte (it's my backup) so I could see better at the bottom of the dips. It didn't' do any better at illuminating them than my B&M.

rantoie

I'm starting to research dynamos, because this is what I would love to have. I'd love to hear what you have, or if you would prefer to have something else since you got yours!

noglider 

I don't remember which model I have, but better ones have been made since I got it. Any dynamo hub will do, really. Put the most of your money into the headlight, because that's what counts. You can also power a steady taillight with a dynamo, and I do, but a flashing taillight is a good thing, so I use both the steady taillight and a battery-powered taillight.

You can get a 700c wheel with a dynamo hub for as little as $100 at IDC, which is unbeatable. Or you can take a hub and build it into a wheel. I build my own wheels, but not everyone can.

rantoie

Not bad, I have 700x32 wheels now... I can't build my own wheels, so probably paying someone to build a hub into my existing wheel will be cost prohibitive.

noglider 

Don't assume that. The labor is $50, and if you don't want to pay that, we here can walk you through building your first wheel. We do that a lot here, and I've taught many people to build wheels. It's not beyond you, and it's very satisfying. There are youtube videos that walk you through it, too.

rantoie

Do I only need the back wheel for a dynamo? Or do I also need a front?

noglider 

No, those wheelsets have dynamos in the front hubs. That's the normal place for a hub dynamo, though a few weird ones have been built into rear hubs. So normally, you need a dynamo hub that goes into a front wheel, plus any rear wheel will do, as usual. Then you get a headlight and, optionally, a taillight. Then you wire them all together using the wires that come with the lights. Roll the bike, and the lights come on. The lights build up a charge in each of them, with a capacitor. When you stop rolling, the lights stay on for a few minutes, though the headlight is reduced.

The drag that the hub introduces is negligible. I don't feel it. If you calculate it, you might argue that I get to my destination 1% slower, but that doesn't matter.

rantoie

Ah, ok.. That is why the IDC wheels are out of stock for front wheels, and only have the back ones

noglider 

Well, that stinks. There are dynamo hubs available from other companies, though. You can email me if you want specific help.

rantoie

Speaking of dynamos, I came across this interesting light, that uses magnets (how do they work!?) instead of a dynamo: https://www.magniclight.com/

I'm going to guess that they don't get very bright, but might be ok for the rear, but super cool concept, you don't need a special dynamo to use it.

noglider 

I think I read about them. Either it's vaporware (not ready yet) or it's more expensive than a regular dynamo. In other words, it may be promising, but I determined that regular dynamo front hubs are still the best value. My first dynamo system, on a bike I no longer have, cost only $160, including both lights and the hub. It was as reliable as a rock.

rantoie

Ok, now that I've spent my fourth day in a row obsessing over bike lights... I'm starting to think that I want a B&M Cyo Premium, which I can get when I'm in europe in July for around 55$ USD. Until then I'll use my cheap lamp...Now I just need to sort out the actual dynamo part!

unterhausen

I would probably aim a little higher and get an IQ-X. The German online shops have really good prices on SP dynohubs, not sure about SON dynohubs. I don't know about brick and mortar shops there. Of course, you have to do a little work to get your VAT back.

RidingMatthew

that seems like a good price not sure I need another light but man for that price it might be worth having on hand.

rantoie

The reason why I decided against the IQ-X was because I read people saying they had both the Cyo (note: Premium 80 version, its an upgraded version to the older model) and the IQ-X and couldn't really notice a difference. The IQ-X feels more like a direct challenge to Edelux lights. It does have a higher light output, but the beam is very narrow. It also seems to have a pretty weak standlight (its only powered by a capacitor). It does look like a higher quality anodized steel casing, which would last longer.

So the beam is really narrow, from what I've ready... there is a narrow degree arc in the front, and other than that, everything is totally dark, it seems a bit *too* focused. But maybe that shouldn't be a problem?

The switch appears to be electrical, instead of mechanical, which means if the light has no power, you can't use the switch.... Lets say you turn the light off, and stop... you can't turn it back on again without spinning the wheel to feed it power. That seems a little annoying. Not to mention the switch light glows on the back, constantly. Sure its dimmer at night, but do I really need a blue circle in my peripheral vision at all times (people do say its not annoying and they don't notice it, but still... I turn on lights for a reason)?

Finally, the standlight probably would mean I'd need a battery light to supplement it in my urban riding, which kind of defeats the purpose of the dynamo. I think the Edelux 2 would be a better version of the same... but it costs a lot more.

The IQ2 maybe is a better compromise, it has better side visibility, and a much more powerful standlight... I don't want/need the remote and usb charger though, so if I don't need those, why pay more for this light, when I can get a cheaper Cyo Premium, which has upgraded goodies?

Yeah, the problem is that I probably cannot return to Canada with a dynohub, without paying a lot of import duty, which will probably make the whole thing not worth it.

unterhausen

I think you'll be happy with the Cyo Premium. Not everyone descends mountains at speed in the dark, which is where I would pick the IQ-X

If you never ride with someone else, then maybe you would not be able to tell the difference. I have both of these lights, and I think the IQ-X is obviously superior. I have been somewhat disappointed with my Cyo Premium. Don't have any idea if I would be satisfied with the IQ-X under the same conditions. I agree about the standlight though. I think it's probably adequate, doesn't have to be that bright. As far as the switches go, I never turn my lights off. I wish the version with no switch had the same light output.

I feel they could make the beam wider on all of their lights, but I don't know of a company that does a better job of that. The only B&M I have been happy with as far as beam width goes is the Luxos U on high beam, but I wouldn't recommend those because they totally botched the weather proofing.

I think the standlight is probably adequate for stopping at a stoplight or stop sign. I usually have a battery powered helmet light in an urban setting.

Having said all that, last Saturday I rode 180 miles with my Cyo Premium. I was never particularly unhappy about the light I got.

The Edelux II has the same optics as the Cyo Premium. Supposed to have less output than a IQ-X, but when I ride with the friend that has one I can't tell the difference between our lights.

noglider 

I suspect the beam width isn't a deal breaker, but I don't want to say one model is much better than another. I suspect the status LED won't bother you, either. Dynamo lights generally don't put out a ton of light, so as @unterhausen says, you won't be flying down mountains. I can't really go faster than 15 or 20 mph with my B&M light, and that's a small price to pay. The shaped beam is great for me. The Luxos U has given some people problems, so it's good you're not considering that one.

I buy my B&M lights from xxcycle.com in France. They ship fast enough, and their prices are good. They seem to have every conceivable model, so shop carefully. I was careful to get a light WITHOUT the ambient light sensor because I want full power in the day.

I've used a Sanyo dynamo hub, the cheapest and worst-rated one, and it was perfectly fine for me. I now use a Velo Orange, now out of production, and I think it was made by SunXCD. I'm sure all the Shimano hubs are good. If you want to spend more, you'll get an even better hub, but honestly, the crappiest one was totally good for me. It just vibrates a bit at 20 mph.

HerrKaLeun

There is an outbound thread on MTBR that may intetest you. The company owner seems honest. The lighting is supposed to be excellent.

What I don't like about them is no replaceable batteries. My lights have 18650 batteries and I could take spares with me. And once the battery wears out, I don't have to replace the whole light.

If it is worth to you, YOU have to decide.

I myself use a $30 flashlight on handlebar. Has over 1000 lumens. And a $60 headlamp with over 1000 lumens on my helmet. That gives me good far and near lighting, some redundancy and also replaceable batteries.

YMMV

TimothyH

Keep in mind that cutoff beam lights can't be run upside down.

Unless the manufacturer makes some kind of light specific mount, they can't be used underneath a GPS on an out-front style GoPro mount.


-Tim-

BikeLite

can you give link to cygolite deal?