I have been obsessed by stobes for decades. I finally settled on a medium sized one using about a watt. Brilliant at night, passable at sunrise/sunset, and just visible in sunlight if you look at it. Weight 6-8 ounces zip-tied to the rear rack. Even sealing loose parts I am not sure if it would work on a pannier. At $15+ give it a try. The daylight visible ones you see at airports and on energency vehicles can weight several pounds and more, sucking down 5 to 30 watts or more. Not for me.

I assume you are talking about taillights. In that case, the new Planet Bike Superflash is hard to beat. It is quite powerful and has a somewhat variable flashing rate. I rode with one of these in flashing mode this November and December when part of my commute was dead into the rising sun. If they don't see you with it, they'll run into a bus. Battery life is also very good, so you shouldn't ruin your battery budget either.

Check out gretnabikes, we are the North American distributor of Lupine Lights.

http://gretnabikes.com/default.asp

We are currently working on providing recumbent specific lights.

Gretna Bikes :beer:

My Edison 10 works great. When I dropped it hard on the concrete and broke the bulb you fixed it right away. It's been maybe three years, I can't remember ? It has a lot of hours on it. I find that the Edison 10 is known around here (this forum) and Lupines are all thought of as that light (Edison 10) and that price. The shorter run time lights for less money are never mentioned. They should be promoted more somehow. So should lights like the "Wilma", it's almost unheard of around here. Or some other less expensive models.
When someone finds out the price of the Edison 10, that turns them off to all Lupine lights, then they don't ask about the other Lupine lights, I think they have that price in their head.
People need to know about the Passubio XL and the lumen output for the price.

There is one other forum member that has an Edison 10 that I can remember. As far as I know there are only the two of us on this forum. There easily could be others that I don't know about.

The L&M HID is probably the one most recommended, and has the most owners here.
Many here like to read about new (to them) LED lights. It seems like everyone here comparison shops prices very carefully. A few of us shop lumens and run time per dollar, not many. Most new shoppers forget to consider run time.
Check out CandlePowerForums too.

2manybikes!

You bring up some great points! The Wilma series "LED" keeps getting modified and will soon have the same lumen output as the L&M HID! Thats 500 lumens in an LED! Keep an eye on our site for the new models.

Todd

That should be a winner. Also let people know about the Lupine forum. I sent one person to it already.

Show the new LED light on this forum if you can! There are sections specifically for selling products in bikeforums. Good Luck.

Edison 10 in use.......

http://img287.imageshack.us/img287/4471/hpim5999ma8.jpg
http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/3595/719fcs5.jpg
http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/2...16wminemj9.jpg
http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/903/hpim6469kb7.jpg
http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/5...2mediumax2.jpg
http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/3...8mediumdt0.jpg
http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/1...5mediumfu4.jpg
http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/3641/hpim7412vf4.jpg
http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/3711/hpim7408mx6.jpg

Wow 2MB that Lupine 16W HID is way brigher than my 35W HID!

2manybikes!

Thanks again for the great pics!

Todd

Yep. Equal to a 65 watt halogen light. I've compared it to my car (55w) and a home made light (50w mr16 bulb) and they are not kidding. 65 watts halogen equivalent. Most HID lights are in the neighborhood of 4x the light of a halogen. Not always exactly 4x.

Still waiting for your necklace.

Hi Guys,

I just bought the trailtech MR16 HID bike light and have a few questions about it. The performance is awesome. However, is it OK to use 11 volt lithium packs? I realize that batteryspace even sells a combo with that light and a lithium pack, but the instruction sheet recommends power sources of 12 volts and greater. The pack will get down under 11 volts even when half the charge is remaining.

The main issue is life of the bulb. Do they last longer using a true 12 volt source such as a metal-acid or a 10 to 11 cell nickel pack? What is the upper limmit on voltage imput--batteryspace recommends not using 4 cell lithium (13.8 volt).

If necessary, I'll buy a whole new battery pack to maximize bulb life.

Thanks guys.

Last year I put together a rather large review of LED based lights HERE. This year, I did it all over again, with eleven new lights. The new review is HERE.

Hope you enjoy.

Great work, James!

I have two 5W Dinotte lights set up in the dual configuration, and the 500L looks like an awesome light. Do you know when Dinotte will be offering it?

How does the clamp on the 500L work? One of the best things about my Dinotte lights is how easy they are to put on and take off, even with gloves. Is it just as easy with the 500L?

The other two lights that really impressed me were the Princeton Tec Switchback 2 and the BR Lights C2. How quick and easy are the mounts on those lights to use? Is the BR C2 really going to be secure with that mount? It looks like a good bump could knock it out of position.

Hey Ken,

The BR Lights C2 is, in fact, very secure. They've positioned the mount so that it takes a bit of effort to knock it out of adjustment.

The Princeton Tec and the 500L both use (though not identical) a clamp that allows the light head to be slid off easily, even with gloves. I did miss the o-ring system of the smaller DiNotte's though.

I was able to attach and remove all the lights you listed with gloves.

I bought the "wired" 12V Lightman strobe (in amber) a year ago for my homebrew light system. Its 5-sided connectors mate perfectly with the ones I cannibalized from my old TurboCat system, by the way.

I ran with it for a whole winter, but after doing a visibility audit on myself (parking my bike with everything on and confirming visibility from different angles and distances) I took it off. It's underwhelming, at least in amber. It gives off more light towards the sides than my headlights, but really no better than a good LED blinky. And on-axis it's LESS noticeable than a decent blinky once you are a block or more away, and not even close to the conspicuity of a 20W headlight. Will probably sell it at some point.

I'm sticking with LEDs. I've using some very bright automotive LEDs as running lights, and will probably add some flashing ones too. I wish bike light companies would make blinkies in amber. The LEDs are available, but for some reason commercial blinkies only come in white and red and these days.

Powerhouse, There are a number of strobe Safety lights out there from $12 on up. Almost all of them would require that you rig a way to fastenit to the tab on your pannier. Zip ties worked for me, never a failure and cheap to replace when I have to cut them off. A really impressive one meant for fork-lifts goes at $76.00, draws 2 watts at 12 volts, and leaves a little row of red dots in your vision in the Daytime. God help a tailgating motorist at night.

If you are interested I'll get the data for ordering one.

That's one thing I like about the blackburn mars 3.0.... two amber leds on the sides.

and "a patented flashing rate that has scientifically proven to be more visibile to the human eye at a distance".

Just wrote about the Fenix L1D-CE, being used as a helmet light. This is the new CREE style led bulb which will be all the rage very soon. Dinotte is using it in there new 500L light. Here is the link

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=271695

Just letting you guy's know. Lupine is releasing new LED lamps. All 06 and 07 Wilma's can very soon be upgraded to 730 lumens! They will also be releasing a new Wilma kit that will put out 830 Lumens! Expect to see these options in the next month.

Or the guy can take a Dinotte 5W and mount it backwards above his panniers and guntape (use clear tape) a red lens on top (or use that red clear Xmas wrap stuff you get or ask kindly for a 2.5inx2.5in clear red at a gift shop or grocerers gift area or flower section. Put that 5W on flash mode and don't stare at the light. Aim it at the drivers eye level or just in between car/suv level (which will be slightly above a cars eyes but still hitting them) and notice the distance gap. >:)

Might want to put a disclaimer on the panniers saying "flash mode worst then banned Pokemon episodes" LOL



Zero_Enigma

Anyone know when Cateye will be releasing the TL1100 in North America? http://cateye.com/en/product_detail/280

Also I'm wondering if there are any 2xAA units that are like the TL1000 but in white for 180 coverage up front? I like the design of the TL1000. Also AA's laast longer then AAA's and becauseI have a lot of AA's so it makes interchanging batteries easy then having something with N or AAA's.


Zero_Enigma

Why waste all that energy by filtering out the other colors? Take advantage of the monochromacity of the LED by using the 3W ultimate Dinotte tail light. All red, no waste, 120+ lumens.

Sure, IMO that may well be overkill :D but we are talking about going all out, right?

After a looooong search through the commuting forum (especially both light related stickies) I still cannot find the info I'm looking for. Perchance someone here knows:

What are the specifications of the sealed lead acid battery that comes stock with the NiteRider Road Rat? I bought a used RR on Craigslist for super cheap, but the guy said the battery had died on him and he threw it out. Obviously, this guy isn't into DIY and recycling. No matter. I've replaced batteries on my NiteRider Classic before, saving the plug end and the capacitor and resoldering on a new battery.

The info I'm looking for is: battery amp hours, dimensions, capacitor size (if it comes with one) and *hope hope* part number for the plug . Has anyone done this proceedure? I simply want to order a similar battery, and hop on down to Radio Shack for a plug and cap.

New Wilma's now available.

Bump. Better yet, has anyone any experience on the TL-LD 1100? Some webshops advertise they have it on stock, and have reduced prices for the 1000-model accordingly. Depending on source they claim an 80-100% increase in brightness (whatever that is supposed to mean) when comparing 1100 to the old 1000.

[edit] The Cateye UK web site sucks AAs, but there you have it: http://cateye.com/uk/product_detail/359 [edit]

--J

Anyone can buy one right now without leaving your chair. If you have your credit card with you.

http://search.yahoo.com/bin/search?f...201100%20light

I don't want to spend the money, you go first.......:D

Two things. Only one is related to lighting.

1. WTFF is with Chipcoms Avatar then mixing it up? I love Bailys pic by itself! More BAILEY! :)

2. When is the el cheapest time to buy bike lights? Like the absolute lowest price time/month/year/etc.

Thanks.


Zero_Enigma

The fantastic L&M $263 sale was about just at the begining of 'light season' - contrary to what one expects for season specific sales.
Al

Wow
 

Wow. This Is Great. Thanks So Much.

Based on a lot of research (mostly here and the reviews on http://www.mtbr.com/reviews/ I purchased a Dinotte Ultra 5 headlight and a Planet Bike Superflash tailight. I got the Dinotte on sale, and tried it out on the ride to work this morning. It is freakin bright. This light rocks!!! I can see the road more then 5 feet in front of me now.

Rob at Dinotte was nice enough to swap out the AA batteries and charger for some C cell battery holders and cases, he even tossed in a few extra AA battery holders and a bunch of extra straps. I got my Superflash on sale from Nashbar, and it [finally] arrived Saturday. I like the Superflash, it's really bright, but every time I order from Nashbar it takes 1 1/2 weeks for my order to arrive.

Wilma Upgrade kit (750 lumens)



New Wilma 4 (830 lumens)

http://gallery.mtbr.com/data/mtbr/500/wilma4.jpg