They say the light reviewed goes three hours on MEDIUM setting not high.

You can get an HID light that will go four hours for that much money and will be so much brighter you will wonder why you were ever interested in LED lights.

HID is much more efficient than LED. Much more effective. Read the very first post in this thread if you want to learn about efficiency of different bulbs. On line there is plenty of info about this.

I Got some really cool pinstriping from Relectivlyyours.com Looks black in daylight and glows very bright white when the head lights hit it. That and a cateye el-300 in the front with a couple of cateye tail lights and it's all good.

Used the Danolite (and more) on my Brevet this past Sat. 18g on the head, batteries in the jersey pocket. Worked really well. I turned off the dual Schmidt E6's I run with my dyno hub and it was bright enough to ride by. Would be a great commute light, even better Brevet light, as I left the light mounted all day, never noticed it. Batt pack went into my seat pack at the first control.

Well my reasonings were due to how incredibly long LED last, HID's dont last nearly as long and are very expensive to replace the bulbs. When you look at cost over time I personaly think the LED's would win.

however I appreciate the input, I would like to see a link to a similarly priced HID light with a review that your comparing it to.

I wanted to add this in:

https://www.jensonusa.com/store/produ...ht+System.aspx


from another forum, its on sale now so its a good deal I think, still too much for me but if you have the money and need a good light system this one looks like a great (and convienent) performer. I would much rather have the light on the bike than my helmet if possible.

I thought you meant run time, you mean bulb life.

Here's a couple of HID's in that range

https://batteryspace.com/index.asp?Pa...OD&ProdID=1398

Google Cygolite Z-force
they were selling for $200 to $275 not the retail listed. My friend bought one for $275 last year.

mtbreview.com has a light review section with lots of lights reviewed. Search this forum for the Cygolite Z-force. There's a lot here.

Somehow I misplaced my notes.

What are the differences between NiMh and Li-ion batteries. Does it really make a difference?

Found a good one page summary: https://www.batteryuniversity.com/partone-3.htm

Hmm your review says this: Lithium-ion - fastest growing battery system; offers high-energy density and low weight. Protection circuit are needed to limit voltage and current for safety reasons. Applications include notebook computers and cell phones

Does that mean even if I find a Li-ion battery at the same or very close voltage output as my curretny battery pack supplies to my Dinotte that it wont work without protection circuts?

I think that just means if the voltage is too high... but now im confused.

[quote=

I don't know. Ask slvoid. The other key variable is low temps. at 5F, a NiMH battery will operate at 35% power and life while a LIIon will be at 92%. It's a sharp curve, and above 50F, they are the same. So if ride in cold temps, may want to spend a few more bucks. Other key variable is Liion last 3 years from date of manufacture, and NiMH last about 5 years. Similar to a car battery. Even though they are the same at about 500 recharge cycles, unless you ride a lot at night, you might be caught by the lifetime limit before the recharge limit.

The Li Ion has a much lower self discharge rate during storage. I have one that is rated about 10% loss a year. NiMh can be 10% loss the first day. You need to keep NiMh charged to get the rated life out of it.
Some light systems say once a month all year. The Li Ion has less memory problems too. Even though NimH is not too bad and can be retrained. The Li Ion is more $$.

12 volt or 6 volt whats the difference?

Depends on the current... Generally 12V is more flexible to work with.

• you have to match the voltage to the bulb, at even 11v a 12v bulb is dim
• at a given wattage bulb, and mah rated battery capacity, 12v lasts twice as long. For example a 12w 6v bulb draws 2 amps whereas a 12w 12v bulb draws 1 amps. Given 3000 mah batteries the maximum possible life should be 1.5 and 3 hours respectively

basic terms. whats better?

I bought a cateye HL-EL500 and I received it yesterday. I went out on my ride, and I have to say I am very disappointed. I think LED lights have a way to go before they are viable stand-alone solutions. It's not great for seeing the road, and it definitely is bad for being seen given the focus.

After this I have half a mind to up and buy a 30W MR16 HID...
I'm not kidding.

I don't think you should judge all LED's by that cheap CatEye. I've got the Dinotte 5w, and I love it--it's very bright, never requires a bulb replacement, is economical to run in that 4 new NiMh batteries can be purchased for ~$10, and can use alkaline AAs, available at every convenience store, in a pinch. It's also got the best mount I've ever seen--extremely secure, but simple as can be to remove or switch to another bike. What's not to like? Ok, it could be cheaper, and it could have better runtime. But the latter problem is solved by carrying an extra set of cells in an extra holder. Makes a swap a matter of seconds.

I honestly have no desire to upgrade to HID. I just don't need more light for road riding than the Dinotte and a very small flashlight (usually a FireFlyIII) mounted to my helmet.

Jack

Who am I kidding, I could never afford an HID setup anyway...

I've narrowed down my DIY light setup choices to one or two options, I will order by tomorrow and post a review.

I just saw this for the first time on ebay. Its not on the cateye websight (hmmm.). The ebay ad claims 50% more output than the EL500. This is getting interesting.
Anyone know anything about it or have one?

Bob

Um... a link would be nice.

'll settle for a vague description.

i jogged with a friend a few years back and she has these little red blinkers that you could button to your clothes. ive been looking but cant find them anywhere. any ideas?

Hi, I am new to this forum, and just got serious about bike commuting.

My commute is about 3 miles oneway, and I have been biking to work with a backpack on my back for about a year on a cheap Walmart fat-tire "when the environment allows" (dry, light). Getting serious now I just bought myself a new Trek hybrid and put on the fenders and the rack, and a pannier is on its way. Rain cape and lights are the next on my list.

I do have the Bell NightTrail set bought from Walmart for cheap ($12) two years ago and I used it lightly for a few months on well-lit streets when I was in Madison downtown. The Bell headlight has poor housing but it works, with a xenon bulb (what is it?) plus two LEDs. I am thinking of possibly getting better lights for the less-well-lit streets I ride now, and have been eyeing the Princeton Tec EOS/Blacburn Mars 3.0 pair after reading online reviews. I almost made the purchase but wondered whether I would really get better lighting out of this pair compared to the Bell set, as no one cared to put the cheap Bell set in their comparative testing and Bell doesn't care to spec what they sell.

Thanks very much for your attention. Any information will be greatly appreciated.

anyone have any opinions of this light....?

cateye LD100 safety light