Here is my Electra Townie Balloon 3 (more info on it and it's carp slaying usage in this thread: https://www.bikeforums.net//showthread.php?t=444390)

The Electra LED Bullet Headlight:[IMG]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/1/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot.png[/IMG]https://www.amazon.com/Electra-Bullet.../dp/B000NWP2D0 is a sweet looking retro light, but the stock LED has the candle power of, well, one candle. It's unsafe and useless as a light but it looks really cool. (Note: There are many bullet headlights on the market, this will work with any of them, I would guess).

Enter Cree, problem solved! I used a "Cree R2-WC 250-Lumen 5-Mode Memory Drop-in LED Module for Flashlights (3.6V~8.4V)" SKU 14442 from DealExtreme: https://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.14442), some of these battery holders: https://www.batteryspace.com/index.as...OD&ProdID=2320 and this set of 3.6v RCR123A batteries and charger: https://www.batteryspace.com/index.as...OD&ProdID=1387

The Electra switch is easy to use as a momentary switch to select modes with no modification. You just flip it back and forth to cycle modes, then click it all the way on once you find your desired setting.

To mount it I sanded the (plastic) reflector plate down until the drop-in fit perfectly through the hole. Three daisy chained tie wraps hold it in place to center and aim it. Silicone II is liberally ****ered around the tie wraps and module to hold it firmly to the reflector.

I used the drop-in's aluminum reflector module in this setup to provide more of a heat sink. The brass heat sink of the circuit/LED is too hot to use on it's own mounted to the plastic reflector. As an added bonus, upgrades will be as easy as unscrewing and desoldering the old one and popping a new one in.

The battery holder assembly is made and mounted with 3M Scotch Dual Lock (über velcro), a velcro retention strap, super glue and a bit of extra double sided tape to fit the curve of the light chassis.

With 2ea. 3.6v RCR123A batteries in series at 7.2v (8.4v peak) it runs on "high" for 2 hours of nice bright light, then about a half hour of OK light equivalent to medium on a full charge. I have another battery holder built for the option of adding two more cells (in series parallel, still 7.2v) for longer runtimes. I avoided putting it in right away because the LED's heat sink (the brass ring you see) gets very hot and would be very close to the batteries. I would rarely go for a ride longer than 2 hours at night but if so it's fast and easy to change batteries, even by feel in the dark.

I didn't add a protection circuit to this but I may do so if I decide to add a charging jack. Protected cells would work nicely as well, I considered these: https://www.batteryjunction.com/uf16340.html and may upgrade to them in the future.

There you go! A light can look retro cool and still be functional. I'm VERY pleased with the performance of just one Cree R2, the hotspot and ring are clearly visible on the road even directly under streetlights. It lights up the local canal path very well. On my first test ride I stunned and blinded an opossum - it didn't move until I was about 2 feet away from it, then I saw it's eyes reflecting moonlight in the bushes as I passed. Electra LED Bullet Headlight - Now with 'possum stunning action!

I hope those looking for a retro yet functional bicycle light find this post illuminating.

PR

Oh man that is a sweet looking light. I love the retro look mixed with cutting edge... that's awesome man.

You know the drill, beam shots please!

Funny you should mention that, my caffeinated friend! I was out for an evening ride to take beamshots while you were writing.

This is a the same phone camera that I used for the other shots, it doesn't perform as well in the dark so work with me here. I like the hot spot and fill this has, it lights up the path in front of you as well as things on the sides. Not bad at all for a single emitter with no optics other than the reflector. I also like how the hood gives it the "Eye of Sauron" shape. I'm not at all bothered by the shadow of my Fat Frank tire, it's like having a peepsight to aim the LED death ray with.

Thank you, oh pursuer of swine! I think someone should market something like this or Electra should offer a premium version.

Here's a white wall beamshot, light on "high". My phone camera struggles to capture medium and low, but you get the idea.

I stunned a bunny with this light tonight! He froze when I hit him with the ray and didn't move for a good 2 minutes or so. Again, crappy pictures at night from my phone cam, but that is indeed a rabbit stunned by a Cree R2! This product WAS tested on animals! My bicycle is a menace to wildlife

Just a note on this light after some use - It is BRIGHT. It's unbelievable how bright just one R2 is! I've had cars flash their brights at me and pedestrians have told me I was blinding them. Animal and human testing have been successful! I bet the multi-LED arrays some of you DIY leave people with charred and smoking eyesockets.

You Sir have just created a masterpiece!

slick!

/bow
//bow

To quote a legendary 7-11 clerk: "Thankya, Thankyaverymuch."

Under $100 (barely, if you include obligatory WalMart/HomeDepot components). If you're not doing 24 hour races in Alaska, do you really need more? It mounts to any bike that comes stock with a front reflector. Post it here if you build one, I'd like to check it out!

It's not an led light, but you could use the housing:

https://www.yellowjersey.org/lolite.html

I have an almost identical one (chinese instead of indian) that I'm going to be putting a cree R2 into. A little more complicated because I want to run it off a hub dynamo (SA X-FDD).

(And I have a 12V/6W sidewall generator that came with the light, if anyone has ideas about what I should do with it)

I know one guy who told me he got a ticket for having lights on his bicycle that were too bright!!! Are there any legal specifications regarding bicycle lights ... ??? Is there a limit to just how many lights you have on your bicycle?

Gotta check your local regs/laws. I don't know of any limits to the lumens here in Alberta, but apparently we're limited to only 2 headlights: "A person shall not ride a bicycle at night time unless the bicycle has the following: (a) at least one headlamp but not more than 2 headlamps...(etc)"

I'm now wondering if I could upgrade the lights on my old Raleigh roadster. They're chrome bullets, running off an old SA generator hub. They're enough to be legal, but they do nothing for the seeing. Perhaps I could LEDify them......

Go for it and let us know how it goes!

(I'm still waiting on my led (cree R2), lens (10/40 elliptical), and holder from cutter. Finally shipped thursday after two weeks of sitting)

im also thinking of doing the same thing with my dynamo. LED is supposed to use less power (not that it matters since not using batteries). Also I am going to wire up a battery pack to the head lamp so that when going up hill or at lights i can switch to batteries.

What a tough guy, fish killer, karate.... I know other tough guys like this, they're not really so tough after all, (shhhhhhhh, don't tell them that). It's the glib way they describe sensless killing that bothers most reasonable people.

Doesn't matter? It definitely does. "LEDs use less power" means that they produce the same amount of light with less electricity. But it also means you can use leds to get *way* more light for the same amount of electricity. With a dynamo at 3W, an led helps tremendously.

By the way, I got my cree R2 on friday and my light is all put together. On a trial run last night, the difference was huge. With the old 3W incandescent I could be seen but couldn't see even the road right in front of me when there were no streetlights. No more. We'll see how it goes tonight when I try to use it on my normal route, but I think I'm going to be pretty happy with it.

The only thing that's worrying me, though, is heat. I've soldered some thick copper grounding wire to the back of the led's star, but that may not be enough. I'll check the temp while riding and see. It's cold right now, but when it gets warmer out it may be more of a problem.

So that (with the copper wire) didn't really work. The wire got quite hot. So I made a small hole in the bottom of the case and ran the wire out. Then I soldered on a big tangle of copper. It doesn't heat up in the least now. A little ugly, and quite possibly overkill, but I don't mind. It would certainly be possible for someone to make this look quite nice. (Decorative copper twisting, minimalist fins, ...)

I see you prefer to beat animals that are already dead

I don't understand what you guys are talking about, but that is a gorgeous light!

Thanks! He is most likely referring to my bicycle bowfishing thread: https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=444390
and doesn't appreciate my sick sense of humor and the fact that I kill fish for fun.

Things like this probably have his feathers a bit ruffled:


Originally Posted by Elkhound View Post
"I was always taught that a major rule of hunting/fishing ethics is that you eat what you kill; if you won't eat it, don't kill it."

To each his own! I see it more as legal serial killing so I don't take out my urges on humans... mostly those under the influence of strong moral indoctrination

Slayer Of Cyprinus carpio. Shoot first, ask the fish if it's hungry later.

I was fortunate in that the dropin module I used was already heatsinked. I'm not sure how long a R2 will last without being well heatskinked (heatsunk?), though I know that DealExtreme does have heatsinks available on their site. Sweet bike, love the Brooks saddle too!

Thanks!

The saddle's not really a brooks, though. The bike is a chinese-made flying pigeon (with lots of upgrades) and the seat is stock. So far the seat's been nice, but if it starts coming apart I'll definitely be looking at some brooks.