jyjyjy81

I will likely attempt my first 24 hour road race this summer. One of my concerns is which lights to get. A light with a 12 hour burn would be great but I can only seem to find 2 -3 hr lights that require multiple battery changes. Maybe this is the best I can expect.

Any suggestions would be most welcome.

canopus 

If you go batteries you should plan to have spare batteries, the longest specs I've seen have been about 4 hours on a low setting. Anything longer I would think falls into a dyno category. Now if you are doing a loop and can take a pit stop then I don't see a problem with having batteries.

Bacciagalupe

Are there any specific requirements set by the race?

barturtle

Busch & Muller is the answer. I've got an Ixon IQ, it goes 5hr on Hi, 20 hr on Low, the even brighter Ixon IQ Speed goes 10hr on Hi, 50 on Low. The Ixon IQ used standard AA rechargable, the IQ Speed, a battery pack.

Richard Cranium

What race? Find out what the winners of the race use.

If I was going to race tomorrow, I'd be using "AA"s but throwing them away as I use them up -not rechargables.

Steamer

Any idea how long you'd get on high on the Ixon IQ with a set of pricey lithium disposables in there? The rating of 5hrs on high is with their 2100 mAh NiMH rechargable batteries.

10 Wheels

I have one it is a great light.

jyjyjy81

Thanks!! Looking into how I can get one of these bad boys in Canada.

chewybrian 

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/l...hargeable.html

Richard Cranium

There are many good lights to choose from. But a good spam thread is hard to beat, sock puppets and all........

Carbonfiberboy 

I've been putting off upgrading my lights, waiting for the technology to mature. I just ordered an Ixon IQ and a PB Superflash Stealth. We'll be riding over to a friend's house, who have a TV, evenings to watch TdF recaps. Later.

Richard Cranium

When you get it - do you think you could run some tests.

In theory, I doubt you can get five hours of run time at the full power setting. Current LED technology does not support that much light from a 4xAA battery source.

The only explanation could be that indeed the special reflector system increases efficiency. What I need you to do is to "break into" the circuit between the battery with a meter. Use the meter to measure mA while the light remains on after a fresh battery start.

For the battery to last five hours, the current would have to start out below 400mA, most likely dropping to 300 or less. 300mA at 4.8V is less than two watts...... Hard to be a bright light at that power.....

I'm assuming you would use 2600mA Ni MH batteries.....

barturtle

It does indeed get 5 hours on high (5:15 in my test with 2100 low discharge nimh)

How you ask? Because it flashes at a higher rate than most eyes can see, meaning it is off (or at least lower-power) for part of the time reducing its average power consumption. I've never noticed this while riding, but when lighting up a plain white wall, and watch closely, I can just make it out.

Steamer

I just bought an Ixon IQ last week. I did a run time test at work last Wednesday. 4hrs 50 minutes on high, then it automatically swtiched to low beam, and then it ran for 50 minutes on low before shutting off. This was with the four fully charged 2100 mAH NiMH AA batteries that came with the light. I've only done one actual night ride with the light, but so far I am very impressed. I was comfortable up to 30 mph. Beyond that I felt like I was starting to "outrun" it a bit.

Richard Cranium

Thanks for the info. Getting nearly five hours of regulated run time is great. Now I wonder just what "quality" the light beam pattern is. And that having built in "battery protection" is cool as well. I'd still like to see the numbers as it runs, especially when it converts to low, and cuts off the battery.

I'm guessing they are really cutting edge of figuring out an efficient reflector implementation.

noteon 

You might try dripping some water a few feet in front of the light in a dark room if you want to see the flashing more clearly. I've noticed this effect when riding with my Dinotte 400L in the rain. The flashes (which my eye can't detect) turn the paths of raindrops into dashed white lines instead of solid ones. The dimmer you think you're setting the light, the greater the space between the dashes. Actual brightness seems constant; only perceived brightness changes.

bmike

I have the Ixon IQ.
Great light.
Run it with my own rechargeables.

A friend borrowed it and ran it on our Fleche last year. (I had the dyno and eDeluxe)
It covered all the night riding / rain with fully charged batteries (new, non rechargeables).
He switched it to high only when needed... probably 6-7 hours of run time in the dark / wet.

I use it for town / winter / etc. on multiple bikes. Great light...

Steamer

My main observation about the light pattern is that the patch of light on the road is quite uniform, with the road far away lit up as brightly as the road nearer to you. Seems to make it easier to 'read' the road. The second observation was that the beam as a tight cutoff and no cars high beamed me like they occasionally would with my other lights which had round patterns (and no cutoff). Take this high beaming thing from me with a grain of salt - like I said I've only done one ride with it so far. Others who have been using it longer can chime in.

Has anyone tried using this light with lithium disposables?

Richard Cranium

Lithium AAs are manufactured as a replacement for "normal" AAs so the resistance per cell is nearly identical, using a four cell lithium battery in series will work fine. (20% or more run time)

But don't confuse that with some one using a battery pack in a 2series 2 parallel config (like a Dinotte)- it won't work well. The resistance will be wrong.

Marcello

With Duracell Ultimate 8X (I think that is what they are called) I get about 10 hours on high, then the light goes to low for who knows how long. I have done a full night of rando riding on one set of those batteries more than once, usually on 1200k rides where I know I will not be able to recharge (I did the recent Cascade 1200 on two sets of 4 batteries, and I am a slowpoke who ends up riding at night a lot). Two sets of fully charged rechargeables will also last me through one full night.

Mr. Beaker

My wife 7 i use nite rider 200 https://www.niterider.com/prod_minewt200.shtml
The nite rider is definitely a lite that you can use at speed and see the road.
They will give 7 hours on one charge using the lower power option. Other options would include a second battery, or a second See Me lite for Dusk and Dawn. You should have a second lite as a backup anyway.

Richard Cranium

That indeed would be remarkable.

I do know, that on average, even if it is eight or nine hours between sunset and sunrise, you won't need anywhere that long of run time when you factor in stops.

Again, I'd like to see numbers on a meter.

aikigreg

man I dig my ay-up lights. the thing is ridiculously light and I can carry two batteries that are suppposed to be good for 6 hours each, although I've always gotten 8 or 9. I've used them for several ultras now.

Dean7

Is there a reason you wouldn't go with Planet Bike stuff?

This should do as a combo:

https://ecom1.planetbike.com/3044.html
https://ecom1.planetbike.com/3034.html

The front light assumes you don't need it flashing all 24 hours of the race. If you want to be SUPER paranoid you could use this:

https://ecom1.planetbike.com/3036.html

I've had this guy for 7 months and I've never replaced the batteries (mind you since summer hit I have hardly used it because daylight lasts so long...).

jyjyjy81

Ordered the Ixon IQ...will let you know how it goes.