LIGHTS MEGATHREAD - all questions on riding lights asked and answered here!!!

STS01

STS01

Likes Dirt
DIY power LED update

For anyone interested in cheap and effective lights who doesn't mind a bit of DIY these are definitely a winner. This week I finished my first set of LEDs and tried them out on a ride. If you missed the earlier post they are a pair (helmet and bars) each running 2x Cree XR-E LEDs. They are running at 1000mA with Ledil lenses, in housings I made up from a design posted on the MTBR forums by "achesalot". They ran for over 2 hours on an 8xAA NiMH battery pack and didn't even get warm. The light output is fantastic and easily comparable to a HID setup.

here's a link to Achesalot's DIY guide: http://myfwyc.org/bikeled/DIY_LED_Bike_Lighting_Guide.html


They measure 50mm wide x 45mm long x 25mm high


The lights:



This is the beam of just the helmet light only:


Comparison with my previous light- a Mk I Luxeon (Cree left, Lux right):
 
Last edited:
STS01

STS01

Likes Dirt
Mattydv said:
That is a very nice beam. How much does the helmet light weigh though?
Click to expand...

The light is 71g.

That's actually the bar light which probably weighs a gram or two more as it has a deeper housing to cover the top of the LEDS more to prevent glare. (I CBF taking the helmet light off to weigh it)

The battery pack (which I put in my camelback) and coiled cable weigh a total of 295g.
 
ilostmypassword

ilostmypassword

Likes Dirt
STS01 said:
DIY power LED update

For anyone interested in cheap and effective lights who doesn't mind a bit of DIY these are definitely a winner. This week I finished my first set of LEDs and tried them out on a ride. If you missed the earlier post they are a pair (helmet and bars) each running 2x Cree XR-E LEDs. They are running at 1000mA with Ledil lenses, in housings I made up from a design posted on the MTBR forums by "achesalot". They ran for over 2 hours on an 8xAA NiMH battery pack and didn't even get warm. The light output is fantastic and easily comparable to a HID setup.

here's a link to Achesalot's DIY guide: http://myfwyc.org/bikeled/DIY_LED_Bike_Lighting_Guide.html


They measure 50mm wide x 45mm long x 25mm high


The lights:



This is the beam of just the helmet light only:
Click to expand...
That's very impressive. 2 hrs though... would be a little short for most of my night rides (3-5hr). I suppose that you could carry a few spares in your back pack though.
 
intenselife

intenselife

Likes Dirt
I wasn't sure what to get and hadn't done any night riding before, i got a single night rider minewt and it is perfect for fast tight singletrack riding.:)
 
Last edited:
STS01

STS01

Likes Dirt
ilostmypassword said:
That's very impressive. 2 hrs though... would be a little short for most of my night rides (3-5hr). I suppose that you could carry a few spares in your back pack though.
Click to expand...
I don't actually know what the upper limit is- after 2 hours they are still going strong, but because they have the potential to get hot without moving air, I'm not keen to let them sit on the bench to see how long they run. I'll try to work out the run time soon though...
 
S

Some Guy

Likes Bikes and Dirt
ilostmypassword said:
That's very impressive. 2 hrs though... would be a little short for most of my night rides (3-5hr). I suppose that you could carry a few spares in your back pack though.
Click to expand...
Or just get a lithium battery pack of whatever size you want. Or even easier, just add more AAs to the battery pack.
 
S

Some Guy

Likes Bikes and Dirt
STS01 said:
I don't actually know what the upper limit is- after 2 hours they are still going strong, but because they have the potential to get hot without moving air, I'm not keen to let them sit on the bench to see how long they run. I'll try to work out the run time soon though...
Click to expand...
Don't you know what the current draw is? If you know that you should be able to calculate the approximate run time.
 
N

nightdude

Squid
HID vs LED Shootout

HI STS01,
In the interests of a comparison only would you be interested in doing a shootout of HID vs LED just for fun. I'd be interested to see how they really compare.
Even I am curious and have just laid some money out on designing my own system using 4 or 5 Seoul P4 100lm/W leds.
I agree there are many positives to LED technology.
Daniel
HIDtechnologies
0432922603

STS01 said:
DIY power LED update

For anyone interested in cheap and effective lights who doesn't mind a bit of DIY these are definitely a winner. This week I finished my first set of LEDs and tried them out on a ride. If you missed the earlier post they are a pair (helmet and bars) each running 2x Cree XR-E LEDs. They are running at 1000mA with Ledil lenses, in housings I made up from a design posted on the MTBR forums by "achesalot". They ran for over 2 hours on an 8xAA NiMH battery pack and didn't even get warm. The light output is fantastic and easily comparable to a HID setup.

here's a link to Achesalot's DIY guide: http://myfwyc.org/bikeled/DIY_LED_Bike_Lighting_Guide.html


They measure 50mm wide x 45mm long x 25mm high


The lights:



This is the beam of just the helmet light only:
Click to expand...
 
STS01

STS01

Likes Dirt
nightdude said:
HI STS01,
In the interests of a comparison only would you be interested in doing a shootout of HID vs LED just for fun. I'd be interested to see how they really compare.
Even I am curious and have just laid some money out on designing my own system using 4 or 5 Seoul P4 100lm/W leds.
I agree there are many positives to LED technology.
Daniel
HIDtechnologies
0432922603
Click to expand...
No worries I'll get in touch. I'm in Newcastle so it shouldn't be too hard.

I'd love to see someone making a quality 'off the shelf' light like this. The only thing I'd add is that while a quad or quin Seoul would be awesome I think there's a lot to be said for having a pair of lights (ie helmet and bars) so either a pair of duals or a pair of triples might be better.
 
ja_har

ja_har

Likes Dirt
sticky

very helpful indeed, I have been researching lights for commuting and the occasional enduro. Starting out knowing nothing about lights with this thread as a starting point. Lots of further reserach later, it looks like the Ayups will fit my commuting and enduro needs and even nearly fit my limited budget. Cheers
 
Beej1

Beej1

Senior Member
I recently purchased a Cygolite DualCross 300 - High Intensity LED bike lamp. Before these I'd only ever run commuting lights - the brightest being a 1watt Cateye Opticube jobbie. But in perparation for this years Scott 24hr I figured I better start doing some serious night time bush bashing, and the commuting lights obviously don't cut the mustard - though I still run the Cateye as backup.

Anyway, I mount this DualCross LED lamp on my helmet, and it comes with a remote control which is useful, and it is certainly brighter than any of my friends halogen units, and the battery is lass than half the size/weight, and the runtime twice as long at 4hrs on full. The specs say it's equivalent to a 20W Halogen. I can't really say for sure but it's really fantastic and I can't see myself needing anything more than it.

I am taking it out for it's 3rd run tonight down to the Yarra Flats (leaving in 5 mins) so I'd say it's water resistance will get tested given it's been raining all day here in Melbourne (well, showers anyway).

But, so far - it's been awesome, and I'd recommend it to anyone.

Here's its website:http://www.cygolite.com/2-Products/1-DualCross300.htm
 
C

Canuck13

Squid
light upgrade

FWIW, I recently had to replace my batteries for my vistalight system. I had the choice of either sticking with the 6 volt system or upgrading to 12V and replacing the bulbs. I did the latter as the burntime is approx. double. The improvement is massive with the lights about twice as bright and the battery time is way up....tho mind you it should have as the batteries are 4500mh instead of 1200mh the vistalight sticks were. The bulbs were a relatively straight replacement wxcept for the spot bulb which is a bit longer than the vistalight bulb. I had to loosen off the screws for the bulb mount within the housing a bit which left a gap around the back of the housing. I ran a bead of silicone around that and everything is water tight again. I picked up the battery packs and bulbs from retrolight.
 
STS01

STS01

Likes Dirt
intenselife said:
I wasn't sure what to get and hadn't done any night riding before, i got a single night rider minewt and it is perfect for fast tight singletrack riding.:)
Click to expand...
You can double the light output of your light, with no decrease in battery life, for about $10 if you don't mind doing some soldering. The Seoul P4 LED (the current leader in the power LED battle) is a straight replacement for the LED in the Minewt.

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?p=2780428
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top