2000 (+) lumens of goodness installed today :)

Diamondback

10 kW
Joined
Dec 15, 2008
Messages
540
Location
Sydney, Australia
Hi All. thought i would share what i got up to this afternoon......

i bought a dual cycle lumenator set from Justin about 3 weeks ago, and just got round to installing and wiring them up on the trike today.

i have had a single lumenator on a previous ebike, and loved that one. these are the newer ones with the improved optics and mount.
i decided against the remote switched ones, as i planned to run a remote switch anyway, and the included ones are not long enough for trike duties.

i picked up a motorcycle style light switch, mounted that to the bars and the end result is below.....





switch




2000 lumens of greatness. i suspect that the lumen rating on these is VERY conservative indeed.
i have a glowworm X2 on my helmet, the X2 is rated at 1200 lumens, and that's a genuine 1200 lm, yet the lumenators seem brighter.
yes, each one is brighter than the X2. ( or seems that way anyway) to say im happy with the results is an understatement.



so now, on my commute for the section of about 7km of unlit cycle path each night, i can effectively ride in daylight :D
with all of my forward lighting on the highest settings, ill be pushing out well over 3200 lumens. 2000lm (conservative) from the lumenators, 1200lm from the X2 and the 80 lux from the hub driven headlight.

cant recommend these lumenators highly enough.

i will try to get some video one night this coming week on my way home from work. looking forward to seeing just how much light these throw down range.

Jason.
 
I'm sure oncoming traffic thanks you! NOT....
 
Ykick said:
I'm sure oncoming traffic thanks you! NOT....

did you NOT read the part about the 7km of unlit cycle path ?

thats where these will see most of their use.

it's fairly obvious that these can't be used when there is traffic about.....
 
Diamondback said:
Ykick said:
I'm sure oncoming traffic thanks you! NOT....

did you NOT read the part about the 7km of unlit cycle path ?

thats where these will see most of their use.

it's fairly obvious that these can't be used when there is traffic about.....

An oncoming bicycle isn't considered traffic?

I'm sorry, but I get enough of this blinding nonsense on bike paths during my commute. Often times, I have to just stop while somebody with this much lighting power approaches head on.

Hey, I'm all for seeing and being seen but don't fool yourself into believing you're "safer" while blinding oncoming traffic - of all types!
 
as soon as i see ANY traffic, be it human, bicycle or vehicle, i switch back to my regular lights.

it's really a matter for common sense. plus the fact that on this particular part of the path, ive been riding on it for 4 years or so,
and have only ever passed one other cyclist in that whole time at night. im the ONLY one out there at that time of night.

Jason
 
Diamondback said:
as soon as i see ANY traffic, be it human, bicycle or vehicle, i switch back to my regular lights.

it's really a matter for common sense.

Jason

I understand you intend to use this obscene amount of light responsibly but what if you don't? Or, somebody copies what you have here and doesn't care about blinding pedestrians and other riders on paths? Bicycle lighting is a potentially serious issue due to no regulations and/or standards to help guide reasonably safe development and implementation.

Sorry to harsh your mellow and temper your well deserved excitement. They do look great if you're on the delivery end of things. I would just hope you and others with these insanely bright lights can appreciate being on the receiving end as well. Rant off....
 
i do understand where your coming from, and have been on the wrong end from time to time too.

i like to think of myself as a responsible person, and would advise anyone to strongly consider when and where they use such powerful lighting.

Jason
 
Lights look great Diamondback! :D

I'm on the receiving end of 1000+ lumen lights on a very narrow 2 way bike path most nights on my commute home from work. Most people have the lights pointed downwards and it really causes no issue at all. I can tell the light is bright but not blinded by it.

Some people's lights are poorly aimed and in those cases I just make sure not to stare into them and instead look at the road in front of me and where I'm going. Just like I do on my motorbike or while driving and the opposing vehicles come over the crest of a hill for example. Never seemed that hard... :roll:
 
That is why I like the brightest light with a head mount strap, because the light shines where you look. If you want to blast a bozo you just look in their direction for a second, and the rest of the time it is focused downward on the road surface. :wink: Unfortunately the trail I ride is not safe at night because of homeless people who attack others in this area. One just recently burned a guy alive and another stabbed a young lady to death for not giving to their "cause". Several years ago a fellow cyclist was shot and killed on a nearby branch creek trail of the river trail while riding alone at night. So unless I'm with a group of off duty cops packing serious heat, forget it. I'll take my chances riding in a bike lane with all the drunken/texting cagers. :twisted:
 
These are aimed quite high, and deliberately so.

As I mentioned earlier, these will ONLY be used on that section of unlit path
For my home commute. At the First signs of any other traffic, I will be switching
These off and relying on my other more normal lights until they pass.

The switch is mounted within finger tip reach and I can turn the lights off very quickly.

The section of path I'm talking about is basically in an area of bush.
There are no houses or anything along it. Just a concreted cycle path.
It's about 7km long the section with no lighting, and if you turned off all
Of your lighting, you wouldn't see your hand I front of your face at night.

Jason.
 
Maybe I'm just fed uo with so much light 24 hours / day in this area... but 7 km of real dark sounds kind of cool.
 
chas58 said:
That is plenty of light, but just like when driving a car, it is simple to turn off the "high beams" when there is oncoming traffic, and only use them when the roadway is empty.


That's exactly how I plan to run them.

Jason.
 
Those light output claims by suppliers are all over the place, you see vastly different claims for the same light by different suppliers on ebay. Some are based on the led manufacturers spec sheet maximum output rather than what their light actually does.

wrt to switching the light off because it was too high for oncoming traffic- did you need it on in the first place if you can quite happily switch it off? I know the light output isn't directed or shaped on nearly all of these lights so why not try biohazardman's cool shades? Or are they too inexpensive to be trendy or cool? In that case maybe spend some $$/££/€€/₪₪/₫₫/₤₤/¥¥ on those lenses on p2 of the same thread.
 
I have an ikea 3w single led work light here. It gives a really nice circular pool of light, of even intensity. Around which is illuminated by scatter, which is also remarkably well spread. The transition between the two light levels is really clean cut too. No good as headlights as they are round beams, but if you half cover the front they do project a semi circle. I guess quite a few bike lights made with a single source of light could benefit from a bit of beam alteration. Even more interesting is a torch I got for christmas. It draws an equally pronounced square! :) Are many headlights using these square beams? I have never seen them before. I have seen similar square packages but no idea if there a square beam. I could happily paint the way with daylight using these squares. Knowing that I had light where I wanted it, with very little overspill.

I could put ET on the handlebars with led eyes and a baseball cap to help oncoming traffic. That's it. It's brilliant. I can retire now :)

Edit: I seem to of meandered off target. I was thinking I dunno how many leds are in these.

Edit: As I'm paddling this way... I was looking at mains powered led lamps that replace r50 like styles. Many are made from a number of standard looking leds. Arrays from 12-60 are common. I bet there all in series. One after another on a little circuit board. Just waiting for someone to hack in really. I did buy one to smash open, but behind the opaque bulb was a fluorescent. I picked the wrong one up.
 
alsmith said:
switching the light off because it was too high for oncoming traffic- did you need it on in the first place if you can quite happily switch it off?

Because when these are off, I can only see a few meters ahead on the cycle path. With them on, I can see at least 50 meters ahead.

As I said earlier, these are used oy on that section of unlit path, and I basically Have the path to myself at the time that I ride home from work.

As for the ratings, there are the dual lumens tots from ebikes.ca and I can happily say that they are indeed a minimum of the claimed lumen output each. They have the 4X XPG LEDs in each light.

I know in not going to convo be everyone of the need for a "driving" light setup on a bicycle, but I want them and I will be using them responsibly.

That's about the last I will say on this thread.

Jason.
 
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