eBike light reccomendation

[neptronix]

So after much careful selection, i've decided to pick up 2 of these lights..
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.26800

Can't say too much positive about the vendor themselves; they sent me 1 light instead of 2..
But IMHO these are perfect..

Bright enough to see the road and things around you, but not so bright that they drive cars nuts. I haven't tested the watt usage yet, but going off the specs it sounds like it'll be ~2 watts.

What i like most is that the beam is adjustable from squarish with a laser-esque distance, to a fat, wide, useable circle

Oh, and they can be ran straight off a LiPo cell due to their voltage range.. so if you have a half dead RC pack, A123 cell, etc. you could potentially use that.. ( 3x AAA batteries = ~1250mAh, and people claim 2 hrs. runtime off that battery, so off one 5000mAh cell you could theoretically get 8 hrs. of runtime and skip buying a DC-DC convertor. )

Just thought i'd throw that out there. I spent a hell of a lot of time trying to find the perfect eBike light that was not too weak and not too powerful..

 

[dogman dan]

Similar to the light I chose, but possibly better. Mine just throws a round beam. But having two is ideal, one aimed high the other low. I can also choose some blinky modes, so I can have one blinking and the other beaming. I don't ride night that much, so the regular batteries are ok for now.

 

[chroot]

Nice light, I went Magicshine light, They really very powerful light 900 lumen just 1 LED and blew my feet away.

I recommend everyone to get this Magicshine: http://www.geomangear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4_41&products_id=180

I commuter to my UPS work in the early morning 3am everyday, and I love magicshine super bright and these little
creature threw so much coverage. :lol:

 

[neptronix]

yeah, i considered the magicshine but i heard it's so bright that it can blind drivers and such. Also wanted to keep watt consumption down. Besides, these things were cheap as hell!

 

[itchynackers]

I went with the one recommended in this thread... http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=21227
Was a little hesitant about spending $55 for the whole package, but it was money well spent. This thing lights up the whole street. Very happy with it.

 

[neptronix]

Itchy, i saw that light and was turned off by the style of beam. It seemed very narrow and not adjustable. I couldn't find good pictures of the bike light in action so i figured it wasn't all that great. I liked the fat / adjustable beam of these cheapies better.

 

[chroot]

Sure, you can blind driver incoming, But you can just adjustment light down without blind the drivers and it also have 3 mode switch low, medium and high. I almost never blind any drivers incoming at all so far. I commuter to UPS work in the morning 3am everyday.

yeah, i considered the magicshine but i heard it's so bright that it can blind drivers and such. Also wanted to keep watt consumption down. Besides, these things were cheap as hell!

 

[Ypedal]

For daytime i run a single Cycle Lumenator from ebikes.ca, at night i run 2 !!!

And yes, they are freakishly bright and blinding, but as long as you ride with traffic, on-comming cars in the other lane don't get overly bothered imo..

 

[BIG BEAM]

That light is about 100 lumens out the front.I find lights in the 400-600 range better for my old eyes.Also a bright and wide spill seems to help with the speeds some or us are going(25MPH and up,not me of course I keep it legal )
DON

 

[Alan B]

That light is about 100 lumens out the front.I find lights in the 400-600 range better for my old eyes.Also a bright and wide spill seems to help with the speeds some or us are going(25MPH and up,not me of course I keep it legal )
DON

Are we talking about the same light? The cycle lumenator is a 10W LED light with late model quad Cree LEDs each behind an LED optic. They rate it at 1,000 lumens, which is probably emitter lumens, but it is probably close to 600 OTF (out the front). You can feel the heat from the LED light, and the case gets pretty warm as well. It runs from 15 to 100 volts DC with a built in DC/DC converter so it is quite convenient to deploy. The pattern has lots of spill (optics don't have that sharp edge of pattern ring that reflectors have), it lights up everything pretty much, as most multi-LEDs seem to. There is also a very slight diffusing front lens that adds to the spill. The pattern is clean.

They also have the 1W array of 25? small LEDs, that is perhaps 100 lumens. It has a narrower pattern which is more for visibility than seeing the road.

 

[BIG BEAM]

I'm talking about the 3 AAA DX light
DON

 

[neptronix]

Really, only 100 lumens out the front?
Hmm, that ain't much... but ya know, i am actually quite happy with the power output level, i figure when i get my 2nd one, it will be certainly more than enough!

The $45 magicshine 900 head from geoman is tempting though.

 

[Ypedal]

I grew up with a 2x AA maglite, thought that was ok until i discovered a 3x AAA no-name light from xs-cargo.. then i got a single 18650 MTE light and will never go back !!.. the difference is HUGE...

 

[neptronix]

I had some cateye halogens that i thought were awesome. I believe they used 10-15 watts yet they weren't as bright as these 2 watt CREE LEDs... ha ha

Now i'm all tempted to buy the magicshine 900; thanks a lot guys :lol:
Anyone got a beam shot of 1x magicshine 900?
Also.. does it have variable throw/flood adjustment like the ones i have do?

 

[Alan B]

18650 cells are really excellent for bike lights. One cell. These are the laptop dynamos, like Tesla uses. 18mm by 65mm of Li-Ion power.

The SST-50 LEDs are capable of almost 20 watts in one LED. 5 square mm of LED wonder. At 500-700 lumens they are loafing. I plan to use one as a backup for the cycle lumenator.

 

[chroot]

one of Lyen's commented to someone which he used flashlight on his ebike.

So I digged and oh crap so bright light. Here the Beamshot picture

 

[neptronix]

^-- sweet baby jesus.. a light fit for a rally car!!

 

[chroot]

Here the link @ Deal Extreme http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.12623

That's where I found these beamshot. It showing cost only 29.55 + free shipping

I don't think it doesn't include 18650 battery + charger for the 18650 battery.

 

[auraslip]

I use a trailer running light from wal-mart for a rear light. $5 and it's brighter than %90 of bike taillights. Plus it runs off my main packs power.

 

[neptronix]

how many watts does it consume, however?
That is the burning question

 

[auraslip]

I should also point out that I run a 50w halogen bulb in fog light housing from wal-mart. It is as bright as the flashlight pictured. Only $20 for a pair of them....

Total cost for a bad ass modular system: $25 dc-dc converter + $25 lights.

 

[neptronix]

Mm sure, but big watt eaters!

I guess my application is different. I will be going 10-50 miles 50% throttle/50% pedal rides at night. I wanted to keep my lighting below 10w total, front and rear. Yeah, it will cost more.. but long battery life is key here!

 

[Kingfish]

My pair run less than 10W combined: Cree HP-LED Conversion & DC-DC Converter Assy

BTW - with the recent time change these units had their first official pitch-black trail ride tryout and the illumination was very satisfying.

Wouldn't it be great if we had a Lighting section on the Forum for as many times this conversation appears? 8)
Cheers, KF

 

[BIG BEAM]

Yeah but LED'S last and last.Even vibration doesn't bother them.
DON

 

[Electric Rider]

I had little cash when I built my e-bike. First I got a Bell headlight from K-mart - thinking it was a good deal - came with a tail light for 15 bucks. It's garbage I soon found out. Next at a trade show I got a 100 LED flashlight for 20 bucks. This LED flashlight works great though not as bright as a good made for bike headlight that cost 100 bucks but - it's tons brighter than the Bell and throws a good spot the right distance I need to see the upcoming road at 20 mph. The box says it's rated at "over 10,000 MCD" It runs off of 4 AA batteries and is supposed to last a very long time. I might upgrade when I go to 48v and 25 mph if I need to. For cheap, I could not beat it.