Freddyflatfoot said:
Tim,
Try ledshoponline. They have 3 watt LED MR16 format globes that I'm having a look at. 10 degree beam and about 40 ' range. Sounds ideal to me and easier on the battery than a 20 watt halogen!
Another option of course, is to try an LED main light, and then a halogen for real low light situations.
Thanks for the link Rob, and apologies for hijaking your thread!
Initially I was leaning towards LED's - in particular this unit which uses 3 Cree XR-E diodes to produce 200 lumens:
http://shop.ata.org.au/cart.php?target=product&product_id=16462&category_id=255
Then I came across this awesome site which has some great info. on everthing to do with bike lighting:
http://nordicgroup.us/s78/wattslumens.html
Based on the table, and the potential to achieve 1100 - 1500 lumens by over-volting a standard MR16, I figured that this was possibly the best way to go. My commute to work is only 20 minutes max, so I figured that even if it meant a rapid charge each night (& I reckon I should get a couple of days out of the batteries) it wouldn't be too much of a hassle. Even with the shortened bulb life caused by over-volting I think I'd get at least a year from a bulb.
Recently I bought a set of these from the UK and have been trying them out over the last week or so:
http://www.bicygnals.com/Bicygnals_products_Bicygnals 2.html
Overall it's not a bad product and it has some good features. I love the symmetry of the design. It has three operating modes for the main beam - on, flashing and off (with a double pulse about once a minute to remind you that the power is on when in 'off' mode). The rear light can be set to either of these settings also and there is no need to match the setting between front & rear - ie, you can have a steady main beam up front & a flashing red light at the rear.
When either light is set to flashing mode and the L/R indicator is switched on the centre light changes to a steady beam until the signal is switched off. This gives you a psuedo brake light once the turn signal goes on.
Unfortunately the indicator lights are not really bright enough to be relyed upon during the day, particularly in full sunlight. At night, the main beam is OK if you're riding where there are steet lights, but on a bike path it's not up to the job. Riding home from the Nott last friday was a challenge!
Ergonomically they would be improved by having a motorcycle type slide switch operated by your left thumb for both indicators. For e-bikes this is more of an issue than a bike without a throttle I suppose. The other thing I'm not so pleased about is that the front light bounces around a lot due to the bracket design. This makes it harder to switch on the turn signals than it should be.
From the point of view of being visible at night though, it's a great product.
