USB "to see" front light recommendations

warthog1
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Re: USB "to see" front light recommendations

Postby warthog1 » Sat Apr 12, 2014 4:11 pm

The trelock LS950 seems a bit dodgy in the reliability stakes. Some quick googling;


Unfortunately, after 3 months it all went wrong. Wanting to go out on my regular wednesday night ride I found the light totally dead. Plugging it in to charge, after writing off the ride, I noticed that the light came on when charging, and would not turn off. As the charge level increased, so did the brightness, and the light stated to get hot.

At this point it was obviously time for a warranty return. However, as the light was hot, and could not be turned offI felt I had to disconnect the internal battery to avoid a fire risk. On opening the unit my concerns about build quality were justified - once the screws near the front of the unit are undone it can be penned - but the rear is secured by two very thin, brittle plastic clips. These broke when I opened mine meaning the light would never close properly again. Not impressive
.

Goog battery life with a decent light output.

However I'm now on my second unit due to the top of the light corroding.

The second replacement light has extensive pitting after just 1 weeks use.

Looks 15 years old already.

Am now having issues with Bike Discount (GmbH) getting a refund.

Don't use it damp weather (ha).

I'd avoid both!


http://www.bikeradar.com/au/road/gear/c ... ght-46774/

It's a while since I bought my saferide 80, but I remember reliability concerns with the trelock were one reason I went with the philips.
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CXCommuter
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Re: USB "to see" front light recommendations

Postby CXCommuter » Sat Apr 12, 2014 5:49 pm

Lezyne Super Drive XL for me. More than enough light for completely dark PSP's and flashing light for on well lit heavy trafficked roads. Bright enough that people pull up and comment on it. Enough juice for a days commuting for me (1.5 to 2 hours combined) and recharge at work on the computer.
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cjrich
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Re: USB "to see" front light recommendations

Postby cjrich » Sun Apr 13, 2014 7:29 am

Thanks for all your suggestion guys. PBK has 10% off Lezyne at the moment so I ordered the Lezyne Deca Loaded Kit for A$155 delivered. Good price I recon.

Thanks again.
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Re: USB "to see" front light recommendations

Postby NhiTrac » Sun Apr 13, 2014 2:05 pm

If you can up your budget a bit then I highly recommend the supernova airstream . Best front "too see" lights I've used!
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Re: USB "to see" front light recommendations

Postby a » Sun Apr 13, 2014 3:04 pm

+1 on the airstream. Beats my 4yr old ay-ups. Had it for a year. Used in all weather. Hasn't missed a beat.

Doesn't piss people off. Am now a regular on the sydney harbour bridge, and the amount of people running seriously anti social lights that blind on coming riders and other traffic is insane. Is as selfish as driving an urban assault vehicle. Numpties.

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biker jk
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Re: USB "to see" front light recommendations

Postby biker jk » Sun Apr 13, 2014 4:55 pm

NhiTrac wrote:If you can up your budget a bit then I highly recommend the supernova airstream . Best front "too see" lights I've used!
Doesn't seem bright enough for a "too see" light, especially without streetlights to help. Yes, I know the Australian model is brighter but still not bright enough (I believe around 500 lumens is required for a "too see" light, especially if you are descending without street lighting).

http://reviews.mtbr.com/review-supernov ... uter-light

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singlespeedscott
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Re: USB "to see" front light recommendations

Postby singlespeedscott » Sun Apr 13, 2014 5:24 pm

biker jk wrote:
NhiTrac wrote:If you can up your budget a bit then I highly recommend the supernova airstream . Best front "too see" lights I've used!
Doesn't seem bright enough for a "too see" light, especially without streetlights to help. Yes, I know the Australian model is brighter but still not bright enough (I believe around 500 lumens is required for a "too see" light, especially if you are descending without street lighting).

http://reviews.mtbr.com/review-supernov ... uter-light
What a crock. Where do you get that from? 300lumens is enough for high speed descending in the dark.
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biker jk
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Re: USB "to see" front light recommendations

Postby biker jk » Sun Apr 13, 2014 5:28 pm

singlespeedscott wrote:
biker jk wrote:
NhiTrac wrote:If you can up your budget a bit then I highly recommend the supernova airstream . Best front "too see" lights I've used!
Doesn't seem bright enough for a "too see" light, especially without streetlights to help. Yes, I know the Australian model is brighter but still not bright enough (I believe around 500 lumens is required for a "too see" light, especially if you are descending without street lighting).

http://reviews.mtbr.com/review-supernov ... uter-light
What a crock. Where do you get that from? 300lumens is enough for high speed descending in the dark.
Ok, you use your 300 lumen light and I will use my 500+ lumen light and we can descend into Galston Gorge at night and let's see what "high speed" you can manage. :lol: Don't you run two Volt's? Why do you need two?

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USB "to see" front light recommendations

Postby warthog1 » Sun Apr 13, 2014 6:04 pm

+1 on that being a crock.
You have people on here who use the supernova and they are happy with it. How can you having not used the light, contradict what they are saying?
My saferide has 80 lux, I don't know how many lumen. It's shaped beam is vastly superior to my previous 1000 lumen magicshine.


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biker jk
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Re: USB

Postby biker jk » Sun Apr 13, 2014 6:40 pm

warthog1 wrote:+1 on that being a crock.
You have people on here who use the supernova and they are happy with it. How can you having not used the light, contradict what they are saying?
My saferide has 80 lux, I don't know how many lumen. It's shaped beam is vastly superior to my previous 1000 lumen magicshine.


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The Saferide 80 is a 1,000+ lumen equivalent light! Well at least that's what they claim.

http://www.philipsbikelight.com/

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Re: USB "to see" front light recommendations

Postby NhiTrac » Sun Apr 13, 2014 8:09 pm

biker jk wrote:
Ok, you use your 300 lumen light and I will use my 500+ lumen light and we can descend into Galston Gorge at night and let's see what "high speed" you can manage. :lol: Don't you run two Volt's? Why do you need two?
Don't be fooled by the numbers. Its not all about "lumens" that manufactures advertise. It doesnt matter when you have 500 lumes thats scattered everywhere but the place you need to see most, on the road.

I've used lights advertised from 200 right up to 1200+ for communting and nothing comes even close to these. I'd say my twin 40% brighter Ayups came the closest.

Ps riding on the side of the motorway in pitch black, my Supernovas are brighter than almost all car lights, except for those with proper HIDs... And I don't burn anyone's retina
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Re: USB "to see" front light recommendations

Postby warthog1 » Sun Apr 13, 2014 8:34 pm

biker jk wrote:
The Saferide 80 is a 1,000+ lumen equivalent light! Well at least that's what they claim.

http://www.philipsbikelight.com/
I'm no expert but I'd say its "1000+ lumen equivalent" because of its "focused beam". It doesn't waste light output by spraying it everywhere like the magicshine did. The pattern is very well shaped and controlled. It doesn't have the hotspot of the magicshine but the spread is fantastic. My understanding of the supernova is it has a well controlled beam also.


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MattyK
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Re: USB "to see" front light recommendations

Postby MattyK » Sun Apr 13, 2014 10:19 pm

Saferide is 270 lumen tested output, which is a lot more important than data sheet lumens that many use, which don't account for efficiency or optical losses. And it uses all of those lumens very efficiently due to a well controlled beam. The Airstream has been tested to have fewer lumens.

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Re: USB "to see" front light recommendations

Postby Blakeylonger » Sun Apr 13, 2014 10:41 pm

Saferide (not the 80lux version):
http://reviews.mtbr.com/philips-saferid ... s-shootout" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Image

Magicshine/fyxo 'king bright "1000 lumen":
Image

Supernova Airstream
Image

(Their lux measurement is also less useful as it doesn't consider beam shaping, but the saferide has double the mtbr-lux of the supernova.)

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Re: USB "to see" front light recommendations

Postby cp123 » Sun Apr 13, 2014 10:46 pm

xeccon 1210 http://www.mtbrevolution.com/index.php? ... uct_id=138" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; or the http://www.mtbrevolution.com/index.php? ... uct_id=215" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Re: USB "to see" front light recommendations

Postby warthog1 » Sun Apr 13, 2014 11:02 pm

blakeylonger wrote:some beam shots.
Shitzenhausen :o
That airstream shot looks woeful.


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singlespeedscott
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Re: USB "to see" front light recommendations

Postby singlespeedscott » Mon Apr 14, 2014 8:19 am

biker jk wrote:on't you run two Volt's? Why do you need two?
I run 2 simply so I have a backup. Run this way I can but the light in the direction I want and get 8hr's of run time before needing a recharge.
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il padrone
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Re: USB "to see" front light recommendations

Postby il padrone » Mon Apr 14, 2014 9:07 am

Some clarification:
Lumens

What is it?: Lumen is a unit of light measurement otherwise known as luminous flux.

We use lumens to compare the total amount of light output from a light emitter. However, lumens isn't everything. In fact, lumens will only tell you a small part of the picture to what you're actually getting and what you're after. We need to know how the lumens are used. Lumens is comparable to the analogy of a car's brake horsepower.

Lumens is measured using a highly specialized light integrating sphere.

Lux

What is it?: Lux is a unit of light measurement taking area into account. In other words, light intensity.

We use lux to measure the amount of light output in a given area. One lux is equal to one lumen per square meter. Lux is a good measurement for determining and comparing the brightness of a beam. The beam is spread over a specific area and therefore we use lux to measure light intensity. However, lux is just another number and doesn't provide the complete picture of what we're after. We need to know the beam angle and look at beam shots to fully understand the picture.

Lux is measured using a lux meter.
http://gemini-lights.com/explore/lux-and-lumens" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

My Luxos U has a rating of 70 lux (90 lux on the high beam for short periods). The Saferide is apparently 80 lux. My old B&M iQ Cyo was 60 lux, and this was in practice about 300 lumens I believe, comparable to the Supernova Pro (370 lumens). Incidentally, the Supernova Pro with Terraflux lens (meets German road regs, with 305 lumens) is notably brighter on the road than the symetrical-beam Pro (370 lumens). Just goes to show, lumens is not everything.

I know that the Luxos U is an outstanding light that illuminates the road very well at speeds of over 50kmh. It is 70 lux over a given area but also has a huge spread of beam width-wise across the road. In the country, on pitch dark roads, such lights are even better at illuminating than in town as there is no other light interference to disrupt the beam - everything stands out very well.

All of the above are dynamo lights.
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MattyK
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Re: USB "to see" front light recommendations

Postby MattyK » Mon Apr 14, 2014 10:33 am

Blakeylonger wrote:Saferide (not the 80lux version):
Yes it is. It is the older version, but was still rated at 80 lux. The newer ones (2013) had better colour (warmer) emitters, longer run time, and a worse (balljoint) mount.

Anyone in Melbourne is welcome for a demo of the Saferide at my place in Burwood; here's a little video comparison to a similarly rated Niteflux Commuter light:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcCyJuIYVhg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Re: USB

Postby Red Rider » Mon Apr 14, 2014 3:35 pm

warthog1 wrote:
blakeylonger wrote:some beam shots.
Shitzenhausen :o
That airstream shot looks woeful.
I had some hesitation before getting my Supernova, but it's plenty bright enough in reality. Very easy to see the road. After a few minutes I dim it down a few notches once my eyes get accustomed to the night. I think if you're doing some serious downhill at night, a floodlight style light is probably a better option. But for normal use, they're great. The family car doesn't need 4WD spotlights.

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Re: USB "to see" front light recommendations

Postby Homo Suburbiensis » Mon Apr 14, 2014 4:38 pm

There are two main types of light, the ones with special reflectors where 90% of the light is directed down (e.g. saferide, airstream etc.)and the other lights with "normal" reflectors. You can't simply compare the lumens between these two kinds of lights because they are so different. Remember, lumens is a measure of total light output, so lights which direct the most of the beam downwards don't need as many lumens to appear as bright as other lights where some of the beam just goes up into nowhere. It is also for this reason that you would not use the supernova airstream etc. for mountain biking, all the light is directed down so you won't be able to see low hanging branches and other stuff as you approach them.

biker jk wrote:
singlespeedscott wrote:
biker jk wrote:
Doesn't seem bright enough for a "too see" light, especially without streetlights to help. Yes, I know the Australian model is brighter but still not bright enough (I believe around 500 lumens is required for a "too see" light, especially if you are descending without street lighting).

http://reviews.mtbr.com/review-supernov ... uter-light
What a crock. Where do you get that from? 300lumens is enough for high speed descending in the dark.
Ok, you use your 300 lumen light and I will use my 500+ lumen light and we can descend into Galston Gorge at night and let's see what "high speed" you can manage. :lol: Don't you run two Volt's? Why do you need two?
Lumens is a measure of the total "amount" of light output. Hence, your two cateye volt 300s would be 600 total lumens. If what you say about the real 370 lumen output is true then that would mean running two on high beam would put out 740 lumens, much higher than 300 lumens and technically more light than biker JK's 500 lumen light.

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singlespeedscott
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USB "to see" front light recommendations

Postby singlespeedscott » Mon Apr 14, 2014 6:40 pm

However I don't run them at the highest setting. But given that 2 lights only cost $100, and run in parallel on the lower setting, they throw more light then most "all in one" lights on the market for an amazing 8hrs. Why would you spend more?
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Re: USB "to see" front light recommendations

Postby Blakeylonger » Mon Apr 14, 2014 11:51 pm

MattyK wrote:
Blakeylonger wrote:Saferide (not the 80lux version):
Yes it is.
There have been 40/60/80lux versions in battery and dynamo power over the years.

The one reviewed at mtbr in 2011 claims 400 lumens, and measured 40 mtbr-lux.

The current 80 lux claims 1000+ lumens.

So I'm sticking with my statement that it wasn't the 80 lux version.

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Re: USB "to see" front light recommendations

Postby MattyK » Tue Apr 15, 2014 9:15 am

Blakeylonger wrote:
MattyK wrote:
Blakeylonger wrote:Saferide (not the 80lux version):
Yes it is.
There have been 40/60/80lux versions in battery and dynamo power over the years.
There has only been one with four AAs internal, and that is the one that mtbr reviewed and is rated at 80 lux and TESTED at 270 lumens in an actual integrating sphere (the only true measure of lumen output). The lower rated battery ones are much smaller and use an external battery.
The current 80 lux claims 1000+ lumens.
First, that website is quite old and showing the 2012 or earlier model. (button design, clamp design). Second they say "1000 lumen equivalent" which is marketing smoke and mirrors, the real story being that the centre of the focussed part of the beam is as bright as (lux) a poorly focussed 1000 lumen lamp.
So I'm sticking with my statement that it wasn't the 80 lux version.
Well I'm pretty sure you're wrong then.
If you want to know about this light, read Wouter's page:
http://swhs.home.xs4all.nl/fiets/tests/ ... -koplampen" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Re: USB "to see" front light recommendations

Postby Xplora » Tue Apr 15, 2014 11:39 am

I've had two experiences with lights. Magic Shine 1000 and a cruddy Kathmandu silicone light.

The magic shine mount is useless, and I wouldn't trust ANY rubber mount or flexible mount to a light that matters. I made a metal mount that attaches to the front fork (like the dynamo lights). It was very good, attached via screws. Needed some tightening occasionally, and was mercilessly attached to the bike. I broke the internals one day hitting a pothole. Soldered it back up again, go me, but it was a cautionary tale for me.
That bike was gone, next bike I have the mount zip tied UPSIDE DOWN. Much less weight issues, because the light will always fall down, but it can't fall when its at the bottom of the travel. Also, it is getting squashed against bar tape so its more secure. It is crushing the tape. Very hard to move. Battery mounted under the stem. Got 8 hours on medium beam, which is enough for riding at 30kmh through very tight dodgy areas. I found the high power beam actually created more contrast on the shadows so it was harder to adjust my vision to see things around corners.

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