I have been running one of these this year. Good beam pattern and that is a killer price for it.
Bike lights.
- Thread starter kazlx
- Start date
I've never ordered through Deal Extreme -- how long will that pricing structure be around?
Thanks!
Thanks!
I second the DealExtreme way of doing it. The lights are DIRT cheap (like $30 or so) but they use the same exact LED's as all the big-brands (sometimes even better). You can even see what BIN your lights are. Some of the other "bike light" mfg's will jsut say something like "high quality LED's". WHICH ones though? XPG's? P7's? MCE? XML? And what bin #?
With the deal extreme ones you can get EXACTLY what you want, get it cheap... and when a better LED comes out next year upgrading is no problem bc you didnt drop all that coin.
They all use the 18650 Li Ion batteries which again are super cheap. Ever tried to replace a battery pack for a Nightrider or Newt, or whatever? How much? $50 Minimum I would imagine. I can get extra 18650's for $5. Doing a 24hr race? Well bring along 10 of them. No need to re-charge the entire night. Yes, some torches will only last 1hr on high with one battery. That has never been an issue for me though. I only keep it on high for the descent (about 5-10min). The rest of the time I have it on low. I dont need to see that I have another mile to go on the steep climb. I'd rather focus on cleaning the 20 feet in front of me. And I'm out here to NIGHT ride. Don't need it to be friggin daylight out.
So overall, I use one "flood" on the bars in a medium size. Either a P7, or brighter... Then I use a tiny "spot" on the helmet. Heat can be an issue when you use a tiny helmet light with a big MC-E (m-bin) or XML, but I'm going about 20mph and it is only on for a few min, so no big deal.
things change on the site quite a bit whenever i take a look (the stuff i got isn't available), but it's usually just the names of stuff that changes. FYI - shipping does take a while with D.E., and you are in the dark for where you are in transit time most of the time.
sounds like we have a very similar set up. for the price i paid i'm real psyched with how my set up works.
Seriously!! I use these for everything. Want to check out that critter up in the tree in your back-yard? Want to advertise the grand opening of your new man-cave? Want to strap one of these on your side-arm and blast away at targets across the field in the dead of night? Want to blind the intruder that just broke into your house?
True... the Cygolites look plastic in the pics, but they are solid aluminum... just painted. Would look more high end if they were ano or polished.
If you go to any race where the Niterider demo van is Derek or Eric or whatever his name is will service your light and battery for free. We gave him Hamburgers and Beer to service all our lights.
Have you tried them on the trail?
Holy poop this thing is bright. Received it today (great job on shipping, USPS!!) and the build quality looks pretty solid, although the mounting system appears more geared towards commuting than mtn biking. The rubber O-rings should hold it in place pretty well as long as you're just commuting/riding on the road, but I can't imagine it working (at all) on a mtn bike. There's also no way to (easily) connect it to a helmet unless you have a horizontal cross-piece in the center of your helmet. The specs on the website are also wrong, as it's not an 8.4v battery but rather a 7.4v (says so on the battery), max is 900 as stated on the box (not 900-1200 on the website), and if this battery pack is waterproof I'll eat it... Thin plastic covering 4 sides of the rectangle with the top/bottom exposed cardboard/paper.
All of that being said, it's an extremely bright light that was only $45 (shipped, no taxes). Seems like the perfect commuting light.
I ride with a Exposure MaxxD MK3 and I absolutely love it. The biggest benefit with the Exposure lights is that the battery is self-contained in the light, so there's no bulky exterior battery. Also, 3 hours runtime at 1200 lumens on high. 12 hours at 900 lumens! And no external battery.
One other cool thing about them for commuting is that a rear facing LED can be added and run off the main light.
Here's a pic:
One other cool thing about them for commuting is that a rear facing LED can be added and run off the main light.
Here's a pic:
Magic Shine!!!! They cost $90 and you get 900 lumens. Also, try MK lights. They are the same thing except they come with a warrantee and cost a bit more.
Edit: looks like arkayne beat me to it.
Edit: looks like arkayne beat me to it.
I have 2 of the Magicshine's, and the O-ring's hold the lights in place on my helmet and bars in technical trail riding and off drops w/o an issue. It's not the best system evah, but it works well.
NiteRider traded in my old Evolution Smart for a Minewt. Bright as the mid day sun. Haven't ridden with it yet due to ice and snow on the roads so I'll reserve judgment. Again, props to niterider for customer service, but this new light had better hold up a lot better than my Evolution or I'm going to somebody else for my next light.
Here is the Helmet Mount
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/velcro-binding-band-for-sku-29489-30864-35cm-32754 ( $3.25 )
and here are some spare O-rings.
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/water-tight-silicone-o-ring-seal-for-sku-29489-30864-2-pack-32750
only the Piko.the Betty and Wilma are our display products so i dont want to take them out. i could imagine they are like car HID's for a bike
I ride with a Betty 1750 on the bars and Tesla 700 on the helmet. And when you cross the beams of the Tesla and Betty, the Tesla's light is almost completely washed out. Not to discount the Tesla, the beam pattern is awesome, very "spot" like and compliments the Betty's "wide" beam very well.
you never cross the beams!
id love to try a Lupine Betty but i could never see myself buying a $900+ bike light
id love to try a Lupine Betty but i could never see myself buying a $900+ bike light
Guess I opened myself up for that one. Well played sir.you never cross the beams!
id love to try a Lupine Betty but i could never see myself buying a $900+ bike light
I didn't have to pay for any of my lights. But I can see how the price could put a lot of people off. However, my set up, pretty much lets me ride the same day or night.
gretna bikes rider im guessing?
i have no doubt about the quality and power of Lupine's lights but everything but the Piko is a ton of money
Something like that...