FlashBazbo

Right now, I've got a 400 lumens Nite Rider setup on the front and a 400 lumens Dinotte on the back. The Nite Riders make me very visible from the front, but don't provide enough visibility to avoid surprise road hazards on an unlit road. The Dinotte on the back is BRIGHT. I put it on pulse mode and the dimmer part of the pulse is brighter than a car's brake lights. On the four-lane I often ride at night, almost every car and truck pulls into the fast lane as they pass me. NO close calls. I count those who stay in the near lane -- it's usually less than 1% of traffic.

This year, my winter, pre-dawn city route is being cut off -- the main bridge across the river is being replaced. I will be venturing into the dark, unlit two-lane roads every weekday morning between now and March. So . . . by Friday, I should have a new Dinotte 1200L (yes, 1200 lumens) mounted to the front. This should be adequate.

PaulRivers

Seriously, if you're considering spending that kind of money anyways, have you considered simply buying a bike light that puts out the same output as an automotive headlight?

I'm talking about the Busch and Mueller Big Bang -

https://www.bumm.de/index-e.html
https://www.peterwhitecycles.com/bigbang.asp

It has a shaped beam like a low-beam headlight, to.

SSP

Having moved to modern LED lighting systems two years ago, I would never consider going back to HID's.

LED's are more durable, last longer, draw less power, and permit "flashing mode". Plus, the DiNotte is made in the USA.

I also think it's important to include a helmet-mounted light (I run a DiNotte 400L on my helmet), because it allows me to see around corners and curves, spotlight drivers coming in from side streets, and makes it easier to perform tasks in the dark when off the bike (e.g., changing a flat).

And, on an aesthetic note, I think the Big Bang looks goofy (it reminds me of one of those Wal-Mart "1,000,000 candlepower" spotlights).

FlashBazbo

Those lights are twice the price of the Dinotte. The Dinotte will be plenty bright.

kmcrawford111

Wow. I thought my 200L model was adequate. Though if it needs to be replaced, I'll go with the 400L model.

SSP

Since you already have the 200L, you can save some money by omitting the charger (though it can be handy to have one charger at work and another at home).

Also, if you plan on mounting both the 200L and the 400L on your handlebars, you can save even more by omitting the battery. I run my 600L headlight, and 400L taillight, from a single 4-cell battery that lives in a cut off water bottle in the downtube cage. From that battery, I've zip-tied a DiNotte "Y-splitter" cable to the downtube. The front and rear lights plug into the two connectors from the Y-splitter.

If you're mounting the 200L to your helmet (which I would recommend), you'll need a 2-cell battery (I zip tie mine to the back half of the helmet). For the 400L, I'd recommend their 4-cell battery.

kmcrawford111

Thanks for the info. I have the AA version of the 200L (and also the 140L taillight), though. I've tried helmet mounting but didn't like it as much as handlebar.

The 200L IMO produces "just enough" light. I was surprised to see how much less it illuminated one of the highways after it had new asphalt (HUGE difference vs. concrete).

There have been a time or two, however, when I wished I had more light. I consider the taillight the "primary" safety light but even though my night commuting has very little traffic, I have ran into the situation where someone turning from my right may not have been able to see me well enough (in the rain is what I recall). I've been thinking of getting a second light for backup anyway (the flashlight I carry isn't really adequate), so I think I'll be on the lookout for a special on the 400L.

kmcrawford111

BTW, how do you like the 400L? Is it basically 2 200Ls in one unit? That's what it looks like.

SSP

Yeah...I think the 400 is just 2 200's mounted together.

I really like it mounted on my helmet, because I can aim it where I want to, rather than where the bike is pointing. It's especially useful when drivers are about to enter the roadway from side streets or driveways. In those scenarios, I can aim the light beam right at the driver and know that I've "been seen".

Kotts

2 Planet Bike Superflashes: 1 on my panniers, one on my seat wedge.
Homebrew 12 volt 30w (10 low, 30 high) Halogen headlight rig, run at 15 volts, powered by a modified Li-Ion laptop battery.

SSP

Why the PBSF on your panniers, instead of on your rack? Aiming of LED lights is critical for their effectiveness. I've seen plenty of examples of decent lights not doing a good job because they were attached to backpacks, helmets, etc. and simply not aimed properly.

By mounting your PBSF to the back of your rack, you can ensure it's properly aimed. PB sells a $5 rack attachment bracket for just this purpose.

dwr1961

DiNotte 200L in front, Cateye TL1000 in back (although I'd swap it out for a DiNotte T140 in a heartbeat).

Remember your life in one the line here. Don't nickel -and-dime on lighting.

truman

Zen Bicycles' Trailled 500L in front, and and PBSF on a rack mount in the rear

Praxis

I used to have a homebrew 12 volt 20W halogen MR16 and a semi truck LED taillight from superbrightleds. The semi truck light was too big for the reflector bracket and broke it. Also, connectors and strain relief are hard. I tried to engineer something and eventually figured I should go with self-contained lights with batteries onboard to eliminate connectors and wiring and make things easier to remove (outside parking).

At this point I realized I was trying to design a bright flashlight and rear blinky. Figured there were plenty of people doing this better and cheaper than I could ever do. Bought a DealExtreme SSC P7 and Planet Bike SuperFlash and called it a day.

I haven't really gotten off the bike and evaluated this setup, besides comparing the two headlights (the new one is slightly brighter but way smaller total size). The obvious improvements to me would be something brighter in the rear, and more side visibility. I doubt my active side lighting is very good given the way the head is formed on that flashlight.

BarracksSi

The bike I use the most for commuting and general around-town riding has a Shimano dynohub, B&M DLumotec Senso Plus headlight (LED with darkness sensor and standlight) and B&M Selectra taillight (one main LED, two side LEDs, standlight, and a bigass reflector).

On the other bikes, I'll strap on a Dinotte 200 and PBSF. I used to use a Dinotte taillight as well, but as soon as I got the dynohub-equipped bike, I got sick of maintaining so many sets of AA rechargeables. Maybe I should switch to the Li-ion version.

SSP

I use DiNotte's Li-ion batteries, and have been very satisfied. My setup includes:

• One charger at home, and one at the office
• A 600L headlight and 400L taillight that runs off of one 4-cell li-ion (in a water bottle cage on the seat tube)
• A helmet-mounted 400L that runs off of a 2-cell li-ion.

Even in the dark of winter, I only need to charge a couple of times per week (for a 14 mile round trip).

PaulRivers

If you're really clever, you never even need to take the batteries off the bike! :-)

Just keep your bike next to a power outlet at night (if you keep your bike inside or just inside your garage, you're set). Every night when you get home, unplug the batteries from the light and just plug them into the charger (for anyone that doesn't have one, the charger is just a wall plug and a long-ish cord). In the morning, unplug them from the charger and back into the lights. Voila - the lights are always charged, and you never have to even take the batteries off the frame of the bike! :-)

I've made it habit to plug the batteries into the charger and now I don't have to think about whether the batteries are charged ever. They're always there, ready to go, no fiddling around the get the batteries back on the bike necessary. :-)

...the one caveat I would add is - don't leave the batteries plugged into the lights for a long time, even with the lights off. It drains the batteries, even though the light isn't on. :-(

SSP

Interesting...I could do that because I park the bike in the garage. But I've been under the impression that it's better for battery life to nearly fully discharge them before recharging. A couple of my batteries are starting their 3rd year of nearly daily use. They're still going strong, though their run times may be a bit less than when new (say, 20% less, but it's hard to tell for sure).

How long have you used your recharge method? And have you noticed any changes in battery power or duration?

BarracksSi

For Li-ion batteries, they're supposed to last longer if they're not kept fully charged and not run down to completely empty. They also differ from NiCad batteries in that they don't develop a so-called "memory effect", meaning that it's okay to partially discharge and recharge them. And, instead of counting full charge-discharge cycles, they account for cumulative activity (for lack of the proper term ) -- so, a 40% discharge followed later by a 20% discharge equates to 60% total, and not even a full discharge.

That's the gist of what I remember, anyway. I do everything wrong with my laptop's battery, and its capacity is pretty poor already.

PaulRivers

I've been using my recharge method for at least 2 years. I haven't noticed any change in battery power or duration, but to be fair I probably wouldn't - I rarely use my lights for more than an hour, and they're supposed to last over 2 hours.

With the old school Nickel Cadmium batteries, you were supposed to fully discharge them between uses for optimal battery life.

But then came nickel metal hydrate and everything is the opposite - you're supposed to recharge them regularly, and preferably before they're completely depleted. For example, I know that the very earliest Prius-prototype models had the typical problems with the batteries wearing out, which they discovered they could fix if they simply didn't fully discharge or charge the battery to capacity. In other words, if they never charged it past 70% or discharged it past 30% (I'm making these numbers up, but it was somewhere in there) the battery pack life was *substantially* longer - to the point where most battery packs no longer wore out in the lifetime of the car.

By the time we got to lithium ion batteries, I figured I'd just do whatever was convenient, frankly, as it's hard to keep it all straight. This page on lithium ion, for example:
https://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm

Says "Avoid frequent full discharges because this puts additional strain on the battery. Several partial discharges with frequent recharges are better for lithium-ion than one deep one. Recharging a partially charged lithium-ion does not cause harm because there is no memory. (In this respect, lithium-ion differs from nickel-based batteries.) Short battery life in a laptop is mainly cause by heat rather than charge / discharge patterns."

and

"Keep the lithium-ion battery cool. Avoid a hot car. For prolonged storage, keep the battery at a 40% charge level. "

JPprivate

I've had the 1/2watt PB blaze and I am ready to upgrade. But I do have to say they are incredibly sturdy. I dropped them this morning in the parking garage (where I lock up my bike) on the concrete floor, they fell, rolled forward and dropped down to the railing maybe 2 feet and rolled further and dropped another 3 feet (again concrete). Still going strong.

cbr2702

Front: year old homemade light with cree XR-E WH R2 led running off a sturmey archer hub dynamo at around 100lm through a 10/40 elliptical lens.

Rear: mars 3.0 blinky

cbchess

Anyone else using the P7 flashlight or the Magicshine 900 lumen light?

I think I might order the P7 flashlight (also 900 lumen) from Deal extreme for like $34:
MTE SSC P7 900-Lumen 5-Mode Super LED Flashlight (18650)

https://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.12060

Anyone using this set up? anyone order from "DEAL EXTREME"? Are they a good website, are they trustworthy? Their prices seems too good to be true.

light + batteries+ bike mount+ charger is $55

JPprivate

Some people have reported problems w/DealExtreme. But I just ordered basically the same thing you want last week. Let's see if it gets here.

nashcommguy

NR Trailrat 2.0 x 2 w/a NR Universal TL. 2 PB Superflash and a Knog white constant/strobe set on strobe for daytime riding w/one PB Superflash. Tires have reflective sidewalls and I left my spoke inserts in though it's SO uncool. Have rear and front reflectors, also. All 'nightride' clothing has reflective material someplace. Panniers/trunkbag both have reflective strips as do all my shoes. I, also wear an ankle strap reflector my wife gave to me.

I think I'm pretty visible...my wife has described me as looking like a 'low flying UFO' She says the PB blinkies are 'annoying'...