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Light selection guide.

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Light selection guide.

Old 10-19-05, 11:41 AM
  #101  
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Originally Posted by Too Rass Goat
So, I've read through this wholethread and still have questions

I need a light that will allow me to ride our rails to trails for excercise. These are all flat, smooth gravel paths, no auto traffic nearby. I ride an MTB, usually in the 10-13 mph range focusing on keeping the cadence up rather than pushing taller gears for more speed. It appears from the thread the lower level lighting categories will suffice for what I need. Can anyone comment on the following cheapies I'm looking at? I will NOT be doing any high speed or singletrack/descents with this light. I save that for weekends when the sun is out

https://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...=479&pagename=

https://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...=479&pagename=
The first one is great for being seen by others. The second one is the least amount of light to see the ground very well. A litttle more would be better, but it's OK. You need to consider your headlight burn time in the dark too. That can change the price of what you need.
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Old 10-19-05, 12:14 PM
  #102  
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We ride about an hour each night, usually 8-10 miles. Trying not to put too much money into this since we'll only use them the month of November. Once the slopes open in late Nov-early Dec, I'm in boots teaching 7 days a week til mid April, so the bike is out of commision. By April, daylight savings kicks in and I have light to ride in the evenings.

Trying not to spend ~$75 for a light, times 2 bikes (mine and the wife) that's $150+ for about 4 weeks of use a year. Maybe we'll have to just stop riding except for weekend single track once daylight savings stops next weekend.
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Old 10-19-05, 06:38 PM
  #103  
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Originally Posted by 2manybikes
It's easy, I don't actually aim with the screen or the viewfinder I just point the lens. It's better than you would think. Much better.

I had to reduce the file size a lot to post these, but these are taken while riding. Front, back, side, whatever, It's better than on the bars.
Nice scenery and nice photos. I'd like to see more people make use of their camera and post their favorite routes.

Here's my contribution.

* Photo1: A festivity held on the street I had ran into before Santiago Canyon loop.
* Photo2: Start of Sntiago Canyon loop(clockwise), to me. Santa Margarita turns into Portola Pkway.
* Photo3: Almost end of the loop, biker hang out. You'll see my bike leaning against the wagon wheel.
* Photo4: Parking lot of biker hang out. It's usually packed on Sunday. This was on Independence day.

Last edited by allgoo19; 10-20-05 at 10:11 AM.
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Old 10-19-05, 07:03 PM
  #104  
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Originally Posted by 2manybikes
I have an HP photosmart 935.
PhotoSmart specs.

It's either aperture priority auto or program auto exposure, no manual control.
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Old 10-19-05, 10:13 PM
  #105  
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Originally Posted by allgoo19
PhotoSmart specs.

It's either aperture priority auto or program auto exposure, no manual control.
Yes, that's what I was using and it's not the greatest. You have a choice of two apertures and then you can change the exposure with a slider bar. I'll think of something.

Thanks for taking the time to look it up anyway.
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Old 10-19-05, 10:35 PM
  #106  
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Originally Posted by 2manybikes
Yes, that's what I was using and it's not the greatest. You have a choice of two apertures and then you can change the exposure with a slider bar. I'll think of something.

Thanks for taking the time to look it up anyway.
I feel your pain. Your camera's spec, is pretty close to My old Epson. I was very frustrated by it. But I used that camera for a long time.

I learned a lesson. So I spent months researching all the reviews I could find on the net before I decided on current camera. I think the time well spent.
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Old 10-20-05, 08:01 AM
  #107  
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Thanks, very helpful. Why no Marwi NightPro lights? Also have you checked out the light shineoff that mtbr does? ShineOff
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Old 10-20-05, 04:33 PM
  #108  
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Originally Posted by jsharr
Thanks, very helpful. Why no Marwi NightPro lights? Also have you checked out the light shineoff that mtbr does? ShineOff
The web site is great. I book marked it.

But there is no information about low end lights. I think there is a good demand for $20.- to $50.- lights for peple use them only once in a while.

I still think Cateye Micro Halogen HL500 II is the champ in that category.
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Old 10-20-05, 07:32 PM
  #109  
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Originally Posted by allgoo19
The web site is great. I book marked it.

But there is no information about low end lights. I think there is a good demand for $20.- to $50.- lights for peple use them only once in a while.

I still think Cateye Micro Halogen HL500 II is the champ in that category.
Check out this comparison by Eddy's Bikes in Ohio for some tests of inexpensive lights
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Originally Posted by colorider
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Old 10-21-05, 12:24 AM
  #110  
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Originally Posted by jsharr
Check out this comparison by Eddy's Bikes in Ohio for some tests of inexpensive lights
Yep, it's getting to the right direction.

The way he tested is not much different than the way I did. It's better to go easy way so everybody can duplicate the situation than more complete and time consuming way. If we want to set a standard, it has to be easy way. Who wants to spend time go far away and look for complete darkness outside when nobody wants to do the test in easy way indoor?
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Old 10-22-05, 06:10 AM
  #111  
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What do you guys think of these lights. any of you tryed them ?
Seems relatively cheap....

https://www.theeasyshop.com/productlist.php?c=headlight
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Old 10-22-05, 01:17 PM
  #112  
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Originally Posted by mbakernet
What do you guys think of these lights. any of you tryed them ?
Seems relatively cheap....

https://www.theeasyshop.com/productlist.php?c=headlight
I've tried a couple of them. Good for being seen by a car. Not good for seeing the ground well.
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Old 10-24-05, 09:10 AM
  #113  
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I have a friend and fellow bike commuter who works at bike shop and he told me about this light. He has two of them on his bike and said a friend followed him home in a car and said he was very visible and the lights were very bright.
I looked at them yesterday and they are bright but it seems to me that the viewing angle has to be just right to be considered "bright". If a motorist is off to the side just a little, the light doesn't seem as bright as most other LED lights.

What do you think? Should I replace my double Vistalite Nebula 5 setup that I've had since 2001?

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Old 10-24-05, 09:46 AM
  #114  
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Originally Posted by RonH
I have a friend and fellow bike commuter who works at bike shop and he told me about this light. He has two of them on his bike and said a friend followed him home in a car and said he was very visible and the lights were very bright.
I looked at them yesterday and they are bright but it seems to me that the viewing angle has to be just right to be considered "bright". If a motorist is off to the side just a little, the light doesn't seem as bright as most other LED lights.

What do you think? Should I replace my double Vistalite Nebula 5 setup that I've had since 2001?
The light your friend has will have problems as it gets older. The thing will shut off when he goes over a sharp bump. This is because the springs and the contacts for the batteries will wear. Shimming or wrapping the batteries with a 1/2 wide piece of inner tube will help keep the batteries from sliding away from the contacts on a bump. If the lights are brand new he may not have a problem until he gets some miles on them. They are so small and bright that it's worth the trouble to me to shim the batteries to try and keep the lights working, when they work it's great.

Those Vista lights are outdated technology now. The new LED's and the new lights with lenses over them are so much brighter than those, there is no reason to buy Vista lights any more.
One Cateye TL-LD 1000 light will be much, much, brighter than two of those and much, much better from the side and even from 45 degrees away from straight forward.
It really is much safer from the side and from close to the front than the Vista lights. The cateye has two LED's on each side, and a good red lens.
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Old 10-24-05, 10:47 AM
  #115  
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If you want something with a nice wide viewing angle, try the 7-LED blinkers from both planet bike and vistalite; the ones that look like little pods.
I had one from planet bike that had 7 LED's, 5 facing rear ward and 2 angled about 30 degrees to the side. The cover dispersed the light so that it was pretty much viewable from an arc of about 160 degrees.

The new cateye blinker's nice cause it runs on AA batteries and is pretty bright, 2 rows of 3 LED's with focusing lenses out back, 2 sets of 2 LED's firing sideways.

I think you have to aim for recognition too; brightness isn't the only factor. Drivers also have to recognize that you're a vehicle on the road.

Here's my hypothetical no expenses spared super dork setup.

I'd have two niterider 19-LED clusters ($120) out back mounted sideways about 10" apart shining 5 degrees sideways on solid mode along with two performancebike 3-LED flares (red and white) ($40) next to each other in between the NR's in blink mode.
Then a cateye TL-LD 1000 blinker on the back of my helmet ($30) one row solid, one row blink.
Then I'll put an amber LED blinker and a red blinker ($60) facing rear wards mounted 8" off each side of the seat stay/rack on an extension with the red in solid and amber in blink mode.

I'd have a nightsun dual 13watt HID + 20 watt halogen lamp up front hooked up to a custom 10000mah lithium battery pack ($500) and two performancebike flares ($40) on my helmet, white and red to bean drivers at intersections.
There'll also be an amber blinker ($30) on solid mode firing sideways mounted on each side of the front fork.

Tack on a reflective safety vest for that touch of passive visibility and I'll be more visible than 90% of the CARS out there.

You can have all that for the cost of less than a single lupine edison HID headlamp.
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Old 10-24-05, 01:16 PM
  #116  
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Originally Posted by slvoid
If you want something with a nice wide viewing angle, try the 7-LED blinkers from both planet bike and vistalite; the ones that look like little pods.
I had one from planet bike that had 7 LED's, 5 facing rear ward and 2 angled about 30 degrees to the side. The cover dispersed the light so that it was pretty much viewable from an arc of about 160 degrees.

The new cateye blinker's nice cause it runs on AA batteries and is pretty bright, 2 rows of 3 LED's with focusing lenses out back, 2 sets of 2 LED's firing sideways.

I think you have to aim for recognition too; brightness isn't the only factor. Drivers also have to recognize that you're a vehicle on the road.

Here's my hypothetical no expenses spared super dork setup.

I'd have two niterider 19-LED clusters ($120) out back mounted sideways about 10" apart shining 5 degrees sideways on solid mode along with two performancebike 3-LED flares (red and white) ($40) next to each other in between the NR's in blink mode.
Then a cateye TL-LD 1000 blinker on the back of my helmet ($30) one row solid, one row blink.
Then I'll put an amber LED blinker and a red blinker ($60) facing rear wards mounted 8" off each side of the seat stay/rack on an extension with the red in solid and amber in blink mode.

I'd have a nightsun dual 13watt HID + 20 watt halogen lamp up front hooked up to a custom 10000mah lithium battery pack ($500) and two performancebike flares ($40) on my helmet, white and red to bean drivers at intersections.
There'll also be an amber blinker ($30) on solid mode firing sideways mounted on each side of the front fork.

Tack on a reflective safety vest for that touch of passive visibility and I'll be more visible than 90% of the CARS out there.

You can have all that for the cost of less than a single lupine edison HID headlamp.
You forgot the fuzzy dice and the mudflaps with the chrome chicks on them.

...and the XM radio antenna
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Old 10-24-05, 01:50 PM
  #117  
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Originally Posted by slvoid
You can have all that for the cost of less than a single lupine edison HID headlamp.


I almost choked on my soda!

That was great, I started composing a wise a** answer in my head, before I got to the end. Then I read the last line. I'm still laughing. Well planned and executed I fell for it totally!

I was in kind of a bad mood today, you really gave me something to laugh about today, thanks.
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Old 10-24-05, 03:16 PM
  #118  
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I see you also forgot to type your whitty new england come back for that one.
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Old 10-24-05, 03:20 PM
  #119  
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Originally Posted by slvoid
I see you also forgot to type your whitty new england come back for that one.

..and to top it off while I thought that the last comment was amusing it did not cause me to hit the floor or anything. ..still wondering what I missed.
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Old 10-24-05, 03:59 PM
  #120  
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Originally Posted by slvoid
I see you also forgot to type your witty new england come back for that one.
It's a recovery day.....I'm just finishing a century..........caffeine withdrawal, a headwind, low tire
pressure......my brakes were rubbing!



Originally Posted by wheezl
..and to top it off while I thought that the last comment was amusing it did not cause me to hit the floor or anything. ..still wondering what I missed.
It's funnier if you have that headlight and slvoid knows it.
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Old 10-25-05, 10:16 PM
  #121  
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Originally Posted by RonH
I have a friend and fellow bike commuter who works at bike shop and he told me about this light. He has two of them on his bike and said a friend followed him home in a car and said he was very visible and the lights were very bright.
I looked at them yesterday and they are bright but it seems to me that the viewing angle has to be just right to be considered "bright". If a motorist is off to the side just a little, the light doesn't seem as bright as most other LED lights.

What do you think? Should I replace my double Vistalite Nebula 5 setup that I've had since 2001?

... or have both? I have Vistalites as well as a BLT Super Doppler (same as your Serfas)., so I can compare.

I prefer the Vistalites in the urban environment because it's easier to see from an oblique position. But the strongest asset of the Serfas or the BTL Super Doppler is when you ride on high speed roads or arterials: people will see you from further away and they'll have the time to react accordingly. And in such conditions, having a light that emits a relatively tight beam of light is much better because it increases the reach of the taillight.
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Old 10-26-05, 10:23 PM
  #122  
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I finally took some photos that may be helpful.
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Old 10-26-05, 10:36 PM
  #123  
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*Cough* SHOWOFF *Cough*
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Old 10-27-05, 12:59 AM
  #124  
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Originally Posted by 2manybikes
I finally took some photos that may be helpful.
3LED(I suppose they are not 1w LED?) has the same intensity as 6w halogen?

How close those photos look from what you saw regarding the diffence of intensity between the lights?
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Old 10-27-05, 05:28 AM
  #125  
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The photos look right. The 3LED flare has an extremely bright focused central beam. Unfortunately, that's all about it's good for.
The 6W halogen lights up more of the sides of the road.
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