Anybody using the DiNotte Ultralight?

Performance has this on sale for Team P members, and it looks like a well
made light with a very small footprint. Anybody have any experience with it?

Gooserider wrote:
Performance has this on sale for Team P members, and it looks like a well
made light with a very small footprint. Anybody have any experience with it?

I haven't used or even seen it (though I agree it looks very nice from
pictures), but the trend seems to be moving away from using higher power
LEDs (e.g. 5w Luxeons like the Dinotte has) to ganging together the
lower power LEDs (mainly 3w Luxeons). I guess yields on long life 5w
capable LEDs is lower?

--
I do not accept unsolicited commercial e-mail. Remove NO_UCE for
legitimate replies.

On Thu, 10 Nov 2005 02:30:49 +0000, Victor Kan wrote:

Gooserider wrote:
Performance has this on sale for Team P members, and it looks like a
well made light with a very small footprint. Anybody have any
experience with it?

I haven't used or even seen it (though I agree it looks very nice from
pictures), but the trend seems to be moving away from using higher power
LEDs (e.g. 5w Luxeons like the Dinotte has) to ganging together the
lower power LEDs (mainly 3w Luxeons). I guess yields on long life 5w
capable LEDs is lower?

Actually I don't think there are any commercially produced lights using 5W
LEDs. A few cutting edge ones like the L&M Vega are using 3W+ LEDs, but
the rest use 1W and under. Higher powered LEDs are still very expensive,
not fantastically efficient or long-lived, and handling the heat they
generate can be tricky. Note the price of the 3W+ models. More will
come, but it may take another year or two.

To answer the question though, I haven't seen the Dinotte in person or in
action.

Here's a nice comparison of some other popular headlight beams:

http://eddys.com/site/page.cfm?PageID=493

Matt O.

That's interesting, I've got one that looks identical to those Niterider
3-LED headlights, but mine is branded as Electron


http://eddys.com/site/page.cfm?PageID=493

"Matt O'Toole" wrote in message
news
On Thu, 10 Nov 2005 02:30:49 +0000, Victor Kan wrote:

Gooserider wrote:
Performance has this on sale for Team P members, and it looks like a
well made light with a very small footprint. Anybody have any
experience with it?

I haven't used or even seen it (though I agree it looks very nice from
pictures), but the trend seems to be moving away from using higher power
LEDs (e.g. 5w Luxeons like the Dinotte has) to ganging together the
lower power LEDs (mainly 3w Luxeons). I guess yields on long life 5w
capable LEDs is lower?

Actually I don't think there are any commercially produced lights using 5W
LEDs. A few cutting edge ones like the L&M Vega are using 3W+ LEDs, but
the rest use 1W and under. Higher powered LEDs are still very expensive,
not fantastically efficient or long-lived, and handling the heat they
generate can be tricky. Note the price of the 3W+ models. More will
come, but it may take another year or two.

To answer the question though, I haven't seen the Dinotte in person or in
action.

Here's a nice comparison of some other popular headlight beams:

http://eddys.com/site/page.cfm?PageID=493

Matt O.

Well, I exchanged some emails with a DiNotte sales rep, and he advised me
that Performance's price was very good, so I bought the light. The rep
offered to send me another set of batteries for free if I sent him a copy of
the receipt, and I had some Team P points, so I did it. I will post a report
after I get the light.

Mike

Matt O'Toole wrote:
Actually I don't think there are any commercially produced lights using 5W
LEDs. A few cutting edge ones like the L&M Vega are using 3W+ LEDs, but
the rest use 1W and under.

http://www.performancebike.com/shop/...tegory_ID=4320

On Wed, 09 Nov 2005 22:32:18 +0000, Gooserider wrote:

Performance has this on sale for Team P members, and it looks like a well
made light with a very small footprint. Anybody have any experience with it?

I've been commuting with it since just before the time change. I'm quite
happy with it.

It is, indeed, a 5w LED. The 4-AA NiMH battery pack that comes with it
gives me between 1 and 2 hours on the bright setting (there are two
settings, bright and not-as-bright). I'm not real sure of the time since
I have a short commute. For me it lasts about a week before the red
indicator comes on and the light goes down to low beam.

When I first got it I did some side-by-side comparisons with my (failing
battery, but when it works it's as bright as ever) NightRider 15 watt.
The light of the DiNotte is not as tightly focused as the NightRider.
With the NightRider, your eye is pretty much glued to the circle of quite
bright light, and you have poor illumination of things to the side or
ahead of the spot. The DiNotte is, overall, just as bright, but with the
light spread out in a wider circle. Things like reflective signs up ahead
are better lit, and the patch of road ahead still has plenty of light to
see obstacles or potholes at 15-20mph. Looking at the bike from in front
the intensity of the DiNotte is much higher than the NightRider. Maybe if
you were looking at the Nightrider from where the spot of bright light is,
it would seem brighter, but the DiNotte is more noticeable to traffic in
front of you. I want drivers to look and think "what the hell is that
thing?" when I'm coming towards them, not "is there something there?" that
you get from a typical little light. The DiNotte does that well.

The low beam is still quite bright, but to really see you'd want to use
the high beam. The low is more than enough to be seen and noticed.

They warn about the light getting hot, but it doesn't really get more than
slightly warm on my commute. the NightRider, on the other hand, got quite
hot -- and if it got too hot, it would shut itself off. Just what you
need.

I'm sold on the DiNotte. It is pricey, but it gives enough light to
really see, is simple and rugged enough for everyday use, and is small,
quick and easy to attach. If the batteries go, I can (and will) get 12
more (three changes) for $16.95, rather than be told, as I was, that the
battery on my NightRider was irreplaceable (4.5V NiMH smart strap-on
pack). Heck, even if it could be replaced, it would be over $100 to do so.


--

David L. Johnson

__o | If all economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a
_`\(,_ | conclusion. -- George Bernard Shaw
(_)/ (_) |

On Thu, 10 Nov 2005 11:13:18 +0000, Gooserider wrote:

Well, I exchanged some emails with a DiNotte sales rep, and he advised me
that Performance's price was very good, so I bought the light. The rep
offered to send me another set of batteries for free if I sent him a copy of
the receipt, and I had some Team P points, so I did it. I will post a report
after I get the light.

Yeah, let us know how it goes!

Matt O.

On Thu, 10 Nov 2005 11:08:07 +0000, POHB wrote:

That's interesting, I've got one that looks identical to those Niterider
3-LED headlights, but mine is branded as Electron


http://eddys.com/site/page.cfm?PageID=493

That doesn't surprise me. I'm sure there are several different brands
coming from the same factories in Taiwan or wherever.

Matt O.

On Thu, 10 Nov 2005 10:58:54 -0500, David L. Johnson wrote:

On Wed, 09 Nov 2005 22:32:18 +0000, Gooserider wrote:

Performance has this on sale for Team P members, and it looks like a
well made light with a very small footprint. Anybody have any
experience with it?

I've been commuting with it since just before the time change. I'm
quite happy with it.

It is, indeed, a 5w LED. The 4-AA NiMH battery pack that comes with it
gives me between 1 and 2 hours on the bright setting (there are two
settings, bright and not-as-bright). I'm not real sure of the time
since I have a short commute. For me it lasts about a week before the
red indicator comes on and the light goes down to low beam.

When I first got it I did some side-by-side comparisons with my (failing
battery, but when it works it's as bright as ever) NightRider 15 watt.
The light of the DiNotte is not as tightly focused as the NightRider.
With the NightRider, your eye is pretty much glued to the circle of
quite bright light, and you have poor illumination of things to the side
or ahead of the spot. The DiNotte is, overall, just as bright, but with
the light spread out in a wider circle. Things like reflective signs up
ahead are better lit, and the patch of road ahead still has plenty of
light to see obstacles or potholes at 15-20mph. Looking at the bike
from in front the intensity of the DiNotte is much higher than the
NightRider. Maybe if you were looking at the Nightrider from where the
spot of bright light is, it would seem brighter, but the DiNotte is more
noticeable to traffic in front of you. I want drivers to look and think
"what the hell is that thing?" when I'm coming towards them, not "is
there something there?" that you get from a typical little light. The
DiNotte does that well.

The low beam is still quite bright, but to really see you'd want to use
the high beam. The low is more than enough to be seen and noticed.

They warn about the light getting hot, but it doesn't really get more
than slightly warm on my commute. the NightRider, on the other hand,
got quite hot -- and if it got too hot, it would shut itself off. Just
what you need.

I'm sold on the DiNotte. It is pricey, but it gives enough light to
really see, is simple and rugged enough for everyday use, and is small,
quick and easy to attach. If the batteries go, I can (and will) get 12
more (three changes) for $16.95, rather than be told, as I was, that the
battery on my NightRider was irreplaceable (4.5V NiMH smart strap-on
pack). Heck, even if it could be replaced, it would be over $100 to do
so.

Thanks for the report, and the good description. That sounds really good.
All the LED lights I've seen so far, except the Vega, are too narrowly
focused. A lot of this is trickery, to be able to say they're as bright
as a halogen unit, but there's no free lunch. Even the Vega could be
wider.

My favorites are the L&M ones, which have custom reflectors (not generic
MR) and a much more even beam. The better L&M lights are focusable. But
the standard one is about perfect for most riding, IMO.

Again, various beam patterns for comparison:

http://eddys.com/site/page.cfm?PageID=493

I like the Vega because it's even simpler to use than a Cateye Micro. It
goes on and off just as easily, and just plugs into its charger -- no
taking the batteries out and putting them back in. No worries about the
bulb burning out either. The Dinotte promises more light still, in an
even smaller package, but maybe not as convenient. I imagine you have to
take the batteries out to charge them, plus the mounting system looks a
bit fiddly.

Other than that, it looks pretty neat.

Matt O.