Super Bright LEDs

Jay Beattie wrote:
I was over at the LBS during lunch, and one of the guys was
talking about a 10w LED from England or Europe that is going to
hit the market around Christmas. It is supposed to be
super-bright. My old NiteRider is about kaput, and I am thinking
LED is looking like the way to go. However, I need a lot of
light because I ride in the rain and poor visibility conditions
(lots of ambient light). Is it too early in the technology cycle
to be buying LEDs as a primary light? -- Jay Beattie.

I don't have any personal experience with these things,
but the new 'Cree XR-E' LED is all the talk on the candlepower
forums. Apparently consumes about 3 watts and is very
bright.

Check out the pictures in these two threads. You'll have to
scroll down to see them. Using an aspheric or fresnel
lens they are able to project a very tight spotlike beam
which can be used to illuminate stuff hundreds of yards
away. Pretty impressive for a little LED. There's one shot
in the first thread of someone hitting a barn 1700 feet
away with one of these things.

http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=139931
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/show...42#post1664042

Yes I'd imagine these latest generations of LEDs would
be bright enough. Personally I don't use a light, but I live
in a well light city. Being on the receiving end of the LED
lights is annoying as I find them to be extraordinarily dazzling
to dark adapted eyes. Much worse then car headlights.

Eric

"Callistus Valerius" wrote:

princeton tec EOS - you won't be disappointed, very light. $35-$40
range. They have an EOS for backpacking, and bicycle helmets, but it's the
same light, but the bike one has a helmet mount.

I've heard very good remarks abt this light for
bicycling as well!

I'm gonna have to go look at one at REI soon

Question for this group:

I'm not one that likes a lot of stuff "mounted" to my
bike. I kind of like as clean of bike as possible.

Having said that do most of your pefer bike mounted LED
lamps?

Or do you like your HELMET mounted?

Or maybe a combo of both?

"Pete Grey" wrote:

I've been doing long group night rides for about 14 years here in the PNW

I bet those are fun!

I used to work form 3pm to midnight many years ago at
local factory.

A bunch of us would go for night bike rides after work
and be out riding as late as 3am

Nothing like it on a hot summer night with a full moon.
VERY pretty and peaceful!

wrote:
"Callistus Valerius" wrote:


princeton tec EOS - you won't be disappointed, very light. $35-$40
....
I'm gonna have to go look at one at REI soon

Whenever I got to REI, I always end up looking over their collection of
LED headlamps for some reason (probably the bright/shiny reflex).

The 1W EOS always seems to be brighter than the 3W Princeton Tec Apex
(yes, I'm sure I have the Luxeon on, not the 4 "regular" LEDs).

I wonder if it's just a matter of the Apex having more worn out
batteries, or the EOS having a more concentrated spot pattern, or both,
or ???

Whatever it is, it's hard to really tell how good the lights are inside
a brightly lit store.

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

roshea wrote:
Edit: attaching the flashlights to handlebars and helmets seems to work
pretty well with elastic bands or O-rings, which is what the DiNotte
people and some other companies are using these days - cheap and easy
to replace if they break!

Thanks for the tips. How does this work? I'd be afraid that the elastic
bands would break while I rode, resulting in a broken light (or worse,
if the light pulls a squirrel).

--
Dave
dvt at psu dot edu

Everyone confesses that exertion which brings out all the powers of body
and mind is the best thing for us; but most people do all they can to
get rid of it, and as a general rule nobody does much more than
circumstances drive them to do. -Harriet Beecher Stowe, abolitionist and
novelist (1811-1896)

Callistus Valerius wrote:
I should clarify... I'm interested in the helmet mounted 1W LED. As far
as I can tell, the Cateye EL-500 you mention is not available with a
helmet mount.

princeton tec EOS - you won't be disappointed, very light. $35-$40
range. They have an EOS for backpacking, and bicycle helmets, but it's the
same light, but the bike one has a helmet mount.

Yeah, that would be excellent if I could get two mounts. One mount for
the helmet, one headband mount for xc skiing, working around the house,
and that sort of thing. I'll check it out.

--
Dave
dvt at psu dot edu

Everyone confesses that exertion which brings out all the powers of body
and mind is the best thing for us; but most people do all they can to
get rid of it, and as a general rule nobody does much more than
circumstances drive them to do. -Harriet Beecher Stowe, abolitionist and
novelist (1811-1896)

wrote:
Question for this group:

I'm not one that likes a lot of stuff "mounted" to my
bike. I kind of like as clean of bike as possible.

Having said that do most of your pefer bike mounted LED
lamps?

Or do you like your HELMET mounted?

Or maybe a combo of both?

The best lighting I've experienced is a combo. One on the fork, mounted
as low as possible to show relief features of the road. One on the
helmet, with the light going wherever I look.

My helmet mounted lamp is unwieldy, so I don't often use it. I guess
that means I get sufficient light with the bike mounted lamp. I don't
like using the helmet mounted lamp as my sole light source.

My bike looks cluttered with the fenders, dynamo, head light, pump, tool
kit, etc. I stick to roads (paved and unpaved) at night; I've no
experience with night riding on trails.

--
Dave
dvt at psu dot edu

Everyone confesses that exertion which brings out all the powers of body
and mind is the best thing for us; but most people do all they can to
get rid of it, and as a general rule nobody does much more than
circumstances drive them to do. -Harriet Beecher Stowe, abolitionist and
novelist (1811-1896)

dvt wrote:


The best lighting I've experienced is a combo. One on the fork, mounted
as low as possible to show relief features of the road. One on the
helmet, with the light going wherever I look.

God idea on mounting it low on fork. Wonder if you can
do it with the EOS?

My helmet mounted lamp is unwieldy, so I don't often use it.

What kind of helmet mount light you have? Cant you use
a compact one like the EOS?

My bike looks cluttered with the fenders, dynamo, head light, pump, tool

Yeah that's what I'm trying to avoid...bike clutter.
But still have "some" lighting.