Cateye EL-500?

Howdy folks!

The nice folks at our local bike shop let me take a peek at the new J&B
Importers catalog (won't be long for some of those new Sun recumbents now!)
and I was looking at the Cateye lights.

They have listed a new Cateye headlight, the EL-500. It uses the newer 1
watt LED and is supposed to have in the neighborhood of 1000 candlepower. I
can't find any information on this light and even going to J&B, I've not
been able to get a price. Does anyone have any information on this
headlight?

On my TE, I use two Cateye EL-300s side by side (they light up my cyclometer
nicely too) a well as a Cateye EL-400 underneath them, set to blinking mode.
I have plenty of light with these for riding at night and have been quite
pleased. However, this new headlight from Cateye is twice the power of my
EL-300 and looks to be smaller and more compact, perhaps even lighter.

As a sidenote, I'd be interested to hear from others who use LED lights
exclusively for their night riding. In addition to the lights I mentioned
above, I use two Vistalite 7-LED combo blinkers for the rear of my TE,
mounted on the tops of the back seat posts.
--
"Sea" ya!
--Lars S. Mulford
"You can find evil anywhere you look.
The question is, why are you looking?"

"Lars S. Mulford" skrev headlight?
As a sidenote, I'd be interested to hear from others who use LED lights
exclusively for their night riding. In addition to the lights I mentioned
above, I use two Vistalite 7-LED combo blinkers for the rear of my TE,
mounted on the tops of the back seat posts.

I use a single EL-300. Not good if theres not reflective edgestripes on
the bikepath or road and a car is coming towards you. Everything goes
totally black. :-) I saw a neat halogen/led lamp in Sweden last Sunday.
The light was more yellow and hence lit up the wall better when we tested
side by side. Also it had LED's above the halogen bulb with a couple of settings
so you can save power when riding in the city. Used 4 AA batteries like the EL300.
Can't remember the name. Wasn't a common brand like Cateye.
Will try to ask for a website.

Mikael

They have listed a new Cateye headlight, the EL-500. It uses the newer 1
watt LED and is supposed to have in the neighborhood of 1000 candlepower. I
can't find any information on this light and even going to J&B, I've not
been able to get a price. Does anyone have any information on this
headlight?

48 euros on a finnish site. http://www.lundberg.fi/html/valot.htm

Joe Keenan used two on PBP I think
http://www.recumbents.com/mars/pages...KeenanPBP.html

Mikael

"Mikael Seierup" wrote in message
...
They have listed a new Cateye headlight, the EL-500. It uses the newer
1
watt LED and is supposed to have in the neighborhood of 1000
candlepower. I
can't find any information on this light and even going to J&B, I've not
been able to get a price. Does anyone have any information on this
headlight?

48 euros on a finnish site. http://www.lundberg.fi/html/valot.htm

Joe Keenan used two on PBP I think
http://www.recumbents.com/mars/pages...KeenanPBP.html

Mikael

I went through several models from Cateye including the EL-500, while the
500 might be a better choice to be seen by other vehicles I found it very
poor at doing everything else.

I ended up dumping those types of lights and went to a NiteRider Trail Rat
2.0

"Mark Leuck" skrev...
I went through several models from Cateye including the EL-500, while the
500 might be a better choice to be seen by other vehicles I found it very
poor at doing everything else.

I think I will try the Petzl Duo LED.
On sale in these parts. Anyone fitted them on a helmet?
Will finaggle something otherwise.

Mikael

I just replaced a dead Performance dual light system with a Light &
Moton ARC H.I.D.

http://www.bikelights.com/
http://www.mtbr.com/reviews/Lights/product_79035.shtml


Yowser! Mucho dinero (~$400) but now I've had cars honk, flash their
brights, or even stop dead (especially when I point it into the driver's
eyes when I'm in a crosswalk).

Beats being run over and in the overpopulated, auto-centric SF Bay Area,
you need every defensive advantage you can get when bike commuting after
dark.

Plus, the light is bright enough to pretty much ride full speed.

"Peter" skrev...
I just replaced a dead Performance dual light system with a Light &
Moton ARC H.I.D.

http://www.bikelights.com/
http://www.mtbr.com/reviews/Lights/product_79035.shtml

Nights last more than 3.5 hours here though.
I'd rather get a SON and have light all night without worrying about batteries
and whatnot if I have to spend that amount. Depends on what you are using
it for I suppose. For tearing through a forest on a MTB I'm sure they are neat.

Yowser! Mucho dinero (~$400) but now I've had cars honk, flash their
brights, or even stop dead (especially when I point it into the driver's
eyes when I'm in a crosswalk).

They flash at the EL-300 too actually. But it swivels enough to flash em back.
Nasty light to look into but doesn't produce enough light for some situations.
Will look into the Petzl or maybe go the whole hog and get a SON.

Mikael

"Mikael Seierup" wrote in message ...
They have listed a new Cateye headlight, the EL-500. It uses the newer 1
watt LED and is supposed to have in the neighborhood of 1000 candlepower. I
can't find any information on this light and even going to J&B, I've not
been able to get a price. Does anyone have any information on this
headlight?

48 euros on a finnish site. http://www.lundberg.fi/html/valot.htm

Joe Keenan used two on PBP I think
http://www.recumbents.com/mars/pages...KeenanPBP.html

Mikael


Hi Mikael

I used an HL500II, an EL300 and a Petzel Duo headlamp. On PBP "LED
lights" are not allowed as headlamps. At least not to get through
inspection ) What I found:

EL300: Because of the LED's, I used this as primary light source due
to the extended burn time with lithium batts. Not a great light
pattern.

HL500II: Much better light pattern to me, but for a long night's ride
not enough burn time. Used only on descents or when I wanted extra
light on the road, say when there might be a bad stretch to illuminate
pot holes, cracks, etc. Would use this in conjunction with the EL300,
but not as a sole light.

Petzel Duo Headlamp: Older model with a halogen as the small lamp.
Would not do any long distance night riding without this. Great for
lighting up where you want to see, especially the road ahead on fast
descents. Also, this light can shine through fog. I did most of a
400K at night in heavy fog and would have been SOL with just an EL300
or HL500II to light my way. The Petzel was a lifesaver. The newer
model uses an LED for the small lamp. I use the small lamp to light
up the road immediately in front of me and also to light the
cyclometer.

Just like with bikes, so many choices and borrow and try'em if you
can.

Bon Route ;o)

Slow Joe Recumbo

Mikael Seierup wrote:
Nights last more than 3.5 hours here though.
I'd rather get a SON and have light all night without worrying about batteries
and whatnot if I have to spend that amount. Depends on what you are using
it for I suppose. For tearing through a forest on a MTB I'm sure they are neat.

Speaking of that, I got a Schmidt E6Z (secondary light) to go with my
SON/Lumotec setup. The E6 beam pattern is simply amazing! However, I'm
going to have to find a way to mount the light lower, or paint over the
back of the "signal ring" around the edge of the light, since it shines
back into my face with the light mounted on the handlebar. What
surprised me the most, however, was that even with the secondary
engaged, it gave out useful light at fairly slow speeds. Only at the
slowest pace would I actually need to shut it off...

--
Russ --kill the wabbit to email
"The solution is simple: all spammers, if convicted of spamming, should
be drowned in cow diarrhoea in televised public ceremonies. Start with
Ralsky." -Guy Chapman

wrote:
I think I will try the Petzl Duo LED. On sale in these parts. Anyone
fitted them on a helmet? Will finaggle something otherwise.
Mikael


I really love the Sport Spot from Planet Bike, comes with the hardwar
for helmet (or head or handlebar) mounting, and lights up the road ahea
like a disco on flash mode. A bargain at $30, and a cool advocac
company too..

http://www.planetbike.com/feature.html:cool


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