Thorn Cycles Forum
Technical => Lighting and Electronics => Topic started by: jags on September 09, 2008, 05:25:03 pm
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can anyone give me an idea on a good headlight ,what about cateye single shot or any of the cateye range,i dont want to spend a small fortune on one but at the same time i want one that lights up the road pretty good well you know what i mean thanks in advance .
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Until I recently went down the dynamo route I had a cateye 350 to be seen by and a Fenix LCD torch to see with. The fenix is excellent and very versatile, especially when touring. Mine's the single AA version, most folk recommend the 2xAA for bike use.
http://www.glowgadgets.co.uk/fenix-l1d-q5-led-torch-120-lumens-from-1-aa-battery.ir?cName=fenix-torches
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For a battery light I don't think I'd mess about now, I'd get a B&M IXON Fly but they are £70 ish.
Some good info here
http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/headlights.asp (http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/headlights.asp)
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I use a B&M IXON IQ with 2500 mAh NiMH AA batteries.
Plenty of light & I've yet to run the battery down on my commute, though I did discover that the NiMH batteries don't hold their charge for more than a few days.
Standard bar mount works fairly well, and B&M also do a very good fork mount.
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Make that three for the B&M, the Fenix and the like are brighter, but the focus of the B&M gives a more usefull light.
It hurts me to give this advice, I have battery lights that cost three time the price of the B&M, I was nearly in tears when mine were outpreformed by the B&M on a recent overnight ride :'(
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I see that B&M have now introduced the Dynamo 'CYO' light. It looks small and neat (nicer than IQ Fly), is £80ish and 60 lux. I doubt if Solidlights will ever sell another dynamo light (£155) and I suspect my Solidlights will be replaced with a CYO pretty soon.
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I too am looking to upgrade my lights. I am currently using a Cateye 2 X 10 watt halogen powered by lead acid which has seen me through the last 5 year commuting on dark country lanes, but it is heavy and I am constantly forgetting to charge the battery. I am looking to get a SON dynohub to power either a IQ Cyo 40 or an Edelux or a E3. It is probably going to be the Cyo 40 mainly due to the excellent beam patten but I am also very tempted by the E3. I am looking to by next weekend!
I would be interested in any comments from anyone using any of the above lamp (or the IQ fly) as to the suitability of the lamps to a hilly rural (unlit) commute.
Thanks
Stutho
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I would be interested in any comments from anyone using any of the above lamp (or the IQ fly) as to the suitability of the lamps to a hilly rural (unlit) commute.
Thanks
Stutho
You're not going to be disappointed by any of those lights. The major differences are the housings where more money buys better quality and the beam patterns. The E3 has a conical beam* the others have a reflected shaped beam. In town and amongst other traffic I'd prefer the later out on my own along country lanes I'd prefer the former. If you've not seen it here is a beam comparison (http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/headlights.asp) which gives as idea, though you'll be disappointed if you expect any light to look as good to the eye as it does to the camera!
I've ridden with people who have the IQ Fly, but the only one I have experience of is the Supernova (I have two) Apart from the light itself, the service from Supernova is first rate. Any queries get answered promptly, by email, in English. The lights have a five year warranty, my original E3 recently developed a fault with the switch shorting out, couple of emails exchanged to explain the problem and they sent me a new light. This was before I'd returned the original and on a light that's nearly two years old and the replacement is effectively an upgrade. They also have an upgrade policy, where they'll upgrade the LED as new ones become available. I had my original one changed at the last leap forward in LEDs, cost was 40 Euro inc postage and it doubled the output. Supernova also do what IMO is the neatest rear light available, it's tiny, bright and looks indestructible.
The new B&M seems to have a great new feature, you can switch the standlight off, this may not seem a big deal, it will when you've been told a thousand times that you've left your lights on.
*There's a new version of the E3 with an asymmetrical beam, of which very little is known. I was hoping they'd lend me a lens to make a comparison, but apparently it uses a different LED and electronics so only the casing is the same.
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I have been trying to hunt down a picture of the E3 beam patten with the alternate asymmetrical beam, so far without success. To my eyes the beam patten of the Cyo 40 is just about perfect, much better than the Fly 40 or Cyo 60.
My commute involve a fast decent on a road that crosses an unfenced common. I have to avoid sheep, cattle and horses, plus their excrement! I find 10 +10 watts of halogen (conical beam) only just enough. Am I being unrealistic about what these new LEDS can do?
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Am I being unrealistic about what these new LEDS can do?
Maybe, my overvolted 20w halogen is almost as bright as my Supernova, though a much more yellow colour, of course at full power it needs recharging after about an hour and a half.
I like to have a booster light for sections of the ride that are considerably darker than the majority. I've always done this, even though my current main light is brighter than a previous booster, my theory is that you get used to the light available and it takes a while to adjust.
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Thanks PH,
I appreciate your comments. I am going to go ahead and order some kit.
Thanks
stutho
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Thanks PH,
I appreciate your comments. I am going to go ahead and order some kit.
Thanks
stutho
We ride through the night on Audaxes (all sorts of gravel-strewn rural country lanes in total darkness) and the new Dynamo LEDs let you do it at full speed.
The Solidlights I use aren't focussed and so throw out a huge wash of light (nice and reassuring to have the whole width of the road lit up as well as the hedgerows, it's not like riding down a black tunnel) but there is no bright spot which becomes an issue in the rain/wet roads. (I rode in torrential rain in total darkness for 5 hours on a recent 400km Audax and had a few "where does this road go?" moments)
The IQ fly has a very bright white beam, it looks great for excrement avoidance (and will be similar beam to the E3 and CYO).
The Supernova has a great reputation but costs over twice the price of the CYO.
My friend changed from a Lead Acid Halogen setup to Solidlights and wouldn't go back. I doubt if you'll be disappointed with any of the LEDs you mention.
The SON dynohub is also a thing of technical excellence that I'm glad to have attached to my bike.
Given that the CYO doesn't weigh much I'm tempted to leave both a CYO and Solidlights on my bike and switch them on/off according to the conditions (wet/dry)
Looking forward to hearing opinions of new lights
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I'll second (once again) the Supernova E3. I have the both front and rear running on a SON Dynohub and have ridden several times in total darkness in total wonderment at the strength and reach of the beam. Bearing in mind that I have no other experience of other systems, the Supernova E3 gets an unequivocal thumbs up from me.
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We have some Cyo 60's coming in the end of this month, and the first proper delivery of E6delux there maybe a new Cyo 60 next year but thats all i'm saying...
Dave Whittle
SJSC Parts Sales
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We ride through the night on Audaxes (all sorts of gravel-strewn rural country lanes in total darkness) and the new Dynamo LEDs let you do it at full speed.
With every advance in bike lighting, people say they're the first lights to let you ride in complete darkness at any speed. I've said it several times over the last decade, with each upgrade. I'm sure it's as much about perception as technology. I am a self confessed light anorak, it comes from 7 years of working permanent nights with a 34 mile a day commute. The cost of having the best lights as soon as they were available (often before they were available in the UK) was insignificant compared to the alternative to riding to work. The better the lights, the more I enjoyed it, but I rode no faster with my final set (Supernova E3, MiNewt Dual and Zebra headtorch) than I did when I had 2.4W of B&M halogen and a Petzl headtorch as back up.
The IQ fly has a very bright white beam, it looks great for excrement avoidance (and will be similar beam to the E3 and CYO).
To clarify, the standard E3 beam is very different to that of the reflected lights, not necessarily better or worse, but definitely different. If anything it's more comparable to the Solidlights beam, there's just more of it.
To return to the comparison between halogen and LED, the common 12v bulbs used in many bike lights produce around 15 lumens per watt. The current crop of 3W LEDs produce around 220 Lumens. Not the full story, but enough to give an idea.
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Some additional reading you may find interesting.
http://www.blayleys.com/articles/lights/page3.htm
The Blayleys seem to have tried every decent dynamo LED available. There's also a good head to head comparison between the E3 and the Schmidt here;
http://groups.google.com/group/randon/msg/b4d532a197373be3
These links unashamedly pinched from Bikeradar ;)
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So the E3 has it, so it seems. Cheers PH for the good advice, I bought the Supernova solely on your recommendation, although I did purchase blind, going against your advice to try out different models before buying....I am an even happier customer having read these reviews, despite my own experiences telling me that I clearly hadn't wasted any money regardless of the expense. Intuition is no bad thing! :)
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I am currently running an E3 with my old Schmidt E6 secondary connected in series. I find that over about 20km/hr the E6 casts much more light directly in front of the bike. The effect is much more pronounced than the photos on Peter White’s site indicate. It effectively doubles the distance that I can see something that is directly in line with the front wheel. If it is a little bit off to one side then the E3 picks it up when it gets a bit closer. I like the wider beam the E3 casts and that it works so well at very low speeds. Having the E6 left on at very low speeds does make the E3 slightly less bright at those speeds but not enough to worry me.
Peter
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To clarify, the standard E3 beam is very different to that of the reflected lights, not necessarily better or worse, but definitely different. If anything it's more comparable to the Solidlights beam, there's just more of it.
Hi PH. Would you say there is significantly more of it?
The Solidlights tend to get lost on wet roads, a bit more brightness would, I suspect, overcome this.
What does your experience tell you about the difference between E3 and Solidlights under such conditions?
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Darn it all - PH !!!
I was all ready to part with my cash and buy a IQ Cyo 40, and then you when and tempted me with the E3. Those links are very interesting reading especially the advice to mount the E3 as low as possible.
I will probably still go with the Cyo but I am swaying!!!
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The Solidlights tend to get lost on wet roads, a bit more brightness would, I suspect, overcome this.
That's a tough one. My perception is that LED lights in general are less effective in the rain than halogens. I have no explanation for this and it's not something I've seen much discussion on, so it could just be me. I find the E3 can get lost on wet roads, I doubt I'd find it significantly better than the Solidlights in that respect. I have halogen and LED battery lights, Vista Nitelight and MiNewt X2 Dual, although the MiNewt is theoretically twice as bright I preferred the Vistas if it's wet.
I've probably said this before - If I had the Solidlights I'd be looking at something to supplement them rather than replace them, just my opinion.
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I am currently running an E3 with my old Schmidt E6 secondary connected in series.
Interesting, I might give that a try next time I fancy a change.
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If I had the Solidlights I'd be looking at something to supplement them rather than replace them, just my opinion.
I may try a supplementary battery IQ Fly, just for those occasions when I need a bit of additional focussed light thrown out front. Would be useful to have a non-dynamo light for my other bikes.
Of course my Solidlights don't look as impressive any more, this is the problem with lights, once you know there are brighter lights out there you existing lights suddenly seem rather dim.
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Update.
I just bought a B&M IXON IQ and it's superb.
4 x AA rechargeables.
Nor quite as bright as my dynamo-powered Cyo but almost.
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Update.
I just bought a B&M IXON IQ and it's superb.
4 x AA rechargeables.
Nor quite as bright as my dynamo-powered Cyo but almost.
I've had one of these for over a year and I agree they are superb.
Watch out which rechargeables you buy though. Some of them lose their charge in a couple of days, even with no use.
The Sanyo Eneloop or similar low self-discharge batteries will last a lot longer.
(In summer, I leave the light in my work bag in case I get stuck at work, but usually right home before dark. So it can be a few days between charges.)
I've got the light mounted on a Cat-Eye device which is a brake booster mounted on the canti pivots with the top horizontal and expanded to the same diameter as a handlebar. Looks inelegant, but puts the light where it belongs, just above the front wheel. These mounts seem to have disappeared from the Cat-Eye catalogue.
B&M do a mount for the Ixon which can be attached to the fork crown, but it won't work with cantilever brakes, and would be tricky with V-brakes (except where they are mounted behind the fork, of course.)
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Mine's on a Minoura Space-Grip so it's central and just in front of the handlebar stem. It means I can adjust it up and down as the situation dictates.
I used it on a recent 600km Audax ride and it got me all through the night. Admittedly I used it on low power setting a lot (where it is still better than my old Cateye light) and saved full power for downhills.
I was carrying a set of Lithium AAs just in case.
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I recently bought a set of Ayup lights and highly recommend them. The brightest, lightest lights I've had in 30 years of cycling. I also have an EL530 Cateye, which though good enough, is quite dim by comparison to the Ayup. The Cateye is fine for commuting. The Ayup (my set is helmet mounted but they are available in a variety of configurations) is ideal for turning pitch-black bush tracks into almost daylight. http://www.ayup.com.au
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B&M do a mount for the Ixon which can be attached to the fork crown, but it won't work with cantilever brakes, and would be tricky with V-brakes (except where they are mounted behind the fork, of course.)
My Ixon IQ fits perfectly well on the B&M fork crown mount with cantilever brakes. Brilliant light.