Bike Headlights

Quoted message said:

I would like the long battery life, but not at the expense of too much

brightness.

Quoted message said:

So how close would they be? Thanks.

I believe both models come with batteries; why not see if the shop will set each one up and take
them into a dark room (perhaps a bathroom?) and find out for yourself? Not a great test, since
you're concerned with how well it throws a beam at a distance further than a bathroom allows, but
you'll still get some idea.

Either way, please keep in mind that 2.4 watt lights aren't going to give you enough to let you see
what's ahead of you. Their main purpose is to let others see you. If you're traveling fairly
well-lit streets, that's not a huge issue, but if you're out on the open road, you're going to need
something more powerful.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles chainreactionbicycles.comchainreactionbicycles.comOpen ↗

"Craig Holl" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm going to buy a headlight for my bike. I've got it narrowed down to

two

Quoted message said:

models: Trek Northern Light LED, and Trek Northern Light (2.4 W Halogen).

The

Quoted message said:

difference between the two is that the halogen lamp will use its batteries

in 3.5

Quoted message said:

hours, whereas the LED batteries will last 100 hours. My question is:

what is the

Quoted message said:

brightness difference between the two? The people at the bike shop said

they're

Quoted message said:

about the same. I have a hard time believing that, due to the battery

life. LED

Quoted message said:

technology is more efficient than halogen, but 30x more efficient?

I would like the long battery life, but not at the expense of too much

brightness.

Quoted message said:

So how close would they be? Thanks.

Craig

Well, there are 2 purposes of headlights. One is visibility - that is for other people to see
YOU. And the other is illumination - so you can see things like pot holes, road kills, lil
animals, and joggers.

Both lights will give decent visibility. The LED will give just about 0 illumination. The halogen
will give a little bit but not much. You need about 15 watts to give illumination and even that
really isn't enough if you are riding very fast.

"Craig Holl" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm going to buy a headlight for my bike. I've got it narrowed down to

two

Quoted message said:

models: Trek Northern Light LED, and Trek Northern Light (2.4 W Halogen).

The

Quoted message said:

difference between the two is that the halogen lamp will use its batteries

in 3.5

Quoted message said:

hours, whereas the LED batteries will last 100 hours. My question is:

what is the

Quoted message said:

brightness difference between the two? The people at the bike shop said

they're

Quoted message said:

about the same. I have a hard time believing that, due to the battery

life. LED

Quoted message said:

technology is more efficient than halogen, but 30x more efficient?

I would like the long battery life, but not at the expense of too much

brightness.

Quoted message said:

So how close would they be? Thanks.

Why do you want light? If it is for light duty (e.g. a one-mile commute usually done in daylight,
but occasionally at night), you will want something that will just last for a long time, so you
don't have to worry. Get the LED and some alkaline batteries. It will always be there for you.

If you are actually going to right at night, you might want to do what I do. I have both of these
(well, the Cateye versions). I have NiMH rechargeable batteries, which are very economical for
re-use but will self-discharge in about 3 months. With two lights, you get substantially more
illumination, and the longer run time of the LED means I don't worry about being out too long. Plus,
all these lights are fallible, and I really, really don't like being without any illumination.

(On the commuter bike, I bought a German generator from Peter White that I like a lot; it's
quite bright. I use the LED there for added attention and because the generator stops when I'm
not moving.)

My experience with the Cateye lights (each of which has 4 AA batteries) is that the halogen is
brighter, although not as much as you'd think given the difference in battery life. As usual, Mike J
has a good suggestion: check it out for yourself in a dark room.

"Craig Holl" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm going to buy a headlight for my bike. I've got it narrowed down to two models: Trek Northern
Light LED, and Trek Northern Light (2.4 W Halogen). The difference between the two is that the
halogen lamp will use its batteries in 3.5 hours, whereas the LED batteries will last 100 hours. My
question is: what is the brightness difference between the two? The people at the bike shop said
they're about the same. I have a hard time believing that, due to the battery life. LED technology
is more efficient than halogen, but 30x more efficient?

I would like the long battery life, but not at the expense of too much brightness. So how close
would they be? Thanks.

Neither of those is going to do much as far as illuminating the road, but obviously you only care
about "being seen" not seeing the road.

Look at the Lightman strobes, combined with an LED light to "stay legal." The xenon strobes are the
best solution in terms of being seen.

If you want a lighting system that actually illuminates the road in front of you, you're looking at
spending about $50 just for the front. For the rear get a Lightman Xenon strobe.

i.e.: aebike.compage.cfmOpen ↗ or
aebike.compage.cfmOpen ↗

See these two excellent web sites for more information (yes they're mine):

bicyclelighting.combicyclelighting.comOpen ↗ commutebike.comcommutebike.comOpen ↗

Steve

"Craig Holl" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm going to buy a headlight for my bike. I've got it narrowed down to

two

Quoted message said:

models: Trek Northern Light LED, and Trek Northern Light (2.4 W Halogen). I would like the long
battery life, but not at the expense of too much

brightness.

Quoted message said:

So how close would they be? Thanks.

The halogen is brighter but not a whole lot. They both look really bright in a dark room but on a
winding country road you'll sometimes wonder if you forgot to turn them on. Offroad they're good
for walking.

The battery life of 3.5 hours for the halogen... the light dims fast. It's really bright when you
first turn it on but in a few minutes.... Good for short rides.

Doug Toronto

Mike Jacoubowsky said:

Either way, please keep in mind that 2.4 watt lights aren't going to give you enough to let you
see what's ahead of you. Their main purpose is to let others see you. If you're traveling fairly
well-lit streets, that's not a huge issue, but if you're out on the open road, you're going to
need something more powerful.

I'm a bit surprised that nobody responded to this, as many people put on many miles on those wimpy
2.4W headlamps. I myself have done about 500km since I got a Lumotec two months ago, both in urban
an rural settings. Open roads in the unlit countryside are a joy with a 2.4 -- it's the semi-urban
roads alternating between bright illumination and darkness that are annoying. (That, and drivers in
the unlit countryside that won't bother turning off their high beams for you.)

--
Frederic Briere <*> [email hidden]

=> <[email hidden]> IS NO MORE: <http://www.abacomsucks.com> <=

Frederic Briere said:

I'm a bit surprised that nobody responded to this, as many people put on many miles on those wimpy
2.4W headlamps. I myself have done about 500km since I got a Lumotec two months ago, both in urban
an rural settings. Open roads in the unlit countryside are a joy with a 2.4 -- it's the semi-urban
roads alternating between bright illumination and darkness that are annoying. (That, and drivers
in the unlit countryside that won't bother turning off their high beams for you.)

Put TWO 2.4W headlamps on the bars and they'll lower their brights automatically. In addition you'll
have wonderful illumination, aiming one just ahead of the other.

Cars expect two lights and react automatically to them.

I use two Cateye HL-1500's, and two (steady) Eclipse taillights for the same reason, that it's what
cars expect and interpret quickly.
--
Ron Hardin [email hidden]

On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk.

Ron Hardin said:

Put TWO 2.4W headlamps on the bars and they'll lower their brights automatically. In addition
you'll have wonderful illumination, aiming one just ahead of the other.

That would be too much for my little Dymotec...

Quoted message said:

Cars expect two lights and react automatically to them.

I've heard that many times on this group, and I always wondered if motorcyclists have the
same problem.

--
Frederic Briere <*> [email hidden]

=> <[email hidden]> IS NO MORE: <http://www.abacomsucks.com> <=

"Ron Hardin" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Put TWO 2.4W headlamps on the bars and they'll lower their brights automatically. In addition
you'll have wonderful illumination, aiming one just ahead of the other.

Cars expect two lights and react automatically to them.

I have two lights for more illumination (14W x 2) and I have noticed that vehicles are less likely
to do stupid things because I think that a single weak light signals to them that you're on a bike
and must be moving very slowly, i.e. 5 mph, but with dual lights they aren't sure what you are until
it's too late for them do something stupid.

In article said:

I have two lights for more illumination (14W x 2) and I have noticed that vehicles are less likely
to do stupid things because I think that a single weak light signals to them that you're on a bike
and must be moving very slowly, i.e. 5 mph, but with dual lights they aren't sure what you are
until it's too late for them do something stupid.

I have my Union generator headlight mounted on the left fork blade, pitching its beam "underhanded".
I also have my old CatEye HL-500 mounted up on the handlebar, and aimed so its spot overlaps a bit
on the Union headlight's, and slightly ahead of it. The combined spot casts enough shadow to create
a 3-D effect on potholes, anti-potholes[*] and other road imperfections & debris. The resultant
brightened spot announces my approach to blind, residential sidestreet intersections quite nicely.
The higher-up CatEye illuminates stop signs and suchlike, and the over/under (rather than
side-by-each) configuration is so unusual as to empuzzle[**] oncoming drivers.

It all works very well.

cheers, Tom

[*] those little mesas or square-sided clots of spare asphalt rising an inch or two above the
street surface.

[**] I'm not really sure if "empuzzle" is truly a word. Oh, well.

--
-- Powered by FreeBSD Above address is just a spam midden. I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn
[point] bc [point] ca

white leds are about as efficient as halogens,

Craig Holl said:

I'm going to buy a headlight for my bike. I've got it narrowed down to two models: Trek Northern
Light LED, and Trek Northern Light (2.4 W Halogen). The difference between the two is that the
halogen lamp will use its batteries in 3.5 hours, whereas the LED batteries will last 100 hours. My
question is: what is the brightness difference between the two? The people at the bike shop said
they're about the same. I have a hard time believing that, due to the battery life. LED technology
is more efficient than halogen, but 30x more efficient?

I would like the long battery life, but not at the expense of too much brightness. So how close
would they be? Thanks.

Craig

Steven M. Scharf said:

"Craig Holl" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm going to buy a headlight for my bike. I've got it narrowed down to two models: Trek Northern
Light LED, and Trek Northern Light (2.4 W Halogen). The difference between the two is that the
halogen lamp will use its batteries in 3.5 hours, whereas the LED batteries will last 100 hours.
My question is: what is the brightness difference between the two? The people at the bike shop
said they're about the same. I have a hard time believing that, due to the battery life. LED
technology is more efficient than halogen, but 30x more efficient?

I would like the long battery life, but not at the expense of too much brightness. So how close
would they be? Thanks.

Neither of those is going to do much as far as illuminating the road, but obviously you only care
about "being seen" not seeing the road.

hmm, yeah, i go for a bit extra with visability, a 55 watt driving light, pointed pretty much
parrallel with the road.

Quoted message said:

Look at the Lightman strobes, combined with an LED light to "stay legal." The xenon strobes are the
best solution in terms of being seen.

If you want a lighting system that actually illuminates the road in front of you, you're looking at
spending about $50 just for the front. For the rear get a Lightman Xenon strobe.

i.e.: aebike.compage.cfmOpen ↗ or
aebike.compage.cfmOpen ↗

See these two excellent web sites for more information (yes they're mine):

bicyclelighting.combicyclelighting.comOpen ↗ commutebike.comcommutebike.comOpen ↗

Steve

Tom Keats said:

[**] I'm not really sure if "empuzzle" is truly a word. Oh, well.

It's a perfectly cromulent word.

"Yvonne" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

"Ron Hardin" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Put TWO 2.4W headlamps on the bars and they'll lower their brights automatically. In addition
you'll have wonderful illumination, aiming one just ahead of the other.

Cars expect two lights and react automatically to them.

I have two lights for more illumination (14W x 2) and I have noticed that vehicles are less likely
to do stupid things because I think that a single weak light signals to them that you're on a bike
and must be moving very slowly, i.e. 5 mph, but with dual lights they aren't sure what you are
until it's too late for them do something stupid.

I'm curious about how you know "vehicles are less likely to do stupid things" when you use
two lights.

What I mean is, I'm sure I could never detect such a thing in my riding, because I so seldom
observe such "stupid things" when I ride at night. I'm quite sure I'm treated _better_ at night
than in the daytime!

Because there are light extremists who post here, I was observing carefully the other night, riding
home from work around 8 PM. I was using a single 2.4 watt generator light. There were at least six
or eight times cars obviously waited for me to pass before making their move - either waiting at
stop signs when I had the ROW, or waiting in the oncoming direction before turning left. In several
of those cases, the waits were quite unnecessary. They had plenty of time to safely move on.

I've done at least occasional night commuting for 25 years. Nearly all of that has been with a
single generator headlight. I've never had any motorist do anything that indicated he didn't see me.
I can't see how that would be any better with more headlights!

- Frank Krygowski

Frank Krygowski said:

I've done at least occasional night commuting for 25 years. Nearly all of that has been with a
single generator headlight. I've never had any motorist do anything that indicated he didn't see
me. I can't see how that would be any better with more headlights!

If you have two headlights, cars are much more likely to treat you with low beams.
--
Ron Hardin [email hidden]

On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk.

"Arpit" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

hmm, yeah, i go for a bit extra with visability, a 55 watt driving light, pointed pretty much
parrallel with the road.

That's really overdoing it, your battery must be huge. 10-25W is really sufficient.

"Yvonne" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Ron Hardin" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Put TWO 2.4W headlamps on the bars and they'll lower their brights automatically. In addition
you'll have wonderful illumination, aiming

one

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

just ahead of the other.

Cars expect two lights and react automatically to them.

I have two lights for more illumination (14W x 2) and I have noticed that vehicles are less likely
to do stupid things because I think that a single weak light signals to them that you're on a bike
and must be moving very slowly, i.e. 5 mph, but with dual lights they aren't sure what you are
until it's too late for them do something stupid.

I've seen the same thing. It's almost like with a single weak headlight, or even a single good
headlight, they'll think that you can't be riding 20 mph so they'll turn left in front of you, come
out of parking lots without taking you into account. There must be something
psychological about the two beams that doesn't register as a bicycle. Maybe I'll try going down to
dual 5W beams and see if that works as well as the higher power lights.

Steven M. Scharf said:

psychological about the two beams that doesn't register as a bicycle. Maybe I'll try going down to
dual 5W beams and see if that works as well as the higher power lights.

Won't two 5W lights mounted close together look like one beam from a distance? I have a 5W light and
a 20W light. I see no difference in whether I have both or one or the other turned on. The fact that
cars see me with a good light seem to be enough for them to treat me like any other vehicle.

I really don't believe any car driver is so dumb that he can mistake two strong flashlights,
mounted 6 inches apart, for a car. I'll do a test one day and maybe I'll have to eat my words, but
until then....

--
Perre

You have to be smarter than a robot to reply.

"Per Elmsäter" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Steven M. Scharf said:

psychological about the two beams that doesn't register as a bicycle. Maybe I'll try going down
to dual 5W beams and see if that works as well as the higher power lights.

Won't two 5W lights mounted close together look like one beam from a distance? I have a 5W light
and a 20W light. I see no difference in whether I have both or one or the other turned on. The
fact that cars see me with a good light seem to be enough for them to treat me like any other
vehicle.

I really don't believe any car driver is so dumb that he can mistake two strong flashlights,
mounted 6 inches apart, for a car. I'll do a test one day and maybe I'll have to eat my words, but
until then....

Never underestimate the dumbness of a driver, though I think cluelessness is a fairer word.

It may be the type of lights I have as well. I'm using sealed beams (Intermatic Polystar LV504)
which look more like headlights than flashlights. They're about ten inches apart center to center.

See: nordicgroup.usdual14W.jpgOpen ↗

I don't even think that the drivers mistake me for a car, I think that they just don't believe that
I could be a bicycle because so few bicycles have adequate lighting.