So how bright is an EL300?

David Martin [email hidden] opined the following...

Quoted message said:

I'm looking for a front light that is light, has a good run time and is
bright enough for road riding at a reasonable speed. It should also be
rapidly demountable so I can remove the whole thing off the bike.

I have a cheap LED light that has 5 white LED's and provides enough light to
pootle along at about 10mph in pitch black, but this is not quite bright
enough to see changes in the road surface. It's good enough to keep on the
road with though and to be seen by.

Looking through the various online sites, the EL300 cateye one seems to be
rated well. Does anyone use one of these regularly at night and how do the y
find it?
My usual night riding set up is a smart twin 2.4/10W lamp but that is heavy
and the bracket cannot be rapidly removed from the bike.

A second option would be the cheapest cateye rechargeable, or seeing what
EBC have in their sale.

(I found the lupine lights but they are somewhat out of my price range.)

If you're handy with a soldering iron and fancy some designing it's
possible to buy an LED from Lumileds that may well rival the standard
halogen spots but consumes considerably less power (Consider probably a
complete night's riding for the same batteries!).

As soon as I can work out the housing I'll be replacing my Smart
spotlight.

Jon

Jon Senior said:

If you're handy with a soldering iron and fancy some designing it's
possible to buy an LED from Lumileds that may well rival the standard
halogen spots but consumes considerably less power (Consider probably a
complete night's riding for the same batteries!).

You can buy them ready made

Solid Lights in Cambridge do a 3W LED. Not pretty or cheap but
certainly bright for an LED light (look for their comparison with a 20%
overvolted 10W halogen on the website). http://www.solidlights.co.uk/

Prettier but no cheaper are Exposure Lights made by USE which go up to a
5W LED
http://www.exposurelights.com/index.htm

Much cheaper is the 1W Planetbike (at $35) which would be my choice over
the Cateye.
http://www.planetbike.com/frontlights.html#

Tony

Tony Raven [email hidden] opined the following...

Quoted message said:

You can buy them ready made

Solid Lights in Cambridge do a 3W LED. Not pretty or cheap but
certainly bright for an LED light (look for their comparison with a 20%
overvolted 10W halogen on the website). http://www.solidlights.co.uk/

Looks good. The 1W LED complete with 10 degree collimating lens costs
about £10 + VAT. The 3W comes with a separate lens and costs about £15
+VAT. If you can then build a case for it (Incorporating the heatsink)
for less than £100 then you're still quids in!

Quoted message said:

Prettier but no cheaper are Exposure Lights made by USE which go up to a
5W LED
http://www.exposurelights.com/index.htm

Titanium case + Lithion ion batteries... mmmmmmm!

Quoted message said:

Much cheaper is the 1W Planetbike (at $35) which would be my choice over
the Cateye.
http://www.planetbike.com/frontlights.html#

Cool. That's the sort of thing that I'm looking to build but running off
a separate recharable pack. Is there a UK source for these that you know
of?

Jon

On 27/8/04 7:58 am, in article [email hidden],

Jon Senior' jon_AT_restlesslemon_DOTco_DOT_uk said:

Tony Raven [email hidden] opined the following...

Quoted message said:

You can buy them ready made

Solid Lights in Cambridge do a 3W LED. Not pretty or cheap but
certainly bright for an LED light (look for their comparison with a 20%
overvolted 10W halogen on the website). http://www.solidlights.co.uk/

As you say, not pretty or cheap but look very nice. Not really sure I need a
PC interface to the lights though.. Might be worth saving up for for next
year or when my SLA halogen breaks.

Quoted message said:

Looks good. The 1W LED complete with 10 degree collimating lens costs
about £10 + VAT. The 3W comes with a separate lens and costs about £15
+VAT. If you can then build a case for it (Incorporating the heatsink)
for less than £100 then you're still quids in!

If you have any good ideas for circuits/designs then I can weild a soldering
iron. (but not much better than I can a welder.) What would the
possibilities be of bodging such an LED into a cheap lamp body?

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Prettier but no cheaper are Exposure Lights made by USE which go up to a
5W LED
http://www.exposurelights.com/index.htm

Titanium case + Lithion ion batteries... mmmmmmm!

That would be a bit extreme for me. All I want to be able to do is to see
the road at 20 mph. My 10W smart is fine off road for that and more. I'm
really looking for something in the equivalent of a good dynamo light.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Much cheaper is the 1W Planetbike (at $35) which would be my choice over
the Cateye.
http://www.planetbike.com/frontlights.html#

Cool. That's the sort of thing that I'm looking to build but running off
a separate recharable pack. Is there a UK source for these that you know
of?

I would expect the 1W LED to be much brighter than a 1W halogen? It looks
pretty good if only there was a UK distributor.

Have to browse in EBC tomorrow..

...d

David Martin <[email hidden]> wrote:
: I'm looking for a front light that is light, has a good run time and is
: bright enough for road riding at a reasonable speed. It should also be
: rapidly demountable so I can remove the whole thing off the bike.

Is this for round town or unlight lane use?

I find the only thing that permits riding at "reasonable speed" on unlight
lanes is a >10W blub. 5W is the bare minimum. You can get 5W one-unit
lights, but they are pretty heavy.

Erm. Scratch that. You could get the Specialized PreView Pro but it seems
to be discontinued. I can't find a 5W front light that is one unit. Sigh.

Round town I'm not using my front light to see with, but to be seen by
(and reflectives are more important in town) so I'm happy with a 3W
dynamo.

Using just the dynamo on unlight lanes cuts my speed considerably (from
20mph to around 15).

Looking at the Cateye, I'd guess it'll throw no more light than the dynamo.

Arthur

--
Arthur Clune http://www.clune.org
"Technolibertarians make a philosophy out of a personality defect"
- Paulina Borsook

Arthur Clune said:

David Martin <[email hidden]> wrote:
: I'm looking for a front light that is light, has a good run time and is
: bright enough for road riding at a reasonable speed. It should also be
: rapidly demountable so I can remove the whole thing off the bike.

Is this for round town or unlight lane use?

Unlit lanes. Most of these are pretty open but there are places where there
are trees and it becomes quite dark.

Quoted message said:

I find the only thing that permits riding at "reasonable speed" on unlight
lanes is a >10W blub. 5W is the bare minimum. You can get 5W one-unit
lights, but they are pretty heavy.

Weight wouldn't be too much of a problem. Ease of removal of all parts from
the bike would be important.

Quoted message said:

Erm. Scratch that. You could get the Specialized PreView Pro but it seems
to be discontinued. I can't find a 5W front light that is one unit. Sigh.

Doesn't matter if it is one or two parts.

Quoted message said:

Round town I'm not using my front light to see with, but to be seen by
(and reflectives are more important in town) so I'm happy with a 3W
dynamo.

I'm happy with my round town setup

Quoted message said:

Using just the dynamo on unlight lanes cuts my speed considerably (from
20mph to around 15).

I presume that is the visibility limiting your speed rather than the dynamo
itself.

Quoted message said:

Looking at the Cateye, I'd guess it'll throw no more light than the dynamo.

That would be equivalent to the low power on my SMART setup, which would be
fine for me.

...d

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

Quoted message said:

Looking through the various online sites, the EL300 cateye one seems to be
rated well. Does anyone use one of these regularly at night and how do the

y

Quoted message said:

find it?

The EL300 is an excellent commuter lamp for city streets, it will get you
seen. However, it is no good for unlit streets where you need to see the
road surface, it is not bright enough for that.

--
Simon Mason
Anlaby
East Yorkshire.
53°44'N 0°26'W
http://www.simonmason.karoo.net

Arthur Clune said:

Looking at the Cateye, I'd guess it'll throw no more light than the dynamo.

There are some interesting comparisons at:
http://www.fa-technik.adfc.de/Komponenten/Scheinwerfer/vergleich.htm
&
http://www.audax.uk.net/lights/beams1.htm

Tony

Jon Senior said:

Tony Raven [email hidden] opined the following...

Titanium case + Lithion ion batteries... mmmmmmm!

Reportedly £250! But as bright as a 32W halogen!

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Much cheaper is the 1W Planetbike (at $35) which would be my choice over
the Cateye.
http://www.planetbike.com/frontlights.html#

Cool. That's the sort of thing that I'm looking to build but running off
a separate recharable pack. Is there a UK source for these that you know
of?

I would try Wiggle. They sell Planet Bike stuff branded as Smart in
their lights section. This one isn't on their website but might be
worth asking if they can get it. Otherwise you could try the Spanish
importer on their website or order from Performance Bikes in the US who
ship internationally and have them for $30
http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=18046&subcategory_ID=4320

I've used Performance before and they have been pretty good.

Plan to pick one up from Mountain Equipment Coop in Vancouver when I'm
there next month.

Don't know whether the new Cateye HL-EL 500 uses the Lumileds or not but
that is now available in the UK.

Tony

Tony

David Martin <[email hidden]> wrote:

: Doesn't matter if it is one or two parts.

Something like a smart set isn't too hard to take off quickly with the
bottle cage mount, but not as quick as one unit on the handlebars.

:> Using just the dynamo on unlight lanes cuts my speed considerably (from
:> 20mph to around 15).

: I presume that is the visibility limiting your speed rather than the dynamo
: itself.

It'd be the world's worst hub dynamo if so! It gets limiting on bendy roads
with only 3W. I also get a no problems with cars not dipping their lights
when using the 12W.

Arthur

--
Arthur Clune http://www.clune.org
"Technolibertarians make a philosophy out of a personality defect"
- Paulina Borsook

Tony Raven said:

Arthur Clune said:

Looking at the Cateye, I'd guess it'll throw no more light than the
dynamo.

There are some interesting comparisons at:
http://www.fa-technik.adfc.de/Komponenten/Scheinwerfer/vergleich.htm
&
http://www.audax.uk.net/lights/beams1.htm

Tony

Sorry, you need this one as well comparing a Cateye EL-300 with a normal
halogen lamp

http://www.fa-technik.adfc.de/Komponenten/Scheinwerfer/LED/index.html

Tony

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

Quoted message said:

Looking through the various online sites, the EL300 cateye one seems to be
rated well. Does anyone use one of these regularly at night and how do the

y

Quoted message said:

find it?

I have an EL300, and I'd say it's a good light to be seen by but not so good
for illuminating the road ahead. It's bright, no doubt, but it's a fairly
tight beam and I find the bluish hue isn't so good for illuminating black
tarmac. I found the spread of light and colour (yellow hue) of a
conventional bulb in a standard 3W dynamo light better for illuminating the
road, even if it didn't project as far or look as bright to oncoming
traffic.

Rich

David Martin said:

Looking through the various online sites, the EL300 cateye one seems
to be rated well. Does anyone use one of these regularly at night and
how do the y find it?

Great for being seen and /almost/ bright enough for seeing. I have two on
the Speedmachine and they were OK on last year's Dunwich Dynamo provided I
didn't go mental on the downhill bits...

--

Dave Larrington - http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/
===========================================================
Editor - British Human Power Club Newsletter
http://www.bhpc.org.uk/
===========================================================

Tony Raven said:

Arthur Clune said:

Looking at the Cateye, I'd guess it'll throw no more light than the dynamo.

There are some interesting comparisons at:
http://www.fa-technik.adfc.de/Komponenten/Scheinwerfer/vergleich.htm
&
http://www.audax.uk.net/lights/beams1.htm

Looking at the pics it seems that the EL300 may just be up to the job..
worth a try anyway.

...d

Dave Larrington said:

David Martin said:

Looking through the various online sites, the EL300 cateye one seems
to be rated well. Does anyone use one of these regularly at night and
how do the y find it?

Great for being seen and /almost/ bright enough for seeing. I have two on
the Speedmachine and they were OK on last year's Dunwich Dynamo provided I
didn't go mental on the downhill bits...

Most of my dark riding is in town and on flat bits - or occasionally along a
riverside path/cycleway. The EL300 is fine for town (you very rarely
need a light to see anyway). Along the river I do tend to go a bit more
slowly and wear a head torch from ultraleds.co.uk. I have not seen their
bike light (which has 8 leds) so cannot compare it to the EL300 but at only
11.75 GBP must be worth it even if you are only going to use it as a standby.

They do sell the leds and collimating lens separately so if someone does
want to make their own led super light ...

--
Andy Leighton => [email hidden]
"The Lord is my shepherd, but we still lost the sheep dog trials"
- Robert Rankin, _They Came And Ate Us_

David Martin said:

Looking through the various online sites, the EL300 cateye one seems to be
rated well. Does anyone use one of these regularly at night and how do the y
find it?

I have an EL300 which I use as my main front light. Batteries last at
least six months - with dailly use during the winter! My riding is
mainly in/around my small town, so I rarely need the light to see
with, and it's fine. If on a towpath, with no ambient light, I find
myself slowing down a little to feel safe.

Quoted message said:

My usual night riding set up is a smart twin 2.4/10W lamp but that is heavy
and the bracket cannot be rapidly removed from the bike.

If that's what you're used to, I think the EL300 might be a
disappointment.

Quite a few folk find that the LED lights, although looking bright,
have a different kind of light. Hard to explain, but the same
brightness seems to illuminate less well. Never sure exactly why, but
I'd agree.

Must get round to trying the EL500 as well, by the way:
http://www.cyclexpress.co.uk/products/HLEL_500_1409.asp

Quoted message said:

Much cheaper is the 1W Planetbike (at $35) which would be my choice over
the Cateye.
http://www.planetbike.com/frontlights.html#

I've had a Smart halogen light with exactly the same body, and that
didn't survive it's first serious shower. No problems with a Cateye
EL-200 and -300 (except they're not really bright enough, and it could
use a better bracket) so now I'll be buying a EL-500.

Still waiting for an affordable 3 watt with (bike-specific!)
reflector, instead of colminator.

Mark van Gorkom.

Mark van Gorkom said:

Quoted message said:

Much cheaper is the 1W Planetbike (at $35) which would be my choice over
the Cateye.
http://www.planetbike.com/frontlights.html#

I've had a Smart halogen light with exactly the same body, and that
didn't survive it's first serious shower. No problems with a Cateye
EL-200 and -300 (except they're not really bright enough, and it could
use a better bracket) so now I'll be buying a EL-500.

Still waiting for an affordable 3 watt with (bike-specific!)
reflector, instead of colminator.

I got mine from Mountain Equipment Coop in Vancouver, where it tends to
be wet. Not had any problems with it in the LED & Planet Bike version

Tony

Tony Raven said:

I got mine from Mountain Equipment Coop in Vancouver, where it tends to
be wet. Not had any problems with it in the LED & Planet Bike version

And as it happens some friends of us are about to go to MEC in Vancouver
to shop for a foldable kayak so if David wants to put in an order for a
lamp...
Dangerous shop that!

Roos