Advice please: Lights

p.k. said:

I've narrowed my choice down to two:

CATEYE ABS30 @ £108

or

Lumicycle NiMH System 2004 with Two Lamps @ £169

Late summer evening and dark winter evening rides off road on unlit
gravel trails.

Any views?

pk

I have a Lumicycle NiMH system with one 20W mid lamp and I wouldn't be
without it. It is very bright and the battery on a full charge will last
over two hours.

Cheers,
--
Len.

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

Quoted message said:

p.k. said:

I've narrowed my choice down to two:

CATEYE ABS30 @ £108

or

Lumicycle NiMH System 2004 with Two Lamps @ £169

Late summer evening and dark winter evening rides off road on unlit
gravel trails.

Any views?

pk

I have a Lumicycle NiMH system with one 20W mid lamp and I wouldn't be
without it. It is very bright and the battery on a full charge will last
over two hours.

I'm a very happy Lumicycle owner. The other great thing is that they are UK
based, therefore any small fixes (I had a frayed wire/connector) was
replaced by return post in a matter of days. They also fully tested the
batteries before returning them.

Great service, great lamps, great battery life.

p.k. said:

I've narrowed my choice down to two:

CATEYE ABS30 @ £108

or

Lumicycle NiMH System 2004 with Two Lamps @ £169

Can't comment on the Cateye but I'm pleased with my Lumi (Li-Ion) system.
Seems v good value for money and the systems are very versatile (re ways
to mount lamps and available bulbs, etc).

~PB

p.k. said:

I've narrowed my choice down to two:

CATEYE ABS30 @ 108
or
Lumicycle NiMH System 2004 with Two Lamps @ 169

If that's teh choice, Lumi.
Good product, very good people to deal with.

regards, Ian SMith

Ian Smith <[email hidden]> wrote:

: If that's teh choice, Lumi.
: Good product, very good people to deal with.

Yet another vote for lumis.

My only mistake was to get the bag battery not the bottle one. Only get the bag if
you haven't got any bottle cages to fit the bottle battery in.

--
Arthur Clune PGP/GPG Key: http://www.clune.org/pubkey.txt
Don't get me wrong, perl is an OK operating system, but it lacks a
lightweight scripting language -- Walter Dnes

Arthur Clune said:

My only mistake was to get the bag battery not the bottle one. Only get the bag if
you haven't got any bottle cages to fit the bottle battery in.

I would advise the other way round. I'm very glad I got the bag
battery, and I have a friend who regretted getting the bottle battery
after seeing my bag battery.

If you ever want to mount the light(s) to a helmet then it's better to
carry the battery on your person than mounted to the bike. The bag
battery fits easily in a pocket. And if you later decide you want a
bottle battery then the bag battery fits quite easily into a water
bottle, with only minor surgery to the bottle.

--
Danny Colyer (the UK company has been laughed out of my reply address)
<URL:http://www.speedy5.freeserve.co.uk/danny/>
"He who dares not offend cannot be honest." - Thomas Paine

in message <[email hidden]>, p.k.

(') said:

Lumicycle NiMH System 2004 with Two Lamps @ £169

Late summer evening and dark winter evening rides off road on unlit
gravel trails.

I have the 2003 version of this. It has one significant fault: the
connector plugs can vibrate loose, causing the light to fail suddenly.
I now have mine zip-tied in so they can't. This may have been fixed in
the 2004 version.

Otherwise, very good indeed - very bright, and with very reasonable run
time. However, the new ultra-high-power LED lights have much longer run
time and must be coming down in price by now. Solidlights do one and
USE do another. Worth checking out - but if the price is still
stratospheric get the Lumicycles.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

Morning had broken, and there was nothing we could do but wait
patiently for the RAC to arrive.

Simon Brooke said:

in message <[email hidden]>, p.k.

(') said:

Lumicycle NiMH System 2004 with Two Lamps @ 169

Late summer evening and dark winter evening rides off road on unlit
gravel trails.

I have the 2003 version of this. It has one significant fault: the
connector plugs can vibrate loose, causing the light to fail suddenly.
I now have mine zip-tied in so they can't. This may have been fixed in
the 2004 version.

Otherwise, very good indeed - very bright, and with very reasonable
run time. However, the new ultra-high-power LED lights have much
longer run time and must be coming down in price by now. Solidlights
do one and USE do another. Worth checking out - but if the price is
still stratospheric get the Lumicycles.

The vote does seem to be pretty unanimous!

I've had a look at the USE Exposure - looks great and sooo light, but the
price (£238 on wiggle) is too much to justify

Looks like it will be lumis!

pk

in message <[email hidden]>, Danny Colyer

(') said:

Arthur Clune said:

My only mistake was to get the bag battery not the bottle one. Only
get the bag if you haven't got any bottle cages to fit the bottle
battery in.

I would advise the other way round. I'm very glad I got the bag
battery, and I have a friend who regretted getting the bottle battery
after seeing my bag battery.

Another vote for bottle over bag every time. Much neater and easier to
get on and off the bike.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; Madness takes its toll. Please have exact change.

Simon Brooke <[email hidden]> wrote:

: Otherwise, very good indeed - very bright, and with very reasonable run
: time. However, the new ultra-high-power LED lights have much longer run
: time and must be coming down in price by now.

Still a lot more. I'd expect that that won't be true in a couple of years
when I come to replace my lumis though.

--
Arthur Clune PGP/GPG Key: http://www.clune.org/pubkey.txt
Don't get me wrong, perl is an OK operating system, but it lacks a
lightweight scripting language -- Walter Dnes

Danny Colyer <[email hidden]> wrote:

: I would advise the other way round. I'm very glad I got the bag
: battery, and I have a friend who regretted getting the bottle battery
: after seeing my bag battery.

Interesting vote the other way. I tend not to wear a helmet, so don't need
to mount it to that or have it on my person.

My project before the winter is indeed to mount the batter in an old water
bottle, so as you say, it's not that hard to fix.

Arthur

--
Arthur Clune PGP/GPG Key: http://www.clune.org/pubkey.txt
Don't get me wrong, perl is an OK operating system, but it lacks a
lightweight scripting language -- Walter Dnes

Simon Brooke said:

in message <[email hidden]>, Danny Colyer

(') said:

Arthur Clune said:

My only mistake was to get the bag battery not the bottle one. Only
get the bag if you haven't got any bottle cages to fit the bottle
battery in.

I would advise the other way round. I'm very glad I got the bag
battery, and I have a friend who regretted getting the bottle battery
after seeing my bag battery.

Another vote for bottle over bag every time. Much neater and easier to
get on and off the bike.

I vote for bag. Saves bottle cages for water bottles.

Battery under top tube is neat and quick enough to get on & off via the
velcro strap. It would help if there was more room in the bag for cable,
but I've found it is possible to stuff some in there. Bag is slightly
lighter than bottle as well.

~PB

Pete Biggs said:

Simon Brooke wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Another vote for bottle over bag every time. Much neater and
easier to get on and off the bike.

I vote for bag. Saves bottle cages for water bottles.

Battery under top tube is neat and quick enough to get on & off via
the velcro strap. It would help if there was more room in the bag
for cable, but I've found it is possible to stuff some in there.
Bag is slightly lighter than bottle as well.

Both solutions have downsides. I've seen the paint rubbed off one or
two top tubes by the constant slight movement of the bag. The other
system, as well as taking up a bottle cage, can damage said cage with
its weight. I've had a wire cage shear when carrying a bottle battery.
If you have a bottle battery and an Airzound that's two bottle cages
taken up. Then if you're one of those people who wants to carry tools
and a rain jacket in an old cut-off bottle that's three cages you need
and you've still got nowhere to carry a drink. :-)

--
Dave...

in message <[email hidden]>,

dkahn400 (') said:

Pete Biggs said:

Simon Brooke wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Another vote for bottle over bag every time. Much neater and
easier to get on and off the bike.

I vote for bag. Saves bottle cages for water bottles.

Battery under top tube is neat and quick enough to get on & off via
the velcro strap. It would help if there was more room in the bag
for cable, but I've found it is possible to stuff some in there.
Bag is slightly lighter than bottle as well.

Both solutions have downsides. I've seen the paint rubbed off one or
two top tubes by the constant slight movement of the bag.

Since the big bright light systems are only really used on mountain
bikes off road, and seeing that a mountain bike off road spends at
least some of its time clattering down rock faces on any part but its
wheels, things which might damage the paintwork on a mountain bike are
a little academic. The paintwork on a mountain bike is /going/ to get
damaged.

I get terribly stressed about anything which might mar the finish of my
beloved Dolan, but my equally beloved Cannondale wears its many battle
scars with pride.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; this is not a .sig

Simon Brooke said:

in message <[email hidden]>,

dkahn400 (') said:

Both solutions have downsides. I've seen the paint rubbed off one or
two top tubes by the constant slight movement of the bag.

Since the big bright light systems are only really used on mountain
bikes off road, and seeing that a mountain bike off road spends at
least some of its time clattering down rock faces on any part but its
wheels

The original poster was talking about unlit gravel paths, not rock faces,
and the lower power Lumicycle spots are entirely plausible as commuting
lights, or for Audax use.