Anybody using the DiNotte Ultralight?

Gooserider said:

Performance has this on sale for Team P members, and it looks like a well
made light with a very small footprint. Anybody have any experience with it?

I haven't used or even seen it (though I agree it looks very nice from
pictures), but the trend seems to be moving away from using higher power
LEDs (e.g. 5w Luxeons like the Dinotte has) to ganging together the
lower power LEDs (mainly 3w Luxeons). I guess yields on long life 5w
capable LEDs is lower?

--
I do not accept unsolicited commercial e-mail. Remove NO_UCE for
legitimate replies.

Gooserider said:

Performance has this on sale for Team P members, and it looks like a well
made light with a very small footprint. Anybody have any experience with it?

I haven't used or even seen it (though I agree it looks very nice from
pictures), but the trend seems to be moving away from using higher power
LEDs (e.g. 5w Luxeons like the Dinotte has) to ganging together the
lower power LEDs (mainly 3w Luxeons). I guess yields on long life 5w
capable LEDs is lower?

--
I do not accept unsolicited commercial e-mail. Remove NO_UCE for
legitimate replies.

Victor Kan said:

Gooserider said:

Performance has this on sale for Team P members, and it looks like a
well made light with a very small footprint. Anybody have any
experience with it?

I haven't used or even seen it (though I agree it looks very nice from
pictures), but the trend seems to be moving away from using higher power
LEDs (e.g. 5w Luxeons like the Dinotte has) to ganging together the
lower power LEDs (mainly 3w Luxeons). I guess yields on long life 5w
capable LEDs is lower?

Actually I don't think there are any commercially produced lights using 5W
LEDs. A few cutting edge ones like the L&M Vega are using 3W+ LEDs, but
the rest use 1W and under. Higher powered LEDs are still very expensive,
not fantastically efficient or long-lived, and handling the heat they
generate can be tricky. Note the price of the 3W+ models. More will
come, but it may take another year or two.

To answer the question though, I haven't seen the Dinotte in person or in
action.

Here's a nice comparison of some other popular headlight beams:

http://eddys.com/site/page.cfm?PageID=493

Matt O.

That's interesting, I've got one that looks identical to those Niterider
3-LED headlights, but mine is branded as Electron

Quoted message said:

http://eddys.com/site/page.cfm?PageID=493

"Matt O'Toole" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Victor Kan said:

Gooserider said:

Performance has this on sale for Team P members, and it looks like a
well made light with a very small footprint. Anybody have any
experience with it?

I haven't used or even seen it (though I agree it looks very nice from
pictures), but the trend seems to be moving away from using higher power
LEDs (e.g. 5w Luxeons like the Dinotte has) to ganging together the
lower power LEDs (mainly 3w Luxeons). I guess yields on long life 5w
capable LEDs is lower?

Actually I don't think there are any commercially produced lights using 5W
LEDs. A few cutting edge ones like the L&M Vega are using 3W+ LEDs, but
the rest use 1W and under. Higher powered LEDs are still very expensive,
not fantastically efficient or long-lived, and handling the heat they
generate can be tricky. Note the price of the 3W+ models. More will
come, but it may take another year or two.

To answer the question though, I haven't seen the Dinotte in person or in
action.

Here's a nice comparison of some other popular headlight beams:

http://eddys.com/site/page.cfm?PageID=493

Matt O.

Well, I exchanged some emails with a DiNotte sales rep, and he advised me
that Performance's price was very good, so I bought the light. The rep
offered to send me another set of batteries for free if I sent him a copy of
the receipt, and I had some Team P points, so I did it. I will post a report
after I get the light.

Mike

Matt O'Toole said:

Actually I don't think there are any commercially produced lights using 5W
LEDs. A few cutting edge ones like the L&M Vega are using 3W+ LEDs, but
the rest use 1W and under.

http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=20995&subcategory_ID=4320

Gooserider said:

Performance has this on sale for Team P members, and it looks like a well
made light with a very small footprint. Anybody have any experience with it?

I've been commuting with it since just before the time change. I'm quite
happy with it.

It is, indeed, a 5w LED. The 4-AA NiMH battery pack that comes with it
gives me between 1 and 2 hours on the bright setting (there are two
settings, bright and not-as-bright). I'm not real sure of the time since
I have a short commute. For me it lasts about a week before the red
indicator comes on and the light goes down to low beam.

When I first got it I did some side-by-side comparisons with my (failing
battery, but when it works it's as bright as ever) NightRider 15 watt.
The light of the DiNotte is not as tightly focused as the NightRider.
With the NightRider, your eye is pretty much glued to the circle of quite
bright light, and you have poor illumination of things to the side or
ahead of the spot. The DiNotte is, overall, just as bright, but with the
light spread out in a wider circle. Things like reflective signs up ahead
are better lit, and the patch of road ahead still has plenty of light to
see obstacles or potholes at 15-20mph. Looking at the bike from in front
the intensity of the DiNotte is much higher than the NightRider. Maybe if
you were looking at the Nightrider from where the spot of bright light is,
it would seem brighter, but the DiNotte is more noticeable to traffic in
front of you. I want drivers to look and think "what the hell is that
thing?" when I'm coming towards them, not "is there something there?" that
you get from a typical little light. The DiNotte does that well.

The low beam is still quite bright, but to really see you'd want to use
the high beam. The low is more than enough to be seen and noticed.

They warn about the light getting hot, but it doesn't really get more than
slightly warm on my commute. the NightRider, on the other hand, got quite
hot -- and if it got too hot, it would shut itself off. Just what you
need.

I'm sold on the DiNotte. It is pricey, but it gives enough light to
really see, is simple and rugged enough for everyday use, and is small,
quick and easy to attach. If the batteries go, I can (and will) get 12
more (three changes) for $16.95, rather than be told, as I was, that the
battery on my NightRider was irreplaceable (4.5V NiMH smart strap-on
pack). Heck, even if it could be replaced, it would be over $100 to do so.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | If all economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a
_`\(,_ | conclusion. -- George Bernard Shaw
(_)/ (_) |

Gooserider said:

Well, I exchanged some emails with a DiNotte sales rep, and he advised me
that Performance's price was very good, so I bought the light. The rep
offered to send me another set of batteries for free if I sent him a copy of
the receipt, and I had some Team P points, so I did it. I will post a report
after I get the light.

Yeah, let us know how it goes!

Matt O.

POHB said:

That's interesting, I've got one that looks identical to those Niterider
3-LED headlights, but mine is branded as Electron

Quoted message said:

http://eddys.com/site/page.cfm?PageID=493

That doesn't surprise me. I'm sure there are several different brands
coming from the same factories in Taiwan or wherever.

Matt O.

David L. Johnson said:

Gooserider said:

Performance has this on sale for Team P members, and it looks like a
well made light with a very small footprint. Anybody have any
experience with it?

I've been commuting with it since just before the time change. I'm
quite happy with it.

It is, indeed, a 5w LED. The 4-AA NiMH battery pack that comes with it
gives me between 1 and 2 hours on the bright setting (there are two
settings, bright and not-as-bright). I'm not real sure of the time
since I have a short commute. For me it lasts about a week before the
red indicator comes on and the light goes down to low beam.

When I first got it I did some side-by-side comparisons with my (failing
battery, but when it works it's as bright as ever) NightRider 15 watt.
The light of the DiNotte is not as tightly focused as the NightRider.
With the NightRider, your eye is pretty much glued to the circle of
quite bright light, and you have poor illumination of things to the side
or ahead of the spot. The DiNotte is, overall, just as bright, but with
the light spread out in a wider circle. Things like reflective signs up
ahead are better lit, and the patch of road ahead still has plenty of
light to see obstacles or potholes at 15-20mph. Looking at the bike
from in front the intensity of the DiNotte is much higher than the
NightRider. Maybe if you were looking at the Nightrider from where the
spot of bright light is, it would seem brighter, but the DiNotte is more
noticeable to traffic in front of you. I want drivers to look and think
"what the hell is that thing?" when I'm coming towards them, not "is
there something there?" that you get from a typical little light. The
DiNotte does that well.

The low beam is still quite bright, but to really see you'd want to use
the high beam. The low is more than enough to be seen and noticed.

They warn about the light getting hot, but it doesn't really get more
than slightly warm on my commute. the NightRider, on the other hand,
got quite hot -- and if it got too hot, it would shut itself off. Just
what you need.

I'm sold on the DiNotte. It is pricey, but it gives enough light to
really see, is simple and rugged enough for everyday use, and is small,
quick and easy to attach. If the batteries go, I can (and will) get 12
more (three changes) for $16.95, rather than be told, as I was, that the
battery on my NightRider was irreplaceable (4.5V NiMH smart strap-on
pack). Heck, even if it could be replaced, it would be over $100 to do
so.

Thanks for the report, and the good description. That sounds really good.
All the LED lights I've seen so far, except the Vega, are too narrowly
focused. A lot of this is trickery, to be able to say they're as bright
as a halogen unit, but there's no free lunch. Even the Vega could be
wider.

My favorites are the L&M ones, which have custom reflectors (not generic
MR) and a much more even beam. The better L&M lights are focusable. But
the standard one is about perfect for most riding, IMO.

Again, various beam patterns for comparison:

http://eddys.com/site/page.cfm?PageID=493

I like the Vega because it's even simpler to use than a Cateye Micro. It
goes on and off just as easily, and just plugs into its charger -- no
taking the batteries out and putting them back in. No worries about the
bulb burning out either. The Dinotte promises more light still, in an
even smaller package, but maybe not as convenient. I imagine you have to
take the batteries out to charge them, plus the mounting system looks a
bit fiddly.

Other than that, it looks pretty neat.

Matt O.

David L. Johnson said:

Gooserider said:

Performance has this on sale for Team P members, and it looks like a
well made light with a very small footprint. Anybody have any
experience with it?

I've been commuting with it since just before the time change. I'm
quite happy with it.

It is, indeed, a 5w LED. The 4-AA NiMH battery pack that comes with it
gives me between 1 and 2 hours on the bright setting (there are two
settings, bright and not-as-bright). I'm not real sure of the time
since I have a short commute. For me it lasts about a week before the
red indicator comes on and the light goes down to low beam.

When I first got it I did some side-by-side comparisons with my (failing
battery, but when it works it's as bright as ever) NightRider 15 watt.
The light of the DiNotte is not as tightly focused as the NightRider.
With the NightRider, your eye is pretty much glued to the circle of
quite bright light, and you have poor illumination of things to the side
or ahead of the spot. The DiNotte is, overall, just as bright, but with
the light spread out in a wider circle. Things like reflective signs up
ahead are better lit, and the patch of road ahead still has plenty of
light to see obstacles or potholes at 15-20mph. Looking at the bike
from in front the intensity of the DiNotte is much higher than the
NightRider. Maybe if you were looking at the Nightrider from where the
spot of bright light is, it would seem brighter, but the DiNotte is more
noticeable to traffic in front of you. I want drivers to look and think
"what the hell is that thing?" when I'm coming towards them, not "is
there something there?" that you get from a typical little light. The
DiNotte does that well.

The low beam is still quite bright, but to really see you'd want to use
the high beam. The low is more than enough to be seen and noticed.

They warn about the light getting hot, but it doesn't really get more
than slightly warm on my commute. the NightRider, on the other hand,
got quite hot -- and if it got too hot, it would shut itself off. Just
what you need.

I'm sold on the DiNotte. It is pricey, but it gives enough light to
really see, is simple and rugged enough for everyday use, and is small,
quick and easy to attach. If the batteries go, I can (and will) get 12
more (three changes) for $16.95, rather than be told, as I was, that the
battery on my NightRider was irreplaceable (4.5V NiMH smart strap-on
pack). Heck, even if it could be replaced, it would be over $100 to do
so.

Thanks for the report, and the good description. That sounds really good.
All the LED lights I've seen so far, except the Vega, are too narrowly
focused. A lot of this is trickery, to be able to say they're as bright
as a halogen unit, but there's no free lunch. Even the Vega could be
wider.

My favorites are the L&M ones, which have custom reflectors (not generic
MR) and a much more even beam. The better L&M lights are focusable. But
the standard one is about perfect for most riding, IMO.

Again, various beam patterns for comparison:

http://eddys.com/site/page.cfm?PageID=493

I like the Vega because it's even simpler to use than a Cateye Micro. It
goes on and off just as easily, and just plugs into its charger -- no
taking the batteries out and putting them back in. No worries about the
bulb burning out either. The Dinotte promises more light still, in an
even smaller package, but maybe not as convenient. I imagine you have to
take the batteries out to charge them, plus the mounting system looks a
bit fiddly.

Other than that, it looks pretty neat.

Matt O.

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

Quoted message said:

Gooserider said:

Performance has this on sale for Team P members, and it looks like a well
made light with a very small footprint. Anybody have any experience with
it?

I've been commuting with it since just before the time change. I'm quite
happy with it.

David--

Thanks for the information. I am looking forward to getting this
light. I have a fairly dark commute, but I think this light plus my LED
vest, two blinkies, reflective ankle strap, and maybe a helmet light should
have me covered. :-)

Mike

David L. Johnson said:

I'm sold on the DiNotte. It is pricey, but it gives enough light to
really see, is simple and rugged enough for everyday use, and is small,
quick and easy to attach. If the batteries go, I can (and will) get 12
more (three changes) for $16.95, rather than be told, as I was, that the
battery on my NightRider was irreplaceable (4.5V NiMH smart strap-on
pack). Heck, even if it could be replaced, it would be over $100 to do so.

FWIW, inside the NiteRider battery pack are probably some
standard size of NiMH cell, that could be replaced. I have a
Niterider NiMH pack that is held together with screws that look odd,
but are actually just obnoxious tamper-resistant hex cap screws
(pin in the center). I haven't had to take mine apart yet, but when
I do, tamper-resistant hex wrenches are not hard to order, or I
could probably just find a locksmith who already has the wrenches.

Quoted message said:

FWIW, inside the NiteRider battery pack are probably some
standard size of NiMH cell, that could be replaced. I have a
Niterider NiMH pack that is held together with screws that look odd,
but are actually just obnoxious tamper-resistant hex cap screws
(pin in the center). I haven't had to take mine apart yet, but when
I do, tamper-resistant hex wrenches are not hard to order, or I
could probably just find a locksmith who already has the wrenches.

Seems more and more manufacturers are using such abominations. I just
found those on a just-out-of-warranty Black & Decker coffee maker I
wanted to fix.

Actually, they were security Torx screws, not allen screws. But here's
what I did:

I heated up a Torx bit to red hot, then slow cooled it. This annealed
it enough to allow drilling a hole in the end, to clear the pin.

Since the offending screws were just screwed into plastic, I didn't
bother re-hardening the bit. It worked fine.

However, Black & Decker said the broken part is not available. "We
don't sell internal parts." (Think about that when you're next
shopping for appliances.)

- Frank Krygowski

Quoted message said:

David L. Johnson said:

I'm sold on the DiNotte. It is pricey, but it gives enough light to
really see, is simple and rugged enough for everyday use, and is small,
quick and easy to attach. If the batteries go, I can (and will) get 12
more (three changes) for $16.95, rather than be told, as I was, that the
battery on my NightRider was irreplaceable (4.5V NiMH smart strap-on
pack). Heck, even if it could be replaced, it would be over $100 to do so.

FWIW, inside the NiteRider battery pack are probably some
standard size of NiMH cell, that could be replaced.

Of course they are. There are even people who will rebuild these for you,
if you don't want to do it yourself.

I've seen a couple of outfits who
will solder the cells together, put leads on, and shrink-wrap the whole
package for only $5-10 more than the price of the cells. At that rate
it's hard to justify fiddling with yourself. I bet even the shrink-wrap
would cost you more, in small quanitites. (That's if you can even get the
good rubber stuff.)

Yes, I've built a bunch of these.

Matt O.

Quoted message said:

FWIW, inside the NiteRider battery pack are probably some
standard size of NiMH cell, that could be replaced. I have a
Niterider NiMH pack that is held together with screws that look odd,
but are actually just obnoxious tamper-resistant hex cap screws
(pin in the center).

Amazing how many hacks have been suggested to resurrect the Nightrider.
But my battery pack has no screws whatsoever. Moot point, anyway.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | Accept risk. Accept responsibility. Put a lawyer out of
_`\(,_ | business.
(_)/ (_) |

Matt O'Toole said:

I like the Vega because it's even simpler to use than a Cateye Micro. It
goes on and off just as easily, and just plugs into its charger -- no
taking the batteries out and putting them back in. No worries about the
bulb burning out either. The Dinotte promises more light still, in an
even smaller package, but maybe not as convenient. I imagine you have to
take the batteries out to charge them, plus the mounting system looks a
bit fiddly.

Yeah, you do have to take the batteries out to charge them. But they fit
into a standard holder; you could have some on hand for quick changes.

The mounting system looks worse than it is. Easy and quick to mount the
light itself, and while it will not hold the setting if you bang the bike
around like I did tonight, it's a simple matter to re-aim. The batteries
come out for re-charging without removing the strap-on holder.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | Become MicroSoft-free forever. Ask me how.
_`\(,_ |
(_)/ (_) |

Quoted message said:

Actually, they were security Torx screws, not allen screws. But here's
what I did:
I heated up a Torx bit to red hot, then slow cooled it. This annealed
it enough to allow drilling a hole in the end, to clear the pin.
Since the offending screws were just screwed into plastic, I didn't
bother re-hardening the bit. It worked fine.

The Torx variety are pretty common too. However, no need to go
that far. Although the tools are probably not at your local Sears,
the Bondhus tamper resistant torx set is $9 or so on the web:

<http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=6970&productId=200230074&R=200230074>

(No experience with this vendor, it's just someplace Google found.)

Quoted message said:

However, Black & Decker said the broken part is not available. "We
don't sell internal parts." (Think about that when you're next
shopping for appliances.)

I haven't really thought about buying an internal part for a small
appliance from the maker in some time. If I fix something, I just
bodge it. In an era of $20 imported appliances, I don't really expect
makers to have a stock of spare parts for small appliances (washing
machines would be another story). It may be sad, but that's how it is.
Just pretend everything comes with a "No User Serviceable Parts
Inside" sticker and enjoy the frisson of doing something slightly
forbidden when you open it up.

Although people like to complain about bicycle parts manufacturers,
they're probably better than average as far as spare parts go.

Gooserider said:

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

Quoted message said:

Gooserider said:

Performance has this on sale for Team P members, and it looks like a well
made light with a very small footprint. Anybody have any experience with
it?

I've been commuting with it since just before the time change. I'm quite
happy with it.

David--

Thanks for the information. I am looking forward to getting this
light. I have a fairly dark commute, but I think this light plus my LED
vest, two blinkies, reflective ankle strap, and maybe a helmet light should
have me covered. :-)

Mike

Mike: Have you had a chance to try it out yet? Nashbar has them on
sale now, so I'm contemplating a purchase. Does anyone know anything
about cost and availability of replacement bulbs?

Thanks,

Bruce