Brightest LED Headlight?

Ed Light said:

Any ideas for a really bright LED headlight? Is the 5-led cateye the one?

The EL-500 is as bright as I've seen, and I need 4 of them to get along
decently.

The advantage of LEDs is long runtime on the batteries, which of course
means that they don't put out much light, either.

There are supposedly brighter LEDs but they also have shorter lifetimes,
and less runtime, becoming really expensive bulbs in effect.

--
Ron Hardin
[email hidden]

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

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Quoted message said:

Ed Light said:

Any ideas for a really bright LED headlight? Is the 5-led cateye the one?

The EL-500 is as bright as I've seen, and I need 4 of them to get along
decently.

Do you mean 4 side-by-side? What brand are they?

Thanks.

--
Ed Light

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Quoted message said:

Any ideas for a really bright LED headlight? Is the 5-led cateye the one?

Brightest? I think you have to choose between the Light & Motion Vega, the
DiNotte Ultralight, and the Blackburn X3. Cateye also has the Double and
Triple Shots. All are going to run you about $200. I have the DiNotte, and
it's very bright.

"Ed Light" <[email hidden]> wrote in news:J6WGf.32277$jR.29397
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Quoted message said:

Any ideas for a really bright LED headlight? Is the 5-led cateye the one?

I don't know about the brightest, but this is has some nice pictures:
http://eddys.com/page.cfm?PageID=493
Mike

Ed Light said:

Any ideas for a really bright LED headlight? Is the 5-led cateye the one?

The Luxeon-based single-LED lights, which come in 1 to 5 watt
varieties, seem to be the pick right now. They're brighter than the
units based on multiple small LEDs like the Cateye.

I have a Light & Motion Vega which I'd characterize as "just barely
adequate as primary lighting." That's pretty good for an LED, but you
can get more light for less money from traditional halogen units. The
Vega is roughly equivalent to a 10W halogen, gets equivalent run-times
as a lead-acid bottle battery, but is self-contained (no external
battery). This is a 3.5W Luxeon. I haven't seen the even pricier 5W
ones.

RichC

Ed Light said:

Any ideas for a really bright LED headlight? Is the 5-led cateye the one?

No. The diNotte has a 5-Watt LED emitter, and is bright enough to see as
well as be seen. It is certainly brighter than a 10W halogen, and
comparable to a 15w halogen (my old NiteRider 15 had a brighter center
area, but was not as good away from that center region as the diNotte --
besides, it was never reliable and the diNotte is). It is also small,
light, and easy to mount/unmount. It isn't cheap, but cheaper than
anything else that bright.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | Deserves death! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve
_`\(,_ | death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to
(_)/ (_) | them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement.
-- J. R. R. Tolkein

Ed Light said:

Any ideas for a really bright LED headlight? Is the 5-led cateye the one?

I'd look at -- at least /look at/ -- Lupine's line.

http://lupine.de/en/products/products.html

The Wilma 8 and Wilma 4 are likely to be as impressive as their Edison
10 that I use....

NB: You get what you pay for, though. ($$)
--
Live simply so that others may simply live

mike <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

"Ed Light" <[email hidden]> wrote in news:J6WGf.32277$jR.29397
@fed1read01:

Quoted message said:

Any ideas for a really bright LED headlight? Is the 5-led cateye
the one?

I don't know about the brightest, but this is has some nice
pictures: http://eddys.com/page.cfm?PageID=493
Mike

Nice site! If only they had listed prices of each unit, too.

--
Eric Babula
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

Gooserider said:

Brightest? I think you have to choose between the Light & Motion Vega, the
DiNotte Ultralight, and the Blackburn X3. Cateye also has the Double and
Triple Shots. All are going to run you about $200. I have the DiNotte, and
it's very bright.

If you shop around you can find the Vega for $130 or so.

For me the attraction is being self-contained, with no external batteries
or wires. If you're going to put up with that stuff, you'll get a lot
more bang for your buck with old technology (overdriven MR lamps,
etc.)

Matt O.

Matt O'Toole said:

Gooserider said:

Brightest? I think you have to choose between the Light & Motion Vega, the
DiNotte Ultralight, and the Blackburn X3. Cateye also has the Double and
Triple Shots. All are going to run you about $200. I have the DiNotte, and
it's very bright.

If you shop around you can find the Vega for $130 or so.

For me the attraction is being self-contained, with no external batteries
or wires. If you're going to put up with that stuff, you'll get a lot
more bang for your buck with old technology (overdriven MR lamps,
etc.)

I disagree. All batteries eventually need to be replaced. With special,
or even worse built-in, batteries, the light will be unusable when the
supply of batteries runs out. This happened with my NiteRider -- and no,
neither the company nor any secondary supplier I have looked at has a
replacement battery (4.5V NiMH "smart" battery -- heck even dumb is
unavailable).

the diNotte uses standard 1.3V AA-size NiMH batteries, 4 to a pack. I
have 16 replacements that I rotate in (and carry a spare set) for less
than $20. This is, IMO, good.

The diNotte is not much more than the Vega ($200 on sale), and is
considerably brighter. One poster said his Vega was marginally usable to
see the road. Nothing marginal about the diNotte. Plenty of light to see
and be seen.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | Let's not escape into mathematics. Let's stay with reality. --
_`\(,_ | Michael Crichton
(_)/ (_) |

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Quoted message said:

Matt O'Toole said:

Gooserider said:

Brightest? I think you have to choose between the Light & Motion Vega,
the
DiNotte Ultralight, and the Blackburn X3. Cateye also has the Double and
Triple Shots. All are going to run you about $200. I have the DiNotte,
and
it's very bright.

If you shop around you can find the Vega for $130 or so.

For me the attraction is being self-contained, with no external batteries
or wires. If you're going to put up with that stuff, you'll get a lot
more bang for your buck with old technology (overdriven MR lamps,
etc.)

I disagree. All batteries eventually need to be replaced. With special,
or even worse built-in, batteries, the light will be unusable when the
supply of batteries runs out. This happened with my NiteRider -- and no,
neither the company nor any secondary supplier I have looked at has a
replacement battery (4.5V NiMH "smart" battery -- heck even dumb is
unavailable).

the diNotte uses standard 1.3V AA-size NiMH batteries, 4 to a pack. I
have 16 replacements that I rotate in (and carry a spare set) for less
than $20. This is, IMO, good.

The diNotte is not much more than the Vega ($200 on sale), and is
considerably brighter. One poster said his Vega was marginally usable to
see the road. Nothing marginal about the diNotte. Plenty of light to see
and be seen.

I like the DiNotte because it's very bright and has a small footprint. The
light itself sized between a C and D cell battery, and the stem mounted
battery pack is a very good idea. I also like the fact that it uses AA
rechargables. That made it easy to buy a second set to keep in my bag. I
rotate them through, but always have a fully charged spare. DiNotte is
introducing lithium ion version of the 5W and a 3W helmet light. They also
have a 3W taillight, but it looks like it will only be mountable on the
seatpost. That means no rack trunk, so not for me. Should be a super
taillight though.

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Quoted message said:

Ed Light said:

Any ideas for a really bright LED headlight? Is the 5-led cateye the one?

No. The diNotte has a 5-Watt LED emitter, and is bright enough to see as
well as be seen. It is certainly brighter than a 10W halogen, and
comparable to a 15w halogen (my old NiteRider 15 had a brighter center
area, but was not as good away from that center region as the diNotte --
besides, it was never reliable and the diNotte is). It is also small,
light, and easy to mount/unmount. It isn't cheap, but cheaper than
anything else that bright.

I had a Vistalite Code 15. It was a very bright light. Unfortunately, the
switches were wonky. I was having trouble with the light, and couldn't get
it to come on. I finally gave up trying and when I came home froom work the
lights were on. The light casing was so hot to the touch that I fear the
light could have ignited. Very scary, and the reason I put it in the junk
box.

On Fri, 10 Feb 2006 07:06:10 GMT, Ron Hardin <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Ed Light said:

Any ideas for a really bright LED headlight? Is the 5-led cateye the one?

The EL-500 is as bright as I've seen, and I need 4 of them to get along
decently.

Have you seen the EL-1000?

Which is brighter?

Indiana Mike

Quoted message said:

The advantage of LEDs is long runtime on the batteries, which of course
means that they don't put out much light, either.

There are supposedly brighter LEDs but they also have shorter lifetimes,
and less runtime, becoming really expensive bulbs in effect.

Mike Rice said:

On Fri, 10 Feb 2006 07:06:10 GMT, Ron Hardin <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Ed Light said:

Any ideas for a really bright LED headlight? Is the 5-led cateye the one?

The EL-500 is as bright as I've seen, and I need 4 of them to get along
decently.

Have you seen the EL-1000?

Which is brighter?

Indiana Mike

Oops, brain fart! I was thinking of the EL-500 as well, but
remembering the 1000 candlepower quote from the description instead of
the correct name of the model.

Indiana Mike

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

The advantage of LEDs is long runtime on the batteries, which of course
means that they don't put out much light, either.

There are supposedly brighter LEDs but they also have shorter lifetimes,
and less runtime, becoming really expensive bulbs in effect.

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

Quoted message said:

"Ed Light" <[email hidden]> wrote in news:J6WGf.32277$jR.29397
@fed1read01:

Quoted message said:

Any ideas for a really bright LED headlight? Is the 5-led cateye the one?

I don't know about the brightest, but this is has some nice pictures:
http://eddys.com/page.cfm?PageID=493
Mike

Thanks to the test images, I'm getting the Cateye EL-300. Looks like it will
get me home at night, for cheap.

This has really turned into an interesting thread!

I presently have the little tiny stap-on Cateye EL-400. I feel like I could
run into something riding by the freeway and fall in fron of a car. But it
makes a great pocket flashlight -- you can read by it wonderfully, with its
soft, wide beam.
--
Ed Light

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MS Smiley :-\

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David L. Johnson said:

I disagree. All batteries eventually need to be replaced.

One of the reasons I prefer generator lights.

- Frank Krygowski

David L. Johnson said:

The diNotte is not much more than the Vega ($200 on sale), and is
considerably brighter. One poster said his Vega was marginally usable to
see the road. Nothing marginal about the diNotte. Plenty of light to see
and be seen.

I think 'considerably brighter' is perhaps a bit of an exaggeration.
There is an objective comparison here:

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?p=1377408

The centre of the Vega's beam is actually slightly brighter than the
Dinotte's, but the overall beam is significantly narrower.

Anthony

David L. Johnson said:

I disagree. All batteries eventually need to be replaced. With
special, or even worse built-in, batteries, the light will be unusable
when the supply of batteries runs out. This happened with my NiteRider
-- and no, neither the company nor any secondary supplier I have looked
at has a replacement battery (4.5V NiMH "smart" battery -- heck even
dumb is unavailable).

the diNotte uses standard 1.3V AA-size NiMH batteries, 4 to a pack. I
have 16 replacements that I rotate in (and carry a spare set) for less
than $20. This is, IMO, good.

This doesn't worry me. I've built and rebuilt countless battery packs for
bike lights and other stuff, for myself and friends. Battery cells are a
commodity, and even "built-in" ones can be replaced easily. But not
everyone feels capable of doing this. I'm a tinkerer by nature. Most
people are not.

Quoted message said:

The diNotte is not much more than the Vega ($200 on sale), and is
considerably brighter. One poster said his Vega was marginally usable
to see the road. Nothing marginal about the diNotte. Plenty of light
to see and be seen.

The diNotte has better optics and more wattage. But for me the difference
isn't great enough to outweigh the Vega's self-contained convenience.

The diNotte looks like a great unit though. I wish they were available
when I was doing a lot of off-road riding in the evening. The beam is
wider, and the mount is undoubtedly more secure than the Vega's.

Horses for courses!

BTW, Nashbar has the Vega on sale for $130, before the 10% discount that's
running now. Of course that discount could be used for the diNotte too.

Matt O.

Quoted message said:

One of the reasons I prefer generator lights.

I share your sentiments, but 3 watts is a mighty feeble
light, even using Luxeon LED's. Certainly usable, but
it would burden the rider quite tolerably to go up by a
factor of three or four, and that would be a vastly
more useful light.

The three-watt standard was from the days when Alnico was
the best magnet material. Neodymium-iron is about ten times
better. I really wish somebody would offer a ten-to-fifteen
watt genset for bicycles. Unfortunately there's probably not
much money in that market.

bob prohaska