Lights: LED .. light/front/followup .. question

Sir Thomas of Cannondale said:

Got thinking ?? Nashbar has a bunch of lights on sale.

I should get a new front light. I looked and the price I would spend //
about $30 dollars.

So,, if you have an opinion?

What front light.. with bar attachment .. is your favorite and why.

The one I am leaning toward? The Nashbar 5 led ..

But: I will "ask the audience"

Almost as good as the Cash Cab

Without spending the next hour checking the Nashbar site (you can do
that, though! 🙂, in the $30 range I'd be looking at a single LED
light. Something like the Cateye 500 or Planet Bike (forgot the model
number). Those ~1W LED systems are running about $30 on sale most
places, and they put a heck of a lot more light on the road than the
5-LED models. The 5-LEDs are best for having a "see-me" light on
every bike, just in case a thunderstorm is coming up and it starts
getting dark, IMHO.

Pat

Email address works as is.

Sir Thomas of Cannondale said:

Got thinking ?? Nashbar has a bunch of lights on sale.

I should get a new front light. I looked and the price I would spend //
about $30 dollars.

So,, if you have an opinion?

What front light.. with bar attachment .. is your favorite and why.

The one I am leaning toward? The Nashbar 5 led ..

But: I will "ask the audience"

Almost as good as the Cash Cab

Don't get a 5 LED light. Get a 3W Luxeon light of some sort if you must
get an LED light.

Also look at the Planet Bike 5000x
("http://phattire1.stores.yahoo.net/planbik30bic.html"😉 which uses a
xenon bulb.

For a 3W Luxeon bicycle light, buy a TwoFish Cycle Block
("http://www.boomerdirect.shoppingcartsplus.com/catalog/item/1719053/1226129.htm"😉
a 2C MagLite, and a 3W Maglite brand Luxeon conversion kit for 2C or 2D
flashlights. This has several advantages over other 3W Luxeon bicycle
lights. First, it's much cheaper. Second, the beam is adjustable from
spot to flood. Third, it's portable, you can move it from bike to bike
very easily. Fourth, you can use it for night time repairs. I'd probably
pass on the AA Luxeon 3W Maglites because a) the run time is too low,
and b) the reflector is too small.

Sir Thomas of Cannondale said:

Got thinking ?? Nashbar has a bunch of lights on sale.

I should get a new front light. I looked and the price I would spend //
about $30 dollars.

So,, if you have an opinion?
......

In my experience, the "multi-LED" lights don't cast light as well as the
lights that use just one LED set inside a good reflector.

The Cateye EL-530 is my current "preferred", though most of my bikes
still have older EL-500's.
~

Look for the Luxeon Star LED. Everybody is making lights with these
things. They can be pretty bright on just a little juice, 1 & 3 W
applications abound. It looks like that 29.99 Nashbar special is one
of the 1W implementations.

DennisTheBald said:

Look for the Luxeon Star LED. Everybody is making lights with these
things. They can be pretty bright on just a little juice, 1 & 3 W
applications abound. It looks like that 29.99 Nashbar special is one
of the 1W implementations.

I just got one of the Nashbar ones and it is very bright. I wouldn't
count on it for my main light but it's great for being seen.

Sir Thomas of Cannondale said:

Got thinking ?? Nashbar has a bunch of lights on sale.

I should get a new front light. I looked and the price I would spend //
about $30 dollars.

So,, if you have an opinion?

What front light.. with bar attachment .. is your favorite and why.

The one I am leaning toward? The Nashbar 5 led ..

But: I will "ask the audience"

Almost as good as the Cash Cab

I bought a NightHawk K2 emitter (LED) about a year ago and love it.
Nice and brite, very white light and much better run time than the
Halogen I had.

Fully charged it will run in blink mode for like 4 days or 4-5 hours
as a steady beam.

Sir Thomas of Cannondale <[email hidden]> wrote:
: Got thinking ?? Nashbar has a bunch of lights on sale.

: I should get a new front light. I looked and the price I would spend //
: about $30 dollars.

: So,, if you have an opinion?

: What front light.. with bar attachment .. is your favorite and why.

: The one I am leaning toward? The Nashbar 5 led ..

: But: I will "ask the audience"

: Almost as good as the Cash Cab

As you looking for illumination so you can see the road or so cars see you?

I do most of my riding on city streets in Chicago and the streets themselves
are very well lit. I have planet bike "blinky" lights. They flash brightly
and i "feel" visable (I can see them reflecting off signs quite a distance up
front.

They are $13 for a white (front) light and $8 for a red light from campmor.com

I try to do 20 to 30 miles a night and i'd say a set of batteries has lasted
me more than 6 months (i did just have to change a set recently). I also
leave the rear one on when doing daytime rides (one of the folks riding with
me a few weeks ago at the north shore century was tormenting me that he was
couldn't ride behind me as he was afraid he was gonna have a seizure)

--
John Nelson
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