NiteRider MiNewt, anyone try one?

Tom The Great said:

Hello Everyone,

I went to my LBS, and saw a MiNewt, and was amazed at the size. Has
anyone tried this? I am curious, I am looking for a bike head light,
for riding later at night, and as a secondary light to my helmet
light.

I'm 90% sure I'm about to get one. I'll post back/email you when I do
(shouldn't be more than a week or two).
\\paul
--
Paul M. Hobson
Georgia Institute of Technology
..:change the f to ph to reply:.

Quoted message said:

I went to my LBS, and saw a MiNewt, and was amazed at the size. Has
anyone tried this? I am curious, I am looking for a bike head light,
for riding later at night, and as a secondary light to my helmet
light.

We've sold a bunch of them already, and have another 20 coming in next week.
Very popular both with our customers and employees. Amazing that something
so small can work so well; I'd always assumed that you needed a much-larger
reflector to get a decent light pattern.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

"Tom The Great" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hello Everyone,

I went to my LBS, and saw a MiNewt, and was amazed at the size. Has
anyone tried this? I am curious, I am looking for a bike head light,
for riding later at night, and as a secondary light to my helmet
light.

Thanks in advance,

tom

Mike Jacoubowsky said:

We've sold a bunch of them already, and have another 20 coming in next week.
Very popular both with our customers and employees. Amazing that something
so small can work so well; I'd always assumed that you needed a much-larger
reflector to get a decent light pattern.

What is the light pattern from the Minewt? When I asked NiteRider via
e-mail, they said it was your basic circular pattern. Is it more
uniform than other lights, or brighter on top, or ???

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

On Thu, 12 Oct 2006 19:07:41 -0400, Paul Hobson <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Tom The Great said:

Hello Everyone,

I went to my LBS, and saw a MiNewt, and was amazed at the size. Has
anyone tried this? I am curious, I am looking for a bike head light,
for riding later at night, and as a secondary light to my helmet
light.

I'm 90% sure I'm about to get one. I'll post back/email you when I do
(shouldn't be more than a week or two).
\\paul

Oh please post, share your experiences.

later,

tom @ www.FreeCreditReportAdvice.com

Mike Jacoubowsky said:

Quoted message said:

I went to my LBS, and saw a MiNewt, and was amazed at the size. Has
anyone tried this? I am curious, I am looking for a bike head light,
for riding later at night, and as a secondary light to my helmet
light.

We've sold a bunch of them already, and have another 20 coming in next week.
Very popular both with our customers and employees. Amazing that something
so small can work so well; I'd always assumed that you needed a much-larger
reflector to get a decent light pattern.

LEDs in general have a built-in lens which focus almost all of the light
coming out of the diode. That's why the top is either hemispherical or
parabolic. An additional plastic lens is all you need to focus or
disperse the resulting beam.

Quoted message said:

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

"Tom The Great" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hello Everyone,

I went to my LBS, and saw a MiNewt, and was amazed at the size. Has
anyone tried this? I am curious, I am looking for a bike head light,
for riding later at night, and as a secondary light to my helmet
light.

Thanks in advance,

tom

Victor Kan said:

What is the light pattern from the Minewt? When I asked NiteRider via
e-mail, they said it was your basic circular pattern. Is it more
uniform than other lights, or brighter on top, or ???

Here's a pic from mfg. FWIW:

http://www.niterider.com/prod_minewt.shtml

(basic, circ., uniform) --D-y

Collin O'Neill said:

LEDs in general have a built-in lens which focus almost all of the light
coming out of the diode. That's why the top is either hemispherical or
parabolic. An additional plastic lens is all you need to focus or
disperse the resulting beam.

This is true of 5mm LEDs as used in rear blinkies and low-intensity
front headlights, but not of high-flux LEDs like the Luxeon used in the
MiNewt light. Despite having acrylic domes, those only "focus" their
light inasmuch as they throw most of it in a 120 degree conical
pattern. There are also variants which use an hourglass-shaped capsule
atop the LED chip, for the purpose of throwing as much light as
possible into the surface of a parabolic reflector.

Chalo

The real-world beam is quite a bit better than what you'd think from
throwing it on a wall. The quick & dirty wall test shows it to be completely
round, with a much-brighter center section and a pretty-sharp cutoff to a
dimmer outer area. This would give you the idea that there's not going to be
enough illumination to the sides, but in the real world, it seems to not be
an issue (or even noticeable).

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA

"Victor Kan" <[email hidden]_UCEloopdrive.net> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Mike Jacoubowsky said:

We've sold a bunch of them already, and have another 20 coming in next
week. Very popular both with our customers and employees. Amazing that
something so small can work so well; I'd always assumed that you needed a
much-larger reflector to get a decent light pattern.

What is the light pattern from the Minewt? When I asked NiteRider via
e-mail, they said it was your basic circular pattern. Is it more uniform
than other lights, or brighter on top, or ???

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

Mike Jacoubowsky said:

The real-world beam is quite a bit better than what you'd think from
throwing it on a wall. The quick & dirty wall test shows it to be completely
round, with a much-brighter center section and a pretty-sharp cutoff to a
dimmer outer area. This would give you the idea that there's not going to be
enough illumination to the sides, but in the real world, it seems to not be
an issue (or even noticeable).

I tried to find information about the MiNewt, but could not find much.
How many watts is the bulb? How does it compare, in brightness and light
pattern, to the diNotte 5w?

At 6 hours runtime, I would imagine this is either a 3-watt bulb, or 2
1-watt bulbs.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | A mathematician is a machine for turning coffee into theorems.
_`\(,_ | -- Paul Erdos
(_)/ (_) |

Tom The Great said:

Hello Everyone,

I went to my LBS, and saw a MiNewt, and was amazed at the size. Has
anyone tried this? I am curious, I am looking for a bike head light,
for riding later at night, and as a secondary light to my helmet
light.

Thanks in advance,

tom

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Tom The Great said:

Hello Everyone,

I went to my LBS, and saw a MiNewt, and was amazed at the size. Has
anyone tried this? I am curious, I am looking for a bike head light,
for riding later at night, and as a secondary light to my helmet
light.

Thanks in advance,

tom

I picked one up about a month ago as a secondary light to my helmet
light (NiteRider Flite HID).

I'm pretty happy with it. It's pretty bright, even on the low (6 hour)
setting. I use it for both trail and road riding at night.

On the negative side, I am not crazy about the rubber o-ring mounting
system. Also, I wish the cord from the light to the battery were a
little longer. I mount the battery on the stem, but it would be nice to
have a little more cord and mount it on the top tube.

Overall, a pretty good light for the money.

John Lockwood said:

Tom The Great said:

Hello Everyone,

I went to my LBS, and saw a MiNewt, and was amazed at the size. Has
anyone tried this? I am curious, I am looking for a bike head light,
for riding later at night, and as a secondary light to my helmet
light.

Thanks in advance,

tom

I picked one up about a month ago as a secondary light to my helmet
light (NiteRider Flite HID).

I'm pretty happy with it. It's pretty bright, even on the low (6 hour)
setting. I use it for both trail and road riding at night.

On the negative side, I am not crazy about the rubber o-ring mounting
system. Also, I wish the cord from the light to the battery were a
little longer. I mount the battery on the stem, but it would be nice to
have a little more cord and mount it on the top tube.

Overall, a pretty good light for the money.

I understand why the cord is short, however I agree, having the option
to mount the battery elsewhere is pretty good. Maybe there will be an
optional piece later.

Now to get better picture of this, are you road riding or off-road
riding?

thx,

tom @ www.NoCostAds.com

Tom The Great said:

Quoted message said:

I'm pretty happy with it. It's pretty bright, even on the low (6 hour)
setting. I use it for both trail and road riding at night.

So, I ask again, how many watts does this LED light have?

--

David L. Johnson

__o | A mathematician is a machine for turning coffee into theorems.
_`\(,_ | -- Paul Erdos
(_)/ (_) |

Tom The Great said:

I understand why the cord is short, however I agree, having the option
to mount the battery elsewhere is pretty good. Maybe there will be an
optional piece later.

Now to get better picture of this, are you road riding or off-road
riding?

Both