lighting.....

unior

Member
Local time
5:08 AM
Joined
Jul 22, 2009
Messages
151
Location
Lancaster, PA
I've searched. Does anyone on here drive at night? At speed? I am trying to decide what led light array I can purchase or slap together that I won't overdrive at 25mph.
 
DO NOT SKIMP on a head light. Good head lights start at about $100.00 and go up from there on the retail market. The cheap things you buy at Walmart, K-mart are useless on a motored bike. They don't supply enough light to give you reaction time. They also don't give much peripheral vision either. I suggest you do your home work on high end lights to get aware of what’s out there and then maybe go to eBay and see what you can get one for. Last year I lucked up on eBay and got a $150.00 Cygolite brand, brand new in the package, delivered for $50.00. Don’t expect them to be like a head light on an automobile, but the upper end lights are way better than the cheap things from the department stores. You can’t put a price on safety and life. See and be seen !!!
 
So you ride at night? And your headlight will suffice at speeds of 25mph?
Yes ! I do most of my riding at night. I have a Cygolite Hi-Flux 200. I’d say it’s marginal for speeds in the mid 20’s. I tried some of the more expensive lights from the department stores, and there’s no comparison. You can also get head lights with 2 or 3 bulbs. Depends on how much you want to pay. Check out the link srdavo posted. You might find something there you like. The light system I have is not one of the better ones, but it get's me by with confidence. Even though it's not one of the better high end bicycle lights, it's still much better than cheap ones from the department stores.
 
Thats neat a friend pointed out the cygolites. I saw a 150 lumen single led model for $60...prolly should've just bought one of those though now I am toying around building a multi led headlamp. I just need to know how much light output I would need to cruise in the dark. Thanks for the real word info!
 
Head Lights

Check out the link below. I have one of these one my bike along with the Cygolite HI-FLUX 200. This light is not suitable for fast riding. Would be great for a peddle only bike. This is the first light I bought for my bike. $10.00, what the heck. I live, I learn. The reason I left it on my bike is the fact that actually does help a little, but mainly it can be set to flash. Hopefully it gets on-comers attention a little better than a steady light. I have lights galore on my bike. Head lights, tail light with flasher, brake light and wheel mounted lights as well. I've had a couple of cagers to tell me there's no excuse for anyone running me over from behind, that I am well visible. Heck, it might be safer to ride in the dark. Attached is a photo of the front on my bike showing lights. Don’t let size fool you. The single lamp Cygolite puts out way more light than the 53 led bulb unit. I've purchased several items from Dealextreme. Quality is as good as anything else from China that you'll find at a local department store.

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.2933
 

Attachments

  • lights.jpg
    lights.jpg
    35.6 KB · Views: 150
Last edited:
S.C.U.B.A. Lights

One of my buddies from here on the forum is also into SCUBA diving. He uses a SCUBA flash ligt mounted to the handle bars on his bike. You can buy them for around $30.00 and on up. I understand they are way bright. Much brighter than a conventional hand held flash light. Handle bar mounts for flash lights are available at many different places. There are bunches of alternatives for bike lights. I guess the bottom line is, depends on what you want and what you can afford. Hope this little tid bit of info helps !
 
Thats neat a friend pointed out the cygolites. I saw a 150 lumen single led model for $60...prolly should've just bought one of those though now I am toying around building a multi led headlamp. I just need to know how much light output I would need to cruise in the dark. Thanks for the real word info!

I'm looking at the box my Cygolite came out of right now. It says it has a solid state emitter, what ever that means exactly, and is equivelant to a 10 volt halogen bulb. From my personal experience, I would not go with anything less. 15 or 20 watts would probably be great for a bicycle.
 
I'm looking at the box my Cygolite came out of right now. It says it has a solid state emitter, what ever that means exactly, and is equivelant to a 10 volt halogen bulb. From my personal experience, I would not go with anything less. 15 or 20 watts would probably be great for a bicycle.

I purchased 10, 10mm white leds off ebay for $15. They are rated 1 watt each. I'm going to run 6 of them off an rc car pack split into 2 packs. Ill find out how well they work. I'm not 100% sure how well they will work because I never experimented with different leds and viewing angles. The ones I ordered are 25 degrees or something so the light will be focused.
 
Back
Top