Wanted light for helmet.

Patrick said:
i wouldn't use it on the road - beam isn't bright or focused enough.
it is a gopro mount. i haven't tested it, but it looks like one.
will be using it tomorrow and wednesday again - will report back.
the rear blinky they include is bright and annoying - just like it should be.
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How could a 1000 lumen light not be good for the road, regardless of beam pattern? I think one of the kids on the NICA has this. Funny how 1000 lumen cheap light provides the same amount of light as a 200 lumen princeton tec...

In the years of advancing LED tech, I found that anything about 150 is all you need to go full speed on the road, minus maybe 40 mph+ downhills.
 
stb222 said:
How could a 1000 lumen light not be good for the road, regardless of beam pattern? I think one of the kids on the NICA has this. Funny how 1000 lumen cheap light provides the same amount of light as a 200 lumen princeton tec...

In the years of advancing LED tech, I found that anything about 150 is all you need to go full speed on the road, minus maybe 40 mph+ downhills.
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I forgot to top up my charge my light before a road ride last week and it went into low mode which is 200 lumens (fail safe feature to get you home). It was inadequate, terrible and I definitely wasn't riding full speed. It really lessened my enjoyment of the ride.

I understand the point you are making but once you use a good light using a not good light is like riding in the dark.
 
Tim said:
I forgot to top up my charge my light before a road ride last week and it went into low mode which is 200 lumens (fail safe feature to get you home). It was inadequate, terrible and I definitely wasn't riding full speed. It really lessened my enjoyment of the ride.

I understand the point you are making but once you use a good light using a not good light is like riding in the dark.
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It is hard to know the real story on lumens output, but the legit companies have harped on "real" output. In any case, we are past the point of the arms race where move light is needed.

600 lumens for $45 from light and motion WOW
 
stb222 said:
How could a 1000 lumen light not be good for the road, regardless of beam pattern? I think one of the kids on the NICA has this. Funny how 1000 lumen cheap light provides the same amount of light as a 200 lumen princeton tec...

In the years of advancing LED tech, I found that anything about 150 is all you need to go full speed on the road, minus maybe 40 mph+ downhills.
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i'll take a picture - it was fine at my 4mph wildcat pace. it is a $20 light, that came with a tail light.
since they use the word 'super' as describing its brightness, i heard amazon say 'perfect' when i ordered it.
 
Tim said:
I actually ordered the Hangover light. I'll give a review once I get it. It could be a few weeks yet as they are just starting production.
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I have their first light (bar mounted road version). It's great, there are a few things I would like to see in a rev 2 but for the first light from a startup company it's legit. The guy who owns the company was an automotive lighting engineer and he took that expertise over to bike lights. The design is centered around beam patterns instead of lumens.

That said, I have not kept up on the development of the hangover so I'm not sure if the company vision has changed at all with this light. I cna sya that after 1+ years the external battery on my bar light is still going strong, and I run it on high 99% of the time.

Edit:
Here's an uncontrolled beam shot that proves nothing
https://www.mtbnj.com/forum/threads...r-the-month-of-july-win-100.44921/post-802992
 
stb222 said:
It is hard to know the real story on lumens output, but the legit companies have harped on "real" output. In any case, we are past the point of the arms race where move light is needed.

600 lumens for $45 from light and motion WOW
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100% this^^^^

rlb said:
I have their first light (bar mounted road version). It's great, there are a few things I would like to see in a rev 2 but for the first light from a startup company it's legit. The guy who owns the company was an automotive lighting engineer and he took that expertise over to bike lights. The design is centered around beam patterns instead of lumens.

That said, I have not kept up on the development of the hangover so I'm not sure if the company vision has changed at all with this light. I cna sya that after 1+ years the external battery on my bar light is still going strong, and I run it on high 99% of the time.

Edit:
Here's an uncontrolled beam shot that proves nothing
https://www.mtbnj.com/forum/threads...r-the-month-of-july-win-100.44921/post-802992
Click to expand...

I have both the Focal Series road and trail lights. They are exceptional. (These were not the lights I referenced above when I was disappointed in 200 lumens. That was Garmin headlight that I usually only use for day road riding.) All the points you mentioned are right on.

I work very close to a trail system and I do some late afternoon weekday rides and I can say the trail light on the bars with the road light on the helmet is damn near like riding in daylight. I just hate wires/external batteries for a helmet light. I am really looking forward to the Hangover light. I have loosely followed the progress of the design and prototypes over on another forum and I think the same philosophy applies to the new light. A significant amount of time has been spent on engineering and tweaking the optics to make the most use of available lumens.

Aside from beam pattern a lot of the cheaper lights have at least one major flaw. First the lumens claimed are not based on real world output. They are theoretical numbers as if the LED chips were performing in ideal conditions. As soon as the chip starts to heat up (which is nearly instant) or the battery starts to get depleted the output is a fraction of what they claim. Thermal management is also a potential problem. There are some pretty expensive lights out there with massive lumen claims that won't output claimed lumens because the chips run too hot. The circuitry built to drive the LEDs drops the output to prevent self destruction.

In reality those cheap Amazon lights that claim to be 1600 lumens are not even close to that. I have the bright eyes 1600 lumen light and it's not even close to my Outbound lights which are rated at 1200 lumens. That said you could buy 8 Amazon lights for what I paid for my Outbound lights so there is that.
 
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Patrick said:
what i'm i looking at in the background?
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I thought the same thing, but decided to let it go. Then I scroll down and you asked :)

I just got this Bontrager. It works well and I see a lot of people with them (from current to older models when they started as 700 lumens) and they seem happy. Their happiness implies good, inexpensive option :)
 
I still run Magic Shine on my dedicated Night Helmet.

This is good enough for the street, but I always bring 1 or 2 bar lights with me for trail ride.

For Single Track Night Rides on KTM this is my other Night Helmet. with a bar light 10,000+ lumens.

There is no outrunning this set up until 45 mph + and I never ride that fast in the woods anyway.

My night vision now is not what it was so I need all the help I can get.

IMG_1341[1].JPGIMG_1342[1].JPGIMG_1343[1].JPG
 
Tim said:
I am really looking forward to the Hangover light.
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Me too. The only downside I see, compared to my present system, is I have three lights and three batteries that all share the same plug. So, I have redundancy if I lose charge or an actual light. Gotta keep rollin'...
 
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@stb222 - pic of cheap light pattern at 35' ish.

@mattybfat was not impressed.

it isn't horrible in the picture - much worse in person

1569379579565.png
 
one piece crank said:
How long have you use L&M? Do they hold-up over time (battery charge, etc.)?
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Since 2011 or 12. A few items of note:

The run time on high has always been 1.5 hours. I typically run it on medium (3 hour burn) and don't notice much of a difference in light output.
Like all lithium battery things, cold weather affects the burn time. Somewhere in the 30's is where burn time is affected and when it gets in the 20's and below, that burntime on high is around an hour, maybe even shorter. With how compact and slim the urban design is, there ain't much room for insulation, and it shows.

August-April I use the light 6 days a week for 1-2 hours each day, lettuce just estimate that at 300+ hours in those 9 months

So, I have found that every other year I am buying a new light, but the lights have become so cheap that I am buying a new light every year - 18 months.

I have had some issues with the battery and the light shutting off for good. In those cases; I did a warranty claim (if less than a year) and received a credit from L&M to buy a new light for really cheap. Even with those couple of issues I have had, I keep coming back for more.
 
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