The mother of all LED lights

I am thinking about getting some LED strips and line them up inside plastic pocket and wrap them on seat stays.

I have found http://www.neon-lights.co.uk/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=198

Basically running a long strip (Maybe 2?) off a pack of 8 AA batteries.

Any electricians here?

ooo..you ziptie it to your spokes and have the battery pack sellotaped to the hub.

I passed a bloke tonight, he was oncoming on a bike I was in my car. His flashing LED was like a beacon! Proper freakishly bright. You could've guided planes into land with it!

My LED is poor by comparison, I saw a set up for £400! Fucking hell £400 notes!

Some sort of gas discharge job would be good for £20 or thereabouts, a tall order me thinks.

get some ultra bright L.E.D's from Maplins ( compare the L.E.D. light output in lumens). calculate power required as 2V 20mA per Led.

I was gonna try and make this http://www.instructables.com/id/Ultimate-Night-Vision-Headlamp---500%2b-lumens-with-/ at some point... most of the bits should be available in the UK.

Hope vision 4... Has 5 modes, really bright, really fucking bright, omg this couldn't get any fucking brighter, THE SUN, flashing.

It is epic. Think it's about 200 quid though.

The instructable looks intreguing, can't be bothered to read it though.

The Hope Vision 1 is getting a lot of good press.
http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=10321.0
http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=7418.0

about £70

"Some sort of gas discharge job would be good for £20 or thereabouts, a tall order me thinks."
HID's are old hat now you need a ballast to initiate the arc, you can't turn them off and on quickly or flash them, the bulbs are expensive to replace.
led's FTW

Checkout http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/ loads of plans for light in there also http://www.pilom.com/BicycleElectronics/BicycleElectronics.htm has a load of good stuff. I keep on meaning to get round to building one of these setups but can never be bothered.

I've seen a guy a few times last year going through Hyde Park with a blue light on his downtube spewing a massive blue glow on the ground all around himself. I always thought it seemed like a good idea, he was really hard to miss, I'm not sure about the legality of using blue light however.

Pimp my ride UK.
Drop da bomb.

The Hope Vision 1 is getting a lot of good press.
http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=10321.0
http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=7418.0

about £70

There are 4 forumengers I know who have one
Jonny
Hillbilly
VeeVee
Me

and we all love them!

get some ultra bright L.E.D's from Maplins ( compare the L.E.D. light output in lumens). calculate power required as 2V 20mA per Led.

there's a little more to it than that, if you want to make a light yourself.

Check out cutter electronics in Australia if you wan tto make a headlight.
They get the latest LED technology as soon as it is released onto the market and sell a lot of stuff to the folks on candlepower forums that tommy mentioned. ..also some shop in Germany I think?

I have had the bits for a triple cree LED light sitting at home... for 5 months now!

For the OP - I think electroluminescent stuff that tynan has been playing with, or those LED strips that you get from Maplins are a better bet.. perhaps a small neon tube like those who wish to pimp their rides?

As about 10 miles of my daily commute is on unlit country lanes I took the plunge and bought an Exposure Joystick (ooo err matron!) Maxx 2. At £140 from Wiggle it was a bite out of the x mas beer fund.
However, what a top little light. I have had car drivers yell at me to "turn your f***ing main beams off" and the damn thing is a pen torch!!

Plus its got a monster bright flashing mode. Mot wishing to be too evangelical about it, but it really is a top bit of kit.
Well worth a look.
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/Exposure_Joystick_MaXx_2_Wiggle_Front_Light/5360037879/

Toodle pip.

Looks pimp, but you may as well buy 2 of these with lockblocks and some AA NiMh
2 * 180 lumens for 2.4 hours vs. 230 lumens for 3 hours

The beam pattern will be far better on the USE.

http://www.fearsome-flashlights.com/fenix-l2d-ce-q5-180-lumens.shtml

Look interesting; might get one for self defence.
According to the advert it can induce vomiting and epileptic fits in people you shine it at.

So: a long line of twitching vomit stained drivers in the ditch on my way home.
Sounds good to me.

Toodle pip.

I'm looking for a light that I could mount on the stem (a-head) so as to avoid cluttering up the bars. The clamp would have to be at 90 degrees to the light. Anyone know if such a thing exists?? Seems perfectly feasible to me...

I'm looking for a light that I could mount on the stem (a-head) so as to avoid cluttering up the bars. The clamp would have to be at 90 degrees to the light. Anyone know if such a thing exists?? Seems perfectly feasible to me...

You could make a clamp from Polymorph very easily.

For the OP - I think electroluminescent stuff that tynan has been playing with, or those LED strips that you get from Maplins are a better bet.. perhaps a small neon tube like those who wish to pimp their rides?

Electroluminescent stuff is great - the wire can be wrapped around the seat stays.

Some friends of mine had a shoot out just outside Oslo couple of weeks ago, see the photos at the bottom. Lights mounted on handle bar, camera in same position and mode every time. 3 meters between the red markers, the white box on the right hand side is 16 meters away and the cone with reflective tape 48 meters away.

This test is as scientific/anal/german as you can get it.

Please ask if there should be anything you don't understand. Norwegian prices in NOK, more or less 11NOK/£.

http://terrengsykkel.no/index.php?id=2440#bilder

I bought this week (so far very impressed) a Niterider Minewt. I would recommend this as an all in solution. Easy to mount and charge, 110 measured lumens and 3hr runtime on full. Also has a nice wide beam pattern, great for riding along the tow paths.

The cheap led torches from ebay are good too, if you can find an AA as oppsed to cr123 version.

Chris

I like the look of these, available in six different colours. http://www.rockthebike.com/lights/downlowglow

[quote=J-D-S-H;357930]I'm looking for a light that I could mount on the stem (a-head) so as to avoid cluttering up the bars. The clamp would have to be at 90 degrees to the light. Anyone know if such a thing exists?? Seems perfectly feasible to me...[quote]

Yep, my back-up light does this, the bracket rotates 90 degs so that it'll attach anywhere. Not particularly secure though, the band needs a strip of rubber underneath it. http://www.cateye.com/en/product_detail/341

Also running a MiNewt, really bright. No low power setting but I guess it keeps the price down.

Running a couple of cateyes at the back, have a 1 watt BLT coming. Makes night riding a little safer when drivers think you are a motorbike.

Ultimate LED light