Lights

DX say 12-17 Days

12-17 days sounds realistic. Mine took quite a while.

here is a comparison between the DX lights, Lupine Tesla and a Diabolo light.
http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/exposure-vs-lupine-vs-dxbastidmagicshine

and another with a link to some beam pattern images:
Lumen measurement of Lupine Tesla and Dealextreme Magicshine - Mountain Bike Forums

can't really see why i would want to pay 3-5 times as much for a similar result.
LED technology is still developing quite a bit so the lights become obsolete quickly.

DX say 12-17 Days

Expectation management. I've had loads of stuff from them - pooter related stuff, kids presents etc - more than a week is very unusual.

Though they are massive, and stock control must be an issue. If they are trading on call forward terms (i.e. asking suppliers to forward to meet orders placed) no doubt the longer time period is probably more realistic.

Thought like I said, their customer service is totally atrocious, so don't bet more than you can afford to lose, as they say.

on another forum some guy measured the light output vs. power usage and here the DX light
wins over the Tesla. The Tesla uses 15,2W while the DX delivers a similar light output at
only 9,7W and stays cooler.

12-17 days sounds realistic. Mine took quite a while.

here is a comparison between the DX lights, Lupine Tesla and a Diabolo light.
http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/exposure-vs-lupine-vs-dxbastidmagicshine

and another with a link to some beam pattern images:
Lumen measurement of Lupine Tesla and Dealextreme Magicshine - Mountain Bike Forums

can't really see why i would want to pay 3-5 times as much for a similar result.
LED technology is still developing quite a bit so the lights become obsolete quickly.

Is that your review? It was really helpful! In the ideal world I'd buy the diabalo just 'cos it looks nicer, its more compact, more expansion options, less likely to break, customer service is 100x better and its supporting a UK based company but (and this is a big full moon of a but)... At a quarter of the price its just not viable...

I'd like to see how the Magic shine compare to the Hope Vision 1

Exposure 2011 Diablo MK2 is packing 900 Lumens for £180 @Leisure lakes! That £2 a lumen! Why am I such a failure....

900 lumens!
for £60... gosh.

Is that your review? It was really helpful! In the ideal world I'd buy the diabalo just 'cos it looks nicer, its more compact, more expansion options, less likely to break, customer service is 100x better and its supporting a UK based company but (and this is a big full moon of a but)... At a quarter of the price its just not viable...

I'd like to see how the Magic shine compare to the Hope Vision 1

No, I was just looking for comparisons online since I don't own another
powerful light to compare myself.

The Diabolo is more compact but only runs for 1 hour on full because of the
smaller battery.
I also would like to support local companies but they would have to do R&D and
manufacture locally and be of better quality.
Just assembling components god knows where from an American company that outsourced its manufacturing to Hong Kong and slapping a big price on it doesn't do it for me.

If the companies play the cost reduction game and use globalization I will too.

Exposure 2011 Diablo MK2 is packing 900 Lumens for £180 @Leisure lakes! That £2 a lumen!

more like 20p

Just recieved the Knog knockoffs I ordered from Deal Extreme. Cheap, bright, cool flashing mode that will definitely get you noticed and waterproof, as I unfortunately found out on the very first outing with the lights on my bike.

The new cateye rear brackets are rubbish. I've had the same problem, it just sticks out too far to one side and so catches on your leg. what you need is one of these:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Cateye_Rear_Light_Clamp/5300003973/

and one of these:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Cateye_LD120~500~AU100~LD600~1000_Tail_Light_Bracket/5300004734/

much more tidy and doesn't get in the way.

Has anyone else had problems with lights mounted on a rear rack? I've found (on the wife's bike) that the rack seems to kill lights - must be something to do with the vibrations or something, but they seem to develop intermittent problems when either they will just not work, or will go really dim.

It takes a number of months, but it happened with a cateye TL LD 1100 (I think partly down to how the battery cover screws onto the end, which I don't think is a good design) and also to a cateye TL LD 610. I've been running a 610 on my seat post for twice as long and it hasnt had the same problem. When it started playing up a few weeks ago I took it off and it was much more rattly than mine, where I think the batteries were not held in as tight, so I've bodged it by wedging a little piece of rubber band on top of the battery then sliding the cover on and taping it. this seems to be working, but it's a bit strange. anyone else found this?

Thanks t-4003, I'll grab those. I just can't move the rear light into a spot that doesn't hit my leg and end up moving the light sideways. Stupid design.

ORDERED.

Just cut off the tail on the cateye lamp mount with some plyers

I've done that. It's not the bit that rubs. The big 'nut' piece does..

Fat thighs.

Muscle-bound thighs.

It's a curse I must bear.

So I just ordered some of the ridiculously cheap alleged 290lm light sets from eBay. Will post results when they arrive.

I bought a Solarforce L2-R from the list. The throw of the light is incredible. I tested the distance visible on a dark straight road, and its easily 1200-1500 feet / 400-500 metres (approx). At first I couldn't believe it, as I was looking for evidence of reflections, and from a house window and a car bumper, I clearly saw my light being reflected. In disbelief I had to rapidly twist my handlebars from side-to-side, to confirm that it was my light, and not another reflection from somewhere else.

The beam is narrow (narrower than I would like), but that in part explains the light-to-distance penetration. The halo around the center beam is okay. Its wide and very uniform. I only use my light for London cycling, so can't comment on "path" illumination. I point my light directly ahead, and not down. I let the halo light the road in front (though this isn't satisfactory), and allow the concentrated beam to alert oncoming vehicles of my presence. They do definitely see me, and from very far away.

For the price, I'm very happy with the light. Its well made, from aluminium, and I have it secured with a LockBlock. I'm yet to test full run-times, but will report back with that at another date. Oh yes, one of the main reasons for getting this light, was that it uses AA batteries. So I can always find spares and easily sourced chargers.

I'm still looking for a decent flashlight with white front and red rear. I thought I saw one on DX once but can't seem to find it now..

I bought a Solarforce L2-R from the list. The throw of the light is incredible. I tested the distance visible on a dark straight road, and its easily 1200-1500 feet / 400-500 metres (approx). At first I couldn't believe it, as I was looking for evidence of reflections, and from a house window and a car bumper.

How would they improve throw?

500 meters?

500 meters?

Oh yeah. On AAs. Oh yeah. Half a Kilometer. You'd better believe it, it's real.

Oh yeah. On AAs. Oh yeah. Half a Kilometer. You'd better believe it, it's real.

bigtwin,

THROW is the distance that is farthest penetrated by the light beam. SPREAD is the width of the illumination. As you know, there will be a hotspot, and a halo in the beam. The reach of the halo is shallow and the throw of the hotspot is the normally quoted maximum distance. I said the throw is 400-500 meters and it is. In fact that may be conservative.

A pencil type laser, run on only 1 AAA battery can give a throw of light of many miles. There is now a problem for airline pilots that report lasers blinding them on certain flight paths, where kids are pointing their cheap laser lights skywards. It requires little power to have a long throw of light. To have a powerful and wide beam spread is different. I did say in my mini-review that the beam was narrow.

So, leaving all that irrelevant crap about lasers to one side, what you actually mean is that you can see it's switched on from half a kilometer away, not that it actually throws any illumination that actually lets you see where you are going. Woopie.

So whats the best rechargeable rear light? I have a fibreflare which is good but want something a bit brighter which I can charge... This looks good but a bit too pricey: http://store.dinottelighting.com/shared/StoreFront/default.asp?CS=dinotte&StoreType=BtoC&Count1=6252467&Count2=923392891&ProductID=111&Target=products.asp

Ok so mini review of the Smart Lunar 35

It seems to be a reasonable well put together light, with side windows for side visibility (something a lot of brighter lights lack), very easy to mount although the mount is a little tricky to get tight enough to stop it slipping around on my bars. It starts to droop downwards after riding on cobbles for a bit...
As for the light itself, the low seems pretty good for streetlit visibility, high is brighter - but not massively so - I would say you would just about get away with it on unlit roads, but ideally you would want to back it up with something like a helmet light.

Still as you can pick one up for £25, it only needs 2AA batteries, is pretty compact (no battery pack) and is easy to mount onto the bike and unmount I would probably recommend it - although you may want to put some tape or something under the mount to stop it slipping.

I agree with this. It's not as bright as I was hoping (2W single LED) but it's decent and surprisingly heavy (hopefully in a robust kind of way).

I'm better pleased with my new RSP Urban Rear light: Nice and bright and really visible from the sides / any rear angle, but i don't think it's blinding or glaring. Seems to be designed in a neat compact way with the batteries inside the actual light bit. Although i can't work out why you'd need a left-to-right blinky mode and a right-to-left blinky mode...

So whats the best rechargeable rear light? I have a fibreflare which is good but want something a bit brighter which I can charge... This looks good but a bit too pricey: http://store.dinottelighting.com/shared/StoreFront/default.asp?CS=dinotte&StoreType=BtoC&Count1=6252467&Count2=923392891&ProductID=111&Target=products.asp

I got this recently:
[ame="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Astrum-2x0-5-Watt-Rear-Light/dp/B002VK1P4W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=sports&qid=1289228068&sr=8-1"]RSP Astrum 2x0.5 Watt Rear LED Light: Amazon.co.uk: Sports & Leisure[/ame]

blindingly bright and cheap. get 2