Well? Cat Eye HL-EL500 single LED that's SUPPOSED to put out some strong light for an LED. How bout it? Any users?!

Try searching the boards here for more LED and Luxeon related stuff. I have spoken to a few people who think the light output is resonable, definiately not a super bright light, but (I think - I've never seen one in real life) it's more then adequate for riding with.

I think I recall it being mentioned on bikecurrent a while back:

http://lists.topica.com/lists/bikecurrent/read

Edit: Hmm might not be quite as good as I thought it was, sounds like it has a very narrow beam, a common problem with a lot of simpler LED lights. Sounds like it's fine on the road.... I'll keep reading......

Some posts of interest:

http://lists.topica.com/lists/bikecurrent/read/message.html?mid=809665187&sort=d&start=8269

http://lists.topica.com/lists/bikecurrent/read/message.html?mid=809242488&sort=d&start=8069

http://lists.topica.com/lists/bikecurrent/read?sort=d&start=8044

http://www.cyclingforums.com/showthread.php?threadid=179754

http://www.cyclingforums.com/showthread.php?t=181652&goto=nextoldest

If you want to find out about some other Luxeon lights of interest - *proper lights* :D , have a look at the thread in my signature.


Cheers, Dave

Well? Cat Eye HL-EL500 single LED that's SUPPOSED to put out some strong light for an LED. How bout it? Any users?!


If you are in the market for a new light for 24 hour racing or just some plain 'ole off road fun....WAIT! Cateye has some mindblowing lights coming out for 2005. Some of them are "racer" oriented, while some of their other new products are not. I had a chance to do some testing out at the 24 Hours of Moab. I can't let out any much info at this time, but all I can say is that there is nothing like it in the cycling light market at this time.

Jeff

Hey Jeff!!

pssst! Over here!! What about a PM??? :D :p

Cheers, Dave

If you are in the market for a new light for 24 hour racing or just some plain 'ole off road fun....WAIT! Cateye has some mindblowing lights coming out for 2005. Some of them are "racer" oriented, while some of their other new products are not. I had a chance to do some testing out at the 24 Hours of Moab. I can't let out any much info at this time, but all I can say is that there is nothing like it in the cycling light market at this time.

JeffHey KERKOVEJ & LowRider, thx 4 the advice! I'm considering the little known EL500 more for just street, but I will be looking into a more SERIOUS light for some night offroad! So I appreciate your advice. Thanks for the links Lowrider, I'm reading those now!

Thats cool, I'm having a hell of a time sorting through that archive though. I swear I saw a full-blown review of it somewhere, but can't think for the life of me where....

It wouldn't matter if I could remember what it said!! :D

I *think* that it was a pretty resonable light, but a narrow beam, only really suited to the road and commuting. I would have a serious play with one before I got it if I were you.

There is a huge misconception about LED's, and the so called "super LED's". Really there isn't much hope (even with the huge mcd output ones) of making a really fantastic light to ride with. Huge arrays are sometimes successful.

However, there is a company called "Lumileds" that have a range of LED's called "Luxeons". These devices really are something special, and there are a number of companies out there making great lights with them. Three 3-watt Luxeons grouped together have the potential to out-shine a 25-30 watt Halogen, and with a way better color temperature, even better the some HID systems on the market.

For more info, if you haven't already, have a look at the thread in my signature, and from there there are many links to give you more of an idea as to the perfomance of these systems. The Solid Lights page has a resonable comparison.

Cheers, Dave.

I just want to know if Cateye or other manufacturers are coming up with something like a 4AA battery-powered LED solution that can give as much light as let's say my Cateye HL-1500 in high beam mode, cuz that's what I use now and although it's bring enough for me to avoid potholes at nite, I have to recharge my AA batteries like every few days (I ride in the evenings for 30mins each day as exercise)

I almost bought a Nitehawk Emitter but saw some stuff on usenet about its narrow beam that made me think twice before forking out the dough...

In the case of the Cateye, it's a 1w Luxeon (almost guaranteed) with an integrated lens.

It's beam width is approximately 10° which is very spotty; I have used the Nighthawk version that is identical and have seen it first hand.

For reference, I use two 3w Luxeons with 20° beams and they're aimed just left and just right of stright ahead (much like a car's headlights) and it works exceptionally well. It is superior to a 10w halogen ... it's inferior to a 20w halogen. This is 6w of LED light though keep in mind; the Cateye is 1 watt.

With LEDs (by Luxeon) you get about 25 lumens/watt. A lumen is basically a unit of light output. For a normally driven halogen, its about 12 lumens/watt. Halogen's can be overdriven by about 20% to achieve about 20 lumens/watt at the whim of probably melting your light holders and the light's life being reduced by about 90%.

So, a 1 watt Cateye is about as good as a 2w halogen. It's good for tight trails but SUCKS for open area. And for other riders, they REALLY hurt to look at (ie: looking at the lens when it's on SUCKS. So much that they probably do damage to oncomer's eyes.

Light output watt for watt is at par with HID ... minus the $$$. Luxeon's can be purchased in 1, 3 and 5w versions but they're hard to implement to make yourself.

...saw it in the catalog for $50. Bought it off ebay shipped for $40. I use four Sony 2300mAh rechargeable AA batteries. It supposed to last 30 hours. To tell you the truth I wish it were more like 10 hours at three times the light. It is pretty bright and it did work well. I was riding single track pretty slow and had strapped a StreamLight Scorpion flashlight to my helmet.The Cat eye is supposed to put out 1000 candle power. The scorpion, 6500. That Scorpion is BRIGHT, but the charge is for only one hour and the batteries are EXPENSIVE.

I liked the CATEYE , and it really saved my bacon. I'm not yet ready to go to these $400 lighting systems, as I don't ride much at night. I saw one on Ebay recently for 32 bucks shipped. I still have the auction info saved if you want to contact him. For 32 bucks, I don't think it can be beat.

Dan

I got 1 too. I havent been out in full dark, just partial. It is bright for an LED, but the beam is narrow. Read some links that Low Rider posted, one had a test showing it wasnt 1000 CP.

For the easy street ride it's fine & is easy on batteries. But don't expect anything extraordinary.

I'll second what Dramius said. I'm using one too. Nothing exceptional but for the price what can one expect.

Cheerio! :D

...saw it in the catalog for $50. Bought it off ebay shipped for $40. I use four Sony 2300mAh rechargeable AA batteries. It supposed to last 30 hours. To tell you the truth I wish it were more like 10 hours at three times the light. It is pretty bright and it did work well. I was riding single track pretty slow and had strapped a StreamLight Scorpion flashlight to my helmet.The Cat eye is supposed to put out 1000 candle power. The scorpion, 6500. That Scorpion is BRIGHT, but the charge is for only one hour and the batteries are EXPENSIVE.

I liked the CATEYE , and it really saved my bacon. I'm not yet ready to go to these $400 lighting systems, as I don't ride much at night. I saw one on Ebay recently for 32 bucks shipped. I still have the auction info saved if you want to contact him. For 32 bucks, I don't think it can be beat.

Dan

I bought one prior to my venturing into the 10+ watt category. I was disappointed in the light output, not only on the road, but also the trail. The light beam is narrow, much better suited for pointing down right in front of your front tire. Long distance- FORGET IT! The light dissipated quickly and the faux HID effect only limits the light output further. The light pattern almost looks like an upside-down U. Maybe would be better if you had the ability to move the LED in and out of the reflector to alter the beam pattern as necessary. It would make an OK commuter light, or something for a backup. Never a woods light. Makes a great flashlight!!