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2 bucks, Chuck.

1K views 9 replies 6 participants last post by  BrianMc 
#1 ·
Saw a little LED light at the dollar store yesterday, and thought "How bright can this be?" Bought the 3 AAA alkaline batteries it needed, took it home and waited for dark.

Shone the light around & was flabbergasted (flabbergasted, I say!) at how bright this little thing was. Had a stroke of semi-genius and took out an old NiteRider handlebar mount, rigged the lite to the bar, and presto! A $2 commuter light. Not quite bright enough for the trails, but plenty o' light for the street.

Just makes me think how overpriced lighting rigs are nowadays. In a few years, we'll have lighting systems for the bikes that are under $100 and will be more light than you'll ever need.

Pics to follow.
 
#7 · (Edited)
I agree with BrianMC, those kind of lights are good for backup, but you can't rip through the woods at night with those, you'll outride that light the whole time.

I have a this 9 LED light from DX (btw, don't buy this particular model, contact problems on all 4 I bought).

Interestingly enough, one of these are just as bright (no BS!).

*EDIT* I re-read the original post, he did say he was using it as a commuter light, not for trail use. My bad.
 
#9 ·
I applaud the OP. If you can ride with that amount of light you have my respect. A lady I work with has one of those 9-led models. Usually they sell for around $3-$4.
I have to admit they throw out a fairly bright beam but not much throw. I recently purchased a small AA battery type light from D/X for about $11. The one I have uses only a single led ( type not specified ) and puts out about 50 lumen. Seems to run forever on a single rechargeable AA. The 9-led is a little brighter than mine though. The only thing I don't like about the 9 is that it uses AAA's. Yeah, they make rechargeable triple A's but I don't own any of those. I have lots of other batteries though. Anyway, I'm pretty happy with my little single AA light. Very good for close up work...still, I wanted something a little brighter ( around the same size ) that I can carry in my pocket and use at work. So I spent another $13 and bought a nice little Ultrafire Cree Q-5 5-mode using a single rechargeable CRC123A.

My advice to the OP...Yeah, it's fun to say that you only paid a buck for your light. However unless you have rechargeable triple A's you are still going to have to buy packs of triple A's which is not so fun. Even at a dollar store they are not free. My advice is to use your 9-led as backup and buy a nice 200+lumen torch from D/X for commute duties. The torch will likely cost around $13. If you need rechargeable batteries and a charger another $18 ( shipping free from D/X ) A good torch will make your commute SO much safer. Not to mention it will blow away that little 9-led you now have. Do as I say and you will not regret it. Even if you are satisfied with just the 9 you should still have a back up because something THAT cheap can't be that reliable.
 
#10 ·
Cat-man-do said:
Even if you are satisfied with just the 9 you should still have a back up because something THAT cheap can't be that reliable.
Exactly. I have NiMH AAA's but the Alkalines haven't fired the lights in anger much. The first one was $3, this last one was $2. At that price, a backup for the backup was smart.

I too admire OP's being able to use them for more than an emergency light. I did a lap of the naeighborhood to prove they would do, but I had to ride slow. But then, my night vision isn't what it once was.
 
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