I'm planning to purchase an HID light for myself. I know Niterider, Light & Motion, JET Lite are famous options. Any recommendation among them? My budget is around US$400.
There's one light not so well-known as the above. It's called Levin manufactured by BRIGHTSTAR in Taiwan. I just had a chance to look at its web page at http://www.brightstar.com.tw/product_info_e.php?UID=773. It looks good, including the battery's capacity, car cigarette adaptor, filters, etc. Anyone familiar with this light? I'm aware that I'm able to buy a unit within my budget. Such being the case, I prefer to give it a try rather than the big brands since its function is stronger.
I appreciate any comments and suggestion from you guys in advance.
I'm planning to purchase an HID light for myself. I know Niterider, Light & Motion, JET Lite are famous options. Any recommendation among them? My budget is around US$400.
There's one light not so well-known as the above. It's called Levin manufactured by BRIGHTSTAR in Taiwan. I just had a chance to look at its web page at http://www.brightstar.com.tw/product_info_e.php?UID=773. It looks good, including the battery's capacity, car cigarette adaptor, filters, etc. Anyone familiar with this light? I'm aware that I'm able to buy a unit within my budget. Such being the case, I prefer to give it a try rather than the big brands since its function is stronger.
I appreciate any comments and suggestion from you guys in advance.
I haven't heard of that brand before. I have a trailtech hid and has served me well. I will suggest you check led out too. the dinotte 500l should compare well to hid. and it can be dimmed.
I have playe with the latest leds and they do compare favourably to hid. light output ican be as good or better depending on configuration and they more efficient. they even get more efficient when dimmed.
even lupine are saying led is the way ahead and they have made some of the best if too expensive imo hids.
The Light & Motion lights are great. I have a Topeak Hid but have rented Light & Motion lights several times and I believe its a much better light. The quality of the L&M is very high and it has a terrific beam. You would not be making a mistake getting the L&M. I also like the fact that if you had an L&M you could probably get parts and get it fixed a lot quicker than a lot of the other stuff out there. When you are out on the trail 10 miles from nowhere you will be very happy you have an L&M light.
LED's!!! LED's are way more reliable, efficent and can be dimmed down to 1 watt. So if you need to stop and work on your bike in the middle of a ride, you can save the burn times, and not be blasting 500 some lumens at your bike.
If you're going to get an HID, either go cheap and get a Trail Tech with DIY battery/charger or for a full package deal get a L&M Arc. I've seen the L&M Arc Li-Ion go for about $330 on eBay. LEDs have some major advantages over HID but you won't find a 650 Lumen LED light in your budget. You can't beat HID for $/Lumen.
If you're going to get an HID, either go cheap and get a Trail Tech with DIY battery/charger or for a full package deal get a L&M Arc. I've seen the L&M Arc Li-Ion go for about $330 on eBay. LEDs have some major advantages over HID but you won't find a 650 Lumen LED light in your budget. You can't beat HID for $/Lumen.
I just purchased the Jet hid blast. The light looks excellent and I'll be testing on the trails tonight. With almost 4 hours of shine time Im not worried about saving battery time as most of my rides end up in the 2 hour range. Even with a mechanical that leaves me with enough light time unless its severe and then I'll have bigger things to worry about
3 mates and I ended up going HID last year. We actually planned to make some LED lights up & bought some Cree's, buckpucks and Al rod but ended up getting a great deal on the HID's, so we shelved the LED plans.
One of the HID's stopped working after it's first ride. Mine stopped after a few months. One seemed to get a strange blue tint to the light, different to the other lamps. So in hindsight we should have either made the LED lamps up or spent more $'s on a better HID set. Don't gamble on a HID set that you can't read heaps of good feedback on. Go with a proven brand. I think some of the manufacturers seem to think that a bike light is purely for road riding and don't really understand the vibration & abuse that they cop on a MTB. I'm wondering if ours failed because of this.
The problem with HID if they do stop working is that you don't know if it's the lamp or ballast - and both cost a fortune to replace. The cheapest lamp seems to be the one from Battery Space and for a bit more you could make up a triple Cree LED pumping out over 500 lumen. LED's are also solid state, not effected by vibration, you can dim them, they last for ever if you look after them, and are small and cheap enough that you can easily have a lamp on the bars and one on the helmet so you get backup just in case something does go wrong with one. There are a good number of manufacturers and great competition which makes them a lot cheaper than HID's.
If you can't be bothered making a LED lamp, the Ay-Up one looks a pretty hard deal to pass. Maybe not as cutting edge as the LED's you can use if you make your own, but it looks like a pretty good system none the less. I haven't seen one in the flesh so my opinion is based only on what I've seen on there web site and the info here and on Candle Power.
We've pulled our Al rod back out and will make up some triple Cree lamps to replace the HID's. On the positive side we ended up with a good helmet and bar mount and a good 14.4V Li-Ion battery and charger. I also think that with the way the LED's are improving in terms of Lumens per watt, they will overtake HID shortly. This will put heaps of pressure on the absurdly high price of the HID lamps and I'm sure the price of the lamps will tumble in the next couple of years. When they are $20 for a replacement I'll fix my HID and it can become a loaner !!!
Don't forget Dinotte's new ultra 5 is now 200 lumen's. I read on another thread someone bought 2 of those for 300 approx. total shipped. I also think you can get an ultra 3 for about 100. This would give about 500 lumen's and would also give you a helmet light and if one went out, it wouldn't matter as you would still have 2 lights. Yeah, couple more batteries but they're light and you won't feel it unless you want to race.
I bought an ARC lithium L&M and I'm super happy that I did. If you want light weight package go Lithium (I found mine on Speedgoat for 409$ due to price matching with Colorado cyclist) if not, go NiHm it's cheaper
I also have had a Jetlite for 5 years (non HID) that I love
You can't go wrong with either of these brands!!!:thumbsup:
Got to say I'm pretty pleased w/ my NR Enduro HID I got from Jenson last year. It's really bright, charges in the time they say and gives between 3.5-4 hours. A better deal they have on now is the one having LED and HID so you can switch to the LEDs if you're fixing a flat or any such. Same name Enduro but HID/LED http://www.jensonusa.com/store/product/ls307a09.aspx
hey HID are old ! the new kid on the block are LED'S myself I have Dinotte's light the best bang for the buck you should contact Rob @ www.dinottelighting.com
Hi All,
I was just wondering if someone could enlighten me about the "emitter" situation in Ayup lights. I read before that Ayup would make a killing if they used better emitters than the ones they are currently using. Can anyone tell me the difference between what they use and what would be a "better option" as all the reports I have read indicate they give plenty of light , burn times etc etc.
Hi Jibberkid
Should have started another thread to ask this.
But here are 2 quick pix
(1) LUX (Ayup emitters)
(2) Cree -newer emitters
Both driven at 1amp
I'm sure the Ayups would still do the job -don't know if they will be upgradable -and certainly you get a good package for the price.
Hi All,
I was just wondering if someone could enlighten me about the "emitter" situation in Ayup lights. I read before that Ayup would make a killing if they used better emitters than the ones they are currently using. Can anyone tell me the difference between what they use and what would be a "better option" as all the reports I have read indicate they give plenty of light , burn times etc etc.
I have a set of Ay-Ups (Helmet & Bar) and are very pleased with them however still not as bright as the Nightlightning LED's (even the old ones) or I guess the new Dinottes etc.
I believe that Ay-Ups will be upgrading to new emitters, which ones I don't know, about August or September and will be offering an upgrade for existing lights
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