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New Gemini light? the Duo?

48K views 254 replies 56 participants last post by  herrhaus 
#1 ·
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#96 ·
Not to cast any bad light on the Duo (pardon the pun), but while I'm impressed with the light itself, I'm not impressed with the helmet mount. It was a bugger to get strapped onto my helmet and get it cinched down tight. I have no idea why they didn't put a loop on the strap and reverse the end of the velcro strap so that it could be cinched tight (FAIL). I ended up cutting a large portion of the velcro strap off to get it to fit onto my Specialized helmet. Other than that issue, the light is really nice.
 
#97 ·
herrhaus, the way it's set up you cinch down each side separately. I find it's best to pull the pads out of the helmet first because the straps want to stick to the pads. Pass the straps through a vent and then back up through the other slot on the mount. Then pull both sides tight together and stick them down.
Though it shows a MS helmet mount these instructions illustrate the idea. HELMET MOUNT INST.
 
#99 · (Edited)
Thanks Jim. I did remove the pads inside the helmet. I fussed and fiddled with it last night for 1/2 hour before I ended up cutting the straps down (I cut about 2" off each side)...it's on there now...and it's tight. So, I'm all set. While I may be an engineer....for some reason, I couldn't figure that out last night. :blush: Oh well. Like I said, it's there now and it's tight, so I'm all set. And, the straps don't block the vents either.

Thursday, I'm planning a 2+ hour night ride, so, it will get tested out at that point.
 
#102 · (Edited)
So I dank the Gemi koolaid and bought a Duo. By the way, props to Action-Led. Shipping was lightning fast. Anyway, I now have all three lights..xera, olympia and duo. Went for a two hour ride last night with this as a helmet light the Olympia on the bar. In general I like the light though, I wish it was more of a spot. Though much brighter than my xera, I didn't feel as it threw quite as far and that's with the spot lens in my xera. The difference, if any was't huge and in reality, for the trails here in N. TX, I'm probably better off with a wider beam. Not many long downhills where I'd need a lot of throw. Rode for two hours on hi and the battery level was still on green with the hard case battery.

Seems very well built as are the other Gemini's I've purchased. Will have to wait till next summer to see how it handles our hot nights. In all, a nice light though I'm still left wanting a tad more. I wish Gemini would make a slightly larger version of the Olympia with 4 leds running around 2400 lumens for my bar and produce a spot lens for the current olympia so I could run it on my helmet. The olympia is just barely heavier than the duo and I didn't even know the duo was there. That would make for a lot of light ....Gemini...are you listening?
 
#103 ·
Just ran a first 2 cell run down test on the Duo.

Fully charged battery the light went out at 1:16.

Action LED has it listed to run for 1:30 on high. I never noticed it change to Amber color and at approx 1:15 I noticed the button was red and then it went out out 1:16

I have a second 2 cell battery I will try tomorrow to compare results.
 
#107 ·
Just ran a first 2 cell run down test on the Duo.

Fully charged battery the light went out at 1:16.

Action LED has it listed to run for 1:30 on high. I never noticed it change to Amber color and at approx 1:15 I noticed the button was red and then it went out out 1:16QUOTE]

I was going to do a rundown on the geoman battery but since Rakuman did that for us I did one with the 4 cell 5.2ah Gemini battery instead - 2:59 (close enough). I was watching as it aproached 3 hrs. and my lighthead did the same thing as yours, yellow to red and then totally off within 2 minutes. This is not the way any of my other Gemini lights behave on a low battery and not how the manuel describes the way the light should function. I'm going to ride tomorrow night but I think Thursday I'll try another battery. If you try your other 2 cell let me know how it works.
Mole
 
#106 ·
Got to give it a good test to tonight. Fire roads & socal chaparral singletrack
Well I know the thermal protection works had dim me down once :prft:eek:n a climb that 808E wouldn't. but that's to be expected twice the lumen s twice the heat, I'm just gong to have to learn this lights limits. all in all its a really bright light pushes past the Olympias throw limits well and gives you a lot of useable distance.
This is not a super thrower it seems to get about the same distance as a 808e but in a more smoothed spread out pattern. I think with spot lenses and a hotspot this thing would be insane:thumbsup:
 
#108 ·
I got a PM from Chris @ Gemini saying my run times should be better on the 2 cell and my battery was possibly not fully charged. He said leave it on the charger for at least an hour after the light goes to green as it will trickle charge to 100% capacity that way. Didn't know that but will give it a try.

That being said I tested my second (and primarily used) battery and got allot closer to the 1:30 high run time on the Action LED site for the 2 cell. This was before I got the PM from Chris so I will try a 3rd time to see if that improves it even more.

2nd test on high with 2 cell and my primary battery

1:06 to amber
1:19 to red
1:24:45 to power down

With all the programming options available with this light I'm sure I can milk out 2 hours on or near high with the 2 cell. Just cycling it to the low 280 lumen setting at stops during the ride might do it...and I always have my spare. Nice not being attached to an extension cord IMO but a 4 cell in the back pack and just blast away on high and no worries.
 
#109 ·
Keep in mind that cool weather effects batteries and this effects how the circuitry in the lamp reads the voltage on the battery. Voltage sag in cold weather is always a problem with batteries. The smaller the battery, the larger the issue.

Not sure how cold it is where you live but if you did the test inside the house the above paragraph is moot. Likely the battery just needs to recharge again. Trickle charging should not be an issue once the indicator on the charger indicates a full charge. If you doubt the battery is fully charged you can always check it with a meter. Full charge should read 8.4 volts. (DC)

Anyway, since you're powering two XM-L emitters, if you get 1.5hr on high with a two cell battery you should be thrilled. In cold weather expect maybe 1hr 10min to 1hr 20min. In cold weather best to use the bigger batteries.
 
#110 ·
Hey Skidad,
My second battery test went better too. I was happy with my time on the first test but I wanted to see if the charge indicator/low battery function would work correctly so I hooked up a partially charged 4 cell to save time. Bingo, approx 15 min. of yellow, followed by 15 min. of red and then flashing red and a power step down insteat of just turning off. I think I'm done testing the light in front of a fan for awhile, time for some single track.
Mole
 
#123 ·
I picked up an Olympia/Xera a few days ago and was super impressed. The Olympia beam looks similar to my friends' Seca 1700s, but at only $220 (lighthead, battery and charger), I couldn't be happier. The size and weight is ideal. The Xera on the helmet with the Olympia is simply excellent; so, this Duo on the helmet with the Olympia on the bars will be even better. Good job Gemini (and Action-Led).

A riding buddy was so impressed with the Gemini lights he promptly ordered a Duo. Interested to see what he thinks.
 
#127 ·
Sure, a higher capacity battery is not a problem though building a Li-ion pack is not recommended for DIY without the right equipment. All the cells have to be closely matched for the pack to charge properly. There are plenty of websites selling pre-assembled packs though such as All-Battery
You just need to look for a 7.4V Li-ion pack with PCB (printed circuit board) which is the circuit that prevents over charging and over dis-charging along with helping balance the cells. You can use your current charger, it will just take longer to charge.
An extension cable to give you the connector you need.
There are also several vendors selling high capacity packs all ready to go such as Open Light Systems.
Depending on the run time you need the Gemini 7800mAh 6 cell pack will power both lights for 2+ hours.
 
#130 ·
Just got the Duo. Playing around with it in a dark room with white walls, it appears to be slightly green in tint, comapred to the Xera. I'll have to see how it looks tonight when it's dark but from what I can tell the color temp looks a little different than the Olympia and Xera. Real world shoud tell the whole story; based off this test, I might be sending back for another Xera. Thanks to Action Led for getting this to me so quickly.
 
#132 ·
To me the Olympia and Xera both look about perfect, very white. I have a Niteflux Photon Max that is more blue comparatively. I also have a Foride (it's just like the MagicShine MJ-856) that is quite warm, tending toward slightly yellow. I prefer the color temp of the Olympia/Xera as they match each other perfectly and appear brilliant white. Of course the Duo may be a good match too but that will require more than shining it on the wall.
 
#137 · (Edited)
My buddy with the other Duo didn't show last night so I couldn't directly compare my Duo to his. However, I did compare it to another light, the Light and Motion Taz 1200. The Duo put out more light, the 1400 lumen rating might be legit. Real-world use reveals this to be an excellent light. After the first lap, at dusk we stopped and grabbed the lights. I forgot to grab my bar light so went with the Duo on the helmet, alone. My wife ran the Olympia/Xera combo. On the trail the Duo on high worked well as a single unit, has just enough throw for the open stretches but also has a wide beam for the tight portions of the trail. When we came up on another large group of riders I had to power down to 60% so the dust particles didn't blind me too much; a bar light would've been helpful.

Anyway, I'm still intereted to see how my buddy's Duo looks in comparison. The slight donut hole in the middle of the beam and lower color temp makes me wonder if the other units look the same. If his is whiter (a better match to the Olympia/Xera) then I will send back to Action Led for trade. If not, I'll happily live with it and chalk it up to the miniscule design of the dual optics.
 
#142 ·
Just recieved the Duo i ordered for the wife. First impressions are the light is very small and looks well built. Same consistency of quality finish as my Xera's. Still light outside so only had a chance to shine in the dark garage. I really like the colour rendition as it is slightly warmer than the Xera. Infact the Xera seems to have a violet tint to it in comparison, it must be the optic as Xm-L's ar not known to have this. Will wait until dark to check out beam shape and overall brightness compared to the Xera.:D
 
#143 ·
Just did a 24hr of GA w/ the Duo on helmet and Xera on Handle bar. I let my bro borrow my Olympia and he ran it on his handle bar and Xera on his helmet. All i can say is that "Well done Gemini". I no longer search for a perfect light combo :)
 
#145 ·
I just received the Duo and figured I would share my initial impression. My previous helmet light was the MJ 808e (the xml version) that recently stopped working. My principle dislike with the 808e was with its weight which caused my helmet to move around too much in the rough stuff. The Duo is significantly lighter and the difference is dramatic when wearing it on the head. Given its lack of mass it will be interesting to see how well the Duo dissipates heat. The beam is smooth and considerably wider that the 808e. However, lacks a focused hot spot. I don’t believe that it will throw quite as far as the 808e. These are my initial backyard impressions. I will report back after I get the Duo out on the trail.

Is there anyone out there that has access to the Duo and Glow Worm X2 v2? A lot of us would like to know how they compare.
 
#151 ·
Whatever the differences I doubt they will be significant. Matter of fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they were using the same optics.

Gloworm mentioned a while back that they were considering an even tighter spot optic for
the X2. Now they have become silent on the issue and my guess is that they really couldn't find something that was going to work with the present set-up....at least for the time being.

I'm still waiting for someone to market a quad XP-E2 ( or XP-G2/E2 combo ) set-up which I feel could make a really nice helmet lamp that could have excellent throw.
 
#147 ·
Gemini may be working on a more spot oriented reflector/optic for the Duo or if enough people ask for it they will.

I call the Duo the Xera on steroids with that nice smooth beam and a maybe bit more throw. I would love to see this thing with a more focused throwing beam option. Gemini....you listening?
 
#149 ·
Yea, I think over all you get better value with Gloworm, better features, better Battery with "Pan. cells" also cool meter on battery. Mounting system is lower and stronger, being able to change optic lens is a real + and remote.
I put an order on the Gemini Duo than canceled it, I know the Gemini is great product and well made.

I will wait a few days to make up my mind. Going out for a ride, daylight now!!
 
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