Mountain Bike Reviews Forum banner

Bike Ray IV

10K views 68 replies 15 participants last post by  Scooby74 
#1 ·
It appears that there are some new pictorials on the Bike Ray page of the BR4 to be released July/August:

http://www.bikeray.com/a/en/product/RAY 4/2011/0415/24.html

I cant really tell if the BR4 light head bodies are the same as the recently introduced shorter BR3s though ... based on the pics it doesn't look like it. Please correct me if I'm mistaken.

Now a question to Mr Bike Ray posed before but not directly answered:

"Will you be selling light heads as individual units alone WITHOUT batteries or chargers? and if not why?" Thanks!
 

Attachments

See less See more
1
#3 ·
BR4 is different than BR3. Not just in Lumens, if you put pics side to side, you will notice.

About possiblity of purchasing just light head,
No offense but I must ask you, if you go to a car dealer, and ask the sales guy that you are willing to buy a new car but without transmission or gas tank,,,,,I don't think they will do that.

The outer case, it became as part of trademark for BikeRay lights. Yet you can see the differences.

Hope this answered your question~

Thank you for your interest~
 
#4 · (Edited)
That analogy is actually pretty inaccurate mate. Take a look at other industry players - Dinotte, Magicshine, Lupine as examples, light heads alone are offered as single unit purchases.

Even the BikeRay3 light head is currently being sold as is without the battery or charger:
http://www.geomangear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4_33&products_id=258

I'm sure I am not the only one here with with spare batteries and chargers that are compatible with other lightheads, BikeRay's or otherwise.

Now if you can honestly tell me that the BikeRayIV light heads are only specific to and compatible with BikeRay batteries and chargers due to whatever reason, I'm all ears...

...Unless it's a simple profit margin issue, do correct me if I'm wrong. Thanks. ;)
 
#5 ·
Directed to BikerayUSA:
On the subject of selling separate light heads I have to agree with everything Chromagftw said in the above post. However I do understand that not all vendors operate the same way. It should be understood though that many people might want to operate two Bikeray's from one battery. This represents an opportunity for the vendor to make more money need I say. ( ...you've been in this business how long?..;) ) Some vendors will even offer discounts for combo set-ups but I digress...

Mr. Bikeray, You did tell someone else over on the BR III thread that the BR III would become available ( at a later date ) as a separate light head. You even offered to supply Y-cables. This tells me you already understand the concept of wanting two light heads for one battery.

Concluding, there are many people who will want to run duel light heads ( *..or just want to adapt their battery to the newer light head ). Whither or not you can get extra light heads will be up to you and your supplier. We aren't telling you how to run your business, were just telling you what we want. That is want forums are for ( two way dialog ). Just keep in mind, if they can't get it from you they will try elsewhere.
 
#6 ·
Thanks for your comments and making this thread as valuable info to many others who are concidering BikeRay lights.

I agree that I made it too simple comparison to car dealer thing. Sorry for that.
I guess what I tried was to indicate buying a chevy but asking to have ford powertrain....lol.

Yes, there are many products that are compatiable to other products, not only on bicycle lights. As you said, not all are but maybe some do.

We do offer Ray-I & II light heads only. But not on Ray-III or IV., at least not yet.
Why Geoman is offering light heads of Ray-III~? Because he purchased light heads only from BikeRay manufacture. After what happended to him with low quality MS batteries & chargers,,,,,I don't blame him on that.
There are many, many manufactures of batteries with many different quality and price range. No argument on Japanese or German qualities are one of best you can buy with money. However, there are many other companies who are not too behind with lower profit margin than others., yet keeping their quality high.

And Mr Cat Man, yes we are offering "Y" connectors for 2 lights. But that doesn't mean you have to use Ray lights only. As you said, few other companies share same connectors because they are simpler to use, and bastly available even from RadioShack.

I totally agree forums purpose is 2 way dialog than anouncements. And that is reason why we are coming to mtbr. Sometimes we get hammered, but that is part of life isn't it~?

If customers can not get from us, because we are hard headed or something, I agree that I probably do samething.
What I am trying to say here is, we will do for our product within our capacity and for market demand. Not because few of commentators asks for it, even they never bought one., As manufacture & distributors point of view, we need to see the actual required volume, initial investment needed, turn around time, etc. A lot of times, to make something that will be marketed at $1, requires initial investment of $5,000 or even more. Do we have market for 5000 units or more~? These things require a lot of time investment and many studies to make right decision.

Original intension of producing "Y" connectors were not to sell individual light heads. Do we make more money by selling as a kit~? I must say NO. We will make more money if we sell individually, just like car parts or anyother parts deal. We actually make much less money by offering as a kit.

Just as .... who will need a nice case or nice gift wraps~? not many. But we must make them to sell what we have to offer. And that is translated as extra cost. We try to keep things to minimum level, to save on unneccessary costs., and that translates into better pricing and savings on customers end.

WOW~!
I am sorry again. I guess I talked too much and probably will cause more attacks.....
Please, we are not here to kill someone or make any false arguments etc
We will offer whatever we can within our capacity. Just like the "Y" connector, we invested significant amount of money to produce this simple divice. Will we ever get investment out of this unit~? I don't think so.
Whole intention of it was to provide extra manageability of Ray lights and the batteries for Ray light customers to have tail lights operating with same battery pack. Well, we haven't finished making tail light yet.....lol.

Well, hopefully I made some of questions cleared. Forums can be friendly, if we try. But it also can be deadly by simply misunderstandings~!

Anyway, thank you guys and hope to serve you better in very near future.
 
#7 ·
bikerayusa said:
If customers can not get from us, because we are hard headed or something, I agree that I probably do samething.
What I am trying to say here is, we will do for our product within our capacity and for market demand. Not because few of commentators asks for it, even they never bought one., As manufacture & distributors point of view, we need to see the actual required volume, initial investment needed, turn around time, etc. A lot of times, to make something that will be marketed at $1, requires initial investment of $5,000 or even more. Do we have market for 5000 units or more~? These things require a lot of time investment and many studies to make right decision.
Thanks, I appreciate the reply bikerayusa.

I've actually owned a BRI, a BRII and currently have a BRIII that is on loan. I can't fault any of the light heads thus far and am a happy repeat customer hence my question regarding the availability of the BRIV as a light head only option. I know for a fact that I will be purchasing at least 2 - 3 lightheads if an option for that opened up. I do recall mentioning that specifically when I contacted you through the BR website.

Anyway, how you go about marketing is entirely your perogative and I do understand you cannot cater to every individual out there. All I am saying is that IF offered as an lighthead only option, your potential clientele base will be significantly expanded. Absolutely nothing additional or different is being done with respect to the design or manufacturing process of the product itself.

My 2 widgets.
 
#9 ·
Chromagftw said:
Thanks, I appreciate the reply bikerayusa.

I've actually owned a BRI, a BRII and currently have a BRIII that is on loan. I can't fault any of the light heads thus far and am a happy repeat customer hence my question regarding the availability of the BRIV as a light head only option. I know for a fact that I will be purchasing at least 2 - 3 lightheads if an option for that opened up. I do recall mentioning that specifically when I contacted you through the BR website.

Anyway, how you go about marketing is entirely your perogative and I do understand you cannot cater to every individual out there. All I am saying is that IF offered as an lighthead only option, your potential clientele base will be significantly expanded. Absolutely nothing additional or different is being done with respect to the design or manufacturing process of the product itself.

My 2 widgets.
Thanks for your kind words.
as from a customers point of view, you may be right. It well could expand and reach many more people.
In other hand, we had thoughts that we might be in risk to supply just light heads, not a complete set.
Not all specs are compartiable, even they look same. What if end user mis uses light head with wrong charger or battery~? If things don't match right, we can be in trouble as long as warranty, safety goes.... How can we protect that part~?
Not all users will follow its comparability. I didn't in many ocasions.

Offering an extra light head to same BikeRay customer is possible. But if others use Ray head with MS or Gemini or anyother light heads, batteries & chargers and causes damage, which is very possible, how can we be protected from those mis uses~?

We will risk too much on our end if something wrong happens by end users.
By selling a complete set will eliminate that risk. Yes, any customer will and may do something like I used to do. But that will be up to the customer.
It was our though, offering just light head is asking trouble of mis uses.
And if we do offer them as to be purchased separately, it might be without warranty., and that may cause a bad image to our company.
Do we have to make a special connector like many other companies do~? well, it is somewhat a little late for that.

These are the main reasons why we try to stay away offering separate sale.

Yet, as Cat Man asked and you too, we will come up with some solution for this matter. And If you have any suggestion for it, please let us know. And let make this forum worthed to be in.
Your kind understanding on this issue is highly appreciated.
 
#10 ·
nick d said:
a bit off topic, but will the ray3 and ray4 be available in colors like the ray1 and ray2?
Hi Nick~!

Market for higher lumens gets narrower due to higher cost and limited users.
And as manufacture and as an investor, we have to think involving cost and not having too many left over stocks.

New Ray-III is Charcoal(Carbon) Grey but shinny, to match most handlebar's color.

As Ray-I & II, we had many colors, but black was best seller. While we sold over 500 blacks, we only sold 200 or so Reds and less than 100 blues.

You will like New color of Ray-III.

And Ray-IV will be black as you see on the pictures. We though about having silver and red but on actual sample, it didn't look that good.

Any suggestion on colors~?

Appearance is important, but that is translated as an extra cost to customers.
 
#11 ·
bikerayusa said:
Hi Nick~!

Market for higher lumens gets narrower due to higher cost and limited users.
And as manufacture and as an investor, we have to think involving cost and not having too many left over stocks.

New Ray-III is Charcoal(Carbon) Grey but shinny, to match most handlebar's color.

As Ray-I & II, we had many colors, but black was best seller. While we sold over 500 blacks, we only sold 200 or so Reds and less than 100 blues.

You will like New color of Ray-III.

And Ray-IV will be black as you see on the pictures. We though about having silver and red but on actual sample, it didn't look that good.

Any suggestion on colors~?

Appearance is important, but that is translated as an extra cost to customers.
Had one customer turned off on the Bike ray lights as they could not buy just the light head. Then again there are no real universal connectors between mfg's so he would be slicing and dicing to get the set up to work in the end anyway.

As for ano colors red is nice, but fades quick to pink in many cases. Black is standard and done for pretty much any component. What about a dark grey or blue that is nearly black? Think that would appeal to a wider market....
 
#12 ·
bikerayusa said:
Hi Nick~!

Market for higher lumens gets narrower due to higher cost and limited users.
And as manufacture and as an investor, we have to think involving cost and not having too many left over stocks.

New Ray-III is Charcoal(Carbon) Grey but shinny, to match most handlebar's color.

As Ray-I & II, we had many colors, but black was best seller. While we sold over 500 blacks, we only sold 200 or so Reds and less than 100 blues.

You will like New color of Ray-III.

And Ray-IV will be black as you see on the pictures. We though about having silver and red but on actual sample, it didn't look that good.

Any suggestion on colors~?

Appearance is important, but that is translated as an extra cost to customers.
i totally understand, the last thing you want is to be sitting on a bunch of odd color anodized ray3 or ray4 lights when the ray5 comes out in a year or two ;)

if given the choice ill usually pick something with red over black or grey, but it doesnt really make much of a difference, doesnt change its performance, and your right, most people will pick black.

i just thought the color option was cool on the ray1 and ray2 so i had to ask :D
 
#13 ·
crux said:
Had one customer turned off on the Bike ray lights as they could not buy just the light head. Then again there are no real universal connectors between mfg's so he would be slicing and dicing to get the set up to work in the end anyway.

As for ano colors red is nice, but fades quick to pink in many cases. Black is standard and done for pretty much any component. What about a dark grey or blue that is nearly black? Think that would appeal to a wider market....
Hi Crux,
Thank you for your comments on color choice. Yap, we are making Ray-III in Dark Grey or Carbon Grey, which ever way you want to call it. It was choice of many excisting user of Ray lights.
About that unhappy customer, our New Ray-III is not in the market yet. How can he be upset with something is not on sale yet~?
Are you refering about Ray-I or II~? We do offer light head only purchase on those.

Please let us know if we can do anything for your friend.

Thank you~!
 
#14 ·
crux said:
Had one customer turned off on the Bike ray lights as they could not buy just the light head. Then again there are no real universal connectors between mfg's so he would be slicing and dicing to get the set up to work in the end anyway.

As for ano colors red is nice, but fades quick to pink in many cases. Black is standard and done for pretty much any component. What about a dark grey or blue that is nearly black? Think that would appeal to a wider market....
Forgot to ask...sorry.
Are you one of the dealers of BikeRay, who doesn't want to be published on our site~?
If so, please let me know the details of this customer. I want to help.
 
#15 ·
nick d said:
i totally understand, the last thing you want is to be sitting on a bunch of odd color anodized ray3 or ray4 lights when the ray5 comes out in a year or two ;)

if given the choice ill usually pick something with red over black or grey, but it doesnt really make much of a difference, doesnt change its performance, and your right, most people will pick black.

i just thought the color option was cool on the ray1 and ray2 so i had to ask :D
h h h~!
I will need much more cash flow to get more color choice and be ready to sit on many odd colors ~ :confused:
It is our hope to open more doors (bikeshops), and to be able to offer more choices. Who knows, maybe a pink or purple~???? :p
 
#16 ·
bikerayusa said:
Thanks for your kind words.
as from a customers point of view, you may be right. It well could expand and reach many more people.
In other hand, we had thoughts that we might be in risk to supply just light heads, not a complete set.
Not all specs are compartiable, even they look same. What if end user mis uses light head with wrong charger or battery~? If things don't match right, we can be in trouble as long as warranty, safety goes.... How can we protect that part~?
Not all users will follow its comparability. I didn't in many ocasions.

Offering an extra light head to same BikeRay customer is possible. But if others use Ray head with MS or Gemini or anyother light heads, batteries & chargers and causes damage, which is very possible, how can we be protected from those mis uses~?

We will risk too much on our end if something wrong happens by end users.
By selling a complete set will eliminate that risk. Yes, any customer will and may do something like I used to do. But that will be up to the customer.
It was our though, offering just light head is asking trouble of mis uses.
And if we do offer them as to be purchased separately, it might be without warranty., and that may cause a bad image to our company.
Do we have to make a special connector like many other companies do~? well, it is somewhat a little late for that.

These are the main reasons why we try to stay away offering separate sale.

Yet, as Cat Man asked and you too, we will come up with some solution for this matter. And If you have any suggestion for it, please let us know. And let make this forum worthed to be in.
Your kind understanding on this issue is highly appreciated.
After reading what you have said about the potential misuses I can understand your concern. As far as potential misuses go I think the only real issues pertaining to running duel light heads that might have fall-back repercussions that might be problematic for the vendor would be the following:
1) If the BR standard 4-cell battery does not have a PCB capable of outputting ( at least ) ~6A max this might be considered the major concern as it could damage the PCB on the battery. I don't know the specs. of the BR battery but on other comparable 4-cell batteries I don't recall this being an issue that has ever warranted concern.
2) Connector compatibility. Someone using connectors that aren't really designed to work with the BR's. If a connector is too tight it could damage the connector which could cause an open circuit. I've had this happen before with other companies connectors but I've not heard of it happening with BR or MS for what it's worth.
3) Lastly there are typical customer "idiot mistakes". Things like, trying to run the light heads off a different ( higher voltage ) battery....or using the wrong charger designed for another voltage/chemistry. I could add more but the list would be almost endless. I think all can agree there is no limit to human stupidity.

...Now with all that said, that is the dilemma that all vendors face when selling their products. You can add disclaimers to your warranty but that still won't protect the seller 100% from the idiot/ jack-a**es that might file a warranty issue on something that was totally their fault. Need I add, even if you chose not to offer separate light-heads the issues I mentioned above still are in play.

My take on all of this is forget the idiots and stock a handful of extra light heads. Having happy customers is always a good thing as long as the extra expense is not too much.
 
#17 ·
FWIW I too would be interested in a separate BRIII light-head. I have the original version of the light along with two batteries (love the light). I would be interested in the newer version of the BRIII with the 15 degree lens (when available) for a helmet light (currently using an XPG torch on the helmet). I am sure there is a market for the separate light-head.
 
#18 ·
Cat-man-do said:
After reading what you have said about the potential misuses I can understand your concern. As far as potential misuses go I think the only real issues pertaining to running duel light heads that might have fall-back repercussions that might be problematic for the vendor would be the following:
1) If the BR standard 4-cell battery does not have a PCB capable of outputting ( at least ) ~6A max this might be considered the major concern as it could damage the PCB on the battery. I don't know the specs. of the BR battery but on other comparable 4-cell batteries I don't recall this being an issue that has ever warranted concern.
2) Connector compatibility. Someone using connectors that aren't really designed to work with the BR's. If a connector is too tight it could damage the connector which could cause an open circuit. I've had this happen before with other companies connectors but I've not heard of it happening with BR or MS for what it's worth.
3) Lastly there are typical customer "idiot mistakes". Things like, trying to run the light heads off a different ( higher voltage ) battery....or using the wrong charger designed for another voltage/chemistry. I could add more but the list would be almost endless. I think all can agree there is no limit to human stupidity.

...Now with all that said, that is the dilemma that all vendors face when selling their products. You can add disclaimers to your warranty but that still won't protect the seller 100% from the idiot/ jack-a**es that might file a warranty issue on something that was totally their fault. Need I add, even if you chose not to offer separate light-heads the issues I mentioned above still are in play.

My take on all of this is forget the idiots and stock a handful of extra light heads. Having happy customers is always a good thing as long as the extra expense is not too much.
Hi Cat Man,
Thanks for addressing the issue to where I wanted to take, but I was little "timid" to mention. Since I was a target on many issues. ( this is lack of my Spanglish and more)....lol
Anyway, we have no issues on #1 & #2. All tests were done and we got very good results of them.
However, we are very concerned on #3. And you are absolutely right about they will do it anyway.
SInce very same connectors are available even at Radio Shack or any electronic store, anyone can play around with different lights and specs which will damage either components for sure.

Yet, I will take your advise, and will try to make it possible in very near future.
And hope nothing like #3 happens.... hope. :skep:
 
#19 ·
IMHO said:
FWIW I too would be interested in a separate BRIII light-head. I have the original version of the light along with two batteries (love the light). I would be interested in the newer version of the BRIII with the 15 degree lens (when available) for a helmet light (currently using an XPG torch on the helmet). I am sure there is a market for the separate light-head.
Hey IMHO;
Yes, we will take it seriously now. And will try to make it available for you.
The way things are going with engineering and so on, Ray-IV will be coming out sooner than 15degree lens for Ray-III.

Our projected release date on Ray-IV should be around late June or early July,.

Ray-IV has 15 degree lens. If you combine Ray-III on handlebar and Ray-IV on helmet, you will have one of very best lighting for most type of ride., Yet at a fraction of high cost brand name lights with similar brightness.

Thank you for your quote~!
 
#22 ·
Cat-man-do said:
After reading what you have said about the potential misuses I can understand your concern. As far as potential misuses go I think the only real issues pertaining to running duel light heads that might have fall-back repercussions that might be problematic for the vendor would be the following:
1) If the BR standard 4-cell battery does not have a PCB capable of outputting ( at least ) ~6A max this might be considered the major concern as it could damage the PCB on the battery. I don't know the specs. of the BR battery but on other comparable 4-cell batteries I don't recall this being an issue that has ever warranted concern.
2) Connector compatibility. Someone using connectors that aren't really designed to work with the BR's. If a connector is too tight it could damage the connector which could cause an open circuit. I've had this happen before with other companies connectors but I've not heard of it happening with BR or MS for what it's worth.
3) Lastly there are typical customer "idiot mistakes". Things like, trying to run the light heads off a different ( higher voltage ) battery....or using the wrong charger designed for another voltage/chemistry. I could add more but the list would be almost endless. I think all can agree there is no limit to human stupidity.

...Now with all that said, that is the dilemma that all vendors face when selling their products. You can add disclaimers to your warranty but that still won't protect the seller 100% from the idiot/ jack-a**es that might file a warranty issue on something that was totally their fault. Need I add, even if you chose not to offer separate light-heads the issues I mentioned above still are in play.

My take on all of this is forget the idiots and stock a handful of extra light heads. Having happy customers is always a good thing as long as the extra expense is not too much.
Sent you pm.
 
#26 ·
nick d said:
are you guys going to be at any other MTB events this year? I hear OMBA is doing a night of the living dead ride or something later in the year...
Hi Nick~!

We will be at OMBA for sure.
Other MTB races, we wish we could be there, but we need more reps to help us attend those events.
Do you know anyone or shop who wants to work with us~? :thumbsup:
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top