Headlights

eeksll
Posts: 2631
Joined: Tue Oct 20, 2009 10:36 pm

Re: Headlights

Postby eeksll » Fri Jul 20, 2012 12:50 pm

I used single set of all rounders on the bars for a year. Even with 40% brighter, the light does get washed out when the road is wet/damp.

User avatar
MattyK
Posts: 3252
Joined: Fri Oct 01, 2010 1:07 pm
Location: Melbourne

Re: Headlights

Postby MattyK » Fri Jul 20, 2012 4:43 pm

queequeg wrote: Two sets mounted:

Image
8)

Image

People give me plenty of space :) I get the feeling that spacing the lights out wide adds to your perceived size/weight, as opposed to just one point source or tight cluster of lights.

User avatar
Aushiker
Posts: 22395
Joined: Tue Jun 05, 2007 1:55 pm
Location: Walyalup land
Contact:

Re: Headlights

Postby Aushiker » Fri Jul 27, 2012 11:14 am


jasonc
Posts: 12170
Joined: Thu Feb 24, 2011 3:40 pm
Location: Brisbane

Re: Headlights

Postby jasonc » Fri Jul 27, 2012 12:20 pm

MattyK wrote:Image

People give me plenty of space :) I get the feeling that spacing the lights out wide adds to your perceived size/weight, as opposed to just one point source or tight cluster of lights.
you running both of those off the y-cable?

User avatar
trailgumby
Posts: 15469
Joined: Sat Jan 03, 2009 5:30 pm
Location: Northern Beaches, Sydney
Contact:

Re: Headlights

Postby trailgumby » Fri Jul 27, 2012 1:36 pm

Aushiker wrote:3600 lumens (claimed) anyone? :)

Image

Andrew
That's not just going to zap possums, it's going to fry them :lol:

User avatar
find_bruce
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 10579
Joined: Mon May 09, 2011 8:42 pm
Location: Sydney

Re: Headlights

Postby find_bruce » Fri Jul 27, 2012 2:30 pm

Aushiker wrote:3600 lumens (claimed) anyone? :)

Image

Andrew
trailgumby wrote:That's not just going to zap possums, it's going to fry them :lol:
It would need to kill them quick as the battery is not going to last long.

The site asserts they have a test certificate the University of Darmstadt showing a measured 3200 lumens. Given that it has 6 x XML emitters, and from memory 1 XML is around 550 lumens in the real world, the numbers would seem to be about right.

Battery side scares the beejeebers out of me. 8 x 18650 (ie double the magicshine size) wired up at 4S2P with a capacity of 5.8 Ah and a run time on high at 2 hours 11 minutes. They would want to be some high quality cells.

Back of the laptop calcs indicate that each XML is drawing something like 2.6 amps. That it going to be putting out some heat - better ride fast. Be nice to hear when someone has stumped up the significant amount of cash & actually received a light.

The only thing I would quibble with is made in germany claim - the Cree XMLs at the heart of it are made in china & I suspect other parts are as well.

User avatar
find_bruce
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 10579
Joined: Mon May 09, 2011 8:42 pm
Location: Sydney

Re: Headlights

Postby find_bruce » Fri Jul 27, 2012 2:35 pm

I will see your 6 x XML and raise you 7 x XML - the completely OTT Troutie from MTBR & other places.
Image
Image

Lighting up a barn said to be 170 m away
Image

User avatar
MattyK
Posts: 3252
Joined: Fri Oct 01, 2010 1:07 pm
Location: Melbourne

Re: Headlights

Postby MattyK » Fri Jul 27, 2012 2:53 pm

jasonc wrote: you running both of those off the y-cable?
Yes*. Battery life is around 1.5 hours, good enough for 3 nights' commuting for me. Tends to make the indicator lamp go from green to red pretty quickly though.

* I'm now back running my 4W Niteflux Commuter light, due to the cables breaking on the batteries. The batteries themselves are fine, but somewhere near the connector socket they've cracked - you wiggle the wire and the light goes off or on.

I will rebuild the batteries at some point, shorten the cable and use a bulkhead socket inside a different housing to prevent straining the cables. I keep these batteries in my pannier so no problems about waterproofing.

** Because I'm sick of the cables breaking on these lights (never had problems with the lamps or batteries), I now have a Philips Saferide light on order. 8) Will review when it arrives - hopefully next week.

vance.heredia
Posts: 12
Joined: Sat Apr 21, 2012 2:53 pm

Re: Headlights

Postby vance.heredia » Fri Jul 27, 2012 3:08 pm

I recently bought a Spiker 1206 from Xeccon for AUD 90 delivered and was really impressed for the price.

It is the newer version of the Xeccon 14 (another variant of the Magicshine) review posted here http://www.bicycles.net.au/2012/07/xecc ... cle-light/

The battery is in excellent housing and the light is great.

A couple of caveats -
1) The strap mount looks and feels cheap and I'm sure I will need to revert to the O-Ring mount soon.
2) Also the in flashing mode the light is so bright and the flash is so fast that it is almost disorientating even when pointed down at the road

I usually leave fairly early in the morning as I've only just stated riding and it take around 2 hours along beach rd (melb) to get to work (docklands) or get home (chelsea). yes yes I know I'm slow, but like I've said I only just started. So being new on the roads and having to cycle in the dark, visibility was important. I've found that I can use it on medium mode and see well enough most of the time.

I'll post some pics up

User avatar
find_bruce
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 10579
Joined: Mon May 09, 2011 8:42 pm
Location: Sydney

Re: Headlights

Postby find_bruce » Fri Jul 27, 2012 5:15 pm

MattyK wrote:** Because I'm sick of the cables breaking on these lights (never had problems with the lamps or batteries), I now have a Philips Saferide light on order. 8) Will review when it arrives - hopefully next week.
Are there a pair of XMLs on their way as well, he asks hopefully.

User avatar
MattyK
Posts: 3252
Joined: Fri Oct 01, 2010 1:07 pm
Location: Melbourne

Re: Headlights

Postby MattyK » Fri Jul 27, 2012 10:11 pm

find_bruce wrote:
MattyK wrote:** Because I'm sick of the cables breaking on these lights (never had problems with the lamps or batteries), I now have a Philips Saferide light on order. 8) Will review when it arrives - hopefully next week.
Are there a pair of XMLs on their way as well, he asks hopefully.
Haha, nah, not up for that just yet. I do have a XC-997B from dx.com that is a potential lens donor for an XML conversion though. Nice beam pattern, but way too underpowered.

User avatar
il padrone
Posts: 22931
Joined: Mon Apr 07, 2008 11:57 pm
Location: Heading for home.

Re: Headlights

Postby il padrone » Fri Jul 27, 2012 10:14 pm

find_bruce wrote:Lighting up a barn said to be 170 m away
Image
"Beam me up, Scottie"
Mandatory helmet law?
"An unjustified and unethical imposition on a healthy activity."

User avatar
find_bruce
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 10579
Joined: Mon May 09, 2011 8:42 pm
Location: Sydney

Re: Headlights

Postby find_bruce » Fri Jul 27, 2012 10:27 pm

MattyK wrote:
find_bruce wrote:Are there a pair of XMLs on their way as well, he asks hopefully.
Haha, nah, not up for that just yet. I do have a XC-997B from dx.com that is a potential lens donor for an XML conversion though. Nice beam pattern, but way too underpowered.
i hear you- not sure I would lay out the cash on a Phillips just to immediately hack it

I thought you had decided the reflector hole on the dx light was too small for conversion, or have I misunderstood

User avatar
MattyK
Posts: 3252
Joined: Fri Oct 01, 2010 1:07 pm
Location: Melbourne

Re: Headlights

Postby MattyK » Fri Jul 27, 2012 11:01 pm

find_bruce wrote:
MattyK wrote:
find_bruce wrote:Are there a pair of XMLs on their way as well, he asks hopefully.
Haha, nah, not up for that just yet. I do have a XC-997B from dx.com that is a potential lens donor for an XML conversion though. Nice beam pattern, but way too underpowered.
i hear you- not sure I would lay out the cash on a Phillips just to immediately hack it

I thought you had decided the reflector hole on the dx light was too small for conversion, or have I misunderstood
Philips was only about $100 from bike24. Still, not going to hack it yet. I was very tempted to buy two to get a wider beam, I suspect that will be a feature it lacks.

Th whole on the xc997 is 5mm, which is the same size as an XML so it might fit but if not the hole might be enlarged, though that might prove tricky. Cheap enough to play with though

User avatar
Aushiker
Posts: 22395
Joined: Tue Jun 05, 2007 1:55 pm
Location: Walyalup land
Contact:

Re: Headlights

Postby Aushiker » Thu Aug 09, 2012 2:05 pm

Fenix, the torch people are getting into the bike lights market according to this post over at Gizmag.

Image

The flagship light will offer up to 800 lumens of output and four separate lighting modes that will provide ample lighting for off-road use. It will burn for up to three hours on high and use a rechargeable battery pack that takes about two hours to charge. Fenix did not have run times for the lower settings, but like other LED lights, those will be significantly longer. The second light will offer up to 350 lumens of output.


Andrew

Marty Moose
Posts: 1421
Joined: Sun Jan 17, 2010 7:00 pm
Location: W.A

Re: Headlights

Postby Marty Moose » Thu Aug 09, 2012 2:21 pm

Still got my original Magic shine 808 its 3 yrs old,have the original battery "water proofed" $70 from deal extreme its a no brainer for me.Also have their rear light its great too but only 18 Months old so not a long term test yet.

Sent from my MB526 using Tapatalk 2

User avatar
trailgumby
Posts: 15469
Joined: Sat Jan 03, 2009 5:30 pm
Location: Northern Beaches, Sydney
Contact:

Re: Headlights

Postby trailgumby » Thu Aug 09, 2012 2:42 pm

News of the World wrote:Barn Stolen by Aliens from Camden Countryside
It was reported this morning that a barn was stolen from a property near the Camden River near Sydney, Australia by aliens overnight, according to local sources.

As the picture below shows, it appears the aliens have some form of advanced anti-gravity ray that is capable of lifting quite heavy structures, complete with foundations, out of the ground.

Image

"All that was left was a large hole!" said Kylie, who declined to give her last name.

Both NASA and the Defence Signals Directorate declined to comment. ASIO stated that it does not comment on operational matters.

Peter Smith, from Ray White Real Estate, Camden, said that some of these older barns were quite sought-after as home conversion and renovation projects by tree-changers.

User avatar
find_bruce
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 10579
Joined: Mon May 09, 2011 8:42 pm
Location: Sydney

Re: Headlights

Postby find_bruce » Thu Aug 09, 2012 5:01 pm

trailgumby wrote:
News of the World wrote:Barn Stolen by Aliens from Camden Countryside
It was reported this morning that a barn was stolen from a property near the Camden River near Sydney, Australia by aliens overnight, according to local sources.
...
:D loved it, although I am still slightly confused as to how the barn got from Troutie's place in deepest darkset Yorkshire to Camden Australia.

ggevo
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Feb 14, 2012 10:26 pm

Re: Headlights

Postby ggevo » Tue Aug 21, 2012 6:21 am

I purchased a set of Ayups (Adventure 4 kit) Saturday night after reading the countless positive reviews on this forum.

Australian Air Express sent me an email yesterday (Monday), confirming parcel dispatched from Brisbane, arrived at Melbourne depot late yesterday. Suggest it will land on my doorstep in next 48hrs, can't complain about the service and delivery time!!!!

ggevo
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Feb 14, 2012 10:26 pm

Re: Headlights

Postby ggevo » Tue Aug 21, 2012 5:36 pm

And here they are, delivered to my office at 9:30am. Honestly you can't beat that service and delivery times.

Image

NhiTrac
Posts: 758
Joined: Sun Jul 25, 2010 8:58 pm
Location: Chatswood, NSW

Re: Headlights

Postby NhiTrac » Tue Aug 21, 2012 11:28 pm

Put me down as well, as having just purchased a pair of AyUps... Got the twin kit literally just seconds ago so hoping they'll arrive sometime this week.

Soooooo going to get in trouble with the Director of Finance :wink:
FOCUS Cayo
BMC Teammachine SLR01

zero
Posts: 3056
Joined: Tue Jan 05, 2010 2:54 pm

Re: Headlights

Postby zero » Wed Aug 22, 2012 5:30 pm

trailgumby wrote:
News of the World wrote:Barn Stolen by Aliens from Camden Countryside
awesome!

User avatar
MattyK
Posts: 3252
Joined: Fri Oct 01, 2010 1:07 pm
Location: Melbourne

Re: Headlights

Postby MattyK » Thu Aug 23, 2012 9:57 am

Philips Saferide arrived today! Hope it's dark enough when I ride home to adequately test... On the charger at the moment.

NhiTrac
Posts: 758
Joined: Sun Jul 25, 2010 8:58 pm
Location: Chatswood, NSW

Re: Headlights

Postby NhiTrac » Thu Aug 23, 2012 12:10 pm

Just took delivery of my AyUps at the office. Delivered in 24 hours (ordered at like midnight Tuesday). Just in time too because my P7 "900 lumens" light is about to die. The back coloured light which tells the battery just died two days ago and it turns itself off when I go over bumpy roads. The damn thing is less than a year old too! Will be doing a warranty on these then sell the replacements methinks...

I've been a bit sceptical with AyUps but now can see why they cost a bit more, the quality of these units are amazing. Real test is when I ride these in pitch black like most of my winter commute has been. Cant wait!
FOCUS Cayo
BMC Teammachine SLR01

User avatar
Aushiker
Posts: 22395
Joined: Tue Jun 05, 2007 1:55 pm
Location: Walyalup land
Contact:

Re: Headlights

Postby Aushiker » Thu Dec 20, 2012 9:38 am



MTBR have published their 2013 bike lights shoot out.

Andrew

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users