jch79
**Do Not Feed The Vegan**,
In the quest for the ultimate rear LED bike light, fellow CPF'r greenLED & I both bought the Planet Bike Super Flash (link), boasted as "The Best Tail Light on the Planet", and I bought the CatEye TL-LD1000 (link) - CatEye's flagship rear LED light, saying that it's "Setting new standards in safety."
Review contains different text and photos by both greenLED and myself. So when you see the word "I", that refers to either ME or GREEN!
First, we'll do the Super Flash, and then the TL-LD1000, and then do some beamshots, and then some weight & lux comparisons.
___________
Planet Bike Super Flash
It's a small light, that runs on two AAA batteries - NiMH are good to go as well. I've been running mine on a pair of Eneloops since January, and haven't changed them yet... and that's biking every single day.
Here's the light compared to an AAA cell:
The light runs on [SIZE=-1]Nichia's half-watt "Blaze" LED - something I'm not too familiar with, but :shrug: as you'll see, it's no slouch! This may be even possible to mod with a brighter LED.. ?
[/SIZE]Here's a side shot for y'all to see how the optic rides directly on top of the LED. Incidentally, that is not an NX-05 optic either. The curvature on the top reminds me of an NX-01 or a FraenLP, but the optic on the Superflash doesn't have the indexing tabs present in other optics I'm familiar with.
I'm a bit hesitant to open the Superflash, as the dome is sealed onto its base, and I'd probably have to break the whole thing to dissect the components. If it breaks eventually, then I'll dig into the components, etc.
The light basically has two modes: an alternating flash mode, and a constant-on "steady" mode. I prefer the flashing - it's much more attention-getting, which you need as a commuter.
The flash mode alternates between the two (5mm?) LED's on the bottom quickly blinking about 4 times, and the 1/2 watt optic LED on the top pulsing once - it's a great pattern that saves battery life without sacrificing visibilty. The cycle lasts about .75 seconds, giving you about 80 cycles a minute.
The "steady" mode just leaves the main 1/2 watt LED on - if you don't want to disturb the environment you're in, this is the mode you'd want to choose... but I really don't see why you'd want to have it in this mode.
Here is a shot of "steady" mode:
1/200 @ 5.0, ISO 200
You can see that the rest of the translucent red plastic picks up and reflects/enhances the beam from the 1/2 watt LED.
The runtime of the SuperFlash is estimated at 100 hours - which well know that means it's direct drive, and slowly dims from start to end. I have a hard time buying the 100 hour claim, however I can say that mine is still going strong, after 4 months of daily use. :shrug:
The light also has a great mounting system, which allows you to either mount it on the bracket, or to clip it on your belt or bag if you don't have the bracket installed.
FWIW, I bought mine for $18 from Bike Nashbar.
___________
CatEye TL-LD1000
This is a large light that gives the user many differerent modes of operation. There are two buttons that each operate one row of LED's - as each row of LED's has 4 different combinations - blinking, constant on, chasing, and random, you have to click once to get through each mode. So in order to go through one cycle, you're clicking each button 5 times. If this was more simple, like making it one button and slightly less options (there are 16 as it is, with both lights on), I would be much happier with it. So at the expense of having many user modes, you have to really go through a lot to get to what you might want.
The light runs on 2xAA batteries - NiMH should be good to go, although I haven't tried them on it... actually, I've not even put it on my bike yet! (You'll see why below)
All 10 LED's on the light seem to be 5mm LED's, however I'm no expert, and they could be larger. :shrug: They are all behind Cateye's "OptiCube" technology - a fancy word for "optics" - as you can see in the picture.
Here's a shot of the light straight-on, with all the LED's on:
1/200 @ 5.0, ISO 200
Note that this was taken with the same camera settings as the Super Flash - you tell me which one shows up better!?!
The light offers excellent side visibility, as it has a side-mounted LED on the right and left sides, which the Super Flash can't come close to matching. IMHO, the light is a bit bulky & heavy - not ideal for your average commuter.
CatEye makes the claims for runtime as 50 hours for constant-on, and flashing modes to 100 hours (it doesn't go into which flashling mode). I don't have the patience to do a 50 or 100 hour runtime test, but it's probably safe to assume that this is also direct drive, and dims over time.
FWIW, I bought mine for $30 from Nashbar.
___________
COMPARISONS
Beamshot taken at 6ft. away from wall, at ~35mm equivalent focal length.
1/6sec at 4.5, ISO 200
The Super Flash shows the advantage of using a larger LED - as it's sole 1/2 watt LED outshines the CatEye's six 5mm LED's. That said, I'm not sure which is more efficient between the two. :shrug:
Lux measurements (taken at constant-on, at brightest spot):
Super Flash = 96 Lux
TL-LD1000 Front = 73 Lux
TL-LD1000 Button Side = 34 Lux
TL-LD1000 Battery Side = 42 Lux
Weight, with batteries (no bracket):
Super Flash = 1.9 oz
TL-LD1000 Front = 3.5 oz
___________
CONCLUSION:
For 2/3 the price, you get a smaller, lighter, brighter, more versitile light with the Super Flash. It may not have as much side visibility as the TL-LD1000, but it's clear plastic casing gives it enough for my needs. The TL-LD1000 represents CatEye's "best" rear Red LED light, and really missed the mark, as it's excessively large, heavy, and a pain to run through the cycles.
So, all you CPF cyclists out there, go pick up the Planet Bike Super Flash, and consider donating the money you saved to become a CPF supporter!
Thanks,
john & Migs
Review contains different text and photos by both greenLED and myself. So when you see the word "I", that refers to either ME or GREEN!
First, we'll do the Super Flash, and then the TL-LD1000, and then do some beamshots, and then some weight & lux comparisons.
___________
Planet Bike Super Flash
It's a small light, that runs on two AAA batteries - NiMH are good to go as well. I've been running mine on a pair of Eneloops since January, and haven't changed them yet... and that's biking every single day.
Here's the light compared to an AAA cell:
The light runs on [SIZE=-1]Nichia's half-watt "Blaze" LED - something I'm not too familiar with, but :shrug: as you'll see, it's no slouch! This may be even possible to mod with a brighter LED.. ?
[/SIZE]Here's a side shot for y'all to see how the optic rides directly on top of the LED. Incidentally, that is not an NX-05 optic either. The curvature on the top reminds me of an NX-01 or a FraenLP, but the optic on the Superflash doesn't have the indexing tabs present in other optics I'm familiar with.
I'm a bit hesitant to open the Superflash, as the dome is sealed onto its base, and I'd probably have to break the whole thing to dissect the components. If it breaks eventually, then I'll dig into the components, etc.
The light basically has two modes: an alternating flash mode, and a constant-on "steady" mode. I prefer the flashing - it's much more attention-getting, which you need as a commuter.
The flash mode alternates between the two (5mm?) LED's on the bottom quickly blinking about 4 times, and the 1/2 watt optic LED on the top pulsing once - it's a great pattern that saves battery life without sacrificing visibilty. The cycle lasts about .75 seconds, giving you about 80 cycles a minute.
The "steady" mode just leaves the main 1/2 watt LED on - if you don't want to disturb the environment you're in, this is the mode you'd want to choose... but I really don't see why you'd want to have it in this mode.
Here is a shot of "steady" mode:
1/200 @ 5.0, ISO 200
You can see that the rest of the translucent red plastic picks up and reflects/enhances the beam from the 1/2 watt LED.
The runtime of the SuperFlash is estimated at 100 hours - which well know that means it's direct drive, and slowly dims from start to end. I have a hard time buying the 100 hour claim, however I can say that mine is still going strong, after 4 months of daily use. :shrug:
The light also has a great mounting system, which allows you to either mount it on the bracket, or to clip it on your belt or bag if you don't have the bracket installed.
FWIW, I bought mine for $18 from Bike Nashbar.
___________
CatEye TL-LD1000
This is a large light that gives the user many differerent modes of operation. There are two buttons that each operate one row of LED's - as each row of LED's has 4 different combinations - blinking, constant on, chasing, and random, you have to click once to get through each mode. So in order to go through one cycle, you're clicking each button 5 times. If this was more simple, like making it one button and slightly less options (there are 16 as it is, with both lights on), I would be much happier with it. So at the expense of having many user modes, you have to really go through a lot to get to what you might want.
The light runs on 2xAA batteries - NiMH should be good to go, although I haven't tried them on it... actually, I've not even put it on my bike yet! (You'll see why below)
All 10 LED's on the light seem to be 5mm LED's, however I'm no expert, and they could be larger. :shrug: They are all behind Cateye's "OptiCube" technology - a fancy word for "optics" - as you can see in the picture.
Here's a shot of the light straight-on, with all the LED's on:
1/200 @ 5.0, ISO 200
Note that this was taken with the same camera settings as the Super Flash - you tell me which one shows up better!?!
The light offers excellent side visibility, as it has a side-mounted LED on the right and left sides, which the Super Flash can't come close to matching. IMHO, the light is a bit bulky & heavy - not ideal for your average commuter.
CatEye makes the claims for runtime as 50 hours for constant-on, and flashing modes to 100 hours (it doesn't go into which flashling mode). I don't have the patience to do a 50 or 100 hour runtime test, but it's probably safe to assume that this is also direct drive, and dims over time.
FWIW, I bought mine for $30 from Nashbar.
___________
COMPARISONS
Beamshot taken at 6ft. away from wall, at ~35mm equivalent focal length.
1/6sec at 4.5, ISO 200
The Super Flash shows the advantage of using a larger LED - as it's sole 1/2 watt LED outshines the CatEye's six 5mm LED's. That said, I'm not sure which is more efficient between the two. :shrug:
Lux measurements (taken at constant-on, at brightest spot):
Super Flash = 96 Lux
TL-LD1000 Front = 73 Lux
TL-LD1000 Button Side = 34 Lux
TL-LD1000 Battery Side = 42 Lux
Weight, with batteries (no bracket):
Super Flash = 1.9 oz
TL-LD1000 Front = 3.5 oz
___________
CONCLUSION:
For 2/3 the price, you get a smaller, lighter, brighter, more versitile light with the Super Flash. It may not have as much side visibility as the TL-LD1000, but it's clear plastic casing gives it enough for my needs. The TL-LD1000 represents CatEye's "best" rear Red LED light, and really missed the mark, as it's excessively large, heavy, and a pain to run through the cycles.
So, all you CPF cyclists out there, go pick up the Planet Bike Super Flash, and consider donating the money you saved to become a CPF supporter!
Thanks,
john & Migs
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