Bicycle High Beam Headlight

harro

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Joined
Dec 5, 2009
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890
Location
Northern Victoria, Australia
Hi;
Just wondering if anyone has any experience with a flashlight that gives a reasonable distance for road riding. I dont want a tight hotspot of light 300M down the road, rather, something that's more 20-50M with a graduated transition from spot to spill. I use a Zeccon Spyker 1210 headlight for low. It has four xp-g r5's in shallow cups, and gives a beautiful spread of light and about 15-20M distance. I hve tried my Sunwayman V20C as a high, and while ok, its slightly lacking in the lumen dept. ( 438 ) My preference is for a single 18650 and about 600-700 lms and 90 minutes or better if possible. Preferably a U2 or L2 Cree and a 25.4mm body.
I could add a cycling specific high beam light, but it gets to a point where you go for a ride on a battery pack with a Cannondale Roadie stuck somewhere underneath it !!!
( I apologize in advance to Scheinwerfermann and the forum if this request in any way contraviens forum rules, and accept their decision to modify or move any part of this post ).
Thanks for your input;
Mike

:help:
 
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JCD

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Apr 12, 2010
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892
To give you an idea of my perspective, I'm a year round bicycle commuter. I ride 3000-5000 miles annually, with about one-third of my commuting and at least two-thirds of my recreational riding done at night.

When it comes to selecting the right beam profile for cycling, one size does not fit all. The correct beam pattern is dependent upon your typical riding speeds. I like to be able to see about ten seconds ahead at cruising speeds. That gives me plenty of time to evaluate my options if I see an obstacle, etc. ahead, as well as providing a large enough safety margin to allow me to significantly increase my speed on downhills and during sprints. Any more throw than that is pretty much wasted. Likewise, if an area is too far to the side to be legitimately considered a potential out, I don't want to waste battery energy lighting it up with spill. Fast riders need mostly throw, with just a little spill. Slow riders don't need much throw, but will find a wide, floody beam very useful.

As an experiment, I ditched my LED based lights and started using a stock Surefire 9P with 2x 17500 li-ion cells, and couldn't be happier with the results. (I had intended to use two stock 9Ps, but in practice one provides sufficient visual information about what's ahead.) The P90 lamp assembly provides plenty of throw to allow me to see at least ten seconds ahead when cycling at my typical cruising speeds (16-18 mph). The spill is adequate for illuminating my outs to either side, without being so bright my peripheral vision is noticeably diminished. I haven't found any combinations of LED emitters that provide the same usefulness as a bike light at those speeds, despite essentially every LED combo I've tried being brighter. I can see details with the incan that remained hidden from the LEDs.

To be fair, I typically keep a 6P with a high CRI XP-G emitter mounted on my bar in case the cells or the lamp in the 9P die at an inconvenient time. The XP-G also sees duty when the law or conditions dictate that I need a "be seen" light, but ambient light levels are sufficiently high so that a "to see" light isn't necessary. Thus far, that XP-G drop-in is the closest I've found to an LED version of the P90. The P90 is noticeably better for the task at hand, but the XP-G works fine as a back-up.
 

harro

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Joined
Dec 5, 2009
Messages
890
Location
Northern Victoria, Australia
Hi JCD;
Tks for your comments. Nowhere is the CRI more noticible ( IMVHO ) than when approaching a stop sign at night. It doesnt matter how many lumens you've got spilling out the front, that stopsign always looks pale and washed out. I dont know if i'd go incan ( just personal ), but a 4k-5k Kelvin colour LED could be worth consideration !! 95% of my riding is night time rec. for some sort of fitness, and from April till about Sept. ( underneath cooler months ) 100 % of that is total darkness, ie; no streetlights, house lights etc. Only ambient, stars, moon etc. Distance is similar to you, at around 8-9000 kms a year.
As i'd mentioned, the Zeccon is an ideal light for a low beam, with infinite adj. from 200-1600lms, and heaps of side vision to boot. I tend to sit on around 30-35kmph ( 18-21 mph ) nil wind conditions, and i find the 15-20 meters a bit wanting. It certainly wouldnt give me a good 10 sec. view ahead, and potholes seem to come into the view awfully quick !! So that led me to trying the V20C, which helped, but just did'nt have quite enough ooomph. The beam spread was perfect though.
Your comments have changed my thinking a little, in that i might modify my search for a higher CRI led as opposed to heaps more otf lumens. 400-500 hi CRI in a single 18650 format could be a good thing !!
Cheers;
Mike.

:wave:
 
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