*** steps up onto his soapbox ***
Ladies and gentlemen... wait, wrong speech. Ok, here's where I give you all sorts of reasons. Then I make my recommendation... BUY TURBOCAT.
I have 3 sets of lights and 8+ sets of batteries. They usually are pretty rare and obscure. You won't find fancy features/etc. You also won't find yourself cussing because your new digital whiz bang controller can't get a fix on battery voltage and insists on running the light in its lowest level.
I race 24 hour races across the US a good bit. As a flashaholic, I don't ever worry about loaning out my best set of turbocats to a friend during a race because I know he can't tear them up and they are really easy to operate.
We ran a 5 man team all night long, swapping lights between riders when they would come in off a lap. We didn't have any problems riding like this, and I have been sharing these puppies for races the past 3 years. I am still on my original bulbs (even though I bought extras). If you wanna talk to someone who knows as much about incandescent lighting as Peter knows about LEDs, call Elaine at turbocat.
She ALWAYS answers the phone. Talk about service. If you think Peter has good service, you'll think he studied under Elaine after speaking with her (sorry Peter).
Check out
http://www.mtbr.com/reviews/lights/
Notice which manufacturer has consistently the highest reviews.
Check out
http://www.mtbr.com/awards/lights.asp
Notice which light got 2003 awards.
Yes, I am a fanatic about these guys. Lemme help you out some more. Buy a dual source system with 15/19 watt bulbs. Nicd batteries and the CNC quick release.
Yo yo yo... this is your lucky day. I checked ebay. Turbocat is selling some scratch and dent (if anyone could dent their equipment... that's up for debate).
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3663199998&category=22689
Also, they have another one for sale
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3663200712
Wait, I just bid on it. The red will go nicely with my bike.
Really, read the reviews at mtbr. There are NO finer lights on the planet, period.
If I win the red set of lights, I will VERY likely have some black ones for sale.