Bike headlight

[PhotonBoy]

In the summer, I commute by bicycle to work at night (Nova Scotia, Canada). I'm thinking of using an EverLED (www.everled.com) in a headlamp or CatEye 2C headlight. Anyone know if the EverLED, probably being Luxeon Star-based, would have the oomph to do the job, compared to the 1.25 W halogen of the CatEye? The CatEye has a somewhat focused center beam, but needs to be aimed to view obstacles. I live in a rural area, so there's not a lot of ambient light. I need the light to show me the way as opposed to alerting car drivers of my presence. Would the EverLED or a Luxeon Star have the ability to show details of oncoming obstacles while traveling at 25 km/hr?

The EverLED, from what I understand, appears to depend highly on the type of reflector being used, so feedback from users of different types of flashlights/headlights will be useful.

 

[PhotonBoy]

Two years ago, I almost ran over a skunk!

 

[Ralf]

I think for a bike headlight a single led, even a ls
is not bright enough and the lighting pattern is not
made for road use ...

I would recommend you for commuting a proper hub dynamo
(like a SON) and a halogen bike light like the lumotec oval
or similar.

Cheers Ralf

 

[Darkaway]

I'm a cyclist too and I have pre-ordered an EverLED for the same purpose. They should be shipping by mid-month but, like everything else, I would not be surprised if they are delayed. As far as I know there are not too many in use right now because they are not yet available.

If you re-post or bump this in a few weeks I'm sure you will receive much better answers from people who have had time to evaluate them.

In the meantime, I have experimented with a 1W white Luxeon as a headlight (BB 500 in a minimag). I personally would not use it a speeds over 20K/hour even on smooth pavement but YMMV.

 

[Illuminated]

If the EverLED does not work suitably as a drop-in replacement in the Cat-Eye or other bike light, I'm confident that there is an affordable 2-cell focusing-type (or even fixed-focus) flashlight out there somewhere that would make a great bike light, compared to the Cat-Eye or other 2-4-cell bike light with standard bulb.

We can't all justify the cost of mega-watt bike lights - a Ferrari would be nice (and probably safer) for commuting, but some of us will have to with a couple of new tubes and a new LED lightbulb.

Keep pedalin' - John

 

[Illuminated]

PhotonBoy,

As an afterthought - since the EverLED will probably work best with a good reflector, it might work extremely well for you if used in a headlamp (light worn on head/helmet). Narrow beam doesn't work so well mounted on the bike, but works VERY well when worn on the helmet because light shines wherever you look, and narrow beam "throws" much farther.

I ALWAYS ride with light on bike AND light on helmet. It works for me...YMMV

John

 

[Drakonchik]

[ QUOTE ]
I think for a bike headlight a single led, even a ls is not bright enough and the lighting pattern is not
made for road use

[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm confident that there is an affordable 2-cell focusing-type (or even mixed focus) flashlight

[/ QUOTE ]

Last night I took a ride out of the city and into the country with 4 white 1W InReTechs and 1 Badboy 400 Cyan with McFlood reflector, all with lithium AA batteries in Mag2AAs. It was a 36 mile round trip under a crescent moon, of which 26 miles were along a dark country road, up and down hills, intermittantly running parallel to a busy interstate. There was strong and direct freeway glare off and on, and several passing cars on my road.

With all the Mags fired up, you get a fantastic near flood, more than sufficient, under all conditions, to go 10mph. My comfort level maxxed at 18mph.

I was very impressed with the the Badboy 400 Cyan. When I ran with the Badboy alone, it covered my side of the highway, the shoulder, and even some of the other lane. I would say it makes a minimally sufficient bike light good for 10 careful mph; but it will wash out under strong glare. Also, by the time I neared home after 3 hours the lithiums for the cyan were dying; and by the time I hit the shower, they were totally dead.

So that was a US$5 trip for the Badboy alone. Whhooo-we.

But the InReTechs are good for another ride. Another thought: if I just had the Badboy, I'd probably run with the Luxeon optic rather than the McFlood.

Conclusion: I'll save the Badboy Cyan for impressing drivers and the general public on short city hops.

(Judging from some of the looks I got, the Badboy Cyan did impress; cyan is the vogue right now; check out the recent issue of Consumer Reports on HID.)

By the way I've got 4 of those EverLED's on order and will also try to find the best two cell fit as well as possibly trying them in a headlamp.

P.S. I also took a halogen headlamp on the ride, but I never needed it but for the downhill. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[Dave Wright]

A few comments and observations.

On LEDs versus incandescents: A fresh halogen bulb with fresh batteries will burn with about the same efficiency as an LED. You get around 20 lumens per watt. IMO the EverLED website graph is deceptive. Maybe they are comparing a AA MiniMag w/ halogen bulb against their module in a 2C Mag. Maybe they are comparing point brightness instead of total light output and focused their light more tightly. The beauty of LEDs isn't really their efficiency. It's the fact that they stay in the visible range as the batteries fade, are shockproof, and don't burn out. I'm not sure what's really going on, but it seems that incandescents push light through the lens that is outside of visible wavelength, but LEDs have inefficiencies that produce excess heat within the flashlight body. One thing for sure...my Badboy 400 modified MiniMag gets plenty hot when left on for a while.

On bike light wattage: 1 watt won't cut it unless the light is for people to see you instead of to light the road. You need 2 or 3 watts to move at speed on streets that are generally lit by streetlights. Go with 10 watts when riding away from streetlights. Step to 20 watts and up if mountain biking. LEDs really do perform better than incandescents, considering that the bulb and batteries are only fresh for a short period of time, but for the purposes of light selection you can consider them to be equal watt-for-watt. Regulation, with LEDs or incans, is important for bike riders - if you can find a light that has the circuitry.

What I'm thinking about doing: I've been getting more into night riding. I recently started a new job, and daylight rides are less of an option. I used to take long rides, but these days it's more about fitness. My rides are about 1 hour. Rarely much more. I want about 10 watts, but don't want to drop $200. I'm researching parts to make my own light. It will have a 6 volt 10 watt halogen bulb. I will power it with 5 1.2 volt 2000 mAH NiMH batteries. It will burn for a little more than one hour. I don't know if regulation is an option. I'll look into the possibility. I will start with fresh batteries each ride and toss them into the charger when I return. OK...4 will go in before I go to bed and the 5th will go in the next morning.

 

[Illuminated]

Dave,

I'm currently working on an affordable bike light project that will have real firepower. About 15 very efficient watts from a halogen lamp/reflector assembly that will easily throw 200+ feet while having plenty of side spill for the near field and in-between. I already have the lamp and have tested it against my 12 watt narrow spot MR11C-lamped bike light, and it simply blows it away in every respect.

This might be better suited for road riding, though I'm sure a beamshaper could be used for more flood/less throw for mountain biking.

This will use a 7.2 volt battery pack consisting of (6) 1.2 volt 4/3"fat"A NiMH cells rated at 4Ah. These are flat-top cells with the nickel strip solder tabs welded on. I expect to get between 100 to 115 minutes of continuous run time.

I am presently awaiting shipment of 12 of these cells from www.batterystation.com (enough for 2 packs) - they have them currently on close-out at $1.50 ea. plus $6.95 shipping. (Note - you must specify that you want solder tabs when placing your order.) They also sell various sizes of shrink wrap to make them into a pack in whatever arrangement you prefer.

In the next few weeks I hope to have the project completed so I can post information on it.

Good riding!

John

 

[Drakonchik]

[ QUOTE ]
This will use a 7.2 volt battery pack consisting of (6) 1.2 volt 4/3"fat"A NiMH cells rated at 4Ah.

[/ QUOTE ]

Is that battery pack destined for the water bottle cage?

I'm just comparing it to the idea of an all-in-one 5W Lux Star unit modded with a Mamri bike light, currently perculating on CPF.

 

[Illuminated]

PhotonBoy,

Like you, I too am anxious to hear of someone else's experience with the EverLED when they arrive. While I don't expect to use one as a primary light, I ALWAYS carry at least one back-up.

Not for the bottle cage, though it could easily be if needed.

Drakonchik,

I like to carry 2 H2O bottles on my bikes, so my first will be a battery "stick" of 2 cells wide by 3 cells long. Each cell is 18mm diameter x 67 mm long. This stick I believe will be easier to strap to the underside of the top tube using Twofish blocks, velcro or whatever. This might not work for some frames, but it should work for all five of my bikes.

That was probably me posting about the all-in-one BULLITe. I forgot to mention that it should run for about an hour if I swapped to the 12 watt 10-degree spot or 30-degree flood lamp. Maybe 45 minutes with a 15 watter. While acceptable as-is, the tinkerer in me can't help but think it could be better...

John

 

[PhotonBoy]

Where I live, in rural Nova Scotia, it gets dark at night... I mean DARK. There are no streetlights and the nearest town of 5,000 people (Kentville) is 10 miles away. On a clear, moonless night you can see the Milky Way splashed across the whole sky in a bright, wide, tilted band. It's not everyone who feels that they're a loyal citizen of our home galaxy.

I've been using a 2C Cat-Eye with rechargeable NiCds for bike riding to work. It's just okay, but I find that the light flickers a lot as the batteries flop around in the housing. To give you an idea of how dark it gets, when my Cat-Eye halogen burnt out one night, I pulled out my 2AA Mini-Mag with fresh alkalines and found that it was *better* than the Cat-Eye!!

So for my admittedly rare situation, I think a 1W EverLED would be just great.

Only problem, it will cost me $US 35 + $US 15 for shipping. With the Canadian/US exchange rate of $1 US = $1.48 Cdn, the single bulb will end up costing me close to $Cdn 75.00!!, and that's assuming that Canadian Customs will back off. Hopefully, the EverLED pricing will fall as economies of scale and competition kicks in.

I'm now thinking that buying a $Cdn 60.00 12V NiCd rechargeable drill set, throwing away the drill and coupling the battery to a 10W 12V floodlight might be a better option. Cheaper and a lot more light... not sure about the run time, though... plus I gotta figure out how to make it waterproof, yadda, yadda, yadda.

Makes you marvel at how smart Thomas Edison really was.

Amazing how silver-base photographic film, incandescent filaments and gasoline engines just keep on truckin' after more than a century of progress.

 

[Illuminated]

PhotonBoy,

I know what you mean when you say "dark" in the northern regions.

A favorite vacation spot for me is the BWCA in northern Minnesota, where late nights are often spent star gazing and counting satellites crossing the northern sky.

I once had the rare opportunity of seeing the Aurora Borealis there for the first time, and it was incredible! It was enough light to navigate by in otherwise almost total darkness.

In the absence of light pollution, a single LED can appear as an astounding amount of light.

You could consider upgrading that CatEye by soldering wires to the battery contacts for an external power cord, and make your own power pack. There are many options, depending on what you can purchase for a reasonable price.

The CatEyE can definitely be made better by using a 4-cell Krypton, Xenon, or Halogen bulb, depending on what you can get. Those 2-cell Halogen CatEye bulbs just don't put out very much light (as with most other 2-cell bulbs).

Perhaps you can find a "not too expensive" headlight (light worn on head) that has an external 4-cell battery holder designed to be clipped on the belt. I think Rayovac and others make these. Maybe such a light adapted to your helmet would be great as-is because the light shines where you look. If you don't like that, then you could use the battery holder with alkaline or rechargeable batteries and connect it to your CatEye to power the 4-cell bulb.

If your external power wires are soldered to the battery contacts inside the CatEye, then it *shouldn't* flicker as you described. BTW, I have found that using a regular pencil eraser on the battery ends and on the battery contacts makes for more consistent contact. I have also used small strips of foam insulation tape to minimize battery rattle and improve performance.

Another possibility if using a 4-cell power source is to "overdrive" a 3-cell Krypton bulb. This would be even brighter, though the lamp won't last nearly as long. I'd keep that MiniMag handy as backup just in case.

There are even 3-cell and 4-cell AA headlights (worn on head/helmet) that have the battery holders built right in, so no external wires, and many are completely waterproof. I use the Princeton Tec Vortec.

I have used these on my bike from time-to-time. Brighter than a 2-cell CatEye, and the narrower beam throws farther, and it shines where you look. I get at least 2 hours of run time from 4AA rechargeables in mine depending on bulb used, and it is easy to carry a spare set of batteries if needed.

Hope this helps a little...

John

 

[T-Rex]

At the risk of hijacking this thread, if you can't/don't want to create your own light, performance bike is selling the Niterider roadrat 10w for $40.

Niterider Roadrat

Yes, it's a SLA battery. Personally I'll give up a pound for the brighter light.

 

[Al_Havemann]

I tried a 1w but it didn't have the power needed for safe riding. I build another light using a 5w luxeon with 30mm optics mounted in the low beam head of an old Nightsum twin beam light. It uses a LED Dynamics driver and a 4.5ah 12v battery. It has enough power for reasonable speeds up to about 20mph before you over-run the light. Burn time is 8-9 hours at full brigtness. For fast downhill runs I need to switch on the 20w Halogen high beam for safety. I plean to add a second 5w in the high beam head as well, that should give me enough light for about 4 hours at anything by silly speeds.

If you can find a suitable doner headlight, the LED Dynamics driver makes consturcting a 5w bike light just an assembly job. You'll need to be handy enough to get everything mounted up and a 12v battery pack of some sort. But really, it's pretty much a fiddly about job.

Al

 

[hotbike]

Hello,
I just did a search to find this post. I just joined CPF on 6-27-03. Let me tell you about my Bicycle headlight. It has a 12volt 20 watt halogen bulb.
It's perfect for riding on trails or roads with no streetlights. The 7ah 12V lead acid battery is on a special rack that I built . The lamp fixture is taped to the battery , and the light is held to the rack by a bungee cord. The thing is like a giant flashlight on a front bicycle rack. The rack is very formidible and deters cars from cutting my bike off.
I use LED tail lights from cateye or Vistalight because LED bicycle tail lights are bright enough nowadays that I don't need to run a 12 volt line down the length of my bicycle.
I also have the white reflector light with five green LEDs. Sometimes I ride with that on the front of the bike, But only if I go the way that has street lights. When there's no streetlight I need that halogen.

Anyway , I'm looking for the latest in LEDs for bicycles . I already saw that seat that has LEDs , but I built my own fiberglass lowrider but not recumbent seat.
The green LED light from Vista comes with a seatpost mount instaed of a handlebar mount, so maybe it's not bright enough to be a headlight from a legal standpoint. They mount on any reflector bracket so I put it on the front anyway.

 

[PhotonBoy]

I have one of these mounted on my handlebars:

1 W Elektro Star Headlight

It's perfect for me.

http://elektrolumens.com/LS_HEADLAMP/LS_Headlamp.html

I had a 2C Cateye halogen mounted before, and I simply tie-wrapped the Elektro Star headlamp on the old mount. As you may have read above, it's dark where I live and this light has completely solved my problem. CatEye could learn a lot from looking at Wayne's lights. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Wayne from Elektrolumens is also developing a couple of new lights. Here's one:

Triple Luxeon Star Bike Light

I don't think there's any LED light at the moment that would match your 12V 20W light, but that will likely change in the next 24 months. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[hotbike]

Here's an LED bike headlight for you. It looks like the frame had the light built in, and was converted to LED.
LED Bike Headlight