Supernova E3 Pure 3 or SON Edelux II

[donalrey]

I'm deciding which light to get for my dynamo set up and i've narrowed it down to these 2. Anyone have any thoughts/experience with either one? Pros, cons? Or is there any other light I should be looking at?

Much appreciated.

D

[jtakeda]

Both are great lights.

My friend runs supernova and I run edelux ii (2 of them actually)

Depending on your set up either light will treat you perfectly.
If you’re looking for classic French randonneur style the edelux is the choice. Silver parts—neo retro builds etc.


For sleek modern supernova.
Supernova also has a very nice matching tail light that can attach to a fender mount on the rear triangle or a number of other locations.

You can’t go wrong with either it’s just a matter of aesthetic preference.

[bicycletricycle]

I have both, I like both. The edelux allows you to use a variety of rear lights (the regular one with the light above the mount has a little round terminal ready to accept a light). I believe the supernova only works with their rear light. Also, The edelux has an auto function that turns it on automatically when it gets dark, I just leave mine on all the time but some people like this feature.

The beams are different but both are plenty good.

[unterhausen]

I haven't seen a Supernova on a brevet for a long time. I have a Pure, I got it about the same time as the Edelux II came out. The Pure is just horrible in comparison. I'm sure the ones available now are better than the ones from 2 years ago. I know they have quietly upgraded the Edelux, because it's just as bright as my IQ-X, and it wasn't when first released. I just looked at the Pure 3 to see if they started using better optics, but no. Their optics are clever, but far inferior to the B&M optics. Supernova should just hire a consultant and do it right. I suppose the lights would have to be a little bigger though.

The current Supernova tail light is just amazing. And you can only use it with their headlights. Too bad my headlight isn't that great. But I have it on my mountain bike, so it's not that big of a deal for me.

[sg8357]

I replaced my Supernova with an IQ-X.

[marciero]

I am using the Edeluxe II after moving my Luxos to the tandem. The beam patterns of these are similar in that they both have sharp cutoff at the top, and focus more light down the road, thus making the illumination very even from near to far field. It's great but when coming upon a sharp incline, or with the bike leaned over on a turn, the cutoff does limit your view. You also cant see street signs. My understanding is that the Supernovae (the E3 and the Pure) have a rounder and more uniform beam pattern and without the cutoff. So the illumination is less even but you dont have the cutoff issue. Sinewave is another proponent of the uniform pattern. You should definitely check the Peter White site for descriptions and beam patterns. The Supernova and Edeluxe are both very high quality German made products. Pretty sure they both have glass lenses. The Edeluxe does. The B and M are great too but have a cheaper feel and use plastic lens.
I almost bought an E3 headlight so that I could use the tail light, which is very cool. In fact, I did buy one here but the seller decided not to sell.

[marciero]

I haven't seen a Supernova on a brevet for a long time. I have a Pure, I got it about the same time as the Edelux II came out. The Pure is just horrible in comparison. I'm sure the ones available now are better than the ones from 2 years ago. I know they have quietly upgraded the Edelux, because it's just as bright as my IQ-X, and it wasn't when first released. I just looked at the Pure 3 to see if they started using better optics, but no. Their optics are clever, but far inferior to the B&M optics. Supernova should just hire a consultant and do it right. I suppose the lights would have to be a little bigger though.

The current Supernova tail light is just amazing. And you can only use it with their headlights. Too bad my headlight isn't that great. But I have it on my mountain bike, so it's not that big of a deal for me.

I'm guessing your issue is mostly a preference for the beam pattern of the Edeluxe/B+M over Supernova? Also, I thought Supernova and Sinewave were popular for mtb and offroad use, where a wash of light may be more useful than the focused beam produced by fancy optics.

[steamer]

I'm guessing your issue is mostly a preference for the beam pattern of the Edeluxe/B+M over Supernova? Also, I thought Supernova and Sinewave were popular for mtb and offroad use, where a wash of light may be more useful than the focused beam produced by fancy optics.

Unter can/will answer of course, but it's notable that he had the Supernova on his road bike once upon a time, but when the Luxos came out, it was relegated to a bike that pretty much never goes above 25 mph.

From what I have seen in riding with Unter and another rando pal with a Supernova, the beams are plenty wide, just not that intense. At speed, the road ahead just isn't lit up all that well.

[unterhausen]

The Supernova doesn't put out as much light. It also has artifacts that I don't like, but I could get used to that if it put out more light. I do a lot of descending at speed with lights, so the amount of light is important.

[hokoman]

I haven't looked at new light beams/output etc for a while, but I see the sinwave lights on a ton of builds. Something to check out.

[jtakeda]

I haven't looked at new light beams/output etc for a while, but I see the sinwave lights on a ton of builds. Something to check out.

I really like the sine wave. Especially for the usb in the back but $$$$$$$$$$

[marciero]

From what I have seen in riding with Unter and another rando pal with a Supernova, the beams are plenty wide, just not that intense. At speed, the road ahead just isn't lit up all that well.

The Supernova doesn't put out as much light. It also has artifacts that I don't like, but I could get used to that if it put out more light. I do a lot of descending at speed with lights, so the amount of light is important.

Okay; noted. The rando crowd (counting you guys among them) definitely seems to skew Edelux/Ixon*. Also, in my earlier post I meant to refer to Supernova E3 Pro 2 and E3 Triple 2 rather than E3 and Pure. The Triple 2 is the brighter one, but Peter White recommends those only be used for offroad use.

*Edit: Again am confusing lights. Meant IQ-X, not Ixon, I think the latter is discontinued.

[sparky33]

I replaced my Supernova with an IQ-X.

+1. Switched over to a couple IQ-X lights from an Edelux 2 and an old Supernova E3...

However, Supernova gets a point for looks and the slick side-mount version.
https://supernova-lights.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/e3pure3_sidev.jpeg

[saab2000]

I had an E3 Triple. It was disappointing because there had been reports of as many as 800 lumens but it shone more like 150-200. The reason it’s not recommended for road use is that it has no upper beam cutoff, a requirement in Germany. It was anything but blindingly bright. My buddies with B&M lights (which use Schmidt optics) had much better lights.

I like the design of the Supernova lights but the Schmidt and B&M provided superior lighting.

[ptourkin]

I really like the sine wave. Especially for the usb in the back but $$$$$$$$$$

The Beacon is very nice but the beam is for offroad. I haven't seen a big adoption from the randonneur crowd and I'm not positive, but suspect that it won't be okay for PBP next year.

In my experience, the USB charger (I have a Sinewave) is okay for charging something very small like a Garmin but even for replacing the charge in a storage battery, it's barely okay. The innovation of the Beacon is that it lets you go the other way and power the light from your storage battery, which is useful on long slow offroad night climbs a la Tour Divide.

[Marc40a]

The Beacon is very nice but the beam is for offroad. I haven't seen a big adoption from the randonneur crowd and I'm not positive, but suspect that it won't be okay for PBP next year.

In my experience, the USB charger (I have a Sinewave) is okay for charging something very small like a Garmin but even for replacing the charge in a storage battery, it's barely okay. The innovation of the Beacon is that it lets you go the other way and power the light from your storage battery, which is useful on long slow offroad night climbs a la Tour Divide.

The size of the storage battery is crucial... you don't want to go trying to charge a 20,000mah brick that's looking for the voltage from a wall outlet. I'm hesitant to even go with a 5,000 mah battery. I just use multiple 3,350mah batteries with quality cells.

[ptourkin]

The size of the storage battery is crucial... you don't want to go trying to charge a 20,000mah brick that's looking for the voltage from a wall outlet. I'm hesitant to even go with a 5,000 mah battery. I just use multiple 3,350mah batteries with quality cells.

Same. I do fill the lipstick batteries with it. When I was using an SRM PC8, that worked too as did an 810, although some people still say there are voltage regulation problems with those. What you usually can't do is charge an iPhone.

[Marc40a]

Same. I do fill the lipstick batteries with it. When I was using an SRM PC8, that worked too as did an 810, although some people still say there are voltage regulation problems with those. What you usually can't do is charge an iPhone.

So far, so good here with an I-phone 6S+, but I've only done it a few times.

I'm more inclined to use an inline buffer battery on my next multi-day trip. I feel like it's probably a best practice.

[adampaiva]

+1. Switched over to a couple IQ-X lights from an Edelux 2 and an old Supernova E3...

However, Supernova gets a point for looks and the slick side-mount version.
https://supernova-lights.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/e3pure3_sidev.jpeg

I was recently shopping and evaluated the options best I could. I already had an IQ-X and was just checking if there was anything better out there. I really wanted a Supernova bc as mentioned here, they look really good. But everything I read just lead me back to IQ-X and ended up buying a second one (2 dynamo'd bikes).

also re : usb charging, I have a sinewave and have found it can charge an iphone, or my camera, or a battery, but speed matters and at least to some extent the hub being used. The SV-8/9 for example has slightly less output vs the PV-8, and I think it's right on the edge of making something charge or not. Slow loaded touring or off road touring are much less likely to charge your device vs riding 18 mph for 6 hours straight.