Nightime Lights

[itsflantastic]

Anyone have experience or an opinion on either of the lights seen here (http://www.competitivecyclist.com/za/CCY?PAGE=CATEGORY_VIEW&MODE=SPECIALS&CATEGORY.ID=3) @ competitive cyclist?


cheers,
dan

[J.Greene]

Anyone have experience or an opinion on either of the lights seen here (http://www.competitivecyclist.com/za/CCY?PAGE=CATEGORY_VIEW&MODE=SPECIALS&CATEGORY.ID=3) @ competitive cyclist?


cheers,
dan

I have the trail light. It's ok. The battery is pretty bulky and heavy. I just bought a new dinotte. It's very nice.

JG

[Ginger]

I had the trail rat, need a new battery...
Not a bad light, but it isn't "bright as day" doesn't run exceptionally long.


Speaking of lights, where's a good place to get replacement batteries for these things? I have three or four light sets that the batteries are just worn out. Lights are fine...

[J.Greene]

I had the trail rat, need a new battery...
Not a bad light, but it isn't "bright as day" doesn't run exceptionally long.


Speaking of lights, where's a good place to get replacement batteries for these things? I have three or four light sets that the batteries are just worn out. Lights are fine...

I got a battery for my trail rat from the interstate batteries store. They also soldered a new thingy on it too for less than $20 for everything.

JG

[sg8357]

The 10w light is fine, the charger is the dumb version.
It is worth getting the smart charger so you don't cook
the battery or go out with a short charge.

Batteries Etc will rebuild the packs cheaper than NiteRider.

Scott G.

[dekindy]

If you are interested at all, the Princeton Tec Switchback 3 is on closeout at Colorado Cyclist for $219.99. Light shootout comments gave it the most light for the $ at list price of $399. Mine is due to be delivered today.

http://www.coloradocyclist.com/product/item/PRNQRT25

[dwightskin]

The 10W (i've seen 15W,too) Trail Rat is an excellent light. Just what you'd need for road riding in the dark. It comes with a "dumb" charger so if you forget to unplug it, you'll over-cook the battery. But that is easily fixed by using an appliance timer:

http://www.amazon.com/Intermatic-TN111C-Lamp-Appliance-Timer/dp/B00002N5FI

Just remove the "on" thingies and tape them to the side. Then you can plug in your battery and it will turn off in your specific amount of time.


As other's have mentioned Batteries Plus will re-do the cells in old battery packs for a "reasonable" cost. They packed an older Niterider for me for $85, but Niterider wanted $120.


Dwight

[J.Greene]

I've been riding with my new Dinotte for several days. It's bright, light, and very functional. The Dinottes can be found on sale and it 10x the light as the trail rat for not much more money.

and I can't stress how bright it is.

JG

[BlackTiBob]

The NiteRider MiNute X2 LED seems like a lot of light for the money. It has double the lumens of the previous MiNute and a Li-ion battery which is lighter weight and has much better cold weather performance than a NiMH battery (if you plan on cold weather use).
Mine hasn't arrived yet but will report when it does. Can be seen on Performance Bike site. They are about $180 and they also make a "twin" model with two separately mounted lights for not much more.
I was going to go HID but the price/performance/longevity of the new LEDs is hard to ignore.

[Richard]

Try here:

http://www.batteryspace.com/

[djg]

I've had both 10w and 15w niterider halogen lights and I'd say that they were both pretty good lights for night time road riding at moderate speeds. You'll see where you are going, you'll see most of the road surface, and you'll be seen. Ramp up the speed and there will be things about the road surface you don't see (or don't see until you're there) and that might bother you more or less depending on you and the roads you ride. By comparison, my L&M HID is much brighter and I have no issues seeing the road surface well at 20 mph (or faster). My one experiment with the original MiNewt was ok (decent clean beam, although no comparison with the HID for power), but the switch proved unreliable (maybe just my sample) after only a few weeks, so I returned it. YMMV.

[sg8357]

Ramp up the speed and there will be things about the road surface you don't see (or don't see until you're there) and that might bother you more or less depending on you and the roads you ride.

If you can lower the light to a mid fork mounting point you'll be able
to pickup the road surface better. The lower angle light will cast
shadows that will pick out the road irregularites better.

Scott G.