List of High Power LED lights & manufacturers - Luxeon, Cree etc



Jemsquash

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Jun 13, 2006
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I've been looking at high powered LEDs for a while now, I've been using the Dinotte 5w and I am hoping to upgrade soon to pehaps the new 400 or 500 series since the technology has moved on significantly since I bought it. I think the 5w series might even have been upgraded by now.

Having done some hunting around I thought that I'd share the list of lights that I've found and perhaps others can contribute to this list.

I have kept the list to 3watt LEDs and above. I have no idea how they compare to each other - perhaps someone will be kind enough to do some sort of a comparison like on mtbr.com (the comparison is a bit dated now). Unfortunately manufactures mostly don't say which LED they use which doesn't help in comparing products.

These are in no particular order:

Cygolite Dual High-Intensity LED headlight - http://www.cygolite.com

Dinotte 400l & 500l (Cree?) + 5w range (Luxeon) - http://www.dinottelighting.com/

Solid Lights - 1303 - http://www.solidlights.co.uk/

NightHawk - Emitter systems
Blackburn System X Luxeon® LED Bike Lights - http://www.systemxlights.com

Cateye triple shot and double shot - http://www.cateye.com

Lupine Wilma Series - http://www.lupine-lights.com

http://www.nightlightning.co.nz/

BR Lights C2 - http://www.brlights.com/

Princeton Tec Switchback 3 - http://www.brightguy.com/products/Princeton_Tec_Switchback_3.php

Exposure Enduro Turbo- http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.aspx?Cat=cycle&ProdID=5360021539&N=Exposure%20Enduro%20Turbo%20Front%20Light
 
All looks too expensive for my taste. I use two Fenix L2D's that use 2 AA NiMH 2650mAh for a 2 hour+ burn time. They are super bright and small. They're about $65 each, posted off ebay. Warning, strobe mode is dangerous to someone that suffers from epalepsy. Sorry, I cant shed any light on your question.
 
The dinotte is brilliant, I'm just fussy & want HID equivalent. Also I bought the AA version which gives about 1hour40 minutes burn time on high. It has served the purpose more than well for what I wanted when I started.

Now that I know I enjoy riding in the dark I want something a bit more convenient & powerfull.

I'll probably keep the 5w dinotte as a back up light. It is so small and light (excuse the pun).

I'm not sure of my decision though, the AA's have proved usefull when I've forgotten to charge them. I was half way to work when I had to switch to blinky mode. I then went to the shops & bought a cheap 20AUD charger & charged the batteries for the way home. I could not have done this with super duper proprietory batteries.
 
I've been using the Dual Cross 300 with the ni-mh battery for 12mths,
on high I've been getting 4hrs per charge. Just got the lithium ion version of this light and its much lighter, only trade off is you loose an hour of duration on high. The mounting arrangement is great as it mounts in front of the stem with the battery under the stem. The output is great from the twin led crossed beams, which give a wide light pattern.

This is a picture of the NI-mH version on the road bike, the lithium ion battery is a third of the size and mounts under the stem.

I'll try and take some output photos and post them
bikelights.jpg
 
Lesq said:
All looks too expensive for my taste. I use two Fenix L2D's that use 2 AA NiMH 2650mAh for a 2 hour+ burn time. They are super bright and small. They're about $65 each, posted off ebay. Warning, strobe mode is dangerous to someone that suffers from epalepsy. Sorry, I cant shed any light on your question.

Yeah I've often thought of getting torches with high powered LEDs. They seem to be significantly cheaper than the cycling counterparts. Those torches look nice as they've got Cree LEDs in them which give out more lumens/watt than luxeons.

How do you find mounting them on your bike? That has been my main concern about getting torches (apart from looking odd too).
 
Mounting not a real issue, I've had a couple of old led blinker mounts that I have attached to the handle bar and strapped the torches to it using elastic shock cord (from Clarke Rubber). Going to try some thing different next week that would tidy it up. may have to post a pic or two to show you what I mean. May look a little agricultural but hey, its dark:rolleyes:
 
Thanks Scotty Dog, that was the review that swung me to the L2D. I am extremely happy with their performance as most of my riding is after 6.30pm.
 
Now if you were feeling handy you could get the triple lens setup from here http://www.cutter.com.au/products.php?cat=12&pg=11 with Q2 bin Crees for $48.25. The lens is what Dinotte are most probably using. If you want 600+ lumens, use U bin SSC LEDs instead. The lens is the same size as a MR16 so it shouldn't be to hard to find a housing. Add a driver http://taskled.com/bflex.html and some battery and you'll have a light that is as bright or brighter than a 13w HID for a third of the price complete.

Cheers

Geoff
 
531Aussie said:
I'm not sure what you call high power, but I'm pretty happy with my Smart Polaris, although I've only had it for a couple of months. Good thing is it's not too chunky, it's pretty bright, and it runs on AA batteries, which are a little cheaper than AAAs.


http://www.beseenonabike.com/shopuk/product_info.php?name=Smart%09Polaris%205%20White%20LED%20Front%20Light%20Silver%20Case%20%28inc%20Batt%29%09%2C%20Our%20SKU%3A%09941010&products_id=168

Funnily enough I've got a Smart too, it is the light I had before buying this luxeon light. It is a very weak light compared to Luxeons, Cree etc. You can't see where you are going with a Smart. I hope I don't sound condecending, I'm just trying to be informative. The luxeon, crees etc run in the hundreds of dollars price range at the moment.
 
For the not-quite-electronically challenged there is a heap of technical banter on LEDs and other lighting solutions over here;

Candle Power Forums

There are also a few reviews of equipment scattered through. The forum is a little slanted towards scuba lights (just in case you want to know why someone would want a handheld 35W HID) - but there are a few bike projects in there and reviews of the emitter performance like Cree vs Luxeon.

ttfn
Matt
 
if you want some high powered LED modules on their own and build your own light try the new TridonicATCO 211 700mA constant current LED module ~100 lumen. they also have a 10° lens which fits over the top to give a good very narrow beam.

the LumiLED Luxeon K2 (pwned by Philips) is another worthwhile contender.

just remember the main problem with LED's is getting rid of the heat.
 
Here's how I've mounted the torch to the handlebars. The first one is an old mount for a flashing led tail light with the torch straped to it and the supplied wrist strap as a failsafe. The second is made up of bits from the local hardware shop.
 
Jemsquash said:
I hope I don't sound condecending, I'm just trying to be informative. .
nah, not at all. The Smart is more of a "be seen" light rather that a headlight. As I mentioned, I like the fact it runs on AAs, so I don't get ripped off having to buy a 4-pack of AAAs at some servo for 10 bucks! :)
 
Cygolite Dual Cross output photo - li-ion battery
not in focus due to camera shake but you get the idea of the beam coverage and intensity.
IMG_6372.jpg
 
Has anyone ever heard of ayup lights?

http://www.ayup.com.au/

I don't like there website much. Flashy and all but difficult to navigate & find your way around. Maybe I'm just a ludite.

Prices seem really good but no dimmable option. I don't know if one is needed though with 6 hours runtime.
 

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