Review: Solidlights 1203d (long)

[Tony Raven]

Simon Brooke <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
>
> Just so. Not much good for illumination in real road situations,
> dangerous to oncoming traffic, expensive consumables, short run-time,
> not reliable.
>

Our experiences clearly differ. For run time I get 2.5hrs full and 3.5 hrs
low beam on a small battery which is as good as my old Niterider with its
bottle battery. I believe in lumens/watt they are double anything else out
there.

--
Tony

" I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong."
Bertrand Russell

 

[Peter Clinch]

Tony Raven wrote:

> Errhumm....he said "better light" which one presumes, in the context to
> which he was replying, means the light it gives out is better. YMMV

And again I ask, in the above context, how good is the light from
your HID set on the bike while the battery is charging indoors?

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email protected] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

 

[Alan Braggins]

In article <[email protected]>, Simon Brooke wrote:
>in message <[email protected]>, Alan Braggins
>('[email protected]') wrote:
>> In article <[email protected]>, Simon
>> Brooke wrote:
>>> I'm just preparing to ditch my HID system in
>>>favour of a dynamo for night commuting. Why? Better light, more
>>>reliability.
>>
>> What do you mean by better light in this context? My opinion of HIDs
>> based purely on reviews is that without either a properly shaped
>> dipped beam or the ability to easily dim them (without significantly
>> shortening the life of the very expensive bulb), they are probably
>> unsuitable for road use with oncoming traffic. But I've never tried
>> one.
>
>Just so. Not much good for illumination in real road situations, dangerous
>to oncoming traffic, expensive consumables, short run-time, not reliable.

You can (at ferocious expense) get HIDs that last for 8 hours on a charge.
(http://www.singletrackworld.com/article.php?sid=1130 (where "40W" means
mean "claimed equivalent to 40W halogen, 10W really").
That's not long enough that all commutes will only need remembering to
charge it once a week, but it's longer than a halogen system of even vaguely
comparable brightness, so I think "short run-time" is a bit unfair. Or are
you referring to the overall bulb life?

 

[Tony Raven]

Peter Clinch <[email protected]> wrote in news:5l2lk1F67h1vU1
@mid.individual.net:

> Tony Raven wrote:
>
>> Errhumm....he said "better light" which one presumes, in the context to
>> which he was replying, means the light it gives out is better. YMMV
>
> And again I ask, in the above context, how good is the light from
> your HID set on the bike while the battery is charging indoors?
>

Pretty good - I have two batteries but even if not it only takes 3 hrs to
recharge one.

If I wanted a dimmer light then my LED lamp lasts a long time with a dynamo
light equivalent beam but when I am out cycling, particularly on country
roads in the wet that is not what I want, especially with on coming cars.

--
Tony

" I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong."
Bertrand Russell

 

[SMS]

Tony Raven wrote:

> I think it must depend on what HID system you have. I get a good central
> and plenty of peripheral illumination so I can see far more what is going
> on than with my other lights and I have not encountered any problems with
> car drivers complaining about it being too bright either. It allows me to
> ride with much greater confidence than my old Niterider 20+12 system and
> lots of people I ride with get very interested in getting one once they've
> seen the illumination you get. YMMV

It's very important to have the type of beam you see from the HID, with
a good center beam, but with sufficient peripheral illumination. This is
where most of the dynamo lights fall short, though the review of the
Soldlights at "http://www.blayleys.com/articles/lights/page4.htm" seems
to indicate that the Solidlights also has the proper beam pattern for
cycling, probably the first light for a dynamo system available that is
efficient enough to provide both the center beam and sufficient
peripheral beam.

Note that by over-voltaging standard MR16 and MR11 lamps, you can get
close to the efficiency of HID lamps at much lower cost, at the expense
of shorter lamp life.

As to the safety of HID, see:
From "http://www.sheldonbrown.com/marty_light_hist.html"

"With vastly more light available, night bicycling is qualitatively far
safer. The road can be lit both further ahead and, even more important,
far more brightly to the sides of the bicycle. It's my impression that
CatEye's Stadium lamp represents the technology of bicycle light that
will eventually replace all of the existing incandescent bicycle
lighting systems in serious off road and touring bicycling applications.
This because it's not just a little better. The difference is like the
difference between night and day."

I don't know about you, but I put much more stock on what Marty Goodman
says, what Sheldon allows to be posted on his web site, and what Ken
Kifer wrote, than a bunch of people posting bizarre rationalizations and
other incorrect statements on Usenet!

However Goodman's statement on HID was written prior to the recent
advances in LED technology, specifically the Cree LEDs as used in the
Solidlight. The HID lamps are still more efficient than the high power
LEDs, wasting less power as heat than the LEDs. The prices are way down,
now that you can use the TrailTech integrated lamp with the internal
electronics and the MR11 type enclosure. See
"http://trailtech.net/lights.html".

On a side note, I tested out the Fenix Fenix L2DCE last night, and it is
awesome. Combine it with the bicycle mount sold by Elite, and you have a
very powerful light, along with a "being seen" light at the lower power
and in strobe mode. I paid $53 for it from
"http://eliteled.com/products/flashlights/fenix-l2d-ce.html". Not cheap,
but a lot less than the DiNotte, which is less powerful and less
convenient with the separate battery pack. Other Cree equipped lamps are
also available from other sources now, with a wide input voltage range
of up to 3.7 volts.

I have a picture of the Fenix L2DCE up on the bicycle lighting web site
and the direct link is "http://nordicgroup.us/s78/images/flashl4.jpg"
and "http://nordicgroup.us/s78/images/flashl6.jpg" mounted on my Dahon
Speed TR. I needed to make a rubber spacer (out of 7/8" diameter rubber
hose) as the bicycle mount bracket from
"http://www.eliteled.com/products/accessory/flholder.html" is a bit too
big given the small diameter of the Fenix L2DCE. There are other mounts
that I have links to on the web site, see
"http://nordicgroup.us/s78/flashlights.html".

Steve
"http://bicyclelighting.com"
Earth's Source for Bicycle Lighting Information

 

[[email protected]]

On Sep 15, 4:28 pm, SMS <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
> As to the safety of HID, see:
> From "http://www.sheldonbrown.com/marty_light_hist.html"

Hmm. With the rapid changes in bike lighting, a 1996 article is
missing a lot.

> Steve
> "http://bicyclelighting.com"
> Earth's Source for Bicycle Lighting Information

And a website filled with bias misleads a lot! Too much of that
website consists of these debates, rescripted so Steven M. Scharf can
finally "win" - at least, in his own mind.

I think a better source for bike lighting information is
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_lighting
It's much more balanced

- Frank Krygowski

 

[SMS]

Tony Raven wrote:

> I think it must depend on what HID system you have. I get a good central
> and plenty of peripheral illumination so I can see far more what is going
> on than with my other lights and I have not encountered any problems with
> car drivers complaining about it being too bright either. It allows me to
> ride with much greater confidence than my old Niterider 20+12 system and
> lots of people I ride with get very interested in getting one once they've
> seen the illumination you get. YMMV

It's rather amusing to here stories about "car drivers complaining." Has
_anyone_ ever had an oncoming car driver or a car traveling in the same
direction, turn around or stop to complain about someone's bicycle
lights? When you're driving (or cycling), and someone has their high
beams on, you may ***** about it to yourself, but other than flashing
your high beams as a signal for them to dim their lights, do you chase
them to complain to them? It may well be that some drivers _are_ annoyed
by bicycle HID lights, just as some drivers are annoyed by vehicle HID
lights, but they don't run around complaining about it!

I don't believe these stories of drivers complaining. They come from the
same people that make up other bizarre stories and hence are not credible.

Last week I actually did notice a cyclist that had very visible lights,
It must have been a high-power LED such as a DiNotte in strobe mode (as
a front light). I wouldn't call it annoying, just that he had a very
visible presence. He was towing a kid on a trail-a-bike. The flashing
white light actually is not even legal, but no cop is going to ticket a
bicycle for having a flashing LED strobe on their bicycle, at least not
in the U.S..

HID lights are trickling down from luxury cars to "regular" cars as the
prices fall, and the same is happening to bicycle lights at the high end
(for commuters and off-roaders). If you're spending $250 you can get HID
lights which are more efficient, and safer than the high-power halogen
lights.

 

[Peter Clinch]

Peter Clinch wrote:

> I just like knowing I have my lights at the ready any time I get on my
> bike.

Inna famous-last-words stylee, I got on the Brom for a local trip last
night, and the front light didn't work... Changed the bulb, no joy, no
immediately obvious wiring gotchas, dis/re assembled a few times to
clean contacts, still no joy. So brought it in to work today and
attacked it with the multimeter. Everything should work, so I put it
back together and... it worked. <bof>

So when dynamo setups do let you down they tend to do it in some degree
of style. OTOH, a pal had a fuse go Foom on her battery charger unit
earlier in the year, and left her similarly light free, so nothing's
perfect!

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email protected] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

 

[[email protected]]

On Sep 15, 9:50 pm, SMS <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> It's rather amusing to here stories about "car drivers complaining." Has
> _anyone_ ever had an oncoming car driver or a car traveling in the same
> direction, turn around or stop to complain about someone's bicycle
> lights? When you're driving (or cycling), and someone has their high
> beams on, you may ***** about it to yourself, but other than flashing
> your high beams as a signal for them to dim their lights, do you chase
> them to complain to them? It may well be that some drivers _are_ annoyed
> by bicycle HID lights, just as some drivers are annoyed by vehicle HID
> lights, but they don't run around complaining about it!
>
> I don't believe these stories of drivers complaining. They come from the
> same people that make up other bizarre stories and hence are not credible.On Sep 15, 9:50 pm, SMS <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> It's rather amusing to here stories about "car drivers complaining." Has
> _anyone_ ever had an oncoming car driver or a car traveling in the same
> direction, turn around or stop to complain about someone's bicycle
> lights? When you're driving (or cycling), and someone has their high
> beams on, you may ***** about it to yourself, but other than flashing
> your high beams as a signal for them to dim their lights, do you chase
> them to complain to them? It may well be that some drivers _are_ annoyed
> by bicycle HID lights, just as some drivers are annoyed by vehicle HID
> lights, but they don't run around complaining about it!
>
> I don't believe these stories of drivers complaining. They come from the
> same people that make up other bizarre stories and hence are not credible.

I have had a couple instances where _I_ have complained about other
cyclists' over-powered and underfocused lights. In both cases I was
on MUPs, each about 8 feet wide. The guys coming the other way nearly
blinded me, despite my trying to shade my eyes with my hand.

Face it: There are reasons for the regulations about vehicle lights
and blinding oncoming vehicle operators. There are reasons for
standards for beam cutoff and laws about dimming high beams. If a
cyclist thinks he needs headlights as bright as a motorcycle, but he
doesn't need to keep the glare out of others' eyes, he's being a
phobic, self-centered ass.

- Frank Krygowski

 

[SMS]

Peter Clinch wrote:

> So when dynamo setups do let you down they tend to do it in some degree
> of style. OTOH, a pal had a fuse go Foom on her battery charger unit
> earlier in the year, and left her similarly light free, so nothing's
> perfect!

Reliability wise, nothing beats an LED light that can run on AA
batteries. Even with a dynamo light, for a back-up you should always
carry a small LED flashlight (torch) and a way to mount it to the
handlebars (see "http://nordicgroup.us/s78/flashlights.html").

The Fenix L2DCE is an amazing flashlight. An excellent beam for
bicycling, better than most dynamo lights (other than the SolidLights),
as well as being small and light. Not cheap at $53.50.

Steve
"http://bicyclelighting.com"
Earth's Source for Bicycle Lighting Information

 

[Peter Clinch]

SMS wrote:
>
> Reliability wise, nothing beats an LED light that can run on AA
> batteries.

Unsurprisingly, a remarkably selective piece of information from Scharf.
I can remember more than one ride I've been on where AA powered LEDs
used by more than one rider have run out of juice. At which point they
weren't lights any more, so were very easy to beat.

> Even with a dynamo light, for a back-up you should always
> carry a small LED flashlight (torch) and a way to mount it to the
> handlebars

I have a wee light anyway on the bars that I can thumb on as an
auxiliary standlight. It's also a good idea to have an emergency spare
along, as one genuine disadvantage of a dynamo setup is it's useless for
helping you fix punctures in the dark. A head-lamp is much the best for
fixing punctures.

> The Fenix L2DCE is an amazing flashlight. An excellent beam for
> bicycling, better than most dynamo lights (other than the SolidLights),
> as well as being small and light. Not cheap at $53.50.

That'll be $53.50 it's not worth me spending then. I don't really care
if the beam is better than my lamps, because my lamps are perfectly
adequate for what I want, and the batteries never run down!.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email protected] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

 

[SMS]

Peter Clinch wrote:
> SMS wrote:
>> Reliability wise, nothing beats an LED light that can run on AA
>> batteries.
>
> Unsurprisingly, a remarkably selective piece of information from Scharf.
> I can remember more than one ride I've been on where AA powered LEDs
> used by more than one rider have run out of juice. At which point they
> weren't lights any more, so were very easy to beat.

Oh please, who is dumb enough on a night ride to not pack a couple of AA
cells if their light is AA powered. Or if in the city, to stop at a 7-11
or whatever all-night store is in your country to buy a couple of cells.

I have three Bromptons, and none have dynamo lights. The cost and
reliability makes it an unattractive option. I'd literally spend more on
a hub dynamo wheel and lamp than the cost of the Brompton itself, since
I got the Bromptons in Taiwan when Brompton was licensing the design
($225-$240 each, depending on the exchange rate at the time).

 

[Peter Clinch]

SMS wrote:

> Oh please, who is dumb enough on a night ride to not pack a couple of AA
> cells if their light is AA powered.

Quite a lot of people, is the real world answer. It's no more stupid to
forget spare cells than it is to forget lights altogether, but there are
plenty of people who've managed that at one time or another. I'm sure
/you're/ perfect, but you really should give other people some credit
for not being quite that organised.

> I have three Bromptons, and none have dynamo lights.

The only reason to have 3 Brommies is each one is set up for different
jobs (unless you really /are/ dumb), in which case you wouldn't
necessarily want all 3 with lights.

> The cost and
> reliability makes it an unattractive option.

But nobody's trying to force you to take that option, or say the lamps
will be "inadequate" if you do, or if you're in Mode X then it is
clearly the best thing for anyone to do. You'll probably round this off
as you usually do by claiming you're doing no such thing either, and
then quote some "facts" by "experts" that imply exactly what you say you
don't say...

> I'd literally spend more on
> a hub dynamo wheel and lamp than the cost of the Brompton itself, since
> I got the Bromptons in Taiwan when Brompton was licensing the design
> ($225-$240 each, depending on the exchange rate at the time).

If you choose the most expensive possible options, perhaps, but as
millions of people prove daily you don't need the most expensive option
for a perfectly adequate lighting setup. Even in the remarkably
expensive UK and at the current 2:1 exchange rate it's easy to get a
good dynohub (i.e., the Shimano 371) and acceptable accompaniment for
less than that, so either you're being disingenuous or you're talking
rubbish. Again.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email protected] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

 

[SMS]

Peter Clinch wrote:
> SMS wrote:
>
>> Oh please, who is dumb enough on a night ride to not pack a couple of AA
>> cells if their light is AA powered.
>
> Quite a lot of people, is the real world answer. It's no more stupid to
> forget spare cells than it is to forget lights altogether, but there are
> plenty of people who've managed that at one time or another. I'm sure
> /you're/ perfect, but you really should give other people some credit
> for not being quite that organised.
>
>> I have three Bromptons, and none have dynamo lights.
>
> The only reason to have 3 Brommies is each one is set up for different
> jobs (unless you really /are/ dumb), in which case you wouldn't
> necessarily want all 3 with lights.

Hmm, could it be that they are used for more than one person? Nah,
that's too obvious. I also find that they're a great bicycle to lend to
visitors (responsible visitors!) that want to do a ride and that have to
transport the bicycles in their vehicle.

> If you choose the most expensive possible options, perhaps, but as
> millions of people prove daily you don't need the most expensive option
> for a perfectly adequate lighting setup.

Yes, the problem is that "perfectly adequate" is a pretty low benchmark.

 

[[email protected]]

On Sep 18, 11:13 am, SMS <[email protected]> wrote:
> Peter Clinch wrote:
> > SMS wrote:
> >> Reliability wise, nothing beats an LED light that can run on AA
> >> batteries.
>
> > Unsurprisingly, a remarkably selective piece of information from Scharf.
> > I can remember more than one ride I've been on where AA powered LEDs
> > used by more than one rider have run out of juice. At which point they
> > weren't lights any more, so were very easy to beat.
>
> Oh please, who is dumb enough on a night ride to not pack a couple of AA
> cells if their light is AA powered. Or if in the city, to stop at a 7-11
> or whatever all-night store is in your country to buy a couple of cells.

Oh, please! Who expects that their AA batteries will conveniently run
out directly in front of an all-night convenience store?

For the record: I've led night rides for my bike club for, oh, about
ten years. Not very frequently - probably about three or four such
rides in most of those years. They've drawn anywhere from three to 15
riders each time.

Until this year, each and every ride had _some_ problem with someone's
battery light. The most common problem was just running out of
disposable battery juice - with the comment being "I thought those
batteries were new!" Another problem was with rechargeable batteries
- "Gee, last time I used this battery, it lasted a lot longer before
it died out." We've had handlebar-mounted C-cell lights fly apart
when a rider hit a big bump. We've had a flashlight mounted as a
headlight get into the front wheel spokes and throw a rider, cracking
her rib. Because of these (and similar) experiences, I never lead
such a ride without packing extra headlights to use as loaners.

Now, admittedly, there have been only about six of us who have used
generator lights on these rides. But the generator lights have been
perfectly reliable, every time.

The ride last month had four riders, one of whom - a new rider - was
using a small LED bike light powered by (I think) AA batteries. No
particular problems that ride - except that they guy found out that
his AA light was just not bright enough. Certainly, it was nowhere
near my generator set's illumination.

- Frank Krygowski

 

[Andy M-S]

On Sep 18, 10:38 am, [email protected] wrote:
> On Sep 18, 11:13 am, SMS <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > Peter Clinch wrote:
> > > SMS wrote:
> > >> Reliability wise, nothing beats an LED light that can run on AA
> > >> batteries.
>
> > > Unsurprisingly, a remarkably selective piece of information from Scharf.
> > > I can remember more than one ride I've been on where AA powered LEDs
> > > used by more than one rider have run out of juice. At which point they
> > > weren't lights any more, so were very easy to beat.
>
> > Oh please, who is dumb enough on a night ride to not pack a couple of AA
> > cells if their light is AA powered. Or if in the city, to stop at a 7-11
> > or whatever all-night store is in your country to buy a couple of cells.
>
> Oh, please! Who expects that their AA batteries will conveniently run
> out directly in front of an all-night convenience store?
>
> For the record: I've led night rides for my bike club for, oh, about
> ten years. Not very frequently - probably about three or four such
> rides in most of those years. They've drawn anywhere from three to 15
> riders each time.
>
> Until this year, each and every ride had _some_ problem with someone's
> battery light. The most common problem was just running out of
> disposable battery juice - with the comment being "I thought those
> batteries were new!" Another problem was with rechargeable batteries
> - "Gee, last time I used this battery, it lasted a lot longer before
> it died out." We've had handlebar-mounted C-cell lights fly apart
> when a rider hit a big bump. We've had a flashlight mounted as a
> headlight get into the front wheel spokes and throw a rider, cracking
> her rib. Because of these (and similar) experiences, I never lead
> such a ride without packing extra headlights to use as loaners.
>
> Now, admittedly, there have been only about six of us who have used
> generator lights on these rides. But the generator lights have been
> perfectly reliable, every time.
>
> The ride last month had four riders, one of whom - a new rider - was
> using a small LED bike light powered by (I think) AA batteries. No
> particular problems that ride - except that they guy found out that
> his AA light was just not bright enough. Certainly, it was nowhere
> near my generator set's illumination.
>
> - Frank Krygowski

If you need to carry a battery-operated spare, I can't think of one
that's a better value than this one:

http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_...T<>prd_id=845524442621577&bmUID=1190131782373

I got some for my kids...and I keep one in my pannier, with one
battery reversed, JUST IN CASE. But I have yet to have hub gen
problems...(knocks on wood)

 

[Dane Buson]

In rec.bicycles.misc SMS <[email protected]> wrote:
> Peter Clinch wrote:
>> SMS wrote:
>>> Reliability wise, nothing beats an LED light that can run on AA
>>> batteries.
>>
>> Unsurprisingly, a remarkably selective piece of information from Scharf.
>> I can remember more than one ride I've been on where AA powered LEDs
>> used by more than one rider have run out of juice. At which point they
>> weren't lights any more, so were very easy to beat.
>
> Oh please, who is dumb enough on a night ride to not pack a couple of AA
> cells if their light is AA powered. Or if in the city, to stop at a 7-11
> or whatever all-night store is in your country to buy a couple of cells.

Ha! I know plenty of people just like that. I'd say it happens with
regular occurence with my current riding group.

--
Dane Buson - [email protected]
Mountain Dew and doughnuts...
because breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

 

[SMS]

Peter Clinch wrote:
> SMS wrote:
>> Reliability wise, nothing beats an LED light that can run on AA
>> batteries.
>
> Unsurprisingly, a remarkably selective piece of information from Scharf.

Not selective at all. You were the one that brought up the problem with
your dynamo lights. How many non-techies have multimeters at work to
diagnose the problem and fix it. It sounds like you never actually found
the cause of the problem, you just did the usual stuff of checking and
cleaning contacts and connections and bulbs. That's the problem with a
lot of dynamo setups, there are just too many points of failure. That's
one of the main reasons they're not used as much as in the past.

 

[Tony Raven]

In article <[email protected]>, [email protected]
says...
>
> Inna famous-last-words stylee, I got on the Brom for a local trip last
> night, and the front light didn't work... Changed the bulb, no joy, no
> immediately obvious wiring gotchas, dis/re assembled a few times to
> clean contacts, still no joy. So brought it in to work today and
> attacked it with the multimeter. Everything should work, so I put it
> back together and... it worked. <bof>
>

That's electrickery for you.

--
Tony

" I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong."
Bertrand Russell

 

[SMS]

Tony Raven wrote:
> In article <[email protected]>, [email protected]
> says...
>> Inna famous-last-words stylee, I got on the Brom for a local trip last
>> night, and the front light didn't work... Changed the bulb, no joy, no
>> immediately obvious wiring gotchas, dis/re assembled a few times to
>> clean contacts, still no joy. So brought it in to work today and
>> attacked it with the multimeter. Everything should work, so I put it
>> back together and... it worked. <bof>
>>
>
> That's electrickery for you.

Well the amazing thing is that he didn't have a multimeter with him to
troubleshoot it on the spot. How much are multimeters in the U.K.? In
the U.S. you can get a small digital multimeter for under $3 on sale
(and they are constantly on sale). If you're going to use dynamo lights
then you really want to carry a multimeter with you at all times to
facilitate troubleshooting. You can check the continuity of the bulb
filament, you can check the wiring, even check the dynamo output voltage.

I bought ten of the $3 multimeters to teach Ohm's law on "enrichment
day" at my son's school. Of course the 4th graders were soon measuring
the resistance of themselves, but at least some of them got the
voltage/current/resistance relationship. Maybe I should have started
with something simpler, like how to troubleshoot bicycle lights.