quick advice needed
Discussion
right guys very very quick advice needed. its a seasonal thing that i know is haunting most biking forums but are these lights in the link any good?
http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=13625
the Lupine Nightmare Pro 2006:
has anyone used these, are there any draw backs to using them? theres a saving of nearly 150 quid so is there a reason? My budget was around 200 so for these to be very close to that is something im very interesed in i was going for the exposure remote LED stick light and thats on its way to £200
as i said im looking to buy this afternoon so advice would be greatly recieved.
http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=13625
the Lupine Nightmare Pro 2006:
has anyone used these, are there any draw backs to using them? theres a saving of nearly 150 quid so is there a reason? My budget was around 200 so for these to be very close to that is something im very interesed in i was going for the exposure remote LED stick light and thats on its way to £200
as i said im looking to buy this afternoon so advice would be greatly recieved.
They look a fair price at £200 and overpriced at £350. The battery is MiMh when the top sets are now using Lithium Ion and its only 25W which is adequate. Lupine to make lights to a quality then price them, rarther build to a price so they are high quality.
A comparable set up will be Lumicycle so compare to those.
A comparable set up will be Lumicycle so compare to those.
JWB said:
They look a fair price at £200 and overpriced at £350. The battery is MiMh when the top sets are now using Lithium Ion and its only 25W which is adequate. Lupine to make lights to a quality then price them, rarther build to a price so they are high quality.
A comparable set up will be Lumicycle so compare to those.
Yep been looking at the Lumicycle as well. Just thought that the Lupines have a good reputation etc so might be worth a punt. It should also be noted that i'll be buying a set of the new HOPE LED lights for my helmet. so dont know whether i should also be getting LED at the bars as HID's do wipe the floor with other light sources near by? (well thats been the case with the guys i've riden with complaining about those with Lupines systems)A comparable set up will be Lumicycle so compare to those.
Cheers for the advice
Tom
The only thing "wrong" with those is the battery and weight.
Sticking with Lupine, the Passubio XL has a smaller, lighter Li-Ion battery and virtually the same spec as regards light output and runtime.
Just a shame that Evans aren't doing an offer on the Passubio at the moment (probably because the Nightmare is losing sales to it I'd imagine!). You can get it cheaper elsewhere though.
Other lights to look at (clipped from the other thread):
Exposure Joystick £125
L&M Vega £135
Hope Vision LED £155
Hope Vision LED Enduro £190
L&M Stella £200
Smart HID £220
Exposure Enduro Turbo £237
Lupine Passubio XL £238
Hope Vision HID £240
Exposure Enduro Maxx £270
NiteRider TriNewt £270
NiteRider Firestorm £300
Lumicycle Halide £300
L&M ARC £310
Sticking with Lupine, the Passubio XL has a smaller, lighter Li-Ion battery and virtually the same spec as regards light output and runtime.
Just a shame that Evans aren't doing an offer on the Passubio at the moment (probably because the Nightmare is losing sales to it I'd imagine!). You can get it cheaper elsewhere though.
Other lights to look at (clipped from the other thread):
Exposure Joystick £125
L&M Vega £135
Hope Vision LED £155
Hope Vision LED Enduro £190
L&M Stella £200
Smart HID £220
Exposure Enduro Turbo £237
Lupine Passubio XL £238
Hope Vision HID £240
Exposure Enduro Maxx £270
NiteRider TriNewt £270
NiteRider Firestorm £300
Lumicycle Halide £300
L&M ARC £310
I would not buy LED yet as the technology is still developing each year and hasnt come close to reaching its best.
I made my own lights, using Dichoric Philips Es high effieciency 35W powered by a 14.4V Li ion battery, very powerful (70W equivilent) and its brighter than HID, plus I can switch it on and off as I wish. The secret to long burn times is an easily switched 10W low beam.
I made my own housing but now its not worth it
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/New-Halogen-Bike-Light-Lamp-...
Use on of these with the 35W and 14.4V and you will have a very good set up. For a battery adapt a cordless battery pack and charger.
I made my own lights, using Dichoric Philips Es high effieciency 35W powered by a 14.4V Li ion battery, very powerful (70W equivilent) and its brighter than HID, plus I can switch it on and off as I wish. The secret to long burn times is an easily switched 10W low beam.
I made my own housing but now its not worth it
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/New-Halogen-Bike-Light-Lamp-...
Use on of these with the 35W and 14.4V and you will have a very good set up. For a battery adapt a cordless battery pack and charger.
What sort of burn times do you get? With the battery pack, do you mean one for a cordless drill or power tool? Been thinking about converting my 6v system to 13.2v by changing the battery and bulbs. Looking on the web, on a specialist battery site, can get a 13.2v 5Ah NiMh inc smart charger, or a 14.8v Li-Ion 4.8Ah. Anyone know if either of these would be any good?
Edited by .Adam. on Monday 15th October 20:02
JWB said:
I would not buy LED yet as the technology is still developing each year and hasnt come close to reaching its best.
Check out the Lupine Betty 12.1400 lumens & 6 hour runtime!
Not cheap, though. http://www.lupine.de/
i have the lupine nightmares! with lion battery pack, these are 2 years old, bought them SH last winter for £160.
Great lights, very bright and other than the battery discharging last week in about 20 minutes... they have been flawless. But thats been sitting for 8 months doing sod all.
A few pals have the new hopes which are as bright possibly brighter.. hard to tell as they are a much more bluey light... but go with the other threads on lights recently the measure of light is a nightmare to see. The market has changed so much recently and yes lighting technology is going through a revolution on power/efficency. How long to you wait, loaded gun that depends on the pace of progress, but at the moment i would say if i was buying new now i would be looking for Hope Enduro's. Lumicycles i would have recommended in previous years as they have choice and value to a tee, recently it is a more difficult question to answer. as always its a compromise for what you want/need, and remember a personal choice too.
Great lights, very bright and other than the battery discharging last week in about 20 minutes... they have been flawless. But thats been sitting for 8 months doing sod all.
A few pals have the new hopes which are as bright possibly brighter.. hard to tell as they are a much more bluey light... but go with the other threads on lights recently the measure of light is a nightmare to see. The market has changed so much recently and yes lighting technology is going through a revolution on power/efficency. How long to you wait, loaded gun that depends on the pace of progress, but at the moment i would say if i was buying new now i would be looking for Hope Enduro's. Lumicycles i would have recommended in previous years as they have choice and value to a tee, recently it is a more difficult question to answer. as always its a compromise for what you want/need, and remember a personal choice too.
Edited by istoo on Tuesday 16th October 12:37
.Adam. said:
What sort of burn times do you get? With the battery pack, do you mean one for a cordless drill or power tool? Been thinking about converting my 6v system to 13.2v by changing the battery and bulbs. Looking on the web, on a specialist battery site, can get a 13.2v 5Ah NiMh inc smart charger, or a 14.8v Li-Ion 4.8Ah. Anyone know if either of these would be any good?
My battery pack is similar to the Li-ion 4.8ah you link to but mine was £100 (over 5 years ago though) If you use that battery pack with a 35W bulb you will have enough light to make cars flash you to dip! One thing you may have to watch is that most Li-ion packs have a built in safety circuit and mine tripped when switching on my big bulb. A friend had to make me a soft start circuit.Edited by .Adam. on Monday 15th October 20:02
Its difficult to specify a burn time as I have a 10W low beam that I can easily change to with a switch on my bars that is easier to operate than my gears. Its right by my thumb. On a night ride we normally ride for 2 to 3 hours on a mixture of terrain and I have never run out of light and have always had enough for the 20 min ride home after the pub.
My first light set used the battery pack and charger from my Makita cordless impact wrench. A friend used his battery packs from his cordless drills. He used the 18V one on 12V and it was really bright, but he did pop the bulbs quite often!
Exactly the light I've just bought, the Wilma 6 is pretty damned bright! I was going to go for the Betty 6, but it was a lot of extra cash and shops don't have much if any stock yet. My only disappointment is that the beam is pretty wide, it would be better to have a spot focus for road riding (IMO) and, on a road bike with Shimano shifters, the light shines onto the gear cables and gives a cable shaped shadow on to the road. I'm going to try mounting the light upside down on the bars tonight to see if that fixes it.
My LBS said they'd had 4 sets of Wilmas in this week and I had the last ones. From what I understand, they're not made in large numbers (mine have a serial number of less than 2000) so availability can be limited.
One last point - I had a mess around with it in the shop before buying and compared it to a Passubio. The Passubio appeared brighter but it's an optical illusion. The darker it gets, the brighter the Wilma seems to appear. I've had cars flashing me already!
My LBS said they'd had 4 sets of Wilmas in this week and I had the last ones. From what I understand, they're not made in large numbers (mine have a serial number of less than 2000) so availability can be limited.
One last point - I had a mess around with it in the shop before buying and compared it to a Passubio. The Passubio appeared brighter but it's an optical illusion. The darker it gets, the brighter the Wilma seems to appear. I've had cars flashing me already!
pdV6 said:
CooperS said:
Decided to go lupine wilma 6
Anyone know where the best place to buy them from either on service or price?
They look pretty good. The cheapest I can see them from a quick Google search is here @ £387Anyone know where the best place to buy them from either on service or price?
Problem you have with mounting lights that low is that the beam doesnt go far enough for it to be any use, thats why u alot of people have two lights one on the bar for wide and immediate coverage and then a tighter beamed helmet light to see down the path 20ft or so. placing the the light at fork level would mean you've passed the roots before you've had chance to take them in. Although a cleverly placed camera would be cool although not so when you drop the bike.
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