Troutelight

[Gooby]

I am seriously considering buying a Troutelight "7up". Has anyone had any experience of them?

[SIMON67]

My mate has one (in blingy gold !). He loves it. I have ridden his bike with it on and am very impressed. Massive spread of light. Just like riding in daylight!

[pdV6]

Looks good, but for that kind of cash (£200 built + cost of battery), I'd be tempted to go with a Hope Vision-4.

[Gooby]

pdV6 said:

Looks good, but for that kind of cash (£200 built + cost of battery), I'd be tempted to go with a Hope Vision-4.

even if the troutlight is almost twice as powerful?

This thing is brighter than a Lupine Betty 14... Total cost is £315..

I need to know if it is reliable because my Lupine wilma is utter rubbish and I am going to get my money back.

Edited by Gooby on Tuesday 6th April 11:32

[pdV6]

Gooby said:

pdV6 said:

Looks good, but for that kind of cash (£200 built + cost of battery), I'd be tempted to go with a Hope Vision-4.

even if the troutlight is almost twice as powerful?

Probably - I doubt there'd be that much difference in real world use and I'd be willing to bet that the Hope would be more reliable.

If it were significantly cheaper, then I'd be more willing to take a punt on what is essentially a home-built kit.

[.Adam.]

I've got a Lumen Liberator from the first batch he made, and it's been faultless. It has been used at least twice a week since I got it 5 months ago, in all weathers and temperatures, with no problems. Obviously I can't see inside, but it looks really well made from the outside, and I haven't heard of anyone having any problems with them.

[tybalt]

Gooby said:

pdV6 said:

Looks good, but for that kind of cash (£200 built + cost of battery), I'd be tempted to go with a Hope Vision-4.

even if the troutlight is almost twice as powerful?

This thing is brighter than a Lupine Betty 14... Total cost is £315..

I need to know if it is reliable because my Lupine wilma is utter rubbish and I am going to get my money back.

I've ridden with someone who's got a troutlite. It's ludicrously bright, and has a great beam pattern. You'd be a mug not to (and I certainly wouldn't go with a "brand" over a bespoke build from an enthusiast). Other option is the bike light from dealextreme for £50 which is probably best for sheer value. I'm cheap, so I went that route, and it's pretty damn good. Not as good as the troutlites, but good enough and quite a bit better than most lights from a few years back (e.g. Ayups etc).

[tybalt]

pdV6 said:

Probably - I doubt there'd be that much difference in real world use and I'd be willing to bet that the Hope would be more reliable.

If it were significantly cheaper, then I'd be more willing to take a punt on what is essentially a home-built kit.

No - there really is that much difference in real world use - it's much brighter. I'd be willing to bet that something hand built by the very knowledgable and practical guy who designed it would be more reliable and better put together than something made by wage slaves in a factory.

[pdV6]

Furry muff then. Hands-on experience trumps conjecture every time!

I also went the DX route after my Hope HID got nicked along with the bike it was attached to.
It's about the same brightness (claims 900 lumen) in the real world as the old HID (claimed 450 lumen) and whilst well built for the money (£50) I have needed to replace the battery as the contacts rotted away to nothing after one wet ride. Needless to say the new battery got wrapped & sealed before first use!

[Rolls]

Excuse my ignorance - but troutlights??? - lights made of fish? haha!!

I've got a joystick for on my lid, and a lupine of some descritpion on the bars which works well enough for me!