I ride my own shadow every time I have my halo as well. It’s depressing.
I have been looking at lights this week and am trying to figure out what kind of lumens I am looking for.
What light do you use, what is the lumen rating, what do you use it for and does it have enough light for your applicatoin?
I have been eying up the Light and Motion Stella 200 and 300 and am trying to figure out if the extra 100 lumens is worth the $40 bux. You also get a little more run time on all settings.
Lets hear it.
Thanks.
Stella FTW. My experiences with the 200 leave me wondering if it doesn’t produce a lot more lumens than listed. I actually haven’t tried the 300. I suspect you’d only feel short changed with the 200 if you’ve had a top shelf system before. But $40 isn’t much.
Thanks O9.
What is FTW?
I am coming from a 10 year old Halogen nite rider. Same bulb and same NiMH battery and still lasts for a 2 hour ride. However I find myself riding in my own shadow of the Seca 1400 and 900’s. Just ordered the 300 tonight. Should be a nice change.
Checkout Dealextreme
you can get 900 and 1400 Lumin for $80-120 free shipping
I have them they are great
It takes about a month to get them.
FTW = For the win. Or F*** The world but usually the former 
I saw those ones on Dealextreme. My wife is rather conservative when using her credit card online and didn’t like the idea of the info going where it was going. I didn’t see a problm with it but I just left it at that.
FTW, makes perfect sense now. Thanks.
I have a Niterider Minewt 110 lumen and a Stella 200. The Stella is awesome on the helmet and I put the Minewt on the bars as a back up. The 300 will kick ass. Good choice.
I have 4 lights. No idea of any of their lumen ratings.
Bar mount BLT halogen w/ NiCd battery. Use mostly as backup or loaner light. Nice that it has 3 settings - 5W, 10W, 15W, but a pain with NiCd to have to let the battery run down to recharge.
Helmet mount BLT halogen (10W or 15W, I can’t remember) w/NiMH battery. Was my main light. Serviceable amount of light, but not amazing. Battery pack small and light. Now mostly use as a backup or loaner
Light and Motion ARC HID w/LiON battery. Wow. Lots of light. Loving it. Makes the old halogens look wimpy. I’ve also yet to ride long enough to run the battery down.
Niterider Enduro HID. Lots of light. Seems more focused and to have a brighter spot than the Light and Motion. CyclingGirl mainly uses this light.
This is a bit off topic, but my Niterider Enduro HID is a bit temperamental. It doesn’t seem to like cold weather. The first ride on it, CyclingGirl and I were way out on a trail anc couldn’t get it to strike. I’ve since learned that it seems to work better when it’s warm, but even then it usually doesn’t light on the first try. I’ve since taken to leaving it in an inner pocket to keep it warm on a ride until it’s needed. Once it’s lit and warmed up, it will behave fine, and relight immediately.
Any idea why it acts this way?
I saw those ones on Dealextreme. My wife is rather conservative when using her credit card online and didn’t like the idea of the info going where it was going. I didn’t see a problm with it but I just left it at that.
FTW, makes perfect sense now. Thanks.
Don’t use your credit card then
Paypal
It might be because I am getting old and my eyes may not be as good as they were 10 years ago, when a BLT 7.5 volt 20w tungsten 3200k light was the light to have. For added illumination I would run an extra 10w on the bar. Now days I can’t imagine using a piece of shit like that again.
For me: Next came the Halogen, with smaller batteries and more punch per watt I would use two 15w on the bar and one 15w on the helmet at the time it was better but now I see it sucked to.
Now with light technology so advanced, so affordable with long life small light weight
batteries and powerful lamps. I can truly see the light. Da Dada Dumm.
I casual winter ride now with about 900 lumen, 500 on the bar and 400 on the helmet, The combined 900 Lumen I am running now comes from 4 small lights it is very even lighting with the option of going as high as
1,400 on the bar when I am ripping downhill. 900 lumen on the helmet is all I would really need
but I don’t like riding with just one light for safety reasons. This summer I expect to use 900 on the bar and 900 on the helmet with an option of running a second 900 on the bar for downhill’s for a total of 2700 lumen.
Just out of curiosity I checked out the color temperature of the new Cree LED today at work and it is at 7000k similar to the color temperature you would get in the shade on a sunny day.
Jim, that’s interesting. My decent but low-output/cost commuter light on the front runs a one-watt Cree LED.
After one ride with the Stella, I am very impressed. The difference between the 300 and 150 setting seems very minimal. However that could be the snow helping the light brighten up a bit. The settings test I guess will be in the spring summer when there is less reflecting from the snow.
I don’t know how I put up with my own shadow for so long using that halogen against all the LEDs with that group.