Submitted by
Steve Weeks
a Cross Country Rider
from Mundelein, IL Date Reviewed: October 3, 2002
Favorite Trail:
Desplaines River Trail
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$205.00
Purchased At:
Dark Ends web site
Strengths:
Bright! Dual bulb for redundancy. Simple. Light weight. Dark Ends was very helpful, suggesting a 12-watt low beam for extended burn time.
Weaknesses:
Beam control switch is a bit floppy on the bar, but is easy to use anyway. Re-charge time must be estimated as a proportion of 16 hours, depending on use (minor nuisance).
Similar Products Used:
Specialized Fireballs Comp... sent back for refund. Specialized 4-AA-cell "flashlight"... good for being seen, but not for seeing. My family uses them.
Bike Setup:
Mountain: Trek 6000 (using lights only on this one for now, but eventually will mount them on my road bike as well)
Bottom Line:
I selected this system after careful review on this web site. The mounting brackets are easy to attach and permit rapid switching of the lights from one bike to another. The construction is robust, yet simple, using many parts that look like they were made for other purposes and so didn't have to be re-designed... I suspect this helps keep the price down. Trail riding is like riding in the daytime. I believe I could perform field dentistry with this light... it's as bright as my normal operatory light! The customer service people were very responsive to my questions. Buy this light if you want a simple yet BRIGHT lightweight light system. Too soon to say, but I'm betting it's reliable as well.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Joe
a Cross Country Rider
from Milford, NH Date Reviewed: March 9, 2002
Duration Product Used:
1 Year
Price Paid:
$250.00
Purchased At:
direct
Strengths:
I feel these are the best bang for your buck, omitting building it yourself. Tough, BRIGHT, and take riding to a new level!!!!
Weaknesses:
Bulky switch/ no biggy though...
Similar Products Used:
----
Bike Setup:
'00 K2 Evo 3 totally custom
Bottom Line:
Buy these, they rock
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Alex
a Cross Country Rider
from Santa Clara, CA Date Reviewed: April 30, 2001
Duration Product Used:
2 Years
Price Paid:
$250.00
Purchased At:
Direct
Strengths:
Super Bright Clear Even Beam, Light battery, fast charger
Weaknesses:
switch sometimes a little goofy. no low power warning.
Similar Products Used:
Nightrider digital head trip, Vistalite, Light And Motion.
Bike Setup:
Merlin, Mongoose, MountainCycle, DiamondBack
Bottom Line:
I use this light all winter long and for the 24 hr races I enter and it has yet to let me down. I ponied up the extra cash for the quick charger because I was racing 24 hrs and the charger is awesome, full charge in under 5 hours and it's better for the battery. The Battery is light and durable as are the light mounts, which when not on your bike, hardly leave any hardware behind which is nice.
I've had nothing but good service from DarkEnds.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Alex Kerin
a Cross Country Rider
from Boston, MA Date Reviewed: December 8, 2000
Favorite Trail:
Lynn Woods
Duration Product Used:
1 Year
Price Paid:
$250.00
Strengths:
Excellent lighting pattern. Long lasting battery.
Weaknesses:
Switch sometimes difficult - see below Charging setup not ideal
Bike Setup:
Ti Kona Hei-Hei, XT/XTR, Race face, Z2 Superfly
Bottom Line:
Out of all the extra things light companies can offer you in their products (digital switching, fancy charging etc.), the two most important things are: How well does the light illuminate the trail? how long does the battery last?
Darkends have invested the majority of the product cost in these two things. I rarely need to switch to both lights, as the single flood is plenty, except on nasty technical descents, where the spot comes in handy. The battery lasts 2 hours plus on the single setting. often much longer than other peoples setup.
Because of the investment in these two, the rest of the setup is pretty basic. The switch is a simple toggle switch, that I have accidentaly flicked off while riding. The charger has no trickle charge or cutoff time. I solved this by adding a household timer switch, set for the 16 hr charge cycle. They do a quick charger as well that I have used in a 24 hr race.
Noting the above, Darkends are developing a digital option as well, so the level of sophistication is increasing.
Bottom line: The system is basic compared to what options you can get nowadays, BUT all of the money you spend goes into the battery and the lights. They last a long time and light the trail very well. What more do you want?
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
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