-2 Power Settings
-Peened Aluminum Reflector
-Low Battery Warning / Auto Shut-Off
-Super Powerful and Light 9 cell Lithium ion Battery
-Handlebar and Helmet Mounts Included
-4 hour Turbo Charger
Weights:
Battery: 475g
Light w/ bar mount: 185g
Total system weight: 660g
Submitted by
pndxtr1
a Cross Country Rider
from Scott Depot, WV USA
Date Reviewed: December 15, 2011
Strengths: Jaw-dropping BRIGHTness. Nice pattern, compact size, good mount, reasonable battery weight, and good battery life. I get three 1-hour rides from a charge, even after 4 years of 100+ rides per season, and getting hit by a car at 55mph!
Weaknesses: The HID electonics does create an EMP that interferes with some wireless items such as speed computer, HRM, or GPS systems. Set on low beam, interference is not too bad, and light is still fine!
Bottom Line:
Has been a workhorse. Eventually I will go with an newer LED setup, but until my LIM dies (which may not be any time soon) the LIM HID is the BOMB!
Similar Products Used: Performsnce, and others, but none this good.
Bike Setup: Madone 5.2, Dura-Ace Triple, Terry Fly Carbon, Speedplay Zero, Flyte Deck wireless, ROL Wheels, Schwalbe Ultremo, Giro Pro-lite, Rocket 7 shoes.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
185gary
a Weekend Warrior
from Troy, MI USA
Date Reviewed: November 1, 2010
Strengths: Long light pattern and brightness, even on low.
Reliability
Customer Service was good when the wire conduit began to pull out of the lamp housing.
Weaknesses: Ultra Li battery is heavy. I will sacrifice the burn time for the smaller battery +a spare next time.
Short warning before the battery is depleted.
Bottom Line:
All the light that I need, no perceptible loss in battery life after 4 years.
Used mostly for commuting and a little trail riding.
Weaknesses: terrible customer service. charger fried after about 15 cycles and Light and Motion wouldn't even sell me a charger at cost to replace it. they wanted the full $130 retail. to me, that says they don't value their customers. product works well until it fails and then you're hosed.
Bottom Line:
i will not buy another Light and Motion product and i recommend others avoid them unless they develop meaningful and helpful customer service. when you lay out $400 for a light, you think they might stand behind their product. they don't.
Submitted by
Xceleration Racing
a Cross Country Rider
from Toronto, Ontarion, Canada
Date Reviewed: June 8, 2010
Strengths: Nice colour, great burn time, good beam characteristics. Battery is compatible with most other L&M products. HID is fantastic and has excelent efficiency.
Weaknesses: Seems to have lost some brightness. I own two sets, and one appears 100% but the other is clearly less. The second set looks yellowish vs. bright white/blue/purple. Spare bulbs are not available, and if they break/die, it must be sent back to the factory.
Bottom Line:
HID throws a sexy purple/blue light. Race spectators will make comments out loud as you pass by. Too bad you cant buy this new any longer. Our team has 2 ARC's and a Seca 700, everyone agrees the ARC's are nicer and brighter. Top notch product - You get what you pay for.
Submitted by
akdeluxe
a Cross Country Rider
from Eagle River, Alaska
Date Reviewed: November 18, 2008
Strengths: Run Time
Brightness
Beam
Interfaces
Customer service
Weaknesses: "Break away" mounting system very fragle
Bottom Line:
Good customer service. Nice people at other end of telephone line. Easy to plug in. BRIGHT!Just one thing I dislike. The break away disc is way to fragle. I have broken two.In one week. One by trying to adjust lamp angle by grabing head...my bad maybe. The other was lightly bumping lamp when loading bike into back of car. And I mean lightly.I think the ability to pivot the lamp on the mount serves little or no advantage. That movable interface is the weak link. Be rid of it and it could be the best light in the whole world!
Submitted by
Li Asa
a Weekend Warrior
from Hong Kong
Date Reviewed: March 22, 2008
Strengths: "The sun in the dark ." This is what my friends call this . And they hate to ride in front of me , cause they can only see their own body shadow , that effects to their path-seeing .
Weaknesses: there are 2 major problems : 1) a bit weak . after 1 year usage , around 2 times a month . the light is error , sent back to L&M . They found that the "ballast" is overheated that caused to the damage . What ? Overheated ...... ya ... sounds unacceptable for me . 2) A taste of expensive for repairing fee .... it took US$120 to ship back and get it done . I understand that's worthy to pay for the brightness + safety , but .... a Blackburn LED light set is only $99 in JensonUSA clearance sale .
Bottom Line:
This is an absolute-choice if u are chasing for the brightness !! This is real bright ! easy to use , easy to set up , fast charging and long life time .
After u double-click to turn it on , u will only hear wind breeze on the bike and ur riding-mates say "shXt .... Don't turn ur head to me !!!!!! it's fuXking bright !!! it blinds me !!"
The brightness really can satisfy u to ride as fast as in the day time . Somehow , i felt i ride faster in the dark . Cause i can only see the Spot-point , concentration is so high !
And the L&M customer service is good too . Just , I've to "pay" for the brightness . The value now is $500+120 = $620 . I can buy 2 sets of Li-ion LED set to beat the hid-brightness , though a little bit heavier , but it's more safe . If one LED gone , another acts like a back up ! I can accept no more error to ride in the dark . Previous time , the HID gets sick in the dark mountain path , luckily i have a surefire U2 in my pack . *** Remember to bring a back-up light .
Strengths: Cheap compared to hospital visit. Bomber strap is fast to get battery on and off. For every reason you want a light, this light excels!
Weaknesses: It would be nice if the cord could unplug from the light head. Battery life is so long I am in danger of forgetting when I charged it last, but that's MY weakness, not the battery's.
Bottom Line:
Every positive point below is correct and has me nodding my head. Visibility, beam pattern, battery life, brightness, all are incredible. This light quadrupled my Winter training hours and I'm stronger this Winter than ever! On the weekends I don't have to use the daylight hours to ride, day or night, they are the same now. On twisty mountain roads at night, oncoming cars dim their headlights thinking there is another car coming around the corner. This light has changed my riding life for the better. You can't put a price on such things, so this light is not only worth every penny, it is downright cheap! I'll wait for the new generation of LEDs to prove themselves, but I'm set for the next few years at least.
Bike Setup: Giant Reign 0, Giant Trance, Giant STP. All perfect in their own way. Giant = best welds and alignment.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
julien
a Cross Country Rider
from Hong Kong
Date Reviewed: March 29, 2007
Strengths: Rugged light head, solid handle bar mount, international input charger, Very light.... everything they say on the website is true and can be trusted up to a certain extend.
Weaknesses: This light is made for smooth XC riding, when it starts to shake hard it shows some functional limits: Too much contrats between the spot beam and the wide light flood (see Bottom line). Battery attachment system isn't strong enough to hold the battery tight on rough terrain (if attached on the diagonal tube or the seat tube). Light head moves under heavy vibrations.
Bottom Line:
Hong Kong trails are mostly very technical, we are riding at night on paths full of rocks, steep grades, and steps with narrow turns and often generous drops on the side. It's very important to have a wide beam to see the immediate environment and a spot light to see far ahead. Usually one single light mounted on the bar isn't enough, we also need one our helmets. I bought the L&M HID LI-Ion ultra thinking it would fulfill the 2 purpose (according to the reviews) but it doesn't, I still need to use my home made 20W bike light to get enough light flooding the trail on short distance letting me see what's coming up on narrow curves or irregular steps. HID was supposed to be way more powerful than any halogen, 12W HID sold for more than 30W halogen. In fact it's about the same. Light And Motion should work on a model with reflectors that makes a more even spot for slower, more technical kind of riding. The battery fell twice during mu last ride - I'll stick some velcro on the battery itself to avoid it to slide with the vibrations. The light head moves side ways under heavy vibrations (it's certainly adjustable)
Despite these points, the system has huge assets such as its very simple design and its weight for burning time ratio: about 700 grams for 5 to 6 hours is unbeatable.
I'll give it 3 chilies for value - since I still need another light to ride comfortably and a 5 for Overall since it's an excellent product for anyone who doesn't ride on nasty terrain at night.
Submitted by
James Parman
a Racer
from Oshkosh, WI
Date Reviewed: March 28, 2007
Strengths: Lightweight lighthead, well constructed. Beam travels both far down the road and lights up trail very well. I am very impressed at both the quality and quantity of light. The pattern that is displated is very well thought out. The battery life is what sold me on this light. I had very nice lights before (still use them in conjunction) but the battery life was not where I needed it to be.
Weaknesses: The light head should be able to be moved from a helmet light to the handlebar light without any tools, however this is not the case. I can understand that they wanted the lowest profile possible with the helmet mount, but feel that with a little bit of engineering they would have been able to come up with something. I would also have liked it much better if the cord came off of both the battery as it does now and the back of the light. This would be useful because on occasion, I would like to take off my helmet, and since I thread the cord through clothing to get it into my back pocket, I would have to take off my jacket to do so, which in the winter can become quite chilly, and digging in my back pocket for the disconnect requires more effort than it should.
Bottom Line:
Although their are a few things that I would like to see improved for this light, for the brightness and sheer safety that it provides at dusk/night I am going to have to recommend this light 100%... People sneer at me when I say that I spent $400 bucks on a bike light, but I tell them that it sure beats a hospital stay, and at least I have a cool light! Getting hit by cars at night is just no fun.
Favorite Trail: as long as my friends are at the beginning and a cold beer is at the end.
Duration Product Used: 3 months
Price Paid:
$420.00
Purchased At: E-Bay
Similar Products Used: Planet Bike Alias and Alias SC. Schwinn Mod Lights
Bike Setup: Giant NRS1 circa 2003
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Deluxe
a Cross Country Rider
from Gibsonia, PA, USA
Date Reviewed: February 8, 2007
Strengths: Light beam intensity; weight; simplicity; and customer service.
Weaknesses: Nothing significant.
Bottom Line:
This light is incredibly perfect for twisty night single track riding. The central beam is perfectly focused and intense and the outer beam is perfectly round and crisp allowing your eyes time to adjust between dark and light. It outperforms pretty much any light out there (although I have not tried Lupine). The lumen output on the highest setting is damn near close to 700 as opposed to NR's 600 on the Flight (but NR would not give that out - I received that information from a separate source). I switched from the NR Dual Beam bar mount (32W) used in combination with the Evolution helmet mount(with a 15W bulb) because I needed crisper, whiter light, and I must give props to NR for that halogen set up. So I went to the Flight HID despite some crappy reviews, but it was, in fact, terrible. It simply did not perform to the level claimed -there could be no way that threw 600 lumens. The beam was very weak, it flickered, changed color, etc. (and it is much heavier than the L&M also). Could have been just been a bad light that rolled off the line, but who feels like dealing with that crap after shelling out all that dough?
I was directed to L&M and I couldn't be happier. This light completely outperformed the Flight in terms of intensity, clarity, and beam pattern. I did break the helmet mount cranking down on the velcrox strap during installation but their customer service is incredible. Had a new one in two days from CA to PA - they didn't need to see the broken one. I do like the ease of NR's helmet mount system so if there is one area to "improve," maybe L&M can gin up a mount that permits the light to be removed occassionally; but I understand there are some other features associated with their design - such as a break away feature to void damage to the light if you endo - so I can live with that.
You definitely get what you pay for with this light. I highly recommend the Ultra to any and all 24 hour racers and weekend warriors.
Submitted by
Scott Gililland
a Weekend Warrior
from San Jose,CA. USA
Date Reviewed: December 27, 2006
Strengths: This is the most awesome light! I've tried less expensive light's and this one is well worth the money... It does a great job of illuminating the trail.
Weaknesses: The li-ion ultra has a bit of weight due to the battery, but you never worry about it going dead!
Bottom Line:
Do your self a favor and shop around. It's alot of money for a light, but in this case you get what you pay for!
Submitted by
Mike R
a Cross Country Rider
from Akron, Ohio
Date Reviewed: December 16, 2006
Strengths: Bright, even light. Long run times, fast recharging, light weight
Weaknesses: Turning on the light: "Double-click to ignite" while it's attached to helmet while riding is just begging for an endo.
Bottom Line:
The light is insanely bright--it almost takes away from the novelty or experience of riding at night. I usally forget that it's not daylight while riding. Battery re-charges in one hour after 3 hrs of hi-beam use. IF the "on" button was larger, you wouldn't have to stop to turn on light(using helmet mount) Jury is still out on bulb and battry life; but so far it's been great.
Submitted by
I am dangerous
a Weekend Warrior
from Orange County, CA
Date Reviewed: October 30, 2006
Strengths: Bright, long beam pattern down the middle for fast descents, bright on the edges for tight single tracks, battery good even if you forgot to charge it since the last ride.. actually probably good for 4 rides, charges quick, helmet mount tilts all the way down, plug is easy to remove and insert not like my friend's NR Flight, not as blue so it's a bit easier on the eyes, washes out most others' lights on group rides, built to last.. it's almost mil-spec.
Weaknesses: Too bright. I blind people walking in my direction so I have to look the other way to be polite.
Bottom Line:
I go riding by myself to places that my friends think I'm crazy for doing. And it's all thanx to my L&M Arc Li-Ion Ultra. Plus if something were to happen to me while I'm out, I could signal for Batman with this light!
