Submitted by
Iain Rathie
a Weekend Warrior
from Brisbane Date Reviewed: November 5, 2002
Favorite Trail:
stupidly happy
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Price Paid:
$100.00
Purchased At:
lbs
Strengths:
great price. good burn times (4.8 amp/hour nicad water bottle battery) very bright (7.2v driving 6v bulbs)10 watt flood and 20 watt spot provide an excellent spread of light. Package as purchased has good quality connections and include the little things eg. large velrco strap to hold battery in drink bottle holder and three nifty little rubber thingies on velcro to hold the cables (very professional)
Weaknesses:
long plastic brackets that mount the lights - instructions say to put them under the bars. no room on my rig - so their sitting up proud about 3.5 inches above the bars. Haven't stacked onto them yet - but they look pretty vulnerable
Similar Products Used:
Vista Lite night sticks (see review) Home made 20 watt rig with SLA battery
Bike Setup:
2002 Jekyll 800
Bottom Line:
Excellent Value. Powerfull lights with just the right combination of power and beam spread. The 'little things' make this an even better package. Will probably re-do the mounts myself to get them lower (will let you know a when a good system is devised)Cant fault the performance of these lights so far. Sh*t all over vista lights
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Mike
a Cross Country Rider
from Sydney Date Reviewed: October 5, 2001
Duration Product Used:
1 Year
Price Paid:
$100.00
Purchased At:
Pro Deal
Strengths:
Bright light, strong casing
Weaknesses:
Can't attach either light to your helmet, like the vista lights.
Similar Products Used:
Vistalights. Silly 2w Halogens too..
Bike Setup:
Trek 8500, A-Bomb fork, SRAM 8 speed
Bottom Line:
I got these lights for night races and general night riding. And I dig them. They have a high quality construction, and the beams for the 10W flood and 15W spot are great. I wish I had bought a 10W flood for the bar and a 15w spot for my helmet though. That's a great set up, especially for singletrack. I've used a mates vistalight on my head to complement the spectrums, and it was awesome. But otherwise the lights are great. No probs in rain or snow earlier this week, and the burn time is good too.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Jon Kimball
a
from Long Beach Date Reviewed: September 6, 2001
Favorite Trail:
batawa :(
Duration Product Used:
More than 3 years
Price Paid:
$220.00
Purchased At:
LBS in Toronto
Strengths:
Bulletproof reliability. Rain, sleet, snow, hot, cold anything. Simple design, similar to a car battery in terms of maintenance (ie none for years and years...) can and should be recharged frequently. No high tech uber fashion just bright clear adjustable lighting.
I get about 50 minutes with both lights on. It's useable after that, but it starts to go downhill rapidly. One light is a spot (10w) and the other is a flood (15w). That gives you good flexibilty. I aim the spot far ahead and aim the flood a bit closer. I can ride city with just the spot, and I get 1:30 or so that way.
The mounts on the handlebars stay on the bike and you can snap in the lights whenever you need them. If there is any doubt about how late I'll be out, it's easy to snap in the lights just in case. Since there is no worry about battery 'memory' or other weird recharging rules, your free to use them for only 10 minutes if you need them, no harm done.
Weaknesses:
Weight, I guess. Cables that run from battery to lights could be longer.
Similar Products Used:
disposable battery powered lights. No good in Toronto in January (gets dark at 4pm...)
Bike Setup:
96 GT avalanche, Avid's, Englund Air, etc
Bottom Line:
It's fun to ride around the parking lot with my 4 year old light system while my friends tinker around with their super new high tech gizmos - that don't last and never were that good to begin with. It seems like every ride something breaks on the new systems. It's not that I am an old fogie, but if SLA is good enough for cars, why not your bike?
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Peter O'Rourke
a Cross Country Rider
from Ontario, Canada Date Reviewed: March 26, 2001
Favorite Trail:
Calabogie Peaks
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$100.00
Purchased At:
Toronto Bike Show
Strengths:
Very compact and punch a hude amount of light. They do what they say they do: "Turn Night Into Day". I like the "below bar" mounting and the ease that they can be clipped on and off. The SLA batter is great becauase unlike the NiCad (which likes to have the charge exhusted and be fully re-charged), it loves to have many and partial re-charges and that sort of charging means you only have to remember to plug it in after a ride to keep it happy and healthy which can see up to 500 re-charges. The charger comes with a light to tell you when the charging is complete so no guess work there. The burn times at over 2 hours with just the 10 watt light burning. The light is clean and consistant and only dims a bit yellow towards the end which gives you plenty of warning that the battery is getting on the low side. The battery looks liek a water bottle and nicly fits in a water bottle cage and the connections are simple and easy to use. These lights work well, do what they are meant to do and are very very easy to use. The simple but complete manual is great. After reading it, you are left with few questions.
Weaknesses:
Burn times are a bit short more so with the 15 watt light on. Both on togetehr will suck the life out of the charge but reaaly to be honest, you only really need the 10 watt but on the trails outside the city, one loves to flcik on teh 15 watt high bean to see all those shining eyes in the bushes staring at you trying to figure out what kinda night beast you are! The battery will short change you a bit at minus 10 degrees C. but I guess thats just one of the obsticals at that temp and I may be the only nut out there at one in the moring in the dead of winter in Canada's winter wonderland.
Similar Products Used:
none
Bike Setup:
Specialized Rockhooper Pro 2000
Bottom Line:
If you need lights and want lights that work and do what they say they will do .. GET Them.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Mike Aberle
a
from kitchener,ontario,canada Date Reviewed: January 15, 2001
Favorite Trail:
hydro trail
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Price Paid:
$90.00
Purchased At:
mcphales
Strengths:
realy bright reliable water proof they dont fall off like cat eyes do
Weaknesses:
need more than 1 battery
Similar Products Used:
cat eye
Bike Setup:
specialized fsr enduro comp with magura front and back brakes mavic rims specialized comp tires [new frame broke last one] full shimano race face cranks
Bottom Line:
great product i recomend it to any one good value
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
BRAD SCHMIDT
a Cross Country Rider
from CAMBRIDGE,ONTARIO Date Reviewed: October 1, 2000
Favorite Trail:
HARDWOOD HILLS
Duration Product Used:
More than 3 years
Price Paid:
$150.00
Purchased At:
RIVERS N TRAILS
Strengths:
SIMPLE, DURABLE,MORE THAN ADEQUATE LIGHTING FOR NIGHT SINGLETRACKING ( 15 & 10 WATT BULBS ) SIMPLE CHARGING SYSTEM ( PLUG IN BOTTLE BATTERY UNTIL RED LIGHT GOES OUT )
Weaknesses:
LONG RECHARGE TIME. HAD TO BUY EXTRA BATTERY TO COMPETE IN 24HRS OF ADRENALINE RACE ($75.00 CDN.)RATHER DEAR. HAVE HAD TO REPLACE BOTH SWITCHES ( BOTH JUST UP & QUIT )
Similar Products Used:
CATSEYE JUNK
Bike Setup:
DEVINCI PHANTOM HARDTAIL WITH JUDY XC RS
Bottom Line:
AFTER USING THE CATSEYE JUNK IN MY FIRST 24HR RACE I KNEW THERE HAD TO BE SOMETHING BETTER OUT THERE. THIS SYSTEM REALLY IS THE CATS MEOW FOR MY XC MTB NEEDS. I CYCLE TO WORK XC 12 MONTHS OF THE YEAR AND THIS SYSTEM HAS NOT LEFT ME IN THE DARK IN 4 YEARS OF MODERATELY HARD USE. THE SYSTEM ALSO BALANCES WELL WITH MY SETUP AS I AM USED TO CARRYING A FULL WATER BOTTLE WHEN IM NOT USING MY LIGHT SYSTEM. INITIAL CASH OUTLAY IS SUBSTANTIAL, HOWEVER NOT BEING LEFT IN THE DARK IN THE DEEP WOODS MAKES THE EXPENSE WELL WORTH IT. THIS PRODUCT IS ALSO CANADIAN!
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Wes Feagan
a Cross Country Rider
from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Date Reviewed: January 17, 2000
Duration Product Used:
1 Year
Strengths:
Simple design without a lot of gadgetry seen on many of the new systems. Great power, excellent reputation and the bulbs are exchangeable to higher or lower watts.
Weaknesses:
A bit bulky and the mounts require an allen key to take on and off. Not as durable as some of the more modular systems.
Bottom Line:
Awesome product for the money. This product will not have the warranty issues that many of the newer high tech stuff will have. If money is a factor the BLT explorer is the best system under $200 can. The only thing I don't like about the BLT systems is that it is bulky and wouldn't hold up well if you were one to crash a lot.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
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