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HomeMade
55 watt halogen light
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Submitted by
Iain
a Weekend Warrior
from Brisbane, QLD, Australia
Date Reviewed: September 14, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | all of them | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$30.00 | | Strengths: | Inexpensive, separate parts easliy replaceable, since you made it yourself - you know how to fix it, pride in a job well done, good lights, cheap bulbs. | | Weaknesses: | 4.5 amphour SLA battery weighs a bit more than a NiCad or NiMh (still, i could easily loose a few pounds around the midriff), doesn't look swanky along side more expensive lights (who gives a sh*t) | | Similar Products Used: | BLT (excellent - see review), Vista-Lights (no so excellent, see review), mates home made jobs | | Bike Setup: | Jekyll 800 (with a few choice upgrades) | | Bottom Line: | If you are looking for a good housing for bulbs (so you get that professional look) go to an auto-mart and buy a pair of the smallest plastic housing spotlights. Replace the 50 watt bulb with a 20 watter (unless you want to lug a bigger battery / do shorter rides)Buy a switch of your choice and connect it to the light housing or handlebars. Could even put one of those 3 step dimmers in line if you want (run it low on long rides when able to to conserve battery)
Good idea to solder all joints (otherwise you WILL experience a black out)
Bottom line is - bloody good lights for the price. Easy to build. Ideal for the as yet unconverted night rider (lets you get a taste without spending a fortune) | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
John
a Downhiller
from San Antonio, Tx
Date Reviewed: August 26, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | OP Schnabel | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$50.00 | | Purchased At: | parts stores | | Strengths: | Unbreakable. Maglite-like reliability. Made from easily located parts and spare batteries are cheap. | | Weaknesses: | Heavy. Charge time is long. | | Similar Products Used: | None | | Bike Setup: | 2003 Enduro S-Works | | Bottom Line: | I wanted to night ride but didn't want to lay out the $$$ to cover the specs. After researching on the web and borrowing from several other ideas I stumbled onto the fact that an MR16 Halogen lamp fits in a Maglite body. After stripping out a dead Maglite and experimenting a little I was on my first nightride. Wooo! Yeah, at 5.5 lbs it aint for weight watchers, but if you ride the weeknights with it and take of that extra weight for the weekend stomps you find yourself literally FLYING on those trails. Check out my setup at www.freewebs.com/trapper
Building your own light is a 5 for rating, but a 4 overall due to weight. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Dan
a Cross Country Rider
from Traverse City, Michigan USA
Date Reviewed: April 24, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$120.00 | | Purchased At: | Home Depot, Radio Shack | | Strengths: | Very bright lights (choose 20, 35, or 55 watts both), uses standard MR-16 bulbs, long burn time up to 4 hours, durable PVC housings, super bright flashing LED taillight. | | Weaknesses: | Heavy battery (could be remedied by going with a NiMH pack) | | Similar Products Used: | 6-volt 3-watt bottle dynamos, clip on LED flashers | | Bike Setup: | NEXT brand REVOLUTION model 6061 aluminum mountain bike, hardtail with front shocks and seatpost suspension | | Bottom Line: | This lighting system rivals the boughten units hands down. It is complete with a very bright attention getting LED taillight. It was not cheap to build, nor is it cheap in quality. It is compatible with the gamut of readily available MR-16 reflector bulbs. I use it in winter commuting, and plan to build a more compact version of it for my road bike. You can see photos and details here. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Graeme
a Weekend Warrior
from Newcast;le, Australia
Date Reviewed: September 24, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | Killingworth | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$50.00 | | Strengths: | Update from review a couple of years ago-- Still using this system however I have changed the battery to 2 6 volts in series shrinkwrapped together to give 4.5ah @ 12 volts BUT able to fit into a standard bidon cage.
Have used in the pissing down rain without problems so would say that contrary to how it looks seems to be waterproof. html address for easy to follow plans for the electrically inept are at
http://www.uws.edu.au/vip/fathersa/lightmk4.htm
CHEAP and BRIGHT | | Weaknesses: | LOOKS cheap and dull.
Battery mounting is all important because of the weight and also the hassle of removing and reinstalling - better the install the better it is.
| | Similar Products Used: | previous cheap incarnation. RCA connectors - now using easier to install (no soldering) dual hobby plugs - ask someone at a electronic hobby shop what they'd use | | Bike Setup: | Specialised with rhino lites, lx/xt, manitou front, fat bas**rd on seat. | | Bottom Line: | These lights are all go but no show. For people who would rather spend their money on a decent fork than $300 bucks on flash looking lights that underperform the simplest DIY project ever. Oh and it was fun building and tweaking them! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Andreas
a Cross Country Rider
from Tucson
Date Reviewed: January 15, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | Fantasy Island | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$50.00 | | Purchased At: | Homemade | | Strengths: | Cheap, infinitely customizable, ultrabright, super efficient, super light, can be run from 9V batteries or AA's! | | Weaknesses: | infinitely customizable, not as waterproof yet as superexpensive setups (yet), not as secure on the bike as would have liked (yet) | | Similar Products Used: | None worthy of mention | | Bike Setup: | Schwinn (RIP) '99 Homegrown PRO, XTR all around, Hugi 240N wheel setup, Syncros cranks, Selle Italia Gel etc. etc.
20lbs
| | Bottom Line: | As an electrical Engineer I was lucky enough to have a perfect setup at work to make my own PCB's of circuits I wanted. I also employed ULTRABRIGHT LED's in parallel and of different colors (white LED's however awesome they are, they're not as bright and are MUCH more expensive).
LED's, unlike incandescent lights, are EXTREMELY efficient (i.e. converts most of electrical energy into light) and therefore need much smaller batteries (i.e. lighter weight) to work with. Also, LED's are virtually foolproof and have virtually infinite life.
LED's need only 20mA at ~3V (60mW)for brightest light compared to incandescent lights. Assuming you're using a 14.4V 20W light system, the incandescent buld would consume ~1.4A ( that's the equivalent of 70 -SEVENTY- ULTRABRIGHT LED's).
If anybody wants to contact me, feel free:
ageorgiades@gain.com
Andreas Georgiades | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Gene
a Cross Country Rider
from Tallahassee, FL, US
Date Reviewed: October 21, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | Munson Hills | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$5.00 | | Purchased At: | Scavenged from junk | | Strengths: | Cheap, repairable, and disposable. Very bright. | | Weaknesses: | Ugly, 12V 7 amp/hr battery (scavenged from a computer UPS)is heavy | | Similar Products Used: | Niterider | | Bike Setup: | Commuting - Peugeot MTB with slicks, racks (F&R), fenders, dropbars, and bar-end shifters
Off-road - Scott Peak with a mix of Suntour and Shimano mid-level components, Manitou Magnums | | Bottom Line: | 25W spot-beam with a coke can wrapped and hose-clamped around it, filled with RTV, and then hose-clamped to my handlebar. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Nacho
a Cross Country Rider
from Mexico City
Date Reviewed: September 21, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | Chiluca | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$50.00 | | Purchased At: | Radio Shack | | Strengths: | Home made, easily replacable parts, inexpensive | | Weaknesses: | Need to be very thourough and careful with connections, may not be as watertight as an off the shelf system. | | Similar Products Used: | Cygolite, Battery operated Handlebar lights | | Bike Setup: | Mountain, Cyclocross & Tandem | | Bottom Line: | Not knowing where the guys here bought the SLA 7.0 Ah Battery I walked into a radio shack and bought a 7.2V, 3000 mAh 'TurboBattery' for RC Cars with a 5 hour charger. I hooked it up with RCA's to a cheap handlebar battery light and replaced the original bulb with a GE PR12 6.0V Bulb, and held the battery under the top-tube (Night Owl style) with Velcro Straps.
This light and stealthy system is bright enough for commuting and lasts a long time; it may not be too bright for trail riding, but the battery shines bright with a 6V 20W halogen bulb (29Watts @7.2V), but I need to find a metal reflector for them.
| | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Graeme Low
a Weekend Warrior
from Newcastle,NSW,Australia
Date Reviewed: April 22, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | single track at night! | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$45.00 | | Purchased At: | Electronic Hoby shop | | Strengths: | cheap, satisfaction of DYI, VERY bright, flexible | | Weaknesses: | bodgy connections can spell troubel! | | Similar Products Used: | none | | Bike Setup: | Mongoose rockadile, deore and acera | | Bottom Line: | hitched up 2 12v 20w halogen globes, one spot and one flood to 4.5Ah SLA battery, took me about 3 hours to set up (I have never done anything electrical before). First time out down rough downhill, I lost one of the battery connections, but had torch with me for just such an emergency, get the connections strong and all is well, I now use audio RCA's.
40w is great, and 1/3 the cost of an equivalent system from the shop. it really pisses friends off when you tell them how much your way brighter system cost. (thanks to the Fat Hippy for the plans) | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Mark C
a Weekend Warrior
from NW England
Date Reviewed: February 4, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | Wales, Peak, Yorks. | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$45.00 | | Purchased At: | B & Q, Plumbing shop | | Strengths: | CHEAP!
bulbs, £3 each. Battery, £20. light casings, £4 each. Bracket home-made. switches and wire found in the workshop
*Very bright, very robust. 50W spot, 20W flood | | Weaknesses: | 7Ah Battery weighs a lot (~6lbs), but stored in waist pack, I hardly notice it. | | Similar Products Used: | none | | Bike Setup: | Kona Blast, Judy XC 100mm fork | | Bottom Line: | 20W adequate for technical and low speeds
50W cuts through the dark and also very effective in fog
I intend to experiment with different bulb combinations, perhaps a lower power 'low beam', with the 50W spot.
Why pay 100's of $/£ for inferior lighting? | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Brian
a Cross Country Rider
from London, Ontario, Canada
Date Reviewed: November 27, 2000 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$40.00 | | Purchased At: | all over | | Strengths: | Cheap!!
40 watts of total power makes for no-reservations cross country riding.
pretty robust
lasts about 4 hours on low beam, 8.5 with different bulb
inexpensive!! | | Weaknesses: | battery weighs about 5 pounds and likes to abandon ship at speed, extinguishing lights.
mounting is difficult | | Similar Products Used: | cateye HL500 junk | | Bike Setup: | cannondale f700sx, Lefty, Mag. Clara ('00) | | Bottom Line: | I am using this space to review my own light creation, and I hope others can put together some lights and tell us about them here
Mine is a dual beam, flood/spot, 20w/20w 12v halogen system.
This light definitely puts out ample light for high speed cross country riding. The flood is good for average riding, but when the speeds pick up or the trail gets tricky the spot really improves your sight range.
The lead/acid battery is really the only flaw. I'm trying to find a suitable nicad that can be bought for cheap, but the SLA battery was only 25 canadian at a pawnshop and lasts forever. email me if you want more info or some instructions on making your own. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Tom Diaz
a Cross Country Rider
from Edwards Air Force Base, California
Date Reviewed: September 1, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | Ride home from work | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$45.00 | | Purchased At: | Spare parts bin in garage | | Strengths: | Hooey! Some bright, this buggah! | | Weaknesses: | Big motorcycle battery dragged my rack down onto my rear brakes. | | Similar Products Used: | Mag lite strapped to front rack, mini-mag strapped to helmet and Cateye Micro-Halogen. | | Bike Setup: | Mid 80's Cannondale mountain/touring or Schwinn S-20 depending on gear load and mood. | | Bottom Line: | This worked okay for my flat 13 mile road commute in New Mexico, but those days are gone and it's time for a new attempt or a real (expensive) light system. I'm doing some research in both directions and easing the wife into the idea of spending $300 on a Jet, Nightrider or similar level system. I currently commute across 6-10 miles of Mojave Desert, so carrying a 14 amp-hour motorcycle battery is no longer a viable option. | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
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