Predator -- 4 straight hours of light as bright and white as the sun, mounted on your helmet, aimed right where you need it. Combined with a 5hr MicroBrute charger and 27oz 13.2v NiMH battery pack, this the last light you will ever need.
Strengths: Lights up like a motorcycle headlight - runs longer than I do in the mud at night
Weaknesses: none so far - harder to mount because of the added weight and length - duct tape after velcro did the trick though
Bottom Line:
This baby does rule the night - been nightriding for 10+ years and this is the best light I've ever had or seen - if you ride the same nasty shi#$% at night as you do in the day - then buy this light - it's cheap insurance brothers and sisters - what's a few days of missing work worth when you endo because you didn't see that suck hole
Strengths: I had a digital headtrip and night owl. I just got tired of worrying about battery life. At 15w I could'nt get either one to last 2 hours. I bought the storm HID and got over 4 hours on the first charge. I recently did some trail work and my buddy and I positioned hour storms on both sides of the trail. We looked like state highway workers with these babies! It felt like daytime. Loved the light output... The light output is equivalent to about 35w in my opinion.
Weaknesses: I dont like the brute charger. I had problems charging the battery the first time around. The brute kept going green. I had to unplug and reset the brute about 30 times in 5 hours. 2nd time around and on...never had the problem again. The brute also seems to only need about 4-4 1/2 hours to charge the battery. At 5 hours the battery was near burning hot. This cant be good for the battery down the road. I dont trust it and keep an eye on it when charging. It also did not turn green after 5 hours. It was still charging the battery while it was burning hot.
The whole system is expensive...but all nite rider products are.
Wish it came with a fuel gauge of some sort. Come on...a 390 dollar light without one??
Bottom Line:
The best light out there right now...Great battery life, light output, I get numerous compliments from people. I'll never go halogen again..
Strengths: extremely bright bluish/white light runs for 3-almost 4 hours simple design micro brute charging system
Weaknesses: extremely bright bluish/white light very expensive should have a bettter helmet mounting system
Bottom Line:
this review is for the niterider STORM its got a very bright bluish/white light discharge which is good if aimed far so you can get a good picture of the trail ahead of you, got about 3-3.5 of life on the battery which is more than my average ride, its got a simple design wherein you only have the battery to put on your camelback and the light on your helmet(thats it)
now for the downside first, its very pricy!!! second, IMO the light is so bright/harsh that it does not define the trail very well, all you see is white everywhere it is hard to see if theres changes in elevation/ruts/drops cause the light illuminates everything giving you the illusion that the trail is flat in comparison with a halogen light, the light output is a lot softer/yellowish which defines the trail very well,(better depth perception) third, the mounting system on the helmet should be better cause with its weight my helmet keeps falling, i have to constantly push my helmet up Bottom line: its a good light, the way i have mine set up is i have the storm mounted with the beam focused slightly upwards for a wider illumination while digital pro12e is focused on the trail ahead of me, that way the lights are balanced TEST RIDE ON ONE BEFORE BUYING!!!
Bike Setup: titus locomoto with nothing but the best
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
harris telemacher
a Cross Country Rider
from Los Angeles, CA, USA
Date Reviewed: October 10, 2001
Strengths: Very bright, long run times, fast "smart" charger, compact design makes it easy to install.
Weaknesses: Mounting system can not handle the added weight of the built-in ballast. The light pattern may be too focused for close ciews. And it's expensive.
Bottom Line:
The light is excellent in all of its strengths, but I'll address its weaknesses here. As others have mentioned, this light needs a better mount due to its greater weight and size than the Cyclops. I had a problem with the first helmet light I used in that their tighter spot patterns can sometimes hinder visibility on trails. This light has a slightly wider pattern than the Cyclops, but its greater intensity makes much greater light/dark contrasts. Anything outside the pattern is invisible, so I have to constantly sweep my head from side to side to see the sides of the trail. The other problem is that the light is so bright and blue, that it tends to bleach out any colors from the trail. This can make it difficult to judge the surface conditions. I have to use another light with this light. On one of my bikes, I have a Stadium 3 mounted below the handle bar. It adds that third dimension of illumination so I can better discern the surface conditions. On my other bike, I use an NR Classic, whose yellowish light balances out the colors from this light, which again, makes things look more natural. On the other hand, if I'm trying to look at far-away objects, I wished it was brighter and more tightly focused. I have also noticed the battery getting warm when charging, but not nearly as warm as my Stadium batteries when they're charging.
Submitted by
Adam
a Cross Country Rider
from Boston
Date Reviewed: September 1, 2001
Strengths: Brilliant white light, long battery life, simple configuration for an HID bike light, great focused beam
Weaknesses: Price, helmet mount could be more compatible with helmets' venting patterns.
Bottom Line:
This is an outstanding helmet light. I got it in the spring as a lighter weight, simpler HID alternative to the Stadium 3, which I got last season. The ballast is built in, so you have only the light unit cabled to the battery. In contrast, the Cateye has a water-bottle battery, separate frame-mounted ballast, and light unit. The Niterider puts out an intense bluish white light that is more focused and suited to a helmet light, where the Cateye is more dispersed and bathes the whole trail in light ahead of you. I used them both recently at the 24 hours of Great Glen and had no problems reaching daylight speeds on the fire-road descents/corners. This light is bright enough to be your only light also, and the helmet mount (once dialed in) is flexible in aiming height. I will say I had problems with the stock mount fitting my helmet. The velcro wasn't enough to get a solid fit-2000 Bell Nemesis Pro shape isn't very compatible. 4 medium zip-ties were required to tie down the mount. Battery life is excellent-I get 3:45 after a few charge/discharge cycles, which ample for a long night ride and time for mech repair. I'm looking forward to this year's night ride season with my this light.
Bike Setup: 2000 Intense Tracer, Z2 Xfly, Hayes Disc
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
James Clark
a Downhiller
from Northern California
Date Reviewed: August 9, 2001
Strengths: Very Bright - Good Beam Pattern
Weaknesses: Very disapointed in the mounting system. Niterider really should have done a better job at this. Due to the extra length and weight of this system on the standard niterider helmet mount, one has to constantly push the helmet back up since the light has the annoying habit of falling down all the time!!!
The MicroBrute charger is causing lots of problems. It has already ruined one battery due to overcharging, but my local bike shop did replace the battery free-of-charge.
Bottom Line:
GOOD FOR BRIGHTNESS POOR FOR MOUNTING POOR FOR CHARGER
Submitted by
Dirk Denison
a Racer
from Pennsylvania
Date Reviewed: August 5, 2001
Strengths: The HID system is very bright and the beam patterns are much better than the Cateye Stadium HID. Awesome!
Weaknesses: Lots of weaknesses thus far. First, you CANNOT mount to handlebars. Vibrations and Shock from handlebar mount are much higher than if mounted at the helmet and will destroy your HID. By the way, Niterider charges over $100 for this replacement bulb. This is the reason Niterider doesn't even give you a bar mount adapter.
Battery Charger is pretty weak. The MicroBrute system chargers (based on the Benchmarq 2010 IC) charge using the peak-voltage method. To make short stories even shorter, this charger severly overcharges the battery. (See how warm it is when its finished charging ? Even trickle charge is much higher rate than NiMH can handle safely without damage.)
Helmet Mount - What a piece of garbage. First off, niterider should have redesigned this mount. The STORM / PREDATOR HID is twice and long and heavy as their standard headunits. This causes extra torque on the mount and is hard to keep this light adjusted correctly as it is always tilting downward etc...
Bottom Line:
Great light for the brightness. Definitely the light to buy for that awesome singletrack / extreme system. However, don't go riding on an epic ride without a halogen back-up. HID lamps are a bit sensitive and will fail ! ! !
Niterider also has to re=configure their charger and helmet mount for a much better system.
Submitted by
Greg
a Cross Country Rider
from Los Gatos, CA
Date Reviewed: July 1, 2001
Strengths: soooooo bright, dependable, much much brighter than my extreme 12.
Weaknesses: Price, but then again, as said before, the best costs, and you get what you pay for here. Also, I like a more yellow light. A dimmer would by nice to be considerate, but niterider said it wasn't possible.
Bottom Line:
This light will take you thru any type of riding- the only test I haven't put it through is in the rain, but I'll find out. I haven't seen anything else that touches this light.
Strengths: Bright Bright Bright- did I mention Bright! Last's 3 and1/2 to 4 hours with 5 hour charge. Does not get as hot a halogen lights. Comes with Micro Brute (plug in and forget) charger. Excellent light pattern.
Weaknesses: Price but nothing good is cheap. Does not come with automotive charging adapter-I'd rather get the automotive charging adapter then the nice carrying case that it comes with. Bugs in the face at night because they flock to the light!
Bottom Line:
This review is actually for the 2001 Storm HID but since there isn't a heading for that light this one is the closest. This think is freakin bright! Don't use this light near airports on on the road (cars flash brights at me). Like Elvis said you have to really torque the helmet mount down because it has a ballast in the lamp housing and the housing is metal so it's heavy enough to move around if not tight. I can usually ride twice before I need to recharge and that only takes 5 hours with the included microbrute charger. I get stuck at the back of a group so I can light the way for others and I have to be carefull not to look somebody in the eye or they get blinded. I don't even use my handlebar lights anymore but I still keep them along unless something goes wrong.
Strengths: Bright/ Sturdy/ Clean/ Durable/ 4 hour Burn time/ quick charging/Does what is says. Did I mention Bright Alien abduction Bright
Weaknesses: Heavy needed to really snug up the headlock on the helmet, and kinda expensive.
Bottom Line:
The Storm is so kick butt. I did a 24 hour road challenge and nobody would let me draft. They said the light was too bright and messed them up. Also if there was anything reflective you couldn't look at it. I did a 24 hour challenge MTB race and mounted my Jet lights but didn't need to use them. Usually my night laps are as fast as my day laps. I was actually a little slower with the Niterider because I could see things and would slow down vs not seeing and hoping for the best. Seriously put this light on and ride in the country,farmers will get up to milk the cows when you go buy. I ordered both this light and one of the new digital bar mount lights, Niterider called to see if I still wanted the bar mount after riding with the Storm. I know it is huge $$ but it is the freakin light of the year!!!
Similar Products Used: Jet Design, Turbo Cat, Vista, Schwinn, The full moon.
Bike Setup: Pretty Good
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Shawn
a Cross Country Rider
from New York
Date Reviewed: June 20, 2001
Strengths: This is the best light out there. Bright? Yes. 4 hour run time? Yes. The HID white light is the best at lighting up things on the trail.
Weaknesses: What?
Bottom Line:
The price is hard to swallow but it is the best. I almost bought one of there digital systems but I'm glad I waited. The Predator lights up the trail like no other. I can go almost as fast at night as I do during the day. Can't wait to use it at the next 24hr race. If you can afford one buy it. If you can't start saving because it is worth it.
Similar Products Used: A bunch of single and double lights.
Bike Setup: Sugar 2
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
Brian
a Cross Country Rider
from Fairfax, CA, USA
Date Reviewed: June 20, 2001
Strengths: Bright, long lasting, good beam pattern, quick charge, four plus hours.
Weaknesses: Makes all other light systems obsolete.
Bottom Line:
If you do any night riding, the cost is worth it. All previous Niterider lights had problems. This thing strikes a good balance between power and duration, with the traditional Niterider quality.
Just curious to see who is headed out to the Night Race on Saturday. We will be out there snapping some photos and mingling.
Heres a copy of the flier if you want to know more Read More »
Posted up a couple of photos on my FB and linked photos that others took. Check em out ... and stay tuned for a video ...
[URL="http://goo.gl/PUJ2h"][B]HERE[/B][/URL] Read More »
Just quick note to anyone attending the Predator Night Race that is being put on by Southridge USA, Baja Designs will have a few guys there helping out with demo lights and have a Read More »
Southridge USA Predator Night Race 2011
Here is a video I put together of round #3 in August 2011. This round allowed racers to use their own lights. Good turnout and fun to wat Read More »
Have seen a Foes Predator frame for the equivalent of US $200 (approx), never been used. I know these were designed for 4x and dirt jump, but would you be able to build one up for Read More »
