The 400L is a double LED light in one very small package. Like its predecessors the 400L series lights have all of the same modes as the 200L, but enjoys a tremendous amount of flexibility. It can be mounted on many size bars with horizontal or vertical orientation, and the user may experiment with different beam patterns, Dual 400L has tremendous application flexibility. Customers may mount two 400L lights on the handlebars and power them with one (or two batteries) -- Or the 400L dual set may have one light on the helmet and one on the handlebar each running with their own battery (two batteries are included)
Submitted by
wardray
a Racer
from Edgewood, WA Date Reviewed: November 1, 2009
Favorite Trail:
Skookum Flats
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Price Paid:
$350.00
Purchased At:
DiNotte
Strengths:
SUPER BRIGHT. Just about able to x-ray cars with this thing.
Charges quickly
Customer Service
Weaknesses:
So far so good
Similar Products Used:
Jet Lite, NiteRider
Bike Setup:
Several
Bottom Line:
Great commuter flasher. This is the brightest flasher out there. A really nice feature is the flash is from dim to high, not on off. I've been caught without enough juice in my helmet light and even in blink mode it puts out enough light to limp home on. There are several settings. Two flash modes. When you come up to a stop or intersection you have to put your hand over the light so you dont x-ray the car in front of you.
left a post after one month, since then things are still fine. one tip, use two batteries not the splitter and a single battery running both lights (front and rear). I don't get as good of burn time with one battery and two lights. Spoke with the owner, said the longer cord and the splitter creates a little more drain. Second battery management tip unplug them if you aren't going to use them for a day or two. These lights operate based on the number of times you press the on / off button, hold it down to change from blink to steady on. This means that the circuitry is always on. Not a bad thing, actually you'll like the way it works. But if you leave these plugged in all weakend, you'll notice they battery is draining.
Battery meter is built into two LED's in the light housing. Keeps the batteries cheap and light. $50, for a battery. Can't beat that with a stick.
Construction is excellent, comes with every conceivable mounting hardware configuration, no really every conceivable mount is in there. Also comes with different lenses. Haven't tried those yet.
If you're tired of so so blinkies for commuting, spend the cash you will be amazed.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
chrisbiker65
a Cross Country Rider
from Lansdale, Pa Date Reviewed: February 13, 2009
Favorite Trail:
White Clay
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Purchased At:
Dinotte.com
Strengths:
No hype. Flexibility. Light Weight. Powerful. Long run times. Best bang for buck. Low cost to replace batteries if needed.
Weaknesses:
Helmet mount could be a little better.
Similar Products Used:
Nightrider HID, Nightsun, Dinotte 200L's
Bike Setup:
Who cares
Bottom Line:
Hands down, this is the best bang for buck XC lighting system on the market. With over 10 years of night riding, I have found that I really prefer to ride with one light on my helmet and one on the bars, no matter how bright the helmet light is. The bar light casts shadows on rocks and bumps to give depth perception to the trail. This helps a ton on fast rocky terrain. That said, I really wanted two lights for my system. No one else makes a light system that gives you two lights of this quality for this money. These lights have the best light output per gram per run time at a decent cost.
The quality is top notch with good machining and solid connectors. The lights always work and run times last longer than advertised. I am very pleased with my purchase.
I ended up getting one 4 Cell and two 2 Cell batteries with Y connectors, headband, lenses, the works. The headband works great for night hiking, etc. I even use it around the house for running the snow blower and other chores. For most night rides, I go out with the 2 cell batteries and get more than 2.5 hours on high power. If I want more run time than that, I will run the 4 cell on the bars on high, and the 2 cell on the helmet on medium power. I switch it to high for just the fast downhills. That gives about 5 hours of run time.
IMO, the light output with both set on high is a little more powerful than a single L&M or NR HID. The center spot is nice and bright and there is sufficient side fill. The light is almost pure white with just a very slight hint of blue. Very nice light quality. Plenty bright for riding on tight singletrack at high speeds. I tried the mid and wide angle lenses and found that they do increase the side fill some but take away some of the center brightness. I went back to the standard lenses as I feel they work the best overall. The low setting is very nice for hanging out trailside. I find that having the second light is very helpful when riding in larger groups as someones light always dies and I can give them one of mine. One 400L is just enough light for everything but the fastest of sections. I have used it for 24 hour relay racing and love having the second light for backup protection.
The customer service at Dinotte is very good. Rob is more than helpful in getting you what fits your needs and giving you a good deal. Made in USA.
Bottom line. The best dual light system at the best price. You can not go wrong with this product.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Brewha
a Cross Country Rider
from South Jersey Date Reviewed: January 20, 2009
Favorite Trail:
nite rides
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Price Paid:
$400.00
Purchased At:
Dinottes website
Strengths:
Nice design. Very bright and can be used on bars and I like the battery strap. Excellent customer service which is nice. American made.
Weaknesses:
need a screwdriver to swap or remove
Similar Products Used:
Digital head trip. and torches modified to helmet
Bike Setup:
Dual Dinottes on bars
Bottom Line:
Plenty of light on the bars alone. I have swapped the lenses that came with, but remove them so all 4 bulbs are same. I like them on the bars and can use with one battery.Very long run times also. And their customer service is on the ball. I had a defective part and they sent a new one the next day.Actually they sent 2 different types.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
wahusky
a Cross Country Rider
from Reno, NV Date Reviewed: January 10, 2009
Favorite Trail:
Black Canyon, WY
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Price Paid:
$430.00
Purchased At:
DiNotte website
Strengths:
compact, relatively light, long lasting battery, clever indicator or remaining battery strength, easy charge system, friendly customer support
Weaknesses:
none yet, x maybe price. however, I am willing to pay for quality!
Similar Products Used:
NightRider HID
Bike Setup:
Pivot Mach 5
Bottom Line:
This light system works! I like having two lights and batteries, allows me to ride w/ less fortunate friends (loan them the helmet light) after hours.
This charges quickly and easily.
On the fly you can tell how much charge remains w/ a clever red/green light system. No chance of getting caught far out on the trail w/ a dead battery.
No dead bulbs (yet). Trashed my NightRider after replacing the HID bulb TWICE (~$100 each time). Was my NR a lemon? I don't know, but it sure annoyed me.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
sbmac
a Cross Country Rider
from Long Island NY Date Reviewed: December 2, 2008
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$259.00
Purchased At:
Dinotte online store
Strengths:
Amazing light. Bright, well made, light weight solid helmet mount, super easy controls...adjust from high to low without looking while you ride.
Weaknesses:
none
Similar Products Used:
Dinotte 200l, 800l
Bike Setup:
Spec Pitch FSR
Bottom Line:
These guys are great...This light by itself on the helmet is all I need to ride in the woods at night on a twisty singletrack. I can use one or two 200l lights on the bars for a very nice balanced effect for seeing every detail down to the kind of leaves on the ground. If you want even less weight on the helmet, ask them to toss in a 3' extension cable so you can put the battery in your camelbak rather than the helmet, even with the battery on my noggin, I never thought about the weight while riding.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Adam
a Cross Country Rider
from Wendell, MA Date Reviewed: October 9, 2008
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Price Paid:
$329.00
Purchased At:
DiNotte
Strengths:
Very, very light. Small. Good, solid connections. Nice even beam.
When the package arrived in the mail, I thought that there might be parts missing. The whole box was about the size of a Harry Potter book-- and it didn't feel like there was much inside. Place two quarters on a table almost touching and that's about the size of the light and they are about an inch thick. I don't even notice it on my helmet. Construction of the lights is excellent, though, as mentioned in the "cons" section, the mounting system is flimsy. I had an OTB and the bracket snapped right off (perhaps saving the light?). Fortunately, there were several spare brackets in the box. The beam is great. There is no hot spot, just a nice, even flood. I haven't run the batteries long enough in one setting to see if they will last their claimed duration. The battery is small, though, not small enough to fit on my stem, so it goes on the top tube with a beefy velcro strap (included). Other riders in my group have various HID and LED models and I feel that this system stacks up very well. The clincher for me for purchase was that it was a dual system - head and bar with 800 lumens total. With the exception of the mounting brackets, I feel like I purchased the best light for the money (that's not to say that this is inexpensive, ya' gotta dig deep to pay for this!). If DiNotte beefed up the mounting brackets, this might just be perfect.
If you like riding at night in your own pocket of daylight, this is the unit for you.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
fisker76
a Cross Country Rider
from Underhill Ctr, VT Date Reviewed: October 5, 2008
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$429.00
Purchased At:
Dinotte.com
Strengths:
Well thought out design, very bright, flexible applications where it can be used in a multitude of situations and easily set up for biking, running, etc. The li-ion batteries are incredibly compact and the whole system takes a few minutes to mount for whatever you want to 'light up.'
Weaknesses:
none so far
Similar Products Used:
first time using lights on a bike for trail riding
Bike Setup:
wheels, seats, brakes...yup, they're all set up
Bottom Line:
I read the reviews for Dinotte products and decided to take the plunge. I spoke with Bob to come up with a solution for the conditions I ride in and he was a real pleasure to talk with. No doubt,I spent the cabbage to see where I'm going, and I can't believe how bright the lights are given the size and weight of the components. I ordered the dbl 400L headlights and a 400L tail light because I ride on the roads when the trails are too wet [I also got two headbands because ski season is right around the corner, hence the $$]. The tail light flash is 'blinding' so if anyone hits me its not because they couldn't see me. Dinotte also sent me a bunch of parts so that I can easily switch lights between bikes.
So just how bright are the headlights? With one on my bar and another on my helmet, I tested them first on my commuter last night. I live in rural Vermont on winding dirt roads, and not until I hit 30mph downhill was I outrunning the lights! When I got on the very technical single track I had no problem seeing what was there. I'll give them a 4 for value because I just dropped six bills for lights, but I'll give 6 for overall rating =10 flamers because now I feel like the batman in the dark. An earlier review mentioned adding another set to the handle bars; this is not necessary; I repeat not necessary, but then again it might be really fun.
Bottom line: if you can, buy them
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
dbenoit
a Weekend Warrior
from Redding, CA, USA Date Reviewed: September 24, 2008
Favorite Trail:
Chimney
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$425.00
Purchased At:
Dinotte Lighting
Strengths:
Lightweight, more than enough white light for any kind of riding. Everybody at Dinotte Lighting were eager to help me configure the best lighting system for me. When I called to tell them it came missing a screw they immediately sent out replacements and extra goodies to make sure I was happy. Great customer service!
Weaknesses:
mounting systems could be more convenient but they work very well. would be nice to have some kind of warning when the battery is getting close to being used up.
Similar Products Used:
niterider HID on handlebars with a niterider 10w on helmet.
Bike Setup:
Gary Fisher Cake 3 Deluxe
All single track riding in some pretty rough terrain. Lots of hills, rocks, roots etc.
Bottom Line:
Brighter than my niterider setup. Weighs almost nothing. The combination of 400 lumens on the handlebar and 400 lumens on the helmet is awesome. They give you different lenses for wider angles but I haven't tried them yet. I really like the way it came set up. You know I gotta try it though. The setup comes with a y connector if you want to put both lights on your handlebar. That way you could get another for your helmet and have 1200 lumens. WOW! Not necessary though as the two 400Ls are plenty.
I would recommend this setup for anybody doing any off road riding. I have problems seeing at night but not with these lights. The bright white light is perfect for me.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
lou926
a Cross Country Rider
from Baltimore Maryland Date Reviewed: September 6, 2008
Favorite Trail:
Avalon
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$479.00
Purchased At:
Dinotte Direct
Strengths:
Light output, Battery Type LI-ION, Minimal Weight
Weaknesses:
None
Similar Products Used:
-
Bike Setup:
Gary Fisher HIFI
Gary Fisher Sugar
Bottom Line:
My initial concern with purchasing a lighting system was getting the best of all worlds. More than sufficient light output, minimal system weight and long battery life.
After many hours research on the internet I compared light types, battery types (including battery replacement costs) and the future of lighting systems in general. Spent the money and I am done! Fit and finish of the aluminum finned light units is excellent. Battery packs are molded to be stable against a cylindrical surface (handlebar stem) on one side and come with very robust Velcro straps. This system fits the bill!
400 lumens on the handlebar and 400 lumens on the helmet is a very effective combination. Light is bright white and the spread with standard lenses is ideal for the fast twisty single track and reaches far for rapid descents. Battery life is a non issue since I specified the 5 hour (on high) battery pack x 2. Compact battery packs mount securely on the handlebar stem and the other one goes in my camelback. Turn them on before I really need them and light output is undiminished after 3 hours (longest ride) duration so far.
Kit comes complete with all cables, mounts, lenses and charger.
Thanks to excellent customer service for taking the time to work with me to come up with the combination of light and battery for my needs.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
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