Halogen Bicycle Lights

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FAQ about Halogen Bicycle Lights

Do halogen bicycle lights get very hot in use? I am researching halogen versus LED for a front light on a bicycle. I want the brightest possible light without spending a fortune. I understand that HID LED is as bright as, or brighter than, halogen but it is not always clear whether LEDs are the standard or the HID. There are several brightness/quality levels of both halogen and LED....HID so far just comes in one form (freakin' bright). If you want bright then you're going to have to spend some money. What you should probably do is decide how bright of a light you *need* and then go from there. I have two older halogen lights, a cheapie LED and an upper end LED, and an HID. HID blows them all away and it's great for fast riding/jumps on dirt trails. The other lights just aren't bright enough to ride really fast....but they're ok for normal riding and definitely fine for road rides.
There are lots of great new LED lights on the market now. Most of them are cheaper and brighter than the halogens. Very different, though. The halogens put off an orangey yellowish light whereas most LEDs have a bluish tint to them. Very high quality LED is a little more white, but not the same as the "sunshine" that HID gives off.
Until very recently there weren't any LED lights on the market that approached the light output of HID.....you can get a couple of them as of last year but the price is ginormous ($800+). You can get into a great HID for as little as $279 if you shop around (they usually run from $330 to $550). The normal range of "decent" LED lights is about $80 to $200 and halogen kits will be about the same. There are tons of cheapie LED lights out there from $10 to $50 but most of those are better for being seen in city traffic than for actual see-where-you're-going fast bike riding.
As far as heat, I'm not sure why that would be a question of yours. HID gets hot, but not too-hot-to-touch. Some LEDs also get hot but most are barely warm to the touch. Halogen falls somewhere in between but they can get hot, too, with the higher wattage units. The only concern with heat would be that you make sure you let the unit sit for a few minutes before you stuff it into a case or pack....this is good for the circuitry and starters in both HID and LED, and it may keep a hot light from melting the Snickers bar in your pack. :o)
So to answer your question about what the "standard" is, I don't think there is an answer. It's all about your needs. I think if you were to look at product availability and market share over the last few years then LED would appear to be the standard. If you look at 24hr mountain bike races and what most serious trail riders are using, then certainly HID would win. Try out as many lights as you can....if possible, do that on the bike rather than in a bike shop's dark closet. Many guys who ride at night have more than one light, so maybe you could hook up with some local riders to try out their lights and get some experience. Some bike shops will let you do this, too, but not many.
Also, go to http://www.mtbr.com and check out their head-to-head reviews of several lights on the market. A couple years ago they started this project and have added to it every year, trying to help people make sense of the confusing marketing in bike lighting, and trying to come up with some unified comparisons as to light output and useable light, etc.
Hope this helps some....night riding is a blast! If you need more, post up again, and have fun shopping. :o)
P.S. Winter, have you tried out something like the Black Diamond Spot headlamp? Super bright, and it's only a compact 3AAA model. It's better than any of the previous halogens I tried and it's my go-to for backpacking now. BD and other companies have some brighter ones that use more/larger batteries, some with a belt/body pack to keep them warm. There are several of them that can throw a very nice beam up to 60m, and a few that can go farther than that. I did read about someone in Iditarod last year who was using HID bike lights for his team. Lots of LED stuff out there up to the task, though. Just thought I'd share.

Why Are Black Students Being Told Black Inventors Invented Things They Didn't? If you're going to school and it's black history month this is the list of inventions black students are being told black people invented. Not just black people are being told this but all students What is even more shocking is all the things listed here, black people did not invent, but the facts are so redily available to anyone who wishes to ask the simple question. Who really invented the (whatever) Air Brake Air Conditioner Airship Automatic Coupler Automatic Lubricator Automatic Transmission Bicycle Frame Blood Bank Blood Plasma Cellular Phone Clock or Watch Clothes Dryer Dustpan Egg Beater Electric Trolley Elevator Fastest Computer Filament for Light Bulb Fire Escape Fire Extinguisher Food Additives Fountain Pen Gas Mask George W. Carver Golf Tee Hairbrush Halogen Lamp Handstamp Heart Surgery Heating Furnace Horseshoe Ice Cream Ironing Board Laser Cataract Surgery Lawn Mower Lawn Sprinkler Lubricator Mailbox Mop Paper Punch Peanut Butter Pencil Sharpener Perm Machine Postmark/Cancel Mach. Printing Press Propeller for Ship Railway Telegraph "Real McCoy" Refrigerator Refrigerated Truck Rotary Engine Screw Socket Smallpox Vaccine Smokestack Steam Boiler Street Sweeper Supercharger Third rail Toilet Toilet (Railcar) Traffic Signal Tricycle Turn Signals Typewriter Washington DC city plan Do we do this just to make black people feel good about themselves? They even think king Tut was black. Remember when black protesters got mad at national geographic for depicting the king Tut bust at a San Francisco museum with weastern european features. They said king Tut is black, it must be removed at once! :::Sigh :::: Turned out later the DNA testing on Tut and his family was that of, guess what? you guessed it, weastern european not black african. This is a great website for the real inventors of the things on this list. and if you don't trust the source double check other credible research methods. http://www33.brinkster.com/iiiii/inventions/ The DNA test results were inadvertently revealed on a Discovery Channel TV documentary filmed with Hawass’s permission — but it seems as if the Egyptian failed to spot the giveaway part of the documentary which revealed the test results. Hawass previously announced that he would not release the racial DNA results of Egyptian mummies — obviously because he feared the consequences of such a revelation. Afrocentric history = fairy tales.
Black achievements could be written on the back of a postage stamp.

light bulb for electric bike, anyone know where to buy one? Can someone tell me where I might be able to purchase a 40 Volt 10 Watt light bulb for an electric bicycle. It uses a 36 Volt 10 amp system. The bulb is usual incandescent type (filament) with a screw mount. If you have ANY idea that would work (eg using a car bulb with a resister or halogen or whatever) please let me know also. Thanks The mounts are fairly standardized. Go to a good lightbulb website like www.topbulb.com. Look up the diagrams for screw mounts until you find yours & then try to narrow it down to your voltage and current.
If need be, you can be deviate from the correct amperage & it will still work. The best bulbs are halogen, xenon, krypton, & argon or vacuum; in that order.
You could ask the bike dealer for contact info on the bike manufacturer.

Which headlight beam is brighter: Halogen or Xenon? This is for a bicycle light. Which uses less electricity? Both of these lights will be running on AA batteries. Can LED lights be as bright as the two above? xenon is good , LED use is the best choice for your bicycle the batteries last longer and is bright as xenon

Do halogen bicycle headlamps degrade over time? I have a good bike light from 10 years ago (Nite Rider cyclops). It's been dormant on a shelf for years. I just bought a new battery and used the light, and it seems much less bright than it used to be, and yellowish rather than pure white. Before I decide the new battery is the problem, can someone tell me if the light may have degraded during all those years of inactivity? Thanks. Halogens are quite yellow compared to the more modern lights of today(LED, ARC's) so while they may have seemed very bright ten years ago they have just aged a bit but are not any less efficient. You could upgrade the bulb if you want to although it would eat in to your running time.

What should i use to power these lights? im installing off road lights on my bicycle. but i want good run time. about an hour or so. i planned on using a car battery with a relay. but are there any other good alternative batteries. i can buy online. HERE ARE THE LIGHTS IM using http://www.harborfreight.com/automotive-motorcycle/accessory-lights/clear-lens-halogen-lights-37349.html Think about the weight of a car battery for just a moment,
and you will see the fallacy of using one for any purpose on a bicycle.
Also consider the fact that unless it is an all-position battery
(a "gel cell" or an Optima), you will have to keep the bicycle absolutely
upright at all times to prevent spilling corrosive acid out of the battery.
Can you be absolutely certain that you won't ever allow the thing to fall over?
Other than that, a well-charged car battery should run those lights
for at least an hour or so, maybe several hours.
Most gel cell batteries are too small to do it,
but there are some (expensive!) that would.

Halogen Bicycle Lights is from category: Flashlights.