Blackburn System X6 Bicycle Lights Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I really like this set-up. I am giving it 5-stars based on price, performance & durablity. I ride to work everyday. It's about 8 miles each way plus a 10 minute ride on the light rail. Much of my commute is on a busy trail. During daylight I use the flashing mode and more than one person has told me it's just too bright. People really see the flashing lights during the day. They didn't always see me before. At night I have plenty of light to see by. One of the lamps is a spot and it lights the road/trail in front of me while the wide angle lamp lets me things off to the side. This system is much brighter than my 15 hallogen system, last longer (I have never run out of juice) and is lighter. Also being LED it is less likely to burn out a bulb and if I did burn out one, well I have a second one.
I am writting this review after owning the product for over 6-months. It was money well spent. I feel much safer these days. This product is also very well built. Mine has survived on BAD crash with just a few nicks and scratches. (That's better than the bike or I did.)
As for future improvments. Use 5 watt LEDs instead of 3 watt. Go to Li-ion battery that is smaller and lighter but gives the same burn time. Both of these would raise the cost but I would pay the extra to get it.

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The Blackburn System X6 Bicycle Lights includes two heads with Luxeon III emitters, one wide-beam and one spot-beam. Both heads provide 85 lumens of pure white light each, equivalent to a 12-15W halogen bulb. Each head has a dimmer switch that can be set at 30, 70 or 100-percent allowing the lights to operate from 3.5 to 14 hours on a single charge in either steady or flash modes. The System X6 lights feature Constant Current technology that maintains near-full brightness throughout their runtime without overheating, as well as a patented flashing rate that has been scientifically proven to be more visible to the human eye at a distance.
The Blackburn X6 includes a helmet mount and standard/oversized universal bar clamp, and a lightweight five-cell NiMH battery that fits on the frame, in bottle cages, or in your jersey pocket. The Blackburn System X6 also includes a supercharger that can achieve a full charge in 4.5 hours, and comes with a limited lifetime warranty.
About Blackburn In 1975, Jim Blackburn set out to design stronger, lighter, more innovative and more reliable cycling products. The first were bags and racks designed for touring. From there, Blackburn grew. Over the next 30 years, Blackburn's spark of innovation would lead to many revolutionary products, like the first high quality aircraft aluminum rack, the first dual stroke minipump, the first oversized mountain minipump and the first dual stage/dual stroke floorpump just to name a few. For 2005, Blackburn's creative spark is burning brighter than ever. And as we head into our 30th year, Blackburn is re-dedicated to designing smart, reliable, no nonsense accessories that are essential to your riding experience.

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Cygolite MityCross 400 Li-Ion Dual High-Brightness LED system Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I have owned a Cygolite MityCross 350 headlight for 18 months now, and was initially not too excited about the MityCross 400, with nearly identical specs other than a 50 lumen increase.
However, I saw a difference...the new OSP (On-Site Programmable) feature, supposedly allowing settings to be modified. I found a great price on this light, and decided to try out this feature, and see what else was new.
Here are my initial observations on the changes from the 350 to the 400, in detail:
++ Beam pattern is slightly wider to the sides, with less blue color, and is brighter (slightly different optics/LEDs as well)
++ OSP setting allows programming of Medium, Low, Daylight Flash, and Walking modes (more detail below)
+ Entering flash mode is signalled by a dimming of the light while the power button is held (on the 350, there is no indication of how long to hold down the button to enter flash mode)
+ Exiting High/Medium/Low brightness is accompanied by a gradual transition to off
+ Demo mode (accessed by holding down the power button while plugging in the battery) can now be used to change the OSP settings
- The charger has changed to a wall adapter, rather than an in-line adapter (power brick)
= Aside from these changes, the battery, housing, connectors, and mounting hardware are kept the same
OSP Breakdown
Four of the six modes can be changed. The Medium, Low, and Walking modes can have the brightness set to virtually anything the LEDs are capable of (from ~20 to ~350 lumens by my estimate). This will obviously affect battery life greatly. (A quirk is that the Low setting can be made brighter than the Medium setting)
The Daylight Flash settings are different than the previous three; the rate between each set of flashes can be changed from the default 0.6s to between 0.3s-2.2s. By comparison, the MityCross 350 has a pause of 1.0s between each set of three flashes.
In my opinion, the ability to decrease this delay to 0.3s is the most important upgrade to the MityCross, as the 350 flash felt too slow at 1s (nevertheless, it is very useful and powerful).
As per the instructions, an extremely helpful video on how to use OSP is available at cygolite.com / tutorial.
Conclusion: The MityCross 400 not a major upgrade from the 350, as even the improved flash mode and OSP probably cannot compete with the Cygolite MiLion and Expilion flash modes.
However, this is the true multipurpose light, having enough power to light roads and trails during high speed riding, or putting out a very powerful strobe in the same package. My recommendation is to go with the MityCross 320 (or possibly the Pace 310) if you are interested in the OSP feature (it is priced 40-50 lower than the MityCross 400, and there are great deals if you look around).

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CygoLite Trion 600: Triple LED Bike Light with Internal Li-Ion Battery Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This light is very bright. For comparison, using Osram's web site(manufacturer of Sylvania head lamps) rates their halogen automobile headlights at 700 to 1000 lumens (low beam). Cygolite rates this light at 600 lumens. Subjectively, this bike light seems to shine further and much whiter than automobile headlights when cars pass me. I really like the much more consistant and whiter characteristics of the LED light than a conventional light (halogen car light for example). I use this item for commuting. Although I have not used it for off-road, I think that it would provide excellent illumination for that purpose also. The light has four power output settings. The third setting is more than adequate for my use. I should also note that this is a very much a driving light (versus a lower powered 'see me' light). I use it handle bar mounted. This light can be used as a 'see me' light, but I use a separate helmet mounted 'see me' light in flash mode for that purpose.
Pluses (7):
Very white light
Very bright light
No need for a separate battery pack (one can be added if desired for extra run time)... small over-all size compared to separate component systems
Li-ion battery (less weight and better durability)
Well designed/easy to use switches (visually show power settings and remaining battery charge)
Safety - it is great to see and be seen... it is hard for vehicles to ignore you with this on... you will also do a lot less 'feeling' the road surface because you will be seeing the road surface.
USA made
Minuses (3); To be honest, I rate a $300 light more harshly than I would a $50 light (I think that I should able to expect more from a more expensive light). This is an excellent light, but - excluding the first minus - there are two areas that could be improved to make it even better:
Price: $300 is a lot to pay for a bike light... my original commuter bike that I used for many years cost $150.
Battery capacity (let's face it, all batteries have significantly reduced effectiveness in cold weather): especially if you use this in cold weather (I notice this especially at 10F or less), the run time is significantly shortened. At low temperatures, light may only last 45 to 60 minutes at 2 to 3 power setting. During normal temperatures, I have no complaints about the run times. It would be ideal if the battery capacity was increased slightly.
Small complaint (fixable design flaw): light housing mounting screw would frequently come loose while I was riding (I was retightening it every one to two rides...). I do not readjust the light once it is mounted, so this shouldn't happen (and I obviously didn't want to over-tighten it and strip the threads). I solved this problem by applying a light duty thread lock glue (Locktite; do NOT use the type that has to be heated to remove the screw). Problem solved. Manufacturer should apply a thread compound at the factory to prevent the light from potentially bouncing off the pavement.
In conclusion, this is a great light. I highly recommend it with the two slight disadvantages listed (and the cost of course). If it were possible, I would give it a 4.5 star rating.
Because LEDs consume roughly 1/8 the power (of a conventional bulb), bulbs tend to last for the life of the product, very little energy is wasted as heat and have a much whiter light, I look for LEDs to eventually become the new lighting standard. As they are beginning to be used for vehicle, trailer and bus tail and marker lights and are starting to replace incondescent and CFL (compact fluorescent) for business and residential applications, I look for them to eventually replace vehicle headlights, etc. They are that much better than anything else currently available. It will just take a little more time for some of the applications to be refined and - more importantly - for the American public to get used to the idea that something new is better and cheaper (over the life of the product) than the old even though they will have to outlay significantly more money upfront (I could easily turn this into how use of LED lighting and biking could significantly reduce our dependance on fossil fuels, but I'll leave that for a different time and place). Buy a high output LED bike light... even though your pocket will be lighter, you will not regret it.


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Brilliant, tough, compact, and wireless--the CygoLite Trion 600 bike light has it all. The Trion 600 is the first palm-sized LED bicycle system that offers HID-level brilliance, letting you light the path ahead with confidence. No more illuminating just a few narrow feet in front of you, or squinting to make out objects to your side. Instead, the powerful Trion 600 offers an ultra-bright LED output of 600 lumens, with a rechargeable lithium-ion battery keeping the light working for up to 12 consecutive hours at a stretch.The light is also extremely versatile, with four brightness modes--high, mid high, mid low, and low--and several flashing modes, including fast, slow, walking, and SOS. And thanks to the quick-release handlebar mount, it's a breeze to attach the Trion 600 to your bike. The perfect choice for avid road and mountain bikers, the Trion 600 is completely weatherproof and is compatible with an external battery for riders who want additional run time.
Specifications:
LED output: 600 lumens
Wireless: Yes
Light type: 3rd-generation high-brightness LED
Bulb life: 50,000 hours
Battery type: Rechargeable lithium-ion
Battery level indicator: Yes, 3 stage
Battery charging time: 3.7 hours
Handlebar size: 25.4 to 31.8 mm
Run time: 2.5 hours (high setting); 12 hours (low setting)
Weight: 0.5 pounds

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CygoLite TridenX 600 LED Li-Ion: Triple LED Bike Light with Stem-Mount Li-Ion Battery Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I bought this light after researching many other lights. I first saw it at Performance bikes and its light weight is what first caught my attention. Added to that, it gives off so much light my boyfriend thought I was a car pulling into the driveway when I got home from work on my bike. The battery is small and fits on the limited space my stem offers and it charges in only three and a half hours. I ride a cyclocross bike as a commuter and this light works excellent for what I need. My boyfriend is thinking of competing in a 24 hour race and this light would be perfect for that. It has four settings, the brightest is very bright and the weakest is still bright. You can clearly see potholes and junk in the road ahead of you at a good distance. Fast riding is safer with this light at night. Plus, if you want to be obnoxious, this little light has flash and strobe settings. Cars will definitely see you coming. Maybe even mistake you for a motorcycle. Overall, this light is worth the money and I'd buy it over any of NiteRiders lights, of which I also looked at the bike shop.

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Designed specifically for long races and competitive night riding, the CygoLite TridenX Li-Ion bike light will illuminate the path ahead for hours at a stretch. The TridenX Li-Ion boasts an ultra-thin, stem-mounted lithium-ion battery pack that lasts between 2.5 and 12 hours on a single charge (2.5 hours on the high setting and 12 hours on the low setting). As a result, you can ride all night long without the hassle of changing the battery or swapping lamps. In addition, the light's three high-brightness LEDs offer an output of 600 lumens, ensuring HID-level brilliance as you ride down city streets or country roads. No more illuminating just a few narrow feet in front of you, or squinting to make out objects in the darkness.And riders will love the light's Cross-Fire technology, which offers highly focused optical lenses to expand your field of vision. Other details include four brightness settings (high, medium high, medium low, and low); four special flashing modes (fast, slow, walking, and SOS); a three-stage battery level indicator; a helmet mount; and a heavy-duty flip-lock handlebar bracket that fits both oversized and standard-sized handlebars.
Specifications:
LED output: 600 lumens
Light type: 3rd-generation high-brightness LED
Battery type: High-capacity lithium-ion frame mount
Battery level indicator: Yes, 3 stage
Battery charging time: 3.7 hours
Lighting modes: 4 bicycle, 4 special
High-brightness run time: 2.5 hours
Low-brightness run time: 12 hours
Walking mode run time: 60 hours
Head weight: 0.25 pounds
Battery weight: 0.3 pounds

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