more lights

nce21
nce21 Posts: 16
edited October 2007 in Workshop
I'm considering a lighting system for my commute, if I take the route down back lanes. Anyone know what the lighting difference is between the new cateye single shot/single shot pro and their el530 model. I imagine that the single shot should be brighter as it is the newer fancy one and has a shorter battery life? Anyone with any experince of these? or comparing them to dinotte etc?

Comments

  • andrew_s
    andrew_s Posts: 2,511
    The singleshot has only been on sale a couple of weeks, and I've not seen any reports yet.

    The short battery life will be due to a combination of small AAA batteries, and it probably being regulated so that the brightness remains constant rather than fading like the EL530 does.

    The Dinotte will put out a lot more light, though the centre of the beam may not be much brighter. Cateyes have normally had a fairly narrow beam that's not ideal for winding country lanes.
  • andylav
    andylav Posts: 308
    Very different lights - the Dinottes and the Single Shot, but then there is at least £45 of difference between the cost of just the lights alone and then you have to factor in the cost of batteries and a charger for the Dinotte, which makes the Single Shot less than half the price in reality.

    I've had a bit of a nightmare with considering all sorts of light options and combinations lately and ended up realising that for the performance, convenience, size and price of a Single Shot - anything else was going to be serious overkill.

    I haven't used mine yet but I'm friends with the guys in my local shop and train with them regualrly and one of them compared the Single Shot and the El530 as chalk and cheese - in fact, to his eye, on unlit rural roads - the new Single Shot wasn't far behind his older Triple Shot in terms of the spread of beam and brightness and he was able to use just the Single Shot in total darkness to make his way home comfortably on a 30 mile run two nights ago.

    His recommendation was good enough for me but I'll report back next week when I've had a chance to try mine out as well
  • nce21
    nce21 Posts: 16
    Thanks, It would be great if you can report back, Have you got the standard single shot?
    This is my high cost option maybe:
    http://www.nightlightning.co.nz
    but it will come out around 200 quid, not sure if it is overkill for the road.
  • andylav
    andylav Posts: 308
    I got the standard Single Shot as I reckoned if it proved to be less than I needed, it was affordable enough to be considered an excellent back up light !

    Will report back next week.

    I don't want to send you down the same path that I was on of considering endless and ever more expensive options but another, very affordable system with perhaps the most performance (brightness and burn times) can be found at www.ayup.com.au.

    Selecting lights, battery, charger, holder and light mounts individually adds up to £93, including shiiping from Australia - with import VAT and Royal Mail handling fee, total cost is around £120.

    Systems are getting great reviews on www.singletrackworld.com - search under 'ayup' on the forum and you'll find lots of references.

    My only issues were the mounting hardward having to stay attached to the bars and no actual on/off switch (yet). Functionality was afforded by plugging or pulling the battery to light cable but a new battery with on/off and different power mode switches is being developed and should be available in Nov.

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