Light and Motion Solo (Logiv MV)
Was given a L & M lightset for birthday in August and once the days shortened later in the year I have used it fairly regularly for commuting (so maybe 30 times or so ?)
4 miles or so from home on Monday I realised that the light had gone out although the power indicator on the light head was still functioning.
Waggling cables etc gave no joy and I'm now sure that it's just that the bulb has blown.
A few Qs therefore which I'd appreciate answers to if anyone has them :
1 The correct L & M bulb costs near £13 which seems totally ridiculous for a halogen bulb - is there a cheaper alternative or where is the best place for them ?
2 I realise that sometimes bulbs just blow on even the best most expensive lights but my previous cheap lightsets (Smarts and Electrons) had much cheaper bulbs and I carried a spare normally. At £13 a go I don't plan to buy a few spares 'just in case' - are their bulbs knows generally for a long life ?
3 Finally, like most people, I HAVE to be able to rely on my lights (fortunately I had an LED front also so at least I could be seen for the last part of my commute home but it was useless for seeing the road with - not an experience I want to repeat on my unlit roads !
Are these lights worth continuing with - I had started to think about binning them and looked at something like Cateye EL-700 Tripleshots as they are available now for sub £100 - are these better than the L & Ms which are good enough but only just good enough and a bit more light would be very useful ?
4 miles or so from home on Monday I realised that the light had gone out although the power indicator on the light head was still functioning.
Waggling cables etc gave no joy and I'm now sure that it's just that the bulb has blown.
A few Qs therefore which I'd appreciate answers to if anyone has them :
1 The correct L & M bulb costs near £13 which seems totally ridiculous for a halogen bulb - is there a cheaper alternative or where is the best place for them ?
2 I realise that sometimes bulbs just blow on even the best most expensive lights but my previous cheap lightsets (Smarts and Electrons) had much cheaper bulbs and I carried a spare normally. At £13 a go I don't plan to buy a few spares 'just in case' - are their bulbs knows generally for a long life ?
3 Finally, like most people, I HAVE to be able to rely on my lights (fortunately I had an LED front also so at least I could be seen for the last part of my commute home but it was useless for seeing the road with - not an experience I want to repeat on my unlit roads !
Are these lights worth continuing with - I had started to think about binning them and looked at something like Cateye EL-700 Tripleshots as they are available now for sub £100 - are these better than the L & Ms which are good enough but only just good enough and a bit more light would be very useful ?
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Comments
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Here's one from left field - what about a Fenix L2D CE Q5 (discussed on Bikeradar here).
It will cost about £37 delivered plus £5 for a "Twofish Lockblock" bike mount, and run on 2 AA batteries - preferably rechargeable NiMH - I suggest these 2900mah batteries (Good charger = Vapextech LCD,WORLD (110v/240v) ,ULTRA FAST 1 HOUR CHARGER , £14,55, same site as batteries).
What you get is a light that outperforms my Dinotte 5w Ultra (which uses 4 x AA's) both in output and runtime. On High mode I get 4.5 hours and there is more than enough light for my completely dark railway path ride, and is brighter than the Dinotte on High. (There is an even brighter "turbo" mode that will give around 2 hours).
It is dead easy to carry 2 AA primary cells (alkaline, or preferably lithium) for those times you forget to recharge (or very easy to get in the shops). The output is regulated, so output does not dim at all until the last couple of minutes of run time.
By the way, the LED's are rated at 50 000 hours, so in practice, will never need replacing, they don't burn out. Halogen is history!
Pound for pound, the most light you can get!!!0 -
I have the cheaper l & M solo light and i have not had any problems. I have had it for 3 winters and have used it regularly in all.
My only problem with it now is I am getter faster and so need to be able to see further ahead, which isn't possible with this light as the beam is fairly spread out.
Other than that its a good light. but there are probalby better lights around now for the money.
Don't know about cheaper bulbs, but you could try electrical wholesalers or the like.0 -
I don't commute Andy but I do ride at night. As a backup light I carry a Petzl Tikka XP, it's very small and light but bright enough to see by if you ride sensibly, it's got a flashing mode too. It'll go on a helmet but needs tying at the front. I just wrap a shoelace round mine should it be needed.
With regards to the bulb, have you checked it with a battery and piece of wire. If it's ok it should light, albeit very dimly. If it's not the bulb the light itself could be faulty, I think the L&M lights have electronics in them. Even if the bulb has blown you might have just been unlucky and it would be a lot cheaper to replace it than buying a new light set. I never had a bulb blow using a Cateye halogen lighting set for 5 years.0 -
Thanks for the responses : I think what I'll do is just buy a replacement bulb (is there a cheaper source for maybe non-L & M brand bulbs ? ) since the light is good and pretty new. If any more issues then I think that LED is the way to go but maybe even by the onset of 2008 autumn/winter when the lights get brought into action again, the LED option will have an even better cost/performance ration than they do now.0
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Updating this with a fiar bit more info as it may interest other L & M Solo Logic users.
As LBS that deals in their products doesn't have a bulb in stock I have continued to search the 'net and I found some info.
This website
http://www.replacementlightbulbs.com/lampsgeneral.htm
indicates that the replacement bulbs are
JC 6V 10W G4 Axial Filament 2000 Hours
and
This place in the UK sells them nice and cheaply :
http://www.lampspecs.co.uk/Light-Bulbs- ... e-Capsules
Found Maplin do them also now I know what type of bulb they are :
also
http://lamps2udirect.com/pages/fullProd ... apsule/186
http://shop.eurobatteries.com/product_i ... ts_id=1247
Some places do a 20W version which might be worth a try although I am wary of overheating the light head/reflector but I consulted my techy guru and he advises the following :
Your setup will supply 13W max at 6V (presumably) so 2.2A or so. This is above the rating for a 10W bulb so will lead to earlier failure if used consistently, though there is bound to be a fair margin of safety in the bulb rating. That might explain the 2000 hour rating.
The 10W bulb will have a resistance of about 3.6 ohm whereas the 20W bulb will have a resistance of 1.8 ohm and needs 3.3 A to achieve 20W - your system can only supply 2.2A max so that's what will limit the actual power produced to 8.7 W.
The 20 W bulb should therefore run cooler and last longer since you are running it at about half the max rating rather than above its rating, but it might stress the power supply to run flat out all the time. Maybe it's the 20W bulb that is meant to be fitted rather than the 10W and your power supply actually gives 12V ( which then means a 12V 20W bulb - it would make life simpler if they just told you what the power supply can do)
At least the price makes it feasible to buy spares and experiment.
I can get a Maplins bulb easily which is the 10W version, haven't sourced a 20W version locally yet.
Any thoughts or experiences from other L & M Solo Logic users ?0
