The Very Best LED Dynamo Front Light

master_grunthos

I'm considering moving to a hub dynamo system. But which front is the very best? Assuming cost is not a consideration what is the best available commercially at present?

I've seen a few people using Solid Lights and they are excellent but costly, a cost I would pay so long as there's nothing better.

Any thoughts?

Cheers

de_sisti

You could always consider the Supernova E3. It'll cost about 160 euro.

PHcp

The thing about LED lights is the technology is improving so quickly whatever you get will be superseded shortly.
The Solidlights were the best available when they came out, but they haven't changed since. I bought a Supernova E3 a couple of years ago, the single LED of which was nearly as good as the Solidlights two. Then when the next generation of LEDs came out last winter Supernova upgraded mine for £30, it's now considerably brighter than the Solidlights.
The current big thing is reflected light, where the LED faces backwards and the light is reflected in a very defined pattern. This has two advantages, it doesn't waste light and however bright it is it doesn't dazzle oncoming traffic. The B&M IQ Fly was the first to use this system, it produces half the light of the Supernova but riding alongside one its light was almost as useful. This is a light intended for mass use, it looks a bit plasticy and it can't be described as good looking and it doesn't use the best LED available, for the price it's unbeatable value.
Now for the best - Schmidt have used the same reflector as B&M, the same top range LED as is in the Supernova and put it in a great looking case. The same sort of quality as their hubs. German lights use Lux to measure output, which I think measures light in a square meter 10 meters from source the results;
IQ Fly 40 Lux
Supernova E3 60 Lux
Schmidt 80 Lux
The best 3W halogens are around 25 Lux

I've no intention of changing my Supernova in the near future, it's a great light, has a 5 year warranty and Supernova will upgrade it as better LEDs come along. But if I was buying now it'd have to be the Schmidt.
http://www.nabendynamo.de/produkte/Edelux.html

master_grunthos

The Schmidt does look very good, especially in it's black version http://www.radfahren.de/modules.php?nam ... &photonr=3
If the quality is as good as the hubs then it'll be worth investing in.

Any ideas on UK availability in the near future. I'm planning on getting a hub system set up for when the clocks change back to GMT?

If Solidlights were to upgrade the LEDs they use then they'd have the edge, this could be done so i guess they must have a stock of the LEDs they've been using for the past few years.

graham_g

master_grunthos wrote:

The Schmidt does look very good, especially in it's black version http://www.radfahren.de/modules.php?nam ... &photonr=3
If the quality is as good as the hubs then it'll be worth investing in.

Any ideas on UK availability in the near future. I'm planning on getting a hub system set up for when the clocks change back to GMT?

If Solidlights were to upgrade the LEDs they use then they'd have the edge, this could be done so i guess they must have a stock of the LEDs they've been using for the past few years.

#

Oh man that's sexy - is it silly to buy one of those even though I have the IQ plus? It wouldn't go to waste, the other half could have it on her commuter!

de_sisti

Here's a reply I received from Gregor Arndt at Supernova:

Hello Michael,

first, I would like to state that the "Lux"-measurement doesn't really make sense, because
it only measures the light intensity at a single point. We just had to react to our competitors claims,
otherwise we wouldn't have used that measure at all. It all depends on how well the light is dispersed.
A laser pointer will have thousand Lux, for example, but be absolutely useless as a bicycle light.

I just looked up your light in our system - it already has the newest generation LED,
so an upgrade won't make sense, at this point. We will probably have something 50%
brighter in ca. one year. The upgrade costs will be EUR 49.- including shipping the lamp back to you.

Regards,
Gregor


COO
SUPERNOVA
Industriestrasse 11
79194 Freiburg Gundelfingen

Gregor.Arndt@supernova-lights.com
Tel.: +49 761 585 390 87
Fax.: +49 761 585 390 88
www.supernova-lights.com

piedwagtail91

busch and muller lumotec fly iq, is brilliant .far better than anything I've ever had .it says 40 lux,which doen't mean that much to me, all i can say is it's bright enough for moorland roads at normal speeds in total darkness i.e. no moonlight.
i did our clubs overnight ride with one on and spent time riding with someone with a lumicycle his was only slightly brighter but the beam from mine was much better and didn't suffer from the sudden battery death syndrome
my son and a clubmate were also using them and went down some of the twisty descents like it was daylight.
i can't speak for the others but i made full use of the three position tilting head for different speeds .

synchronicity

Can I also pose a question:
apart from cateye, nite rider and knog, what other normal battery-operated lights are on the market today?