Dec 15, 2009

El cheapo light system

I'm itching to get back into night riding. By the time I get home from work it's dark and the only time I have to ride is on weekends. (and they fly by entirely too fast) Being broke as usual, I rigged up a simple system that ought to work somewhat OK. I picked up this LED light from Target for $30. It's 160 Lumens, runs for 5 hours on three AAA batteries and even indicates when its batteries have 20% of their juice left. It weighs half a pound and is made of aluminum. I'll let you know how it works as soon as I get a chance to try it.

Rigging it up was simple. A couple of hose clamps from the tool crib at work, and a piece of a kicked road tube holds it right in place. I only see two negatives to this system. 1) obviously it's not too bright. I see that Nite Rider makes systems which operate at 200, 400, 600, 900 & 1200 Lumens. Mine's only 160. 2) It requires a screwdriver to adjust the angle of the beam. No biggie there; my multi-tool has a flat blade to adjust the hose clamps.

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