I still meet people, supposedly intelligent people, who deny Global Warming. However most of them are religiously inclined and also think we should crush the planet under the weight of our children. So, as Gary Gygax once wrote, Intelligence does not equate to Wisdom.
SoCal had a horrible heat wave last weekend that broke records all over the place. It was 111F in San Bernardino where I normally start my rides and over 100 in Anaheim which is my 'cool' place to ride. I had planned an evening ride with Amber starting at Anaheim but the weather predictions were for temps over 90 even at 6pm so I cancelled.
It finally cooled down to the point where I could do an evening ride last Friday. I started about 7pm when it was a tolerable 80F and rode the Lucky Greek permanent. I finished around 11pm when it was a pleasant 70F.
Several weeks ago I misplaced my Niterider MiNewt 600 so I decided to buy a Cygolite Expilion 600 to replace it. I didn't buy a new Niterider because the mount sucks. Turns out they no longer make the MiNewt 600 anyway, but I decided to move away from NiteRider because they've always had problems with their mounts.
So Friday was my first opportunity to test ride my new Cygolite. I had found my old NiteRider so I rode with a Lumotech powered by my Schmid SON, my Cygolite, and my NiteRider. I rode along the river trail and, just for fun, I cranked all my lights up to full power. Wow - I could have been riding a motorbike!. I could see the fog line more than 100 yards ahead (10 seconds at 18mph ~ 100 yards) . I could see reflective signs more than 1/4 mile ahead and they weren't even close to the center of the beams.
The Cygolite was very comparable to the NiteRider and, as they have similar specs, they should have been. I would say the Cygolite is a little brighter at the low setting but they are the same at the highest setting. The Cygolite has a number of excellent features that the Niterider is missing - notably a decent mount and a replaceable battery than can easily be swapped out mid-ride.
The Lumotech IQ 175 dynamo light has a very different beam shape to the Niterider and the Cygolite. I had to take a bio-break and so I leaned my bike up against a tall chicken-wire fence. I was surprised to see how much light I was throwing up into the air. It was the round beam pattern of the Niterider and the Cygolite. The best way to light up the road is to adjust the beam so that the top of the bright spot is on your horizon. This throws the brightest part of the beam the furthest distance and gives the smoothest, most consistent illumination of the road. Unfortunately this means that perhaps 20-30% of the light does not hit the road at all.
The Lumotec beam has a distinct upper edge and, if you align this with your horizon, there is far less wasted light - maybe 10% or so. Now the Lumotec is a 40 lux light whereas the Niterider and the Cygolite are 600 lumens. Now a lux is one lumen per square meter. So while the total light output is measured in lux, the apparent brightness is measured in lumens.
So to quote brightness in lumens is misleading. If you point the light at a wall so that one square meter is illuminated then lumens=lux. But if you move twice as far away the same amount of light now falls on four square meters so lumens=lux/4. There's no way to convert lumens to lux unless you also know the area that is illuminated. Which, of course, the light companies don't tell you.
All my lights use LED technology. The Lumotech consumes 2.4 Watts and the other two lights use 5 Watt LEDs. So if the Lumotech puts out 40 lux I can assume the other two put out 80 lux at highest power. So if 80 lux = 600 lumens then their beams are spread over an area 600/80 sq. m. which is 7.5 sq. m. which could be a path 3' across and 25' long. That seems unreasonably small. Seems like they're fudging the numbers. In any case the numbers are meaningless.
As I started the ride I noticed some bastard had stolen my tail light and my saddlebag, probably because I left my bike in the back of my truck overnight. Fortunately I had a spare light, and I haven't had many flats lately so I crossed my fingers and rode anyway. When I got back I replaced everything on Amazon.com.
This is what I considered essential...
Cygolight Hotshot 2W tail light - best on the market at this time
Topeak Aero Wedge Pack (Large) - upgraded to something a little larger
Topeak Mini-9 Multitool - small enough to be convenient but has most tools I need
Shiny Object CO2 inflator - beautifully made but no substitute for a decent pump
Crank Brothers extending tire lever - the one and only best tire lever ever
Fortunately I have enough flat repair kits, tubes, and chain tools laying around that I don't need to buy new ones. I'm using an old saddle bag and tire levers until the new stuff arrives.
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