OK, enough with the cheap flashlights with the round beams and the ad-hoc mounting systems. I wanted a bicycle-specific headlight made by a company that specializes in bicycle-specific lights. I wanted a shaped beam and a rechargeable Li-Ion battery.
I got this light from xxcycle.com in France, and it arrived in the mail yesterday.
It's a Busch & Müller Ixon Core 50 Lux - Typ 180. Busch & Müller is the brand. Ixon Code is the line of models. High output is 50 Lux. Maybe Typ 180 is the specific model. There is no direct equivalence between Lux and Lumens.
It weighs 110 grams (less than 4 ounces).
I paid 41.58 € for it, not including shipping cost. At the moment, that works out to $56.61 US. That may sound like a lot, but I could have spent more. I wanted a battery light that I would be happy with once and for all. I've messed with too many lights that seemed economical but had at least one big problem with it. Charging was inconvenient, mounting was a bitch, the beam didn't light up the right spots, or battery life was too short.
I had a chance to take this light out yesterday in the dark, along the Hudson River Greenway (bike path).
Mounting is easy with the included rubber bands. They are nicer than the typical o-rings, though I would have liked my favorite mounting system better, a hinge and a bolt. These rubber bands look durable and less likely to break under tension. The mount stays on the handlebar and the light clips off. The light can rotate slightly left and right in case the handlebar is not perfectly perpendicular to the direction of travel.
There are two intensities available. Switch between them by pressing the power button momentarily. The intensity fades from high to low or from low to high, giving a very clear visual indication of whether you just bumped it up or down. Very classy.
There is no flashing mode available. This can be distasteful to Americans, as steady bike lights are the European way, and flashing bike lights is the American way. I prefer my lights to be steady, because a flashing light looks to me like a panicking cyclist saying, "Please don't kill me. I know I'm annoying, but I'm special, and my mother loves me." To me, a steady light says, "I'm here," and that's really all I want to say.
This is a light to see by, not merely a light to be seen with. In fact, the package says, "YOU SEE," right on it.
How bright is it? What does 50 Lux mean? The beam is not holy-shit bright, but I can see everything I need to see. There is a sharp cutoff at the top, so it does not blind oncoming traffic. Oncoming traffic might think that I merely have a see-me light and not an I-can-see light. But believe me, I can see anything. I will test this on a dark road. It does not light up the trees, and that means that all of the energy goes where I want it. Another benefit of not sloshing excess light around is that my eyes don't get accustomed to being flooded with intense light, making it easier for me to see the unlit areas. If I can see well enough while going 20 mph, I can't ask for more, can I? I mean, how fast do I need to go in the dark, right? How badly do I want to assault the eyes of oncoming traffic?
The designers were careful enough to provide ample visibility from the sides. It even casts shadows from my handlebars to the ground on my sides. I feel very confident that I'm visible from the sides.
While I use the light, there is a battery level indicator that flashes every minute. It flashes some sort of code which I haven't yet figured out, but I'm sure I will figure it out. I think I'm supposed to count the flashes. I think five flashes mean the battery is full and any number of flashes fewer than five indicate how partially full the battery is.
This light works when charging! This is a very unusual feature. If you have a dynamo system that produces 5V DC, you can charge and light at the same time. Or if you carry an external charging battery, you can charge and light at the same time. Some lights refuse to switch on when being charged. Others will go on but will stop charging.
Battery life is rated at 3 hours on high power and 15 hours on low power.
The light looks and feels rugged.
It came with a USB charger made for continental Europe. This is no surprise, since I ordered it from a French vendor. I have enough USB chargers already, and now I have one to bring to Europe. It also came with a very long micro-USB cable, which is very nice. I can plug my bike in without taking the light off my bike if I'm able to park my bike near an electrical outlet. The micro-USB charging port is behind a rubber door on the back of the light.
After all I've said about how wonderful dynamo light systems are, why do I want a battery-powered light? Because I have lots of bikes, and it would be too expensive and time consuming to equip them with dynamo lights. Also, dynamo light systems are heavier than battery-powered lights, and some of my bikes would be less fun if I couldn't keep them lightweight. Sometimes I want my bike to have no lights at all. This light is easy to move from one bike to another. I will need to keep it charged, and I won't be able to ride indefinitely on it. But it's more convenient to charge than lights with removable batteries, since I'm already in the habit of charging things with USB. I have several gadgets that require frequent charging with USB. It's a fact of life, so adding one more gadget to charge isn't a big inconvenience.
