Now this year I was planning to give the old 1996 vintage Nite rider 15W 6V headlight another go round and I might not be defunct yet, but it has been moved to questionable duty. Sure it has a big battery that lasts pretty much at least two weeks of commuting in the dead of winter. That's not to bad. Pretty convenient. But. It is wicked heavy. The cable going into the light is about ready to fall apart. Bottom line, it works but not reliably (cable is pretty finicky).
We had a chance to get some Planet Bike gear at a reasonable cost (no - not free) and I got a pair of Blaze One Watt and SuperFlash Light Sets. No, they aren't the cheapest. But they are nice. And those few nights riding home after the smackdown before the car stuff and the rest of life got in the way leading up to cross season I had a chance to try them out.
Pitch black is a good way to describe sections of the bike path when there is no moon out and the sun's gone down. The bike path's beauty is also part of a problem at night. It is black. The way the trees grow in places even with a moon you can't see sh!t. I put a pair of these Blaze 1W lights up front. Holy crap. The pair of them light up more of the bike path than the old 15W nite rider. Well I think they do. At least the pair make for a wider beam.
Coming through the city before the path leaving one on steady and one on superflash mode I could see and was making sure to be seen. The superflash mode of the headlight was illuminating street signs three blocks away. It was cool.
The mounting mechanism is nice. It works on oversize bars and even on the skinny old bars I still use.
And the rear light is (I've been told) rather painful to ride behind.
G-ride suggested I make a point to talk to Bob about my commuting and all that. I fit their definition of a supercommuter, at least *I* think I do. I don't commute the farthest but nothing keeps me off the bike, well except dentist appointments and doctor and other stuff like needed rest days. But once cyclocross is over a perfect week is the rule, not the exception. no matter what the weather.
So talking to Bob about all this he mentions a new two watt, well he doesn't so much mention as digs around in the Sprinter Van (yes, I would LOOOOOOVE to have that sprinter van he drove to Gloucester from WI) and comes out with a new light. Not even on the web page yet. Rumored to have sold out already.
This light:
Bob sticks some batteries in and here, on Sunday, bright sunny day. The light turns on and holy crap, it is bright. No I've learned my lesson, do not look into a headlight. That hurts. All in all it was very cool. Twice as bright (roughly) as the one watt Blaze. I got to play with it and handed it back to him. But he said, "No, you keep it." I was a bit floored and excited felt pretty cool being given hot cool stuff like that. Before my awkwardness resulted in my sticking my big foot in my mouth Bob pulled out a 1 watt superflash rear light - prefacing it by saying this is the only one I've got - a demo, can't give it to you but I wanted to show you anyway. As my old commuting stuff wears out - I will be replacing it with as much Planet Bike gear as I can.
I'm eagerly anticipating the next chance I have to test out the two watt Blaze. The best part? Bob says it has the same battery life as the one watt. That's awesome.
get some planet bike stuff. If your shop doesn't carry it - get them to order some in. QBP carries their stuff. or get it direct.
Now, if someone would kindly get a nice shot of me in the planet bike kit while i'm racing, that'd be super. I've been kinda out of the camera shots lately it seems - that or i've been too busy to search the interwebs for images.
Oh. One more really cool thing about Planet bike?
They've got spare parts for their lights (and decent prices on size N batteries I just noticed).
As it says on the back on the back:
Tread Lightly
- Ride (your bike)
- Rebuild (your stuff)
- Recycle (this packaging)
Tread Lightly indeed.
heddwch
G
4 comments:
I have a superflash rear. The TFCE was lousy with them Very nice.
I had PB rechargeable Alias or something like that. Crapped out. and was kind of a pain.
I like a rechargeable. It looks like all the PB new ones use AA. I have yet to find reliable AA recharger and batteries.
I've had really good luck with AA rechargeable batteries. Just need to pay attention to the capacity.
I've had good luck with this place for batteries.
I have my eyes on these when the AA recharge ones I have are done.
they do have some nice gear, that's for sure.
where is it manufactured?
taiwan, not china. Bob made a point of explaining to me that many of their competitors have their stuff made in China now and PB has a solid manufacturer in Taiwan still.
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