Lupine Bike & Adventure Lights
In the winter I mountain bike one to two nights a week after dark on fast technical single track trails. I have built my own lights and purchased commercially-available lighting systems upwards of $400. I have tried halogen, HID, and LED lighting systems. Until now they were all a compromise. I am now using the Lupine Tesla 700 LED light, and I have to say it makes everything I have used up to this point seem like a silly toy. Weighing a mere 102g, this light outshines my brightest HID system, is more efficient than my smallest halogen, and has the best construction, controls, and mounting system I have seen in a light.
Lupine Lighting Systems is a German company that has been around for a while, and I have always heard they make the best lights in the industry. Because of the exchange rate, shipping distance, and their base cost, however, I could never afford to even try their products. At the Interbike show in Vegas, I met their new US distributor Gretna Bikes, and got to see their new products priced and supported for the US market. I was really amazed and, after saving up, finally was able to buy one of their lights which I am now riding with. The one I bought, the Tesla 700, is their new "entry level" light which costs $300 just for the head unit or $488 for a complete package with battery, charger, etc. It is worth every cent. This unit puts out an amazing 700 Lumens (more than the previously-reviewed Dinotte) in a pattern and color temperature that is perfect for outdoor sports or caving. This is in stark contrast to most LED-based products I have tried which have a weirdly tinged light that even when bright enough, do not give good definition. Lupine makes larger and brighter lights, but I could not imagine what you would need more light for, short of landing a helicopter.
Since I have a bunch of good batteries and chargers already, I bought just the lamp unit and head-mount. I then used one of my own small (3 oz) 2000Mah LiPoly batteries and made a velcro mount right on my helmet for it. Now I don't even have the usual annoying cord hanging down my back into my pocket, but I still get over eight hours of light on the lowest setting, and more than an hour on the highest before swapping batteries. LED technical lights have truly arrived.
-- Alexander Rose
Lupine & Adventure Lights
Tesla 700
$300
(no charger/battery)
Available from Gretna Bikes
$488
(includes charger/battery)
Also from Gretna Bikes
Favorite (15)
Thomas Gulmark
Looks like a cool light, but pricey.
I bought a 900 lumen Aurora AK-P7-3 SSC P7-C flashlight from dealextreme for $50:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.14451
It's not a headlamp, unfortunately, but it's so bright that I have to switch it to low mode when passing cars and the beam is wide enough to light up the country roads on my commute.
By far the best bicycle light i've owned.
For Bicycling, I simply squeeze it under a piece of old inner tube tied around my stem.
Still thinking of modding it into a headlight, though.
CT Reader
How on earth is this better than a Petzl- or a half-dozen Petzl's for the same price?
Ryan Cousineau
This thing is definitely better than a Petzl, in that the amount of raw light it throws out is going to be vastly greater. The best Petzl I can find online puts out 350 lumens in a fairly wide pattern, and it's not at all cheap.
The Lupine falls into the category of bike lights known as "seeing" lights, and the use-case is riding on pitch-black roads trails at cycling speeds. This is highly demanding, requiring something close to car-headlight levels of light output.
The Lupine looks like a very nice solution for bike lighting, and the LED appears to be a Seoul SSC P7 (the square, 4-emitter shape is fairly distinctive). This is very popular in high-end LED flashlights, but well-made flashlights with SSC P7s in them start at $40, and boast similar run times between battery changes.
I just bought two of these flashlights (Aurora AK-P7-4) as bike lights, along with some 18650 batteries, a charger, and one bike mount (the other I use on my helmet with an improvised mount). Total cost including shipping was about $90. I bought my kit from Dealextreme, but there are other retailers out there.
Using a flashlight is a bit of a compromise on a bike, but not as much as you'd think. An outboard battery pack could give longer run times, which would be nice (mine are rated at 45 minutes at full strength, though they will produce pretty potent light for much longer than that). That's nearly my only beef.
Greg
The SECA 700 Race Light has the same output (700 lumens) using a 6 led array
http://tinyurl.com/bqnw5j
and
http://tinyurl.com/ce7wwj
Doug Cutting
I happily use a Light & Motion Stella 200L. I find it plenty bright for nighttime singletrack. It has a 200 lumen LED that burns for five hours and runs about $230, including battery and charger. Total weight (light & battery) is around 300g.
Solipson
Lupine Rules! We use them for years now, on the bike and when running as a headlamp. The only problem with it: Oncoming cars think you are an approaching truck with high-beams on :-)
Burt Fist
Lupine does rule. End of Saga.