I will start this series off with an accessory that I feel is absolutely necessary if you plan to be out riding anytime between dusk and dawn, and in many cases, it's the law: Lights!
Over the past few years there have been huge improvements in the light technology available for cyclists. Throughout my time at Europa Cycle & Ski, I have had the opportunity to test and own many different options from multiple brands. I've seen some terrific products, as well as some less-than-desirable products.
What Makes a Good Light?
A light must be more than just bright. A good light must have a solid, easy-to-use, and universal mounting bracket. It must be dependable and provide convenient power/charging options. A good light must be durable and be able to withstand the occasional drop. All of these things must be present plus much more.
After searching for multiple years for what I felt was the most ideal headlight, my search led me to the Lumina line from NiteRider. The Lumina line offers incredibly bright CREE LEDs, powered by an internal, rechargeable lithium-ion battery, and available in a small, convenient form-factor, all while at an affordable price.
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| The NiteRider Lumina 650, mounted on my Fuji America |
NiteRider has been around for decades and they specialize in lighting solutions for cyclists. They pride themselves in the design of their products, and many, if not most of their products, are designed, assembled, and tested right here in the United States.
What I like about the NiteRider Lumina:
What drew me to the NiteRider, initially, was the solid overall feel and quality of the product. Many competing products just feel cheap; poor or inconsistent button activation, unintuitive operating logic, poorly designed mounting solution, the list goes on.
The NiteRider mount also drew me to this particular product. The NiteRider mount is one of my favorite mounts that I have used. Simple and yet solid, you can trust in the mount keeping the light exactly where you want it to be and it is adaptable to virtually any handlebar diameter without needing a different sized mount.
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| Image courtesy of QBP.com |
The CREE LED provides an incredible amount of light and the lithium-ion battery provides plenty of juice on each charge. The light charges via: a convenient micro-USB port located on the bottom of the unit. A rubber flap/seal keeps moisture and debris out of the port when exposed to the elements. I was pleasantly surprised that the new Lumina line contained a micro-USB port, a nice upgrade from the older MiNewt line which utilized a now less-common mini-USB port. This means that I am able to use my existing micro-USB cables that I have for my Motorola smartphone in order to charge the device. That being said, the Lumina line does come bundled with its own USB cable, but whoever complained about having multiple charging cables on-hand?!
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| Unit with USB charging cable attached |
Operation:
Using the NiteRider Lumina is an absolute breeze. Like I mentioned earlier in the post, the main/power button has a very solid feel and is accompanied by an audible "click". I know that this sounds silly to even mention, but this was something that some of the competitors that I tried lacked and this really comes in handy when it's dark and you are trying to turn off the light or if you have thick gloves on and are not sure if you activated the button or not.
When you receive the light and first get it out of its packaging, you'll notice that the light shipped in "locked mode". This is to prevent accidental power-ons and is extremely convenient when transporting the light in a bag or in your pocket. To confirm that your light is in "locked mode", you'll see that when you press the power button, the button actually lights up with a red LED. To get the light out of "locked mode", simply press and hold the power button for 5 seconds and the button LED will change from red to blue. Then you simply press the button again to turn on the device. This is also how you go about accessing the flashing mode, which I don't personally use all too often, but some people find it helpful when riding in the daylight and wanting to get drivers' attentions. To lock the light again, simply press and hold the power button (in either on or off mode) for 5 seconds. The light will cycle into the flashing mode, continue to hold and it'll then go into the "locked mode".
Once the light is on, you simply press the button to cycle through the the low, medium, and high modes. The operation is dead-simple and you are already used to it after just one use. Again, this simple operation was something that I found was lacking in some of the other brands that I tested. To turn off, without locking the light, simply press and hold the power button for 2 seconds and it's off. Simple, intuitive, consistent.
Charging the device is equally as simple and straightforward. Simply plug in the unit using the included micro-USB charging cable and the LED on the top of the light will light up red. Once the battery is fully charged, the LED changes from red to blue. It's as simple as that, you will never wonder if/when it is fully charged.
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| My street at night, light turned off |
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| Lumina 650 on Medium setting. Notice the illumination of the street signs |
Drawbacks:
It was tough to come up with some drawbacks for a product that I feel so positively about, but if I had to come up with some it would probably be these two minor things:
The 6 hour advertised charge time can sometimes feel like an eternity, and I've even had times where it had exceeded the 6 hours to charge the unit. I am told by NiteRider that because of the nature of the lithium-ion battery, a full discharge, followed by a full charge is not always necessary, but the O.C.D. in me likes to try and keep with consistent, full, power cycles. An easy solution to this would be to start the charging process when you go to bed or to start it when you arrive at work (assuming you work longer than a 6 hour shift).
Secondly, the overall aesthetic could be prettied up a little bit. That being said, the light is a fair amount sleeker and smaller than the previous MiNewt line, but I'll take all of the other design benefits over this slight issue any day.
I've found that even after 14 months of ownership, and commuting with this light almost every day of the year, the battery still does an excellent job holding a charge. It's difficult to keep real close tabs on the runtimes, as I primarily use the light for commuting and I am not religious about tracking each-and-every minute, but it definitely still seems to be inline with the advertised runtimes (High: 1.5 hours, Medium: 3 hours, Low: 5.5 hours). And when it does come time to replace the lithium-ion battery, user-serviceable replacement batteries are available, a definite plus in my book.
I primarily use the Lumina 650 (a slightly older version of the Lumina 700) for year-round commuting, but have also taken it on our local single-track mountain bike trails. The highest-end models (650, 700, and Flare 650) all include a helmet mount which can prove more practical for off-road riding. If the light will be primarily used for commuting purposes, you may be more than happy with one of the lower powered models, such as the Micro 250 or 350, but not all commutes are equal and you'll have to make that decision for yourself.
The Lumina line is offered in 5 models with prices ranging from $69.99 - $169.99, depending on the level of brightness (measured in Lumens) and can be purchased and/or ordered at virtually any bike shop in the country (may I suggest one?). Because of the high-quality nature of the headlight, and it's wide range of price-point/brightness options, this product has my full support and I look forward to many more happy miles with this light!
Stay tuned for my next post where I'll be discussing my favorite taillight!
Any comments or questions about the NiteRider Lumina line of headlights? Any corrections or requests for gear that I should review? Please feel free to leave suggestions in the comments section!
-Jonathan, PedalBound
IF we do transiowa and we need a long run time is there a way to recharge the light with external battery pack or something like that???
ReplyDeletethanks
Ari
Ari, you bring up an excellent question. As far as I know, NiteRider does not offer any kind of external/back-up battery pack but there may be a few things that you could do.
DeleteOne of my first thoughts was to utilize something such as the Supernova "The Plug III" ( http://supernova-lights.com/en/products/the_plug.html ). This works in conjunction with a dynamo hub and provides USB power to any of your accessories. The location of the micro-USB port on the NiteRider headlight *should* allow for you to charge the light while it is mounted on the bicycle (much like the image shows on Supernova's website.
Otherwise, I know that there are other solar and battery pack options that provide USB charging for devices. That being said, if you think you could ration the 5.5 hour runtime on low, you *may* be able to achieve this with the light by itself. Otherwise, it's such a great light, that I wouldn't be opposed to recommend buying two of them in order to get 11 hours of runtime on low and then simply use one as a backup for all of your other commuting/cycling needs or sell one to a friend after the event.
Another option is the Lezyne line of LED headlights which include a *removable* lithium-ion battery. This way you can pack a few, fully-charged batteries with you. My only issues with the Lezyne is that I haven't been as impressed with the overall quality of the product and it lacks some of things that this NiteRider has.
Hope that helps some! Let me know which way you end up going and good luck with Trans Iowa!