Bookman bike lights

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Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on November 12, 2012 at 10:54am

They have only one LED so I doubt they are that bright.

You can get two LED Beam Bugs at most shops for under 10 bucks each...

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Permalink Reply by Duppie on November 12, 2012 at 10:59am

I never heard of these lights, but a quick review shows some flaws. CR2032 are a special size battery. Not sure whether you can find rechargeables in that format. Also to remove the batteries you have to unscrew a top. My experience with that is that they wear out after a while.

I saw something like these in a store recently and was impressed. Good build quality, easily removable and rechargeable using a built in USB. Similar in price too.

http://www.rei.com/product/814765/knog-boomer-usb-rechargeable-fron...

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Permalink Reply by Erin Vogel on November 12, 2012 at 11:06am

Good point. I'll check out the beam bugs. thanks for your help!

notoriousDUG said:

They have only one LED so I doubt they are that bright.

You can get two LED Beam Bugs at most shops for under 10 bucks each...

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Permalink Reply by Erin Vogel on November 12, 2012 at 11:09am

USB rechargeable lights do seem like the most ideal situation. I had some a year or so ago but lost them ... what I really need to work on is not losing lights! But yeah, investing in something like that (and then not losing them) is really what I should do.

thanks!

Duppie said:

I never heard of these lights, but a quick review shows some flaws. CR2032 are a special size battery. Not sure whether you can find rechargeables in that format. Also to remove the batteries you have to unscrew a top. My experience with that is that they wear out after a while.

I saw something like these in a store recently and was impressed. Good build quality, easily removable and rechargeable using a built in USB. Similar in price too.

http://www.rei.com/product/814765/knog-boomer-usb-rechargeable-fron...

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Permalink Reply by Gort 12-mile Pinklegneep on November 12, 2012 at 11:12am

I have found CR2032 rechargables and chargers online from some sort of esoteric suppliers but i've never seen them in shops, so they're a bit of hassle.

I've had various knog lights before, but pretty much cycle out of them precisely because of the batteries being kind of annoying not to mention the spectacular variance in price. Pick 'em up at Microcenter or American Science and Surplus for fifty cents, or seven dollars at Walgreens, whatever. The charge durations on those USB rechargeables always seems pretty underwhelming but i suppose that one's not so bad. 

I'm steering toward one of these at some point. They might have a nonzero amount of drag but given the massive weight of my bike, and my self, I doubt it'll be noticeable. 

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Permalink Reply by Thinman on November 12, 2012 at 4:36pm

Even if the CR2032 is rechareable, it will not hold enough energy to make them very useful.  You would have to charge them very frequently.   Take a look at the blackburn flea, which has a lithium ion rechargeable in it and you can plug it into the USB port to charge.  5 hours on the flashing setting.  Recharge at the office in about 2 hours and ready to go for the trip home. 

The big question is whether you want it to flash to be visible (be seen) or to light your way (to see).  To illuminate the path, you will need something that is rated at least 40 lumen.  There are lots of inexpensive China made LEDs on the market now.  The cheap LEDs from MicroCenter either are not waterproof, won't work in a downpour or just wear out quickly.    I use an inexpensive LED light with single AA for illumination (in addition to a flashing LED so you can be seen).   Watertight in the worst downpours.  Dropped it at Lake and State, it was run over and still works!

I have used the flashing red LED from Performance for the back for years and they are very reliable.  I don't see them on the site, but they still have them at the store.  On sale they can be $7-$10.  I use two on the back.  Always use rechargeable batteries.  They will last much longer, the cost per charge is much lower and much better for the environment. 

I bought two Blackburn fleas at Nashbar on sale for very low price. They were the older product.  One did not work out of the box, I called them (in Rantoul) and they sent me a new one, no questions asked.  The other stopped working quickly, called again and it was in the mailbox in three days.  Waterproof and a good size.  I mounted it on top of the other light, which is on an old quick release light mount.  Nice product if you can get it on sale.  They sent the the Flea 2 which is very nice!

Something like this http://www.amazon.com/BBQbuy-300lm-Flashlight-Torch-Adjustable/dp/B...

It claims 300 lumens but you would have to use the really high voltage battery to even close to that output.  Regular AA recharegable would probably be 75-100 lumens, which is great for illumination.  

The technology changes drastically every two years.  So no need to spend a lot of money on these solutions.  Good batteries are more important.  

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