What's the latest and greatest in LED headlamps?

wrote in message
...
On Sep 2, 4:12 pm, "Tom Kunich" cyclintom@yahoo. com wrote:
"Andrew Price" wrote in message

lowe's home improvement stores [and only them, i understand]
have a really bright 2-C cell white LED light
"task force brand"
SKU 225285
get *only* the one that says "60 times brighter than conventional LED"
$29.99
----------------

What's a good way to mount it to road handlebars?

"Carl Sundquist" wrote in message
...

What's a good way to mount it to road handlebars?

Pieces of innertube rubber.

On Sep 2, 6:48*pm, "Tom Kunich" cyclintom@yahoo. com wrote:
"Carl Sundquist" wrote in message

...



What's a good way to mount it to road handlebars?

Pieces of innertube rubber.

I'd vote for Ruland Collars. One to fit the bars, one to fit the
light, and a threaded stud to connect the two.

Andrew Price wrote:

Ryan Cousineau wrote:

[Cannondale-branded headlight package]

I have to say it looks far better than any cheap bike light I've seen,
and still only cost $20-30.

It does indeed, but the mounting bracket looks a bit small to fit on
typical road-bike handlebars, unfortunately.

According to the specs, it's just right for all current road bike
bars, but too big for almost all other kinds of handlebars.

Chalo

DanK wrote:

Tom Kunich wrote:

Carl Sundquist wrote:

What's a good way to mount it to road handlebars?

Pieces of innertube rubber.

I'd vote for Ruland Collars. *One to fit the bars, one to fit the
light, and a threaded stud to connect the two.

How do you control the orientation between one collar and the other?
Washers?

Chalo

Carl Sundquist wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Sep 2, 4:12 pm, "Tom Kunich" cyclintom@yahoo. com wrote:
"Andrew Price" wrote in message

lowe's home improvement stores [and only them, i understand]
have a really bright 2-C cell white LED light
"task force brand"
SKU 225285
get *only* the one that says "60 times brighter than conventional LED"
$29.99
----------------

What's a good way to mount it to road handlebars?

Hmm, glad you asked that....

See "http://nordicgroup.us/s78/flashlights.html"

Scroll down to "Home Made Flashlight Holders I've Made"

Two photos are "http://nordicgroup.us/s78/images/barbracketcree.jpg" and
"http://nordicgroup.us/s78/images/IMG_0303.JPG"

Note that there are some caveats about the Lowe's Taskforce Cree LED
flashlight.

1. To use AA NiMH cells with C size adapters, or C size NiMH batteries
requires that you slightly modify the + contact inside the flashlight as
it does not properly contact the + contact of an AA cell battery.

Unlike an alkaline battery, where the there is a large surface area for
the + contact which includes the button, the NiMH cells have only the
actual button as a contact. If you don't modify the spring contact at
the + end, the contact will be intermittent because the button will up
inside the spring contact and the spring will only touch the insulated
top area of the battery. I cut the end off of a steel hollow wall
anchor, leaving a couple of millimeters of the shaft, and inserted that
into the spring contact. Don't use a penny or a washer, as you need for
the contact to stay in place in the center of the spring.

2. The batteries tend to rattle inside as the interior diameter is a bit
too big for a snug fit of the batteries. A small sheet of paper can be
rolled around the batteries to eliminate this problem.

3. There is only a single brightness.

4. There is apparently no DC-DC converter inside. With NiMH batteries
this isn't a big problem because the voltage stays pretty constant, but
with alkalines, the voltage drops off as the batteries become depleted.


It's an excellent beam for bicycles and it's cheap. Working around the
other issues is worth it, IMVAIO.

On Sep 2, 7:42*pm, Chalo wrote:
DanK wrote:

Tom Kunich wrote:

Carl Sundquist wrote:

What's a good way to mount it to road handlebars?

Pieces of innertube rubber.

I'd vote for Ruland Collars. *One to fit the bars, one to fit the
light, and a threaded stud to connect the two.

How do you control the orientation between one collar and the other?
Washers?

Chalo

Yes. Using aluminum collars allows for a smidge of rotation "fudging"
based on how tight you clamp them, but it's still lotto ticket odds to
get it just right. Get a couple washers of different thicknesses and
find the one that leaves you with the 90 degree orientation you need.
Since the only time I've had to do this I lucked out on washer size I
didn't get a reason to try this, but it's possible you could use a
lock washer as well. It would compress as you got to the desired
point of rotation, and the exposed edge should keep the upper collar
from threading back. This is just theory - as I said I have been
fortunate enough to have an array of regular washers at my disposal so
I never tried the lock washer thing. Seems like it would work in my
head at the moment though.

On Sep 2, 5:34*pm, SMS wrote:
Carl Sundquist wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Sep 2, 4:12 pm, "Tom Kunich" cyclintom@yahoo. com wrote:
"Andrew Price" wrote in message

lowe's home improvement stores [and only them, i understand]
have a really bright 2-C cell white LED light
"task force brand"
SKU 225285
get *only* the one that says "60 times brighter than conventional LED"
$29.99
----------------

What's a good way to mount it to road handlebars?

Hmm, glad you asked that....

See "http://nordicgroup.us/s78/flashlights.html"

Scroll down to "Home Made Flashlight Holders I've Made"

Two photos are "http://nordicgroup.us/s78/images/barbracketcree.jpg" and
* "http://nordicgroup.us/s78/images/IMG_0303.JPG"

Note that there are some caveats about the Lowe's Taskforce Cree LED
flashlight.

1. To use AA NiMH cells with C size adapters, or C size NiMH batteries
requires that you slightly modify the + contact inside the flashlight as
it does not properly contact the + contact of an AA cell battery.

Unlike an alkaline battery, where the there is a large surface area for
the + contact which includes the button, *the NiMH cells have only the
actual button as a contact. If you don't modify the spring contact at
the + end, the contact will be intermittent because the button will up
inside the spring contact and the spring will only touch the insulated
top area of the battery. I cut the end off of a steel hollow wall
anchor, leaving a couple of millimeters of the shaft, and inserted that
into the spring contact. Don't use a penny or a washer, as you need for
the contact to stay in place in the center of the spring.

2. The batteries tend to rattle inside as the interior diameter is a bit
too big for a snug fit of the batteries. A small sheet of paper can be
rolled around the batteries to eliminate this problem.

A worse problem I have is that when the batteries rattle fore-and-aft,
they make intermittent contact, and this *really* confuses the driver
circuit. I had to solder in the batteries to get it to stay lit even
over (moderately rough) pavement.

Additionally, the switch assembly is not waterproof, and you may see a
soft glow from the switched-off light after riding in the rain.


3. There is only a single brightness.

4. There is apparently no DC-DC converter inside. With NiMH batteries
this isn't a big problem because the voltage stays pretty constant, but
with alkalines, the voltage drops off as the batteries become depleted.

One can measure 3.6 volts at the diode running off two alkaline cells,
which would seem to indicate a (probably primitive) step up of some
kind. I haven't tried rechargeables yet though, because, well, I have
everything soldered together.


It's an excellent beam for bicycles and it's cheap. Working around the
other issues is worth it, IMVAIO.

It certainly puts out more light than anything else at that price. I
find the beam is plenty bright but too narrow.

-pm

What's a good way to mount it to road handlebars?

cut a piece of wood with 2 holes at 90 degree angle
one for bars
one for the light
cut the holes in half
rubber band it on

wle.

wrote in message
...


What's a good way to mount it to road handlebars?

cut a piece of wood with 2 holes at 90 degree angle
one for bars
one for the light
cut the holes in half
rubber band it on

wle.

Buck Rogers light with a Fred Flintstone mount?