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Oculus review - excessively long



 
 
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  #1  
Old March 6th 17, 03:08 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Frank Krygowski[_4_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 10,538
Default Oculus review - excessively long

An excessively long Oculus headlight review:

Quick points: Construction seems very solid. Controls for brightness,
flash mode etc. are less than obvious but easily enough to master. The
mount probably needs improvement. The beam shape is better than most
high-powered lights with their circular beams, but not as good as an
StVZO light. It overcooks pavement close to the bike, has less “throw”
down the road than if it had (say) B&M optics, and it still produces
very significant glare, especially on the higher settings. The light is
VERY bright on level 5 (high), bright enough that most cyclists would
never need it - and should probably not use it!

Beam width is very good, lighting 20 feet of road at 60 feet distance.
However, the lateral cutoff is quite sharp. Despite the width, I was
turning into darkness on really sharp, slow turns, like into a narrow
dark driveway. I’d like more side spill.

By contrast, the vertical cutoff is, to my taste, inadequate. Are you
really afraid of low-hanging branches? If so, the Oculus should protect
you. At 60 feet, the beam shoots maybe 15 feet up into the air. Pulling
up to a T intersection with the beam oriented for best road
illumination., the headlight illuminated the 2nd story of a house about
100 feet away. The light does definitely glare at oncoming traffic. On
narrow lanes, motorists flashed their lights and slowed way down to pass me.

I think the Oculus has probably better optics and thus efficiency than
most battery lights of similar power. The main portion of its beam is
well shaped, much better than typical round beams. I can’t imagine many
needing anything brighter. I wish the mount were better, and I’d
prefer even better optics. Details are below.

---------------------------------------------

On the road: The light can be extremely bright. Of five levels, level
2 (default) is probably fine for most city riding on normally lit
streets. I tested mostly at level 3, and I very comfortably exceeded 25
mph at level 4. Level 5 seems useful only for bombing mountain downhill
roads. Shining onto a sunlit wall from a distance of five feet, level 5
illumination is at least as bright as the sun. And on level 5, one can
feel one’s hand getting warm when placed in front of the light.

Unlike the best lights, the optics do not decrease the beam intensity
close to the rider. That means the close portion of the road (10 feet
ahead) is “overcooked,” which I believe harms night vision. By
contrast, the top of the main portion of the beam is not as bright as it
could be. “Throw” down the road is less than it could be with better
optics. In the absence of street lights it lights the road (on level 3
or 4) at least 60 feet away, probably more; but better optics would
allow a smoother field of light and better overall vision with less
glare in others’ eyes.

And yes, this light does glare. On a dark low-traffic residential lane
18 feet wide, I leaned the bike against a mailbox and jogged down the
road to see what it looked like to oncoming drivers. On level 5 the
glare prevented seeing past the light at all.

And circumstances cooperated to confirm that. Just as I got back on the
bike and pedaled forward, two cars turned into this almost traffic-free
street. The slowed and slowed as they approached me, passing at perhaps
5 mph. At the last minute the lead driver flashed his lights at me.
I’m sure he could not see past the glare of the light. Later, on a
similarly narrow (18') residential street with the Oculus on level 3 or
4 (I forget which), another driver flashed his
lights then left them on. (This was just before I turned off that
street.) I feel sure the light irritated him. However, on a busier
four-lane suburban street with more street lights, I left the light on
high, level 5. Despite moderate traffic, nobody flashed their lights at
me. Perhaps the difference was the greater lateral separation allowed
by the four lanes.

All in all, I’d prefer a much more definite cutoff at the horizon. Yes,
any headlight needs some light above horizon, but this has too much,
IMO. I’d love less brightness close to the bike for a more uniform road
illumination. And I’d love to see the excess lumens directed to the
side instead of upward. In other words, I really would prefer a wide
StVZO beam. Having said that, the beam shape is a big improvement over
most high-powered lights, with their circular beams.

------------------------------------------------------

The optics are interesting in their design. There are three LEDs in a
two-above-one pattern. There’s a fresnel lens of vertical elements in
front of the LEDs to spread the beam laterally. At the very front is a
convex lens acting as a projector. But between the fresnel lens and the
projector lens there’s what seems to be a “light tunnel” - a slightly
venturi-shaped white tube of sorts, wrapping the top 270 degrees of the
beam. I suspect this functions to shape the beam to a degree.

Against a vertical wall, the beam pattern looks sort of like the image
of a fedora viewed from forward and above. That is, there’s a rectangle
or ellipse (the brim of the hat) capped with another elliptical lump
(the crown of the hat). On the road, this lights 20 feet of lane width
60 feet down the road. However, there is significant glare above the
horizon.

I tried to understand the optics. In particular, I was curious about
whether the bottom LED (of the two-above-one array) was responsible for
the upward portion of the beam, but I couldn’t be sure. If it were,
switching that LED on and off would give something like the low beam,
high beam arrangement of other vehicle lights.

--------------------------------------------------

Physical: The light is about 6" long, with a roughly elliptical cross
section about 1.5" wide x 1.75" high. The front lens is circular, 1.5"
diameter. The Oculus weighs about 8 ounces, or 210 grams. The plastic
frame of the light is in three separate parts: a clear bottom whose
forward portion surrounds the lens assembly, providing side visibility.
The top-front portion is heat conducting plastic. The large battery
cover is held in place by a small, thick O-ring on the bottom. (18mm
OD, 11mm ID). Unhooking the O-ring allows that cover to slide rearward
and off. I found it difficult to put the O-ring back on. I can imagine
losing it in the dark.

A single control button is molded at the back as part of the clear
plastic part of the frame, flexing on a “living hinge” to operate a
micro pushbutton on the internal circuit board. (The button does
not click.) Next to the button is a charging port for a 5mm DC
connector. It’s covered by a rubber plug labeled “5V” which is tethered
via a thin rubber leash hot-glued to the frame. The light comes with
two batteries, one 26650 (1" x 2.5") with 4500 mAh, the other NCR 18650B
(3/4" x 2.5") with 3400mAh.

--------------------------------------------------

Mounting: The mount is a very sturdy looking clear polycarbonate
“saddle” that sits atop one's handlebar, and the headlight mounts atop
it via a single central screw, allowing the lamp to pivot. A small
O-ring between mount and light provides enough friction to keep the lamp
pointed in the desired direction. The mount is intended to be clamped
by a simple velcro strap.

IMO, the velcro strap is the weakest part of the design. It’s inferior
to the screw-plus-toggle clamp that’s common on lights intended for
handlebar mounting. The polycarbonate “saddle” has no rubber coating
for traction. Instead, the light came with two 1" x 7" strips of
self-fusing silicone tape. The intent is to wrap this around handlebars
for traction, in the absence of handlebar tape. The light can, in
theory, also be mounted on a helmet by turning the “saddle”
sideways and threading the velcro through the helmet slots. I didn’t
try a helmet mount.

The bar mount precludes mounting on our bikes with handlebar bags. When
testing on my city bike with bare upright bars (sort of North Road
style), I had trouble finding a good placement. The first location I
wrapped with the silicone tape didn’t work, so I peeled it off - barely!
You don’t get much opportunity to re-use self-fusing tape! After
that, I switched to wrapping the bar with a strip of old inner tube. It
was adequate, but still not ideal. It was necessary to pull the velcro
as hard as I possibly could to get it tight enough to prevent slip.
(I’m sure the silicone is stickier, but the supply with the light is
limited. It would have to be cut off if you didn’t want
the tape to stay on your handlebar.) I still had to re-tilt the light
several times due to slippage, and I suspect this would be true even
with some smoother types of handlebar tape. Also, on my North Road
bars, I couldn’t find a way to omit side-to-side tilt of the light.
Subsequent tests were done with a mount I custom fabricated.

-------------------------------------------------

There is no owner’s manual yet. Online information is sparse, and
apparently still in development. A 2" x 3.5" card in the box says “ON:
CLICK 3 TIMES FAST. OFF: Press & hold in. Light dims & shuts.” ...and
so forth.

Three quick presses of the single button turns it on, at level 2 of 5.
Subsequent quick presses increase power level. Holding the button
decreases power level. Holding when on lowest power shuts it off.

Two quick presses followed by a long hold turns it on flash mode.
Subsequent clicks change the flash mode. I have no use for flash modes,
so I didn’t test them on the road, but all were marvelously irritating
indoors. The light is user programmable (for example, on/off
instructions, flash patterns and rates, etc.) I didn’t try this.

Charging is easy with the included 5V, 1.2A “wall wart” adapter, and an
LED changes color when charged. Supposedly, an internal LED turning
solid red solid tells you that 1/3 charge remains; Red blink means
“CHANGE QUICKLY.” But I didn’t see that. Instead, the headlight
blinked off then back on occasionally (every 10 seconds) when on high.
I was told this indicates a low battery. I’d greatly prefer some other
indication.

---------------------------------------------

I didn’t run the light long enough to thoroughly drain the battery, but
having two batteries should allow run time for a brevet or all-night
ride. Losing the difficult O-ring would be an annoyance, but not a
disaster; the light would stay closed.

Some aspects are charmingly home-brew. For example, the “+” and “-“
indications on both the batteries and the battery compartment are hand
written in magic marker. There’s a bit of cork jammed in one battery
contact to stiffen it up (and the website has replacement
instructions!). You definitely get the feeling you’re supporting a very
tiny company.

--------------------------------------------------

Will I keep it or not? I’m undecided. Since almost all my bikes have
other lights, most of them very good, I won’t get much use out of the
Oculus. It would probably be used only as a “loaner” and only for
people who were really afraid of riding at night.

Would others like it? If you’re getting sucked into the lumen wars,
or... um, make that: If your personal riding conditions mean you need a
really, really bright light to be “safe” ;-) and/or you’d like to
support a small, innovative American company, you might like this light.

--
- Frank Krygowski
Ads
  #2  
Old March 6th 17, 07:07 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
James[_8_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 6,153
Default Oculus review - excessively long

On 06/03/17 13:08, Frank Krygowski wrote:
An excessively long Oculus headlight review:

Quick points: Construction seems very solid. Controls for brightness,
flash mode etc. are less than obvious but easily enough to master. The
mount probably needs improvement. The beam shape is better than most
high-powered lights with their circular beams, but not as good as an
StVZO light. It overcooks pavement close to the bike, has less “throw”
down the road than if it had (say) B&M optics, and it still produces
very significant glare, especially on the higher settings. The light is
VERY bright on level 5 (high), bright enough that most cyclists would
never need it - and should probably not use it!

Beam width is very good, lighting 20 feet of road at 60 feet distance.
However, the lateral cutoff is quite sharp. Despite the width, I was
turning into darkness on really sharp, slow turns, like into a narrow
dark driveway. I’d like more side spill.

By contrast, the vertical cutoff is, to my taste, inadequate. Are you
really afraid of low-hanging branches? If so, the Oculus should protect
you. At 60 feet, the beam shoots maybe 15 feet up into the air. Pulling
up to a T intersection with the beam oriented for best road
illumination., the headlight illuminated the 2nd story of a house about
100 feet away. The light does definitely glare at oncoming traffic. On
narrow lanes, motorists flashed their lights and slowed way down to pass
me.

I think the Oculus has probably better optics and thus efficiency than
most battery lights of similar power. The main portion of its beam is
well shaped, much better than typical round beams. I can’t imagine many
needing anything brighter. I wish the mount were better, and I’d
prefer even better optics. Details are below.

snipped

Thanks Frank.

--
JS

  #3  
Old March 6th 17, 07:51 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
DATAKOLL MARINE RESEARCH
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,011
Default Oculus review - excessively long

buy 2
  #4  
Old March 6th 17, 02:58 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
DATAKOLL MARINE RESEARCH
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,011
Default Oculus review - excessively long

On Monday, March 6, 2017 at 1:51:56 AM UTC-5, DATAKOLL MARINE RESEARCH wrote:
buy 2


an oculus is the central boss of a volute .... a volute is a musical instrument played by a vole

goo.gl/x4pK1g
  #5  
Old March 6th 17, 07:43 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
[email protected]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 3,345
Default Oculus review - excessively long

On Sunday, March 5, 2017 at 6:43:00 PM UTC-8, Frank Krygowski wrote:
An excessively long Oculus headlight review:

Quick points: Construction seems very solid. Controls for brightness,
flash mode etc. are less than obvious but easily enough to master. The
mount probably needs improvement. The beam shape is better than most
high-powered lights with their circular beams, but not as good as an
StVZO light. It overcooks pavement close to the bike, has less “throw”
down the road than if it had (say) B&M optics, and it still produces
very significant glare, especially on the higher settings. The light is
VERY bright on level 5 (high), bright enough that most cyclists would
never need it - and should probably not use it!

Beam width is very good, lighting 20 feet of road at 60 feet distance.
However, the lateral cutoff is quite sharp. Despite the width, I was
turning into darkness on really sharp, slow turns, like into a narrow
dark driveway. I’d like more side spill.

By contrast, the vertical cutoff is, to my taste, inadequate. Are you
really afraid of low-hanging branches? If so, the Oculus should protect
you. At 60 feet, the beam shoots maybe 15 feet up into the air. Pulling
up to a T intersection with the beam oriented for best road
illumination., the headlight illuminated the 2nd story of a house about
100 feet away. The light does definitely glare at oncoming traffic. On
narrow lanes, motorists flashed their lights and slowed way down to pass me.

I think the Oculus has probably better optics and thus efficiency than
most battery lights of similar power. The main portion of its beam is
well shaped, much better than typical round beams. I can’t imagine many
needing anything brighter. I wish the mount were better, and I’d
prefer even better optics. Details are below.

---------------------------------------------

On the road: The light can be extremely bright. Of five levels, level
2 (default) is probably fine for most city riding on normally lit
streets. I tested mostly at level 3, and I very comfortably exceeded 25
mph at level 4. Level 5 seems useful only for bombing mountain downhill
roads. Shining onto a sunlit wall from a distance of five feet, level 5
illumination is at least as bright as the sun. And on level 5, one can
feel one’s hand getting warm when placed in front of the light.

Unlike the best lights, the optics do not decrease the beam intensity
close to the rider. That means the close portion of the road (10 feet
ahead) is “overcooked,” which I believe harms night vision. By
contrast, the top of the main portion of the beam is not as bright as it
could be. “Throw” down the road is less than it could be with better
optics. In the absence of street lights it lights the road (on level 3
or 4) at least 60 feet away, probably more; but better optics would
allow a smoother field of light and better overall vision with less
glare in others’ eyes.

And yes, this light does glare. On a dark low-traffic residential lane
18 feet wide, I leaned the bike against a mailbox and jogged down the
road to see what it looked like to oncoming drivers. On level 5 the
glare prevented seeing past the light at all.

And circumstances cooperated to confirm that. Just as I got back on the
bike and pedaled forward, two cars turned into this almost traffic-free
street. The slowed and slowed as they approached me, passing at perhaps
5 mph. At the last minute the lead driver flashed his lights at me.
I’m sure he could not see past the glare of the light. Later, on a
similarly narrow (18') residential street with the Oculus on level 3 or
4 (I forget which), another driver flashed his
lights then left them on. (This was just before I turned off that
street.) I feel sure the light irritated him. However, on a busier
four-lane suburban street with more street lights, I left the light on
high, level 5. Despite moderate traffic, nobody flashed their lights at
me. Perhaps the difference was the greater lateral separation allowed
by the four lanes.

All in all, I’d prefer a much more definite cutoff at the horizon.. Yes,
any headlight needs some light above horizon, but this has too much,
IMO. I’d love less brightness close to the bike for a more uniform road
illumination. And I’d love to see the excess lumens directed to the
side instead of upward. In other words, I really would prefer a wide
StVZO beam. Having said that, the beam shape is a big improvement over
most high-powered lights, with their circular beams.

------------------------------------------------------

The optics are interesting in their design. There are three LEDs in a
two-above-one pattern. There’s a fresnel lens of vertical elements in
front of the LEDs to spread the beam laterally. At the very front is a
convex lens acting as a projector. But between the fresnel lens and the
projector lens there’s what seems to be a “light tunnel” - a slightly
venturi-shaped white tube of sorts, wrapping the top 270 degrees of the
beam. I suspect this functions to shape the beam to a degree.

Against a vertical wall, the beam pattern looks sort of like the image
of a fedora viewed from forward and above. That is, there’s a rectangle
or ellipse (the brim of the hat) capped with another elliptical lump
(the crown of the hat). On the road, this lights 20 feet of lane width
60 feet down the road. However, there is significant glare above the
horizon.

I tried to understand the optics. In particular, I was curious about
whether the bottom LED (of the two-above-one array) was responsible for
the upward portion of the beam, but I couldn’t be sure. If it were,
switching that LED on and off would give something like the low beam,
high beam arrangement of other vehicle lights.

--------------------------------------------------

Physical: The light is about 6" long, with a roughly elliptical cross
section about 1.5" wide x 1.75" high. The front lens is circular, 1.5"
diameter. The Oculus weighs about 8 ounces, or 210 grams. The plastic
frame of the light is in three separate parts: a clear bottom whose
forward portion surrounds the lens assembly, providing side visibility.
The top-front portion is heat conducting plastic. The large battery
cover is held in place by a small, thick O-ring on the bottom. (18mm
OD, 11mm ID). Unhooking the O-ring allows that cover to slide rearward
and off. I found it difficult to put the O-ring back on. I can imagine
losing it in the dark.

A single control button is molded at the back as part of the clear
plastic part of the frame, flexing on a “living hinge” to operate a
micro pushbutton on the internal circuit board. (The button does
not click.) Next to the button is a charging port for a 5mm DC
connector. It’s covered by a rubber plug labeled “5V” which is tethered
via a thin rubber leash hot-glued to the frame. The light comes with
two batteries, one 26650 (1" x 2.5") with 4500 mAh, the other NCR 18650B
(3/4" x 2.5") with 3400mAh.

--------------------------------------------------

Mounting: The mount is a very sturdy looking clear polycarbonate
“saddle” that sits atop one's handlebar, and the headlight mounts atop
it via a single central screw, allowing the lamp to pivot. A small
O-ring between mount and light provides enough friction to keep the lamp
pointed in the desired direction. The mount is intended to be clamped
by a simple velcro strap.

IMO, the velcro strap is the weakest part of the design. It’s inferior
to the screw-plus-toggle clamp that’s common on lights intended for
handlebar mounting. The polycarbonate “saddle” has no rubber coating
for traction. Instead, the light came with two 1" x 7" strips of
self-fusing silicone tape. The intent is to wrap this around handlebars
for traction, in the absence of handlebar tape. The light can, in
theory, also be mounted on a helmet by turning the “saddle”
sideways and threading the velcro through the helmet slots. I didn’t
try a helmet mount.

The bar mount precludes mounting on our bikes with handlebar bags. When
testing on my city bike with bare upright bars (sort of North Road
style), I had trouble finding a good placement. The first location I
wrapped with the silicone tape didn’t work, so I peeled it off - barely!
You don’t get much opportunity to re-use self-fusing tape! After
that, I switched to wrapping the bar with a strip of old inner tube. It
was adequate, but still not ideal. It was necessary to pull the velcro
as hard as I possibly could to get it tight enough to prevent slip.
(I’m sure the silicone is stickier, but the supply with the light is
limited. It would have to be cut off if you didn’t want
the tape to stay on your handlebar.) I still had to re-tilt the light
several times due to slippage, and I suspect this would be true even
with some smoother types of handlebar tape. Also, on my North Road
bars, I couldn’t find a way to omit side-to-side tilt of the light.
Subsequent tests were done with a mount I custom fabricated.

-------------------------------------------------

There is no owner’s manual yet. Online information is sparse, and
apparently still in development. A 2" x 3.5" card in the box says “ON:
CLICK 3 TIMES FAST. OFF: Press & hold in. Light dims & shuts.” ....and
so forth.

Three quick presses of the single button turns it on, at level 2 of 5.
Subsequent quick presses increase power level. Holding the button
decreases power level. Holding when on lowest power shuts it off.

Two quick presses followed by a long hold turns it on flash mode.
Subsequent clicks change the flash mode. I have no use for flash modes,
so I didn’t test them on the road, but all were marvelously irritating
indoors. The light is user programmable (for example, on/off
instructions, flash patterns and rates, etc.) I didn’t try this.

Charging is easy with the included 5V, 1.2A “wall wart” adapter, and an
LED changes color when charged. Supposedly, an internal LED turning
solid red solid tells you that 1/3 charge remains; Red blink means
“CHANGE QUICKLY.” But I didn’t see that. Instead, the headlight
blinked off then back on occasionally (every 10 seconds) when on high.
I was told this indicates a low battery. I’d greatly prefer some other
indication.

---------------------------------------------

I didn’t run the light long enough to thoroughly drain the battery, but
having two batteries should allow run time for a brevet or all-night
ride. Losing the difficult O-ring would be an annoyance, but not a
disaster; the light would stay closed.

Some aspects are charmingly home-brew. For example, the “+” and “-“
indications on both the batteries and the battery compartment are hand
written in magic marker. There’s a bit of cork jammed in one battery
contact to stiffen it up (and the website has replacement
instructions!). You definitely get the feeling you’re supporting a very
tiny company.

--------------------------------------------------

Will I keep it or not? I’m undecided. Since almost all my bikes have
other lights, most of them very good, I won’t get much use out of the
Oculus. It would probably be used only as a “loaner” and only for
people who were really afraid of riding at night.

Would others like it? If you’re getting sucked into the lumen wars,
or... um, make that: If your personal riding conditions mean you need a
really, really bright light to be “safe” ;-) and/or you’d like to
support a small, innovative American company, you might like this light.

--
- Frank Krygowski


With a report like that you ought to write a book..... Thanks for the insight. Or should we say - oversight?
  #6  
Old March 6th 17, 08:09 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
JBeattie
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 5,870
Default Oculus review - excessively long

On Monday, March 6, 2017 at 10:44:03 AM UTC-8, wrote:
On Sunday, March 5, 2017 at 6:43:00 PM UTC-8, Frank Krygowski wrote:
An excessively long Oculus headlight review:

Quick points: Construction seems very solid. Controls for brightness,
flash mode etc. are less than obvious but easily enough to master. The
mount probably needs improvement. The beam shape is better than most
high-powered lights with their circular beams, but not as good as an
StVZO light. It overcooks pavement close to the bike, has less “throw”
down the road than if it had (say) B&M optics, and it still produces
very significant glare, especially on the higher settings. The light is
VERY bright on level 5 (high), bright enough that most cyclists would
never need it - and should probably not use it!

Beam width is very good, lighting 20 feet of road at 60 feet distance.
However, the lateral cutoff is quite sharp. Despite the width, I was
turning into darkness on really sharp, slow turns, like into a narrow
dark driveway. I’d like more side spill.

By contrast, the vertical cutoff is, to my taste, inadequate. Are you
really afraid of low-hanging branches? If so, the Oculus should protect
you. At 60 feet, the beam shoots maybe 15 feet up into the air. Pulling
up to a T intersection with the beam oriented for best road
illumination., the headlight illuminated the 2nd story of a house about
100 feet away. The light does definitely glare at oncoming traffic. On
narrow lanes, motorists flashed their lights and slowed way down to pass me.

I think the Oculus has probably better optics and thus efficiency than
most battery lights of similar power. The main portion of its beam is
well shaped, much better than typical round beams. I can’t imagine many
needing anything brighter. I wish the mount were better, and I’d
prefer even better optics. Details are below.

---------------------------------------------

On the road: The light can be extremely bright. Of five levels, level
2 (default) is probably fine for most city riding on normally lit
streets. I tested mostly at level 3, and I very comfortably exceeded 25
mph at level 4. Level 5 seems useful only for bombing mountain downhill
roads. Shining onto a sunlit wall from a distance of five feet, level 5
illumination is at least as bright as the sun. And on level 5, one can
feel one’s hand getting warm when placed in front of the light.

Unlike the best lights, the optics do not decrease the beam intensity
close to the rider. That means the close portion of the road (10 feet
ahead) is “overcooked,” which I believe harms night vision. By
contrast, the top of the main portion of the beam is not as bright as it
could be. “Throw” down the road is less than it could be with better
optics. In the absence of street lights it lights the road (on level 3
or 4) at least 60 feet away, probably more; but better optics would
allow a smoother field of light and better overall vision with less
glare in others’ eyes.

And yes, this light does glare. On a dark low-traffic residential lane
18 feet wide, I leaned the bike against a mailbox and jogged down the
road to see what it looked like to oncoming drivers. On level 5 the
glare prevented seeing past the light at all.

And circumstances cooperated to confirm that. Just as I got back on the
bike and pedaled forward, two cars turned into this almost traffic-free
street. The slowed and slowed as they approached me, passing at perhaps
5 mph. At the last minute the lead driver flashed his lights at me.
I’m sure he could not see past the glare of the light. Later, on a
similarly narrow (18') residential street with the Oculus on level 3 or
4 (I forget which), another driver flashed his
lights then left them on. (This was just before I turned off that
street.) I feel sure the light irritated him. However, on a busier
four-lane suburban street with more street lights, I left the light on
high, level 5. Despite moderate traffic, nobody flashed their lights at
me. Perhaps the difference was the greater lateral separation allowed
by the four lanes.

All in all, I’d prefer a much more definite cutoff at the horizon. Yes,
any headlight needs some light above horizon, but this has too much,
IMO. I’d love less brightness close to the bike for a more uniform road
illumination. And I’d love to see the excess lumens directed to the
side instead of upward. In other words, I really would prefer a wide
StVZO beam. Having said that, the beam shape is a big improvement over
most high-powered lights, with their circular beams.

------------------------------------------------------

The optics are interesting in their design. There are three LEDs in a
two-above-one pattern. There’s a fresnel lens of vertical elements in
front of the LEDs to spread the beam laterally. At the very front is a
convex lens acting as a projector. But between the fresnel lens and the
projector lens there’s what seems to be a “light tunnel” - a slightly
venturi-shaped white tube of sorts, wrapping the top 270 degrees of the
beam. I suspect this functions to shape the beam to a degree.

Against a vertical wall, the beam pattern looks sort of like the image
of a fedora viewed from forward and above. That is, there’s a rectangle
or ellipse (the brim of the hat) capped with another elliptical lump
(the crown of the hat). On the road, this lights 20 feet of lane width
60 feet down the road. However, there is significant glare above the
horizon.

I tried to understand the optics. In particular, I was curious about
whether the bottom LED (of the two-above-one array) was responsible for
the upward portion of the beam, but I couldn’t be sure. If it were,
switching that LED on and off would give something like the low beam,
high beam arrangement of other vehicle lights.

--------------------------------------------------

Physical: The light is about 6" long, with a roughly elliptical cross
section about 1.5" wide x 1.75" high. The front lens is circular, 1.5"
diameter. The Oculus weighs about 8 ounces, or 210 grams. The plastic
frame of the light is in three separate parts: a clear bottom whose
forward portion surrounds the lens assembly, providing side visibility.
The top-front portion is heat conducting plastic. The large battery
cover is held in place by a small, thick O-ring on the bottom. (18mm
OD, 11mm ID). Unhooking the O-ring allows that cover to slide rearward
and off. I found it difficult to put the O-ring back on. I can imagine
losing it in the dark.

A single control button is molded at the back as part of the clear
plastic part of the frame, flexing on a “living hinge” to operate a
micro pushbutton on the internal circuit board. (The button does
not click.) Next to the button is a charging port for a 5mm DC
connector. It’s covered by a rubber plug labeled “5V” which is tethered
via a thin rubber leash hot-glued to the frame. The light comes with
two batteries, one 26650 (1" x 2.5") with 4500 mAh, the other NCR 18650B
(3/4" x 2.5") with 3400mAh.

--------------------------------------------------

Mounting: The mount is a very sturdy looking clear polycarbonate
“saddle” that sits atop one's handlebar, and the headlight mounts atop
it via a single central screw, allowing the lamp to pivot. A small
O-ring between mount and light provides enough friction to keep the lamp
pointed in the desired direction. The mount is intended to be clamped
by a simple velcro strap.

IMO, the velcro strap is the weakest part of the design. It’s inferior
to the screw-plus-toggle clamp that’s common on lights intended for
handlebar mounting. The polycarbonate “saddle” has no rubber coating
for traction. Instead, the light came with two 1" x 7" strips of
self-fusing silicone tape. The intent is to wrap this around handlebars
for traction, in the absence of handlebar tape. The light can, in
theory, also be mounted on a helmet by turning the “saddle”
sideways and threading the velcro through the helmet slots. I didn’t
try a helmet mount.

The bar mount precludes mounting on our bikes with handlebar bags. When
testing on my city bike with bare upright bars (sort of North Road
style), I had trouble finding a good placement. The first location I
wrapped with the silicone tape didn’t work, so I peeled it off - barely!
You don’t get much opportunity to re-use self-fusing tape! After
that, I switched to wrapping the bar with a strip of old inner tube. It
was adequate, but still not ideal. It was necessary to pull the velcro
as hard as I possibly could to get it tight enough to prevent slip.
(I’m sure the silicone is stickier, but the supply with the light is
limited. It would have to be cut off if you didn’t want
the tape to stay on your handlebar.) I still had to re-tilt the light
several times due to slippage, and I suspect this would be true even
with some smoother types of handlebar tape. Also, on my North Road
bars, I couldn’t find a way to omit side-to-side tilt of the light.
Subsequent tests were done with a mount I custom fabricated.

-------------------------------------------------

There is no owner’s manual yet. Online information is sparse, and
apparently still in development. A 2" x 3.5" card in the box says “ON:
CLICK 3 TIMES FAST. OFF: Press & hold in. Light dims & shuts.” ...and
so forth.

Three quick presses of the single button turns it on, at level 2 of 5.
Subsequent quick presses increase power level. Holding the button
decreases power level. Holding when on lowest power shuts it off.

Two quick presses followed by a long hold turns it on flash mode.
Subsequent clicks change the flash mode. I have no use for flash modes,
so I didn’t test them on the road, but all were marvelously irritating
indoors. The light is user programmable (for example, on/off
instructions, flash patterns and rates, etc.) I didn’t try this.

Charging is easy with the included 5V, 1.2A “wall wart” adapter, and an
LED changes color when charged. Supposedly, an internal LED turning
solid red solid tells you that 1/3 charge remains; Red blink means
“CHANGE QUICKLY.” But I didn’t see that. Instead, the headlight
blinked off then back on occasionally (every 10 seconds) when on high.
I was told this indicates a low battery. I’d greatly prefer some other
indication.

---------------------------------------------

I didn’t run the light long enough to thoroughly drain the battery, but
having two batteries should allow run time for a brevet or all-night
ride. Losing the difficult O-ring would be an annoyance, but not a
disaster; the light would stay closed.

Some aspects are charmingly home-brew. For example, the “+” and “-“
indications on both the batteries and the battery compartment are hand
written in magic marker. There’s a bit of cork jammed in one battery
contact to stiffen it up (and the website has replacement
instructions!). You definitely get the feeling you’re supporting a very
tiny company.

--------------------------------------------------

Will I keep it or not? I’m undecided. Since almost all my bikes have
other lights, most of them very good, I won’t get much use out of the
Oculus. It would probably be used only as a “loaner” and only for
people who were really afraid of riding at night.

Would others like it? If you’re getting sucked into the lumen wars,
or... um, make that: If your personal riding conditions mean you need a
really, really bright light to be “safe” ;-) and/or you’d like to
support a small, innovative American company, you might like this light..

--
- Frank Krygowski


With a report like that you ought to write a book..... Thanks for the insight. Or should we say - oversight?


Yes, well done.

-- Jay Beattie.
  #7  
Old March 7th 17, 01:06 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
DATAKOLL MARINE RESEARCH
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Posts: 2,011
Default Oculus review - excessively long

tried a video recorder for utube ?



 




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