So, I chose to buy a Busch & Muller Ixon IQ battery-powered light from Peter White Cycles. If you've never been to his website, you should check it out for the material he has written. Kind of like what Steven Wright would say if he sold bike stuff.
When it arrived Tuesday, I was surprised how large it was, and it was plastic, and felt kind of cheap. I mounted it on the bike for Wednesday's early morning commute to work, and was immediately impressed by how bright it was on the low setting. It also was very solid on the bike - absolutely no rattling and no movement at all.
These photos are from last night (Thurs night). I headed east to the Ohio State Line. Ohio is exactly like Indiana, only darker, so I turned around, and headed back into the fading daylight, confident that shiny Ixon will show me the way home.
Mighty Ixon ready to take on the oncoming darkness. Go ahead, darkness, make my day. Er, night.
My night-time photos didn't turn out too well, and I even took a short video, and that turned out even worse. But believe me, it is much brighter than my NiteRider light with the heavy battery that lasts 2 hours, tops. Ixon is powered by 4 AA batteries. I purchased 4 rechargeable batteries from Peter, and apparently it takes several uses and chargings to get the full 20 hours on low, 5 hours on high that Peter says I'll get.
If any of you watch Ghost Adventures, I think I captured an orb! See it, near the top of the photo? Then it flew into the back of my head!
Well, no it didn't. Frankly, I think those guys would be more believable if they just said they captured a reflection from their lens, or a dust particle. But they really blow their credibility when they see an "orb" and it flies into somebody's head. Come on! Get real! IT'S JUST A DUST PARTICLE! AND IT DRIFTED BEHIND HIS HEAD!!
Anyway, I digress.
Happy riding!
8 comments:
Actually, those photo's of your night sky are nice, don't know what you meant by saying they didn't work out very well!
I want to see someone use nickel-zinc batteries in one of these lights. I'm very happy with mine so far in my camera but I haven't tried to recharge them yet.
I too thought the photos were nice...and speaking of nice, the road looked like my kind of riding. Low traffic I like.
Congrats on the new light purchase. It sounds like you've got a great plan. Since they opened up new opportunities for me, I still celebrate my lights often.
Paddy - sorry for the confusion - I meant the last night picture - it was so dark and the camera didn't capture the light pattern on the road.
Steve - I'm looking forward to when these batteries are fully conditioned so they'll hold the charge longer.
rlove2bike - I rode right through the Amish community here. Very few cars, but several buggies. Only hazard is to dodge the road apples.
Pondero - I really like your generator and light set up. Some day I'll have one of those too.
Bill,
You can't go wrong with a B&M light. Good choice and happy randonnuering!
Peace :)
PS. Some point in time, if you are continuing your rando stuff, you may want to invest in a dynamo hub. They are pricey, but worth every penny!
Peace :)
Thanks Chandra! I've seen a couple different dynohubs and lights in action, and I agree! They probably are worth every penny. And maybe, if I continue to like randonneuring, I'll buy one.
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