Friday, August 01, 2008

Dinotte 200L-AA Helmet Mount

I bought a helmet mount for my Dinotte 200L-AA lights, but haven't used it yet. The standard O-ring mount works very well on bicycle handlebars. It's a simple and elegant solution that is very easy to use. It does have the drawback of no side to side adjustment, but given the wide beam of the Dinotte 200L-AA that hasn't proven to be an issue. The helmet mount is easy to attach with two independent straps that centre the mount and a rubber pad underneath to keep it in place. The light can rotate up and down on the mount so you can aim it where you need the light. However, it took me both hands and some force to make a change with the light mounted so it won't be something you casually do with one hand while riding. On the plus side the light shouldn't fall out of adjustment easily. The battery pack is attached to the helmet with a velcro strap allowing you to place it towards the rear balancing the weight on your helmet.

I'll be using this setup tonight for the first time and will update this post tomorrow with some feedback.

On a sad note you know summer is on its way out when you break out a bike light in the Great White North.

Ride Update: The Dinotte 200L-AA performed well on our overnight tour this weekend. We each had one light. Mine was attached to my helmet and the other was attached to my partner's bars. I found the ability to move the light wherever I wanted it was very useful, but the extra weight on my helmet was noticeable. Overall one of these lights was enough to safely ride at moderate touring speeds [20-25kph] on good roads. On the downhills I think I'd want two [one on the bars and one on my helmet] to feel safe. We know this road quite well so doing 60kph+ with a single light wasn't a problem - although I don't think I would have been very happy to do that on unfamiliar roads. After a bit less than 2hrs on high my light switched to low as a power saving measure. The batteries were not at 100% charge when I started so I expect somewhat a longer ride time with fully charged batteries which is inline with their specs of a 2hr run time.

Improvements: If Dinotte Lights wanted to rock my world with the 200L-AA they'd come up with a focused lens that would concentrate the light down on the road as opposed to the current unfocused lens which shoots as much light up and int the sky as it does down where you need it. This would also make car drivers and other cyclists you meet happier as well since they wouldn't be blinded by your wasted light and it would effectively make the light brighter by putting more light where you actually need it.

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