just tested the 2 outside in the dark and the ss is brighter and whiter with a lot more throw . The nitefighter has a wider spread in the immediate vicinity but otherwise appears inferior . Quite suprised really . Also ..be careful when purchasing from GB as they don't seem to answer the "tickets" you have to submit when making a query / complaint . 10 days now and nothing .W#####S !
So they have differently focused beams.
but what's the point of a relatively short throw but very wide sideways illumination ?
Go ride with them both rather than statically looking at them in the dark
Put one on your helmet and one on the bars,
Put your focused on on your head and the other on the bars,
Both have their uses,
inferior
Ahhh lumens, and "brightness" as a way to determine the bestest light, a quantitative measure of something essentially qualitative...
Really, really, really bright focused lights are often quite shite in actual use, I tended to use my X2 mostly in the 'mid' mode (noggin mounted) mostly, as the glare back From something paler, say a patch of pale dusty ground or the bark of an ash could momentarily dazzled you...
"Moar loominz" ain't actually all that important or useful really... It's how they're used...
kaiser - Memberbut what's the point of a relatively short throw but very wide sideways illumination ?
Better field of vision and better night vision correction. The Solarstorm is a tight, bright beam which means you can only see a small area effectively (because your eyes adjust to the brightest point, and therefore get even worse at seeing anything outside of it). Tunnelvision basically, it reduces your useful vision to a small, very bright area. For most people, it'll be less effective than a duller but wider cone of usable light, which is closer to replicating normal riding conditions. For the same reason that we don't wear blinkers when riding.
Chasing the dot used to be a necessary evil, only mega-expensive lights had the grunt to throw good light over a wider area. But that's a thing of the past. Some folks will probably still prefer the tunnelvision, it's very [i]nightridey[/i] and interestingly different but for most riders a powerful flood is better.
But, cheap XML lights tend to be tight beam (*) and XMLs are still the cheapest way to get a big lumen number, so they're still prevalent. I've not personally used the BT70 but the spec makes sense (a pair of quality 4xXPE lights gives me enough light to night-downhill-race, so a 7xXPG light if it's well executed should surpass that.
(* you can do clever things with optics; most don't bother, they want an impressive laserbeam)
Also, the Solarstorms come as standard with pretty bad batteries and awful chargers, which is one of the reasons they're so cheap. I don't know if the Nitefighter one is better mind. Unlikely to be worse.
I have two lights, a Solarstorm X2 and a brighter 3 led more floody one on the bars (the name of which I forget). They are both massively bright; however I hardly ever run them on more than medium power.
I like knowing I've got the powerful lights if I need them; most of of the time they are just overkill though.
Yep my 70 was rubbish also
My BT40 has been resigned to commuting duties, these new more natural yellowy LEDs are shite, nowhere near as good in use as my old lumenators or even the old converted lumi LED lights.
Too floody, too yellow. Nae good.
Nobeerinthefridge - Member
My BT40 has been resigned to commuting duties, these new more natural yellowy LEDs are shite, nowhere near as good in use as my old lumenators or even the old converted lumi LED lights.Too floody, too yellow. Nae good.
The BT40S is a bar light and in my opinion it needs to be run with a helmet light with the same neutral tint, for trail riding.
Most people use it with the BT21 on the helmet.
I use a Convoy C8 XM-L2 T6 torch and the two work well together, great trail definition.
As has been said before, if you use a cool white light with a warm neutral light the white light will reduce the effectiveness of the neutral light.
When riding on my own I use my neutral set up, to me it's simply better.
There's no Solarstorm white light which blasts everything, taking away the trail definition.
More lumens is very important when riding in a decent sized group.
Having a nice wide yellow light is **** all use when the bloke behind you has a brighter light.
Ss2 and ss3 is my setup now after various other lights. Batteries have been very good, one is 18 months old and lasts for longer than my battery box with decent individuals.
"More lumens is very important when riding in a decent sized group.
Having a nice wide yellow light is **** all use when the bloke behind you has a brighter light.
"
Just move over and let the faster guy through , then his light wont bother you any more.
You do see how its a self fulfilling idea right ..... You get more , he gets more , you need more , he needs more. Before you know it you mig as well have just ridden during the day as your riding round with the sun strapped to your bars
That's great, but in the real world where you have 8 people riding and some of which may never have ridden with the group before you don't know what lights people are using etc.
More lumens is probably not right, but the yellowish lights that get lost are just not as good unless you are riding solo.
scandal42 - MemberThat's great, but in the real world where you have 8 people riding and some of which may never have ridden with the group before you don't know what lights people are using etc.
More lumens is probably not right, but the yellowish lights that get lost are just not as good unless you are riding solo.
To be fair, this is a totally valid point... The best light should be the one that gives us the best vision, ie, something closer to natural light, with a good field of vision. But when you're surrounded by people with low quality, super white spotlights, that can undermine the better lights. So there is a fitness for purpose thing here where the best light might not be the best light for your own circumstances.