OT: L&M Seca 1400 light - daily special at biketiresdirect.com - $200 (MSRP $500)

[Jason Thorpe]

This is a SERIOUSLY bright light. Can mount on bar or helmet. And quite a steal at $200.

http://www.biketiresdirect.com/product/light-motion-seca-1400-race-light

-- thorpej

[Guilherme Germoglio]

Owners, How long is the real burning time of it?

[Daniel Hobe]

Not sure about the 1400, but I have the 700 with a battery that is 2x
the size of the one on the 1400 Race. I can easily get 4+ hours at
full power. So the claimed 1:30 of this model seems about right.

On Fri, Apr 5, 2013 at 9:20 AM, Guilherme Germoglio <germ...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Owners, How long is the real burning time of it?
>

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Daniel Hobe <ho...@gmail.com>

[Jason Thorpe]

On Apr 5, 2013, at 9:20 AM, Guilherme Germoglio <germ...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Owners, How long is the real burning time of it?
>

I've run mine at FULL-POWAH for ~hour long early AM dirt loops in GGP (makes it easier to see the skunks, yo), so I'm guessing the 1:30 estimated burn time at full-power is pretty close to correct. When riding on the road, I never turn either this light or my Taz 1200 up past Medium (and usually run them on Low).

The "race mode" feature of the Seca is particularly awesome because it allows you to easily toggle between High and Low.

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-- thorpej

[Kyle B]

Hmm, I want this, but I'm still scarred from Barry Beams stealing my money the last time I tried to buy a light.

[Peter Chang]

2013/4/5 Kyle B <kyle.b...@gmail.com>:

> Hmm, I want this, but I'm still scarred from Barry Beams stealing my money
> the last time I tried to buy a light.

well, bike tires direct is big enough that that's not going to happen.

i think the l&m stuff is nice-ish but still maybe a little spotty for
quality control. my new rear just gave up the ghost and when i played
w/ the pcb the battery's terminals are shorted to each other so it
seems like the pcb cracked somewhere. the other rear is going strong
after i jb welded it back together but that one did require an rma at
one point in the past (i didn't bother w/ the new one since i got it
cheap through bret).

\p

[Jason Thorpe]

On Apr 5, 2013, at 10:19 AM, Peter Chang <d...@google.com> wrote:

> 2013/4/5 Kyle B <kyle.b...@gmail.com>:
>> Hmm, I want this, but I'm still scarred from Barry Beams stealing my money
>> the last time I tried to buy a light.
>
> well, bike tires direct is big enough that that's not going to happen.

Yes, BTD is a reputable seller with very good customer service. I've used them for a few years now and never been disappointed in any way.

> i think the l&m stuff is nice-ish but still maybe a little spotty for
> quality control. my new rear just gave up the ghost and when i played
> w/ the pcb the battery's terminals are shorted to each other so it
> seems like the pcb cracked somewhere. the other rear is going strong
> after i jb welded it back together but that one did require an rma at
> one point in the past (i didn't bother w/ the new one since i got it
> cheap through bret).

Well, L&M is a metric ass-load better than Niterider in the QC department, in my experience, and their customer service is also top notch (I've never had to use it, because none of the N L&M lights I own have ever had a problem, but I've gotten reports of good customer service experiences from folks like Ammon, etc.).

-- thorpej

[Ben Kraft]

agreed,

- wet snow was enough to short out the switch on my brothers urban 300 (first use),

- the hinge on my nearly-new l&m taillight is cracked. It hasn't been abused. Not sure what happened.

Otherwise, I like them. I'm not sure reliable battery operated bike lights exist (my dynamo systems are great, even in salt and snow).

[Jason Thorpe]

On Apr 5, 2013, at 10:28 AM, Ben Kraft <ben....@gmail.com> wrote:

agreed,

- wet snow was enough to short out the switch on my brothers urban 300 (first use),

Weird. I ride with my Stella and Taz in the rain all the time.

- the hinge on my nearly-new l&m taillight is cracked. It hasn't been abused. Not sure what happened.

Hinge on Ammon's taillight cracked / broke on Mudcicleway last year, but L&M replaced it no questions asked.

-- thorpej

[Peter Chang]

2013/4/5 Jason Thorpe <tho...@me.com>:

>
> On Apr 5, 2013, at 10:19 AM, Peter Chang <d...@google.com> wrote:
>
>> i think the l&m stuff is nice-ish but still maybe a little spotty for
>> quality control.
>

> Well, L&M is a metric ass-load better than Niterider in the QC department, in my experience, and their customer service is also top notch (I've never had to use it, because none of the N L&M lights I own have ever had a problem, but I've gotten reports of good customer service experiences from folks like Ammon, etc.).

niteride customer service isn't too bad either. i've only used rears
but i'm not sure that i'd put l&m much further along than niterider
for those. going to quasi-disposable blinkies (your mileage is going
to vary but after a winter of commutes i usually end up shorting
something in a catastrophic way) would probably end up being cheaper
:-(

anyway, i'm trying my luck w/ an exposure front light (a little
commuter one) and it's held up pretty well thus far. the switch is a
little fiddlier than i'd like (i really just run on/off/blink), but it
hasn't crapped out on me yet.

\p

[Scott Crosby]

> Hmm, I want this, but I'm still scarred from Barry Beams stealing my money the last time I tried to buy a light.

did you see the kickstarter update?  sounds like there have been production problems with the BBs.  this seems to be the case with a lot of kickstarter projects -- manufacturing is HARD, and it takes everyone longer than they thought it would.  same with the Form 1 3D printers, the ZPM espresso machines, Faraday bikes, etc. etc.  I'm willing to give BB a little more time before I declare it a scam.

in any case, like PfC says, BTD is legit for sure.

(and my L&M ArcLiON is still rocking after 8+ years, original battery pack and all.)

but for my caltrain bike, I've gone retro-Carlin and bought a dynamo hub wheel and 1 watt planet bike LED light.  pretty dang bright, no batteries to worry about.  you can get a nice Shimano dynamo wheel for $150-200 on ebay.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR2.TRC1&_nkw=shimano+dynamo+&_sacat=0&_from=R40

-sc

[steve armijo]

True that. If my 5 year old L&M HID front light would die i could
reasonably justify getting a new light.

For $200 I was expecting this to be a pretty good deal on the head
unit but the fact it comes with battery is almost too good to pass up.

The only downside I can see to this is it isn't an all in one unit so
you've got to deal with cable routing. Makes it annoying when
swapping the light between bikes. Pretty small issue overall but I've
mostly made up my mind my next light will be an all-in-one.

-s

[Nathan Dushman]

On Fri, Apr 05, 2013 at 10:34:52AM -0700, Peter Chang wrote:
> niteride customer service isn't too bad either. i've only used rears
> but i'm not sure that i'd put l&m much further along than niterider
> for those.

Niterider customer service has been excellent for me. I've broken the mount
for their inexpensive front lights - the AA powered ones - several times
(one due to a car door, the other to a mountain-bike crash, so not their
fault). I emailed my address and they promptly sent a replacement, free.

I haven't had any other issues with NiteRider lights and I've used them for
years. I also haven't tried their more powerful ones; my "to see by" front
is an old VistaLite that's held up pretty well.

Nathan

[Jason Thorpe]

On Apr 5, 2013, at 10:41 AM, Scott Crosby <scr...@gmail.com> wrote:

retro-Carlin

This is my new favorite bike phrase.

-- thorpej

[Judd Blair]

Although I'm not sure Crosby's hub and/or light applies. I'm waiting for Carlin to chime in with some obscure Japanese brand that makes another one that is so much better, if only you had heard of it. 

[Carlin Eng]

Hah, no. Shimano dynamo hubs are awesome. Schmidt (German) makes what are considered the best dynamo hubs, but they're waaay more expensive than Shimano ones. Sanyo makes really cheap dynamo hubs that perform 90% as well as more expensive alternatives.

And as Jan Heine once said, "Riding a bike with each part chosen for performance is not retro. Retro is painting your bike orange because Eddy Merckx was sponsored by an Italian sausage maker."

[Scott Crosby]

because shellacked grips are "performance"! 

[Peter Chang]

2013/4/5 Judd Blair <judd...@gmail.com>:

> I'm waiting for Carlin to chime in with some obscure Japanese brand that makes another one
> that is so much better, if only you had heard of it.

did the hipsters all move to rando-nerding (from fixies)? cool.

\p

[steve armijo]

oi, isn't that the Son hub? http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/schmidt.asp

well i guess that's German and probably a little too mainstream ;)

-s

On Fri, Apr 5, 2013 at 10:53 AM, Judd Blair <judd...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Carlin Eng]

Shellacked cotton tape is a Grant Petersen thing. Jan and Grant have very different bike philosophies. Grant explicitly does not care about such trivial things as "performance".

[Carlin Eng]

That's the one!

[Peter Chang]

2013/4/5 Scott Crosby <scr...@gmail.com>:

> because shellacked grips are "performance"!

now, you're just making shit up. next you're going to talk about
tie/solder spokes.

\p

[Patrick Kitto]

The issue with niterider is not the customer service, it is the manufacturing QC.

I bought a complete 24hr race set-up in 2006 (a moab and a flight with a second battery. moab gets 12 hrs on low, 4 hrs on high and a flight battery gets 45m-1h15m on high and about 3 hrs on low, so the moab for through the night and swap out the flight batter each lap).

batteries/chargers: The moab was great from the get go, but the flight had issues. it took 3 shipments into the shop to get resolved.

head units: they had an issue with the cable connection being to stiff/strong such that the terminal pulled out of the main unit. had to send in both head units so they could retrofit with a short length of cord so you could effectively grab both sides of the connection. Three years later, the connections became loose again and had to be sent in ot be replaced.

In the first year all the work was done no questions asked. Since then I have spent over $100 on service. ($20 bench fee to diagnose and repair plus parts per unit per service). but $15/yr in maintenance isnt too bad once you forget the fortune you dropped on the set in the first place.

And the timeline to getting your equipment back is all over the map. i have gotten it in 5 working days and 15 working days. My biggest gripe was that they put warranty work at the back of the queue behind out-of-warranty  paid service.

On Fri, Apr 5, 2013 at 10:49 AM, Jason Thorpe <tho...@me.com> wrote:

[Tracy Van Dyk]

Hey Faraday rents some space from my company. Can go poke them if you'd like :)

[Peter Chang]

2013/4/5 Patrick Kitto <patric...@gmail.com>:

> head units: they had an issue with the cable connection being to
> stiff/strong such that the terminal pulled out of the main unit. had to send
> in both head units so they could retrofit with a short length of cord so you
> could effectively grab both sides of the connection. Three years later, the
> connections became loose again and had to be sent in ot be replaced.

yeah, dealing w/ strain relief (or whatever you mechanical guys call
it) is why i'm w/ steve for searching for 'standalone' units (since
i've crossed 24hr racing off my list already).

\p

[Judd Blair]

Actually yes. I always consider BDB a good pulse on what the hipster kids are riding - 5 years ago was stuffed to the brim with track parts and NJS doodads, now it's all small-production handmade racks and bags. 

[Peter Chang]

2013/4/5 Judd Blair <judd...@gmail.com>:

> Actually yes. I always consider BDB a good pulse on what the hipster kids
> are riding

tla fail. wtf is bdb? i'm assuming it isn't
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=BDB

\p

[Jason Thorpe]

Box Dog Bikes. Berkeley DB isn't really tuned into what the hipster kids are doing, like, at all...

-- thorpej

[steve armijo]

it's Judds pet name for Carlin

-s

[djconnel]

Same with me.  They swapped my Newt mount because they'd redesigned it and I asked for the new one.  I can unscrew the light, clean the lens, check the electrical connections, and rebuild it and it looks designed to last, not some cheap crap which I'm expected to toss in 6 months. 

http://djconnel.blogspot.com/2012/08/cateye-munewt-long-term-use-report.html

At 250 lumins, mine is fine and I rarely even use it at the full power (it's actually a bit less than 250 lumins according to MTBR, but that's what it claims).  The new ones are 600 or so, however: blinding.

[Carlin Eng]

Hey come on now, I was *never* into all that NJS/track nonsense!

[Peter Chang]

2013/4/5 Carlin Eng <carl...@gmail.com>:

> Hey come on now, I was *never* into all that NJS/track nonsense!

ISO or die!

\p

[b]

This accusation of stealing compels me to comment.

     Some people understand that delays came up outside of what could be reasonably expected.  Other won't or don't want to understand.  I'm embarrassed and apologetic on the occasions when a chance meeting in person with with a supporter occurs, and to those who write me privately for more detail.  Some of you on NDA know more than I can let out publicly.

But it not a pleasant feeling to be accused of stealing over all this.  I've been busting my butt to get funding, and properly addressing the contract situations with the well known bicycle equipment company. Without that contract signed last summer, I would not have placed the Kickstarter.  A week from now I hope to be please to announce that I'm funded by frontline Silicon Valley investors.  Starting after a personal introduction to one of their principal people, I've cleared two interviews and presentations with them, and am headed for the full gauntlet next week.

     The people who I owe a light to have every right to feel frustrated.  Those who ask for info privately, get as much as is prudent to disclose.

     That L&M 1400 is a sweet light, with only the need for the heavy separately wired battery and weak bracket and strap being drawbacks.  They are new old stock, being sold off at above wholesale due to the newer models having higher light output, simply by using newer more efficient versions fo the LEDs, and new higher capacity versions of the same batteries.

     A side by side ride at Laguna Seca last year showed that my Barry Beam is superior light to the the L&M1400.  L&M's raw glare monster uncontrolled swath of light sends out a lot of rays.  But my rays are precise and sharply placed where the rider needs to have them, without waste or glare.  My light gives superior depth perception and contrast over the L&M.  But mine aren't for sale yet and the L&M 1400 is, and at a great price, so do go for it.

Sorry again to those who paid for lights that I am not yet able to deliver.

Helmet Side Up,

Barry

On Fri, Apr 5, 2013 at 10:41 AM, Scott Crosby <scr...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Hmm, I want this, but I'm still scarred from Barry Beams stealing my money the last time I tried to buy a light.

did you see the kickstarter update?  sounds like there have been production problems with the BBs.  this seems to be the case with a lot of kickstarter projects -- manufacturing is HARD, and it takes everyone longer than they thought it would.  same with the Form 1 3D printers, the ZPM espresso machines, Faraday bikes, etc. etc.  I'm willing to give BB a little more time before I declare it a scam.

in any case, like PfC says, BTD is legit for sure.

(and my L&M ArcLiON is still rocking after 8+ years, original battery pack and all.)

but for my caltrain bike, I've gone retro-Carlin and bought a dynamo hub wheel and 1 watt planet bike LED light.  pretty dang bright, no batteries to worry about.  you can get a nice Shimano dynamo wheel for $150-200 on ebay.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR2.TRC1&_nkw=shimano+dynamo+&_sacat=0&_from=R40

-sc

On Fri, Apr 5, 2013 at 10:11 AM, Kyle B <kyle.b...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hmm, I want this, but I'm still scarred from Barry Beams stealing my money the last time I tried to buy a light.

On Friday, April 5, 2013 8:11:52 AM UTC-7, thorpej wrote:

This is a SERIOUSLY bright light.  Can mount on bar or helmet.  And quite a steal at $200.

http://www.biketiresdirect.com/product/light-motion-seca-1400-race-light

-- thorpej

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