Randoms Round 1 - Interbike 2018
Hank the Tank is a damn good boy.
Interbike 2018 feels much more lively than expected, but it's been slim pickings as far as new products go—many brands have either shown their wares at Eurobike already or have opted to do their own press camps. That said, there are some gems here in Reno.
Alpinestars' New Vector Enduro Helmet
Alpinestars' first mountain bike helmet looks fast and ticks a lot of boxes. The Vector Tech with MIPS costs $179.95 USD, and the Pro version costs $149.95 USD. Weight (size M) with MIPS is a claimed 390 grams.
19 big vents should keep riders cool.
It has an adjustable visor for goggles, and is designed to accommodate eyewear storage.
Lots of adjustments.
Details.
Vee Tire Co's Updated Flow Snap
Vee Tire began working with the Propain Dirt Sixpack team early in 2018, using their own facilities in Thailand, from rubber plantation, moulding, compound, and through the production line, to develop a World Cup level version of their current Flow Snap. Apparently the team has been enjoying the new tire, with Henry Kerr taking 2nd in Junior Men's DH World Cup overall. Details on official release were vague, but it sounds like they could be available in Q1 or Q2 2019.
Using their "gravity core" casing and a new ultra-soft compound that feels close to fresh gummy-bear consistency, the tire has higher centre knobs and less angled side knobs compared to the standard Flow Snap.
Vee produced some "Go Thailand" as well as "Go UK" and "Go Austria" hot patches for their athletes at World Champs.
Lupine's 7200 Lumen Alpha Light
Yep, 7200 lumens. Honestly, you might not be able to ride with other people with this light, but damn. With winter approaching the thought of strapping what feels like the full force of the sun onto your bike sure sounds good.
The Alpha is IP68 water resistant and IK09 impact resistant, and combines 3 kinds of lenses (ultra-wide angle, 22°, and 18°) to dial in the beam pattern. It also mounts via quick release system that centres it at the front of your stem.
All that power does come with a price, in this case $1,365 USD.
The battery has 6.9 Ah, and will last for 1 hour and 20 minutes at the full 7200 lumens, provided you go fast enough to keep the heat management from kicking in.
There's an app that lets you customize different light mode profiles.
Colour temperature is a cool 6000K from Cree XM-L2 and XQE HI LEDs, but their German site shows an option for a warmer tint as well.
Osprey's Savu Hip Bag
Introduced earlier this year, Osprey's Savu hip bag has lots of nice details, like an angled hip-belt that is designed to minimize interference during pedalling. Everything cinches up nicely and it looks like they've worked hard to provide a snug, stable fit.
They also had images of a larger Seral hip bag that's a Troy Lee collab, but no physical samples. We'll keep our eyes out for that as well. Pricing TBC.
The bottle holders hold their shape and make it easy to put your bottle back in, or you can unsnap the holders and run the bag flat without bottles. Slick.
Separate phone pocket for the gram.
Stay tuned for lots more...
Mentions: @AlpinestarsMTB
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I'd rather have something like two Blackburn Dayblazer 1100's. Could do that for about $160 and I know those lights go through legit testing and the lumens don't taper in 15 minutes. Figure that the average car's high beam is 11-1200 lumens... having two day blazers is like driving with your high beams on.
4000 lumens on the gemini titan is plenty.
No verdict on it at this point, but I think it's cool that someone's making it and I bet it helps bring down the cost of super powerful lights in the future.
Lupine is a German company, everything is done in house. You can get spares for nearly everything and they'll repair your light if ever needed. Customer service is great and @IamTheDogEzra, you can even mail their dog if you're feeling lonely. I have no experience with their cellphone stuff, but the built in battery management software is pretty clever.
Sure you can get a lot of output for less money so if that's what you're after, you're already being catered for. I just personally feel bad about a product if something silly breaks down and I can't get spares or can't get it repaired, rendering an otherwise fine product useless. It won't happen here.
I currently ride with an older model of their Piko light. I think it has 500 lumen max, the current model has three times as much power (and even their smallest Neo light is brighter).
I can imagine you're having a hard time demanding excuses for the asking price when shopping. Or well, I'd like to see that actually. Now that would be pure comedy.
The only reason this product is priced the way it is is that fools like you are willing to defend it... which you are. You're yapping away about battery management and customer service and spare parts as though that's not the basic expectation of a company and can't be found from any of the other top manufacturers for less than half the price. This product is a joke, and not a funny one.
I have I think 6 different Blackburn lights that I run for different purposes. This is a good light... depending on your needs.
These little Cree lights are old news.
Yet most aftermarket car lights and bike lights are using the old teck.
Cob leds are far more powerful.
There are many reasons's this light package costs what it does and I'm not going to waste my time trying to explain that to people that are just going to find any reason to debate. It's the same paradigm as the high-end $10,000 Trek or Specialized bikes that pave the way for more affordable products down the road. If lights like this weren't being produced now there won't be lights this bright for half the cost in the future.
One thing I will say that seems to be missing here are what you get in mid-level light range. The post talks about the high power run times, but what it's missing is how much middle range there is. When 7200 is max (which in reality max is rated higher but Lupine round down, not up) what about the middle range lighting that can be programmed to get the most light per run times.
And bottom line if it's too expensive for you, then buy what you can.
So there you go. Give it all you've got!
Regardless... if you feel there's some technology that warrants a bicycle light being priced in the same range as GPS integrated trophy truck lighting, feel free to elaborate on what that technology is. Referencing customer service and all that nonsense that's standard practice for all companies doesn't justify the cost.
This isn't about being able to afford it or wanting to buy it... it's about the simple reality that bicycle and accessory manufacturers have run amok in their pricing because fanboys like you think a $1300 light on your bars is impressive somehow. If you enjoy being robbed, I'm not here to judge your kink... but we as consumers need to stop accepting this bullshit. Guarantee you that setup costs less than $200 per unit to produce... charging $1000+ for it is borderline obscene.
It's a light system... there's very little R&D, literally no new technologies incorporated, minimal hardware programming and even less software.
Setting aside the reality that inefficiencies in their scale of manufacturing isn't a justification for pricing; last I checked, Knolly and other "boutique" builders aren't charging 3-5x times what larger competitors were.
There is zero revolutionary tech in this system, zero ground breaking innovation... this is nothing but application of existing technology with very limited custom programming. Like I said, if you're into overpaying... that's cool for you. But suggesting that consumers should be accepting of this level of price gouging is absurd.
Seriously... that's the best justification you can come up with? "Let's see you build one" is your answer? If I wanted to build light systems, I wouldn't have studied CS... I'd have become an engineer. And if i wanted to get bent over and taken advantage of, I'd buy this light. But, since neither of those are things i'm interested in... he we are talking about why only a moron would think a shitty little German company robbing consumers sounds like a good thing to you.
Still waiting on you to list some epic tech breakthrough or other real innovation that justifies this pricetag... got anything, aside from your feelings, to offer up?
Aside from that point, from a business standpoint if you need to markup your products cost 15x to bring it to market while covering your R&D costs when very good competing products are already available for say a 2-4x markup, it would be pretty stupid to bring that product to market at that price and you shouldn't have wasted your time and money on R&D in the first place.
I have seen the wifi lighting managment app on other lights so it's modular.
All leds run at five volts.
One watt produces approximately 300 lumens.
All the parts can be purchased on E bay .
Two ten watt COB LEDs with six 18640 batteries would be the power.
The reflector and housing are perhaps a few dollars as they are mass produced .
Two COB leds 50$
Fancy app circuit probably 10$
Will work just fine with out fancy software.
Six batteries at 12$ each 72$
Reflector and housing I'm guessing 10$
Wiring and labor 10$
This is based on buying in bulk from china .
My cob unit would have much better colour and a greater lumen out put.
Thee are built COB grow lights on E bay for under 200$.
Just using E bay parts I could easily build a 20 watt or 30 watt led light for about 200$
20 watts is about 6000 lumens
30 watts is about 9000 lumens.
All you need is to know how to solder wires and have perhaps a high school education.
Didn't some one on PB do a start up company for a bike light?
Pretty easy to understand actually.
You can get plenty of light for $200-400.