Wooly undies (&lamp set) in Aldi - must be autumn

[irc]

Not so good. There is a big difference in brightness from the area below the cutoff 15 or 20 ft ahead of the bike and the area immediately ahead of the bike. I will need to try it on an unlit path to see how it works actually riding.

Generally that's how you WANT a shaped-beam to work. Of course it can be too extreme ...

Why? After all in daylight you don't want the road or ground 6 feet in front to be harder to see than the road/ground 20 feet away?

I would have thought an ideal beam would be equally bright with a clean cutoff to avoid dazzling drivers.

[mattheus]

Not so good. There is a big difference in brightness from the area below the cutoff 15 or 20 ft ahead of the bike and the area immediately ahead of the bike. I will need to try it on an unlit path to see how it works actually riding.

Generally that's how you WANT a shaped-beam to work. Of course it can be too extreme ...

Why? After all in daylight you don't want the road or ground 6 feet in front to be harder to see than the road/ground 20 feet away?

I would have thought an ideal beam would be equally bright with a clean cutoff to avoid dazzling drivers.

You're nearer to it [the road 6' in front], so you don't need as much light. And
You've already seen it, cos it was well illuminated a second earlier, and
When you're worried about the nearest 6' you're usually going slower, so less danger

[irc]

Generally that's how you WANT a shaped-beam to work. Of course it can be too extreme ...

Why? After all in daylight you don't want the road or ground 6 feet in front to be harder to see than the road/ground 20 feet away?

I would have thought an ideal beam would be equally bright with a clean cutoff to avoid dazzling drivers.

You're nearer to it [the road 6' in front], so you don't need as much light. And
You've already seen it, cos it was well illuminated a second earlier, and
When you're worried about the nearest 6' you're usually going slower, so less danger

If I am going slower it may be because these is a hazard. Narrow gate etc. I want to see that as much as something further away. Maybe just personal preference or as suggested the degree. As a rough idea I perceive the far away part of the beam to be around 3 or 4x brighter than the near part.

[irc]

If I am going slower it may be because these is a hazard. Narrow gate etc. I want to see that as much as something further away. Maybe just personal preference or as suggested the degree. As a rough idea I perceive the far away part of the beam to be around 3 or 4x brighter than the near part.

Have you got an Aldi light? Because if you haven't there is no point telling me the beam is OK as your beam on your light may be perfectly acceptable while mine isn't.

[mattheus]

I was only commenting on what you said "an ideal beam would be"
If i had this light, I hope I'd have made that clear!

[Sweep]

Currently available in some Aldis for £4.99.

Although certain reservations about not being StVO I found hard to resist at that price, especially as my Lidl rechargeable front has just died.

First impressions - seems quite well made and I rather like the status display.

Will try to use it on some dark lanes soon and report back.

Back also seems quite well made.

[Sweep]

Curious to know how long it takes to fully charge your new light. Does it use a universal bar mount.

Has been addressed elsewhere I think but to confirm (from someone who grabbed one for a fiver)

Well no such thing as a universal mount but it does use a common one.
It's essentially the same as the mount used by many Smart brand front lights of old
and my B&M 4xAA excellent light
and the last few Lidl front lights - AA and USB chargeable.

Of course there will be differences in materials/quality but it's essentially the same mount.
And a good mount - easy to fit on the bars. And a good lock-on to the light.

[simonineaston]

Good to see a proper (B&M compatible?) light mount.

Are such mounts available to buy separately from lamps? That would be handy to allow me to swap the lamp between my main rides.

[rualexander]

Good to see a proper (B&M compatible?) light mount.

Are such mounts available to buy separately from lamps? That would be handy to allow me to swap the lamp between my main rides.

Yes

[Jdsk]

Good to see a proper (B&M compatible?) light mount.

Are such mounts available to buy separately from lamps? That would be handy to allow me to swap the lamp between my main rides.

Is that this sort of mount at the lamp end? (I use these Jtek mounts with our B+M dynamo headlamps.)

Jonathan


https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/lighting-sp ... ing-black/

[colin54]

I think this is the one Simon is talking about Jonathan, as mentioned above, the Bikemate Aldi lamp will fit on a B&M IQ battery lamp mount and vice-versa and both will lock into place, I have just tried this out.
The only issue I've found with the Bikemate bar fitting is that it will swivel from where you have set it - from straight ahead for example, it relies on two sets of moulded plastic radial grooves and a spring to effect adjustment, either the spring is too weak or the grooves are too shallow (or both) to keep it where it's set reliably. I think I'll use a B&M fitting on mine instead as I've a few of them.
Picture from SJS below and also available with another couple of attachment types ; rubber band to handlebar and bolt to fork fitments available from SJS as well.

However this years Crivit - Lidl lamps have are not B&M compatible having a similar mount but the male/female slots are reversed, plus they use the rubber band type handlebar mount which I'm not a fan of a from past experience with other lamps as they have a tendency to split if you take them on and off frequently.

[simonineaston]

Yes that looks like the one, Colin I’m sorry that I didn't make my Q, very clear, earlier.
As it happens, after posing the question, I recalled that I have a couple of relevant accessories tucked away somewhere, which is a rubber moulding, with u shaped scoops at top & bottom, perpendicular to each other and with velcro straps that retain any tube-shaped objects that might sit in the scoops. I forget what name they were sold under, but every now and then, they come in v. useful!

[Sweep]

The compatible Smart brand mount I mentioned upthread is specifically the mount for the old Smart Lunar series, as here

which was available in various powers.

Probably no longer current but very possibly available from many places cheap.

I even picked up a Duracell branded low power light in TK Maxx a while ago which was clearly a Smart Lunar under alternative branding.

By the by the perfectly decent rear Aldi light which comes with that front light fits onto the same belt-clip as the very good long thin USB rear which Aldi sold a few years ago - a very positive click-in for both lights. I have that belt clip fastened to a strap on one of my Ortlieb panniers which I use for touring.

[simonineaston]

found them... snazzy lamp now transferable wine bottle corks always useful.

picture of rubber lamp mount

[mattheus]

Yes that looks like the one, Colin I’m sorry that I didn't make my Q, very clear, earlier.
As it happens, after posing the question, I recalled that I have a couple of relevant accessories tucked away somewhere, which is a rubber moulding, with u shaped scoops at top & bottom, perpendicular to each other and with velcro straps that retain any tube-shaped objects that might sit in the scoops. I forget what name they were sold under, but every now and then, they come in v. useful!IMG_0637.jpeg

Twofish !!!
e.g. https://www.fenixlight.co.uk/product/tw ... mount-1516
Of course, as night follows day, there are now a million copycats on the market ...

Brilliant, simple things