The set was supplied as 6W + 10W, running the lower powered lamp or both together from a 6V 4Ah lead acid battery. I rapidly traded down to 6W and 3W to improve run time and to allow a single lamp to be run from a bottle dynamo. The lower powered lamp had a broad beam lens (NC200-BH) with a spot beam for the higher (NC200-SH). I disliked the spot, it seemed too narrow for my taste, so I bought an additional broad beam lens. Each lens is 6cm in diameter.
I bought enough brackets to kit out three bikes to take these lamps.
This set up was ample for my weekly 20-30 mile club run. The 3W was fine for unlit country roads, the 6W was enough to make motorists dip and was a big help on descents. Battery life proved sufficient for a summer 400K.
Around 2001 I stopped night riding altogether, however I am now beginning to return to it on the occassional winter commute. I bought a replacement 4.5Ah lead acid a couple of years ago which has been little used since.
Lighting has been transformed in the interim period and my 3 LED rear Vistalite would now be a joke. I'd already settled on a SMART 0.5W and E-Lite for the rear but I was unsure what to do at the front. Whilst deciding I've been using the Daylites on 3W + 10W (damned if I can find the 6W bulb anywhere). The 3W remains fine for unlit roads but my commute takes me along a canal tow path where the 10W comes in handy. Starting from this position a switch to weapons grade mega-hundred lumen LED lighting seemed a step too far.
I came across a thread on LED v Incandescent bulbs for front lighting. Brucey included a link to Reflectalite who sell drop-in LED replacements for Halogen bulbs. He included a note of caution with regard to the results.
Reflactalite ratings for Halogen bulbs: 3W = 46 lumens, 6W = 100 lumens, 10W = 201 lumens.
Reflectalite rating for the LED Bulb: 1W = 120-130 lumens.
My first thought was to replace both halogens with 1W LEDs, however in view of the cautionary note from Brucey I decided to start with just one.
Living room tests were inconclusive. The LED Bulb produced a lot of light but in a different beam pattern. A road test was required so I topped up the battery pack.
The road test was illuminating. Sadly my attempts at photography of the differing light patterns failed, the key thing is they were most certainly different.
The chosen test zone was an unlit road and short stretch of canal tow-path. A good bit of fiddling about, swapping and re-swapping bulbs was undertaken whilst stationary to try and judge and compare the various beam patterns before riding on a number of combinations.
The halogen bulbs produce a rectangle of yellowish light on the road a good distance ahead, which fades away at the edges. They also provide a spread of light close to the wheel, with a fair amount out to the sides and up to the heavens as well. If solely using the 10W it is possible to angle it a little further ahead than the 3W creating a larger area of useful light. The top of the lens is visible from my riding position but not dazzlingly so.
The LED bulb produces a similar but brighter rectangle of white light on the road a good distance ahead, with less area of fade at the edges. It also provides a spread of light close to the wheel, with a fair amount out to the sides and up to the heavens as well. It was possible to angle it a little further ahead than the 3W halogen, but not as much as was possible with the 10W halogen. The top of the lens is visible and bordering on the dazzling, some DIY modification (strip of black tape as a minimum) will be required.
Motorists will not usually dip for the 3W halogen but do if I flash them with the 10W. As no one approached me on full beam I do not know how the 1W LED compares in this respect.
Running the 3W halogen with the 1W LED seemed little different to running the 1W LED on it's own. The 10W halogen complemented the 1W LED well allowing me to project a little useful light a little further forward. From the riding position the top of the lens on the 1W LED appeared brighter than both the 3W and the 10W halogen.
During all the bulb swaping and other mucking about the 3W halogen gave up the ghost. It's the second one to have failed on me in just three or four 1/2 hour rides, both at the point of switching on rather than mid ride.
In conclusion I have replaced the 3W halogen with a 1W LED. The resulting light to see by is brighter which is adequate compensation for the slightly different beam pattern. I feel that I'd describe the beam pattern as sharper and more defined; the additional brightness compensating for the loss of fade at the edges. I suspect the light to be seen by is much better too. The run time will be much greater and I won't be blowing bulbs so there will be a cost saving in the long term.
The jury remains out on whether or not to ditch the 10W halogen bulb in favour of running a pair of 1W LEDs.
Edits - picture of lights added to this post. 2/11/13 Reflectalite website now shows this LED bulb model as discontinued.
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