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Posts Tagged ‘Leds’

Planet Bike Blinky 3 3 Led Rear Bicycle Light

March 31st, 2010

Planet Bike Blinky 3 3 Led Rear Bicycle Light




The Planet Bike Blinky “3″ 3-Led Rear Bicycle Light provides 300 percent brighter eXtreme LEDs to ensure that you will be seen by cars coming up from behind for as far as one mile away. Users rave about the exceptional brightness of this powerful little light as well as its long battery life. The light features steady or blinking modes, and will run on two AAA batteries for up to 200 hours.

Super convenient and easy to use, the light has two mounting options–a clip for the seat post or a clip for a rear-side strut. The clip can also be attached to a bag or clothing so you can use it for night walking as well as riding. Easy to detach from the seat post mount, the light is small enough to fit into a pocket or small bag if you need to take it with you. Altogether, the Blinky is an economical choice that offers long-lasting visibility for night riding and lots of convenience.

What’s in the Box?
Planet Bike Blinky Bicycle light, seatpost mount, seatstay mount, two AAA batteries

About Planet Bike
In November 1996, Planet Bike was founded in Madison, WI. In many ways, Planet Bike began as a social experiment that dedicated itself to doing business in a different way. Instead of being just another company that develops and sells products with profit as its end goal, Planet Bike wanted to help bring about positive change for people, their communities, and the environment.

Despite being a simple machine, the people at Planet Bike have always believed that the bicycle has great potential to help improve the world and the lives of the people in it. From the start, they have embraced an alternative corporate purpose which seeks to help get more people on bicycles by making communities friendlier places for the self-propelled. By donating 25% of company profits to causes that promote and facilitate bicycle usage, Planet Bike hopes to make an impact.

Social experiments aside, Planet Bike was born from the heart of a cyclist with a goal of making innovative, high-quality, and practical bicycle accessories. Simply put, the company strives to design and develop the best bicycle products in the world. In the company’s short 10-year history, it has made important product innovations within the bicycle industry. Advancements include the four-line computer which is now a standard in the industry and the world’s first self-contained HID light. Not bad for a company that 10 years ago started as a one-man operation. Today, while still a small company, Planet Bike continues to evolve and improve its product line with the goal of always striving to build accessories that make it easier for people to ride their bikes. Since 1996, Planet Bike’s financial support of the grassroots bicycle movement has totaled $500,000. By 2010, they have made a goal to donate $1 million to organizations that are dedicated to making America a friendlier place for cyclists.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Bicycle Light
I think this light is well worth the money. I occasionally ride when

it’s dark and this “Blinky” add the measure of safety I wanted.

5 Stars Good stuff!!
This is a great product for the money. The mount was a cinch to install on the seat post of my bike and took only about 10 minutes. It comes without instructions, and I was a little puzzled at first as to how to install the batteries. That was a minor hurdle and certainly no reason to rate the light down at all. It was a simple matter of pulling the red lens cover away from the black part. It takes a little effort, and I was afraid of breaking it. However, it proved to be up to the task so don’t be too worried about that–you should be able to do it with just your hands easily enough. I can’t speak to the battery life at this point, but the light is BRIGHT! When I held it at arms length I was seeing spots afterwards. A driver would have to be asleep at the wheel not to notice me.

3 Stars Light good, attachment pieces terrible
Five stars for the actual light, one star for the attachment pieces. If you don’t have a seat bag, it should attach fine to your seat post. If you have a seat bag, then it has to clip to the back of your seat bag or on the seat stays. Neither of the two attachment pieces they sent fit on the seat stays on our Specialized bikes (which are not rounded). One of the piece is too large for the stays, the other is too small. So, we put the lights on our seat bag tags, but it just clips on and does not have a snap… and so one of ours fell off one of the bags when we were biking recently and hit a small bump. Thankfully we heard it fall and retrieved it; now I’m trying to cover the clip with duct tape. The manufacturer needs to have a clip bottom that actually snaps to the frame so there’s no possibility of the unit falling off. They also need to provide some type of adjustable attachment device that will ensure that the light can be attached to any seat stay.

5 Stars lifesaver
Does what it’s supposed to do, and does it well. 3 LEDs, plenty bright. Battery life is good. Comes with seat post and seat stay attachments, the stay one is pretty useful for attaching the light in odd places (such as my milk crate).

A typically well thought-out and quality Planet Bike product.

PS: This is the same light that comes with the combined Beamer 1 and Blinky 3 set, but the set doesn’t come with the seat stay mount.

4 Stars Good light for the price
Not much to say, this is a great light for the price. 3 functions work well and it is easy to install.

Plus, it’s from Madison, WI (great biking city) so you know it’s good!

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Planet Bike Beamer 3 LED Bicycle Light with Quick Cam Bracket Mount

May 18th, 2009

Planet Bike Beamer 3 LED Bicycle Light with Quick Cam Bracket Mount




Whether you’re a 24-hour racer or a super commuter, the Planet Bike Beamer 3 bicycle light will keep your path well lit. The Beamer 3 is equipped with three white Nichia eXtreme v2.0 LEDs, which not only illuminate your way after the sun has gone down, but also make you visible to passing cars or pedestrians. In addition, the light attaches securely to your bike thanks to the Quick Cam bracket mounts, which adjust or remove in seconds without tools. The Beamer 3–which offers up to 100 hours of runtime on two AA batteries (included)–boasts both flashing and steady modes and carries a limited lifetime warranty.

About Planet Bike
In November of 1996, Planet Bike was founded in Madison, Wisconsin. In many ways, Planet Bike began as a social experiment that dedicated itself to doing business in a different way. Instead of being just another company that develops and sells products with profit as its end goal, Planet Bike wanted to help bring about positive change for people, their communities, and the environment.

Despite being a simple machine, the people at Planet Bike have always believed that the bicycle has great potential to help improve the world and the lives of the people in it. From the start, they have embraced an alternative corporate purpose which seeks to help get more people on bicycles by making communities friendlier places for the self-propelled. By donating 25% of company profits to causes that promote and facilitate bicycle usage, Planet Bike hopes to make an impact.

Social experiments aside, Planet Bike was born from the heart of a cyclist with a goal of making innovative, high quality, and practical bicycle accessories. Simply put, they strive to design and develop the best bicycle products in the world. In the company’s short ten year history, they have made important product innovations within the bicycle industry. Advancements include the 4-line computer which is now a standard in the industry and the world’s first self-contained HID light. Not bad for a company that ten years ago started as a one man operation. Today, while still a small company, Planet Bike continues to evolve and improve their product line with the goal of always striving to build accessories that make it easier for people to ride their bikes. Since 1996, Planet Bike’s financial support of the grassroots bicycle movement has totaled $500,000. By 2010, they have made a goal to donate $1 million to organizations that are dedicated to making America a friendlier place for cyclists.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars STRONG LIGHT!
This is a really great light to have. I’m in a metropolitan area so it’s not like I use this in wooded areas often but this light is still really strong.

5 Stars Great Safety Light
This is a great little safety light, but understand that it is a safety light. That is to say it is a “see this and don’t hit me” light vs. “let me see what I’m about to hit”. Its not designed to illuminate the road in front if you, your need something with a lot more wattage and $ for that task. This little guy is designed to alert others to your existence so they don’t turn you into a hood ornament.

I considered this unit vs. some of the smaller safety lights. I settle on this one for a couple of reasons

1 – It takes 2x AA batteries vs. 2x “N” cells which can be a pain to find.

2 – It seems way more durable. Good solid plastic (yea, its still plastic).

3 – Changing the batteries is very easy and doesn’t require any tools or frustration. The front of the unit rotates, unlocks comes off.

4 – I’m going to guess its better weather sealed than the other units.

5 – Its brighter but not too bright, I ride with a group at night and I didn’t want the flashing thing to give off too much like as this can be distracting in some scenarios.

On the down side it is bigger, bulkier and heavier than some of the smaller units, but that’s the price you pay for AA.

The light it puts out seems adequate for the job. Its equal to a medium grade LED headlamp. The button is a bit hard to push but won’t be accidentally activated. The first push makes it flash, the second push is steady and the next push turns it off.

The mount is nice in that it doesn’t require a screw driver to mount, though it is a bit more complicated. I was a bit concerned that it wouldn’t fit on my oversized handlebars but it had enough play.

The mount is adjustable in two ways. First there is a click slide (kind of like a zip tie) that lets you make adjustments by sliding a plastic belt into a click buckle (you can always lift it up and let it out). Then there is the mounting screw. It’s a bit complicated but it threads into a rotating block at the top. By adjusting the amount of screw that goes through the block you increase or decrease the diameter of the mount. The final torque is applied with a flip lever that holds the other half of the screw. So you get it close with the sliding band, then do the find adjustments with the screw and lock it down with the flip lever. Complicated but saves the need for a screwdriver. There is also small rubber sleeve on part of the band to help prevent slippage.

So in summary

Pros

Durable

Uses AA batteries

Good output

Easy to change batteries

Cons

Bigger than others

Tough switch.

Conclusion

If your looking for a safety light that runs on AA’s look no further. They make the 5 LED version for a few bucks more, not a significant difference in output though.

4 Stars nice built
like it.

dropped twice by accident and still works fine.

the 3 led lights are pretty strong compared the one i had before (Plant’s Spot one) but the clip instruction was a little confusing when I first attempted to install it.

Other than that it’s pretty good, I haven’t used it massively so not sure how long the battery life will be, but it wouldn’t be a issue.

just bring extra AA batteries.

5 Stars My first headlamp
This review is more about the construction of the lamp than about how it actually works. That’s because I never got the chance to test it. I decided to get a lamp after mis-judging the time and having to bike through pitch-black woods for more than an hour. I don’t anticipate needing to use this lamp in the near future but I got it just in case.

The lamp itself has a solid plastic construction and is waterproof. It’s compact and looks pretty slick. It has 3 LED’s that seem to be very bright (tested in a dark room) but the circle of light doesn’t seem to be very large. Doesn’t matter, in pitch-black darkness it is sure to light up the whole surroundings.

I should also mention that the lamp can be easily slid off the holding mechanism, turning it into a regular flashlight.

One thing bugs me about this lamp but it’s nothing serious: the fact that its 2 settings (intermittent and continuous) are exactly in this order. Meaning that if you press the power button once you get the intermittent setting; pressing it again gets the continuous setting. I realize this is probably convenient for road-bikers but for me it doesn’t seem like the correct order.

4 Stars Great Light
No complaints. The 3 led lights are bright and the quick release works wonderfully. Planet Bike FTW!

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