# light shoot out test



## Sasquatch (Dec 23, 2003)

I just got a new LED light, and I wanted to test it out, comparing it to some of the standard night riding lights used by the Disciples Of Dirt. I took advantage of a planned tube repair party, asking folks to bring their night riding lights, and I set up a testing area in Brock's backyard. The results are not surprising, but I figure folks may be interested in seeing the relative brightness of various lights available. HID lights are the brightest, and halogens are less bright and kinda yellow. My new lights are LED lights, hand built by Scar, a MTBR member from Colorado. I was impressed with his handiwork, and had him build me a couple of pairs of LED lights. I tested both a Spot version, and a Flood version of Scar's Amoeba brand LED's against the other lights, and I am very impressed with these new LEDs. They are almost as bright as HIDs, but much smaller, and very light, as well as pretty inexpensive for a solid built light. Send a Private Message to Scar if you're interested in buying a set of his lights, and check out Scar's thread on the Lighting Forum.

https://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=354430

Here are photos of the 10 lights tested (I tested 2 Niterider HIDs to see if they were all the same brightness. they were) and a few pictures from "tubefest"

All lights pictures set on brightest setting

Niterider HID #1









Niterider HID #2









Trailtech HID flood









Light & Motion HID









Amoeba flood









Amoeba spot









Knog Gator 605









Light & Motion dual halogen









Jet 20w halogen flood









Jet 12w halogen









My photos don't tell you much, but you can see the Amoeba spot, and the L&M dual lights cast a wider light than the rest, and comparing the brightness of the tree in the distance helps see how far the lights can project. The plates are set at 20, 40, 60, and 80 feet, and the tree in the background is at 75 feet. Next time, I would try to use a more open, flatter area to test the lights.

The amoeba lights are bright, and the flood really lights up a wide area, without seeming to dilute the brightness. I was very impressed, and look forward to testing these new LEDs on singletrack!

Tubefest


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## notenoughtime (Sep 7, 2004)

Do you have any specs on your light? I'm looking at the flood and light the beam pattern. What optics and at what current are they running at? Are they SSC or Cree? Thanks.


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## crisillo (Jul 3, 2004)

very cool tube fest 


Thanks for the comparo!


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## scar (Jun 2, 2005)

Hey Matt,
Thanks for taking some beam shots of my lights. We got snow on the ground here in Colorado and I didn't know how that would effect beam shots. Here are the specifics for the Amoeba lights in Sasquatch's photos.

Amoeba with flood pattern:
LED's - SSC P4
Reflector - custom molded
Forward current - 800ma

Amoeba with spot pattern:
LEDS's - Cree P4 WD tint
Reflector - Fraen 7 degree
Forward current - 800ma

It looks like the the Amoeba with the Crees (spot) was aimed at the pile of brush, the throw of this set-up is much farther than is shown in the photo with plenty of useable side spill.

I have been playing around a little with an Amoeba set-up with Cree R2's WG tint. The throw is incredible and there is more color (not so blue/white). No trail useage, just been shining it out the back door of my garage lighting up the neighbors houses down the block during Fat Tire breaks.

Jay


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## Cody Broken (Oct 28, 2006)

I commend your brilliant effort, and your generosity in sharing the results. The Adirondack chair to the left lends an excellent measure of beam spill, which is just as informative as the plates.

Thanks again for a well executed light test.


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## Sasquatch (Dec 23, 2003)

scar said:


> Hey Matt,
> It looks like the the Amoeba with the Crees (spot) was aimed at the pile of brush, the throw of this set-up is much farther than is shown in the photo with plenty of useable side spill.
> 
> Jay


You're probably right. I was holding the lights, and trying to aim them at the furthest plate, but it was tough to aim, and with a 2 second shutter speed, the lights probably bounced around a bit. Either way, it does throw the light far.


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## Sasquatch (Dec 23, 2003)

Cody Broken said:


> I commend your brilliant effort, and your generosity in sharing the results. The Adirondack chair to the left lends an excellent measure of beam spill, which is just as informative as the plates.
> 
> Thanks again for a well executed light test.


Thanks for the compliments.

The Adirondack chair is a good test of the width of each beam. It's invisible in some pics, barely visible in others, and obvious with the Amoeba flood, and the Light & Motion dual halogen set up.


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## MrBigglesworth69 (Dec 6, 2007)

*Bicuits*

I am glad i didnt get the Knog gator. Do you guys have the Topeak moonshine HID. I think it will be as bright as the NR but less price.

Check it but dont wreck it!


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## shiggy (Dec 19, 1998)

MrBigglesworth69 said:


> I am glad i didnt get the Knog gator. Do you guys have the Topeak moonshine HID. I think it will be as bright as the NR but less price.
> 
> Check it but dont wreck it!


The Trail Tech and Topeak are the same light.


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## Sasquatch (Dec 23, 2003)

MrBigglesworth69 said:


> I am glad i didnt get the Knog gator. Do you guys have the Topeak moonshine HID. I think it will be as bright as the NR but less price.
> 
> Check it but dont wreck it!


Yeah, I had read somewhere that the Knog Gator was really bright, but I was seriously dissapointed in the amount of light it put out.


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