Ebikes.ca Cycle Lumenator is Here

DervAtl

100 W
Joined
Jan 12, 2010
Messages
104
Location
Smyrna GA
Heads up guys. Ebikes.ca has finally released their Cycle Lumenator, as now described on their homepage. It has 4 Cree XPG-R4 LEDs and is in the 1,000 lumen brightness level.

Lumenator_Production_TN.jpg
 
DervAtl said:
Heads up guys. Ebikes.ca has finally released their Cycle Lumenator, as now described on their homepage. It has 4 Cree XPG-R4 LEDs and is in the 1,000 lumen brightness level.


Sweet. I must have checked their site a dozen times in the last couple of days wanting to see if it was ready. I have one of their almost indestructible head and tail light sets but if I go any faster I will be needing a headlight with better throw.

Grin Cyclery is supposed to be named after the EV grin but I think it's really named after Justin's trademark grin. :D
 
you can also get a dual light setup for 2000 lumens...and if you order a ca with your light you will get a small pigtail that comes off the ca to power the light(s) making for a ultra clean install
 
I can't wait to see a review and comparison to their led bomb proof units. I've been holding off on a light purchase till these came out. :p
 
Ok I just recieved this light like about 30min ago. Im amazed how FAST FedEx can ship stuff from Canada to Atlanta,GA. My first impressions is that the light is small. I expected it to be a little bigger. But dont let the size fool you this thing puts out. The light case has a female DC barrel connector plug. It has a matching male DC barrel pigtail. You have to use the included plug with the light. The end of the pigtail is not terminated. You can put whatever connector you desire. In my case I will put a 15A Anderson connector on it to connect to the output I have at the back of my CA. To quickly test I exposed the wires and shoved them in the back of the anderson plugs on on of my 36v packs. I pressed the button located on the back of the light and I jumped back cause I though I let the magic smoke out. I saw a bright light that resembled a spark. The light was so freak bright. It has a pure cool white tone. The beam is pretty spread. The beam is a little diffused but the beam width is plenty wide and throw of the beam is pretty far. I will do comparison shots tonight. All I can say is its retardedly bright. You actually feel heat radiating in front of the light. Thats how strong and concentrated the beam is. The mount is the same mount that come on the back of the cycle analyst. You have limited up and down motion but it can do 360 degree spin. The on and off button seems a little stiff. It may cause an issue with smaller handle bars.It does include an extra piece of rubber but you know how the senario goes. You might press it so hard that it may move the placement of the light. I didnt encounter this issue but it may be a possible issue for some people. The front seems to be fixed so dont go trying to remove that guy. The casing of the light is metal. Possibly aluminium. Im assuming this is to dissapate the heat produced by the light. The back part of the light where the on/off button is located is plastic. The handle bar mount is plastic. Pictures will be added later this evening. Thanks for reading!
 
Thanks for the great review (though i can't say as much for you new avatar...)

I'm in the market for a good 30mph light, and want to run it off my pack, < 100V. Anybody recommend a lumen level for, say 30 mph?

I just returned the older model ebike front light cause it wasn't bright enough. My CA doesn't have an output (I don't think). How new is yours? Anybody know if it's okay to/how to tap the power of the earlier v2.0 CA (though they seem to offer the mod service).

Just curious, does the light blink?
 
I have several photos and comparison shots. They are not the greatest photos. I had to use different white balance setting. The lumenator shoes really blue on certain settings. They really dont show how bright the light is. My camera on my phone kinda suck. But you can look at the light beam on all the photos and see how the Lumenator really floods the garage where the other lights only show whats in the beam.

Devratl will share some comments when I show it to him this evening.


To answer a comment earlier. No it doesnt flash. This light should work very well for 30mph riding.
 

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Here are some more shots and comparisons. Looking at both shots of the Lumenator. You can see a isht load more than the focused beam lights. There is no clear round focus ring or beam on the wall its just alot of light that floods the area that its pointed at.The throw is very very adequate. This could easily replace a headlight in a car. The pictures dont do this light justice. You wont be disappointed if you buy 1. 2 would be nice but you really dont need it. Justin and his team has out done themselves with this baby. I noticed the the metal casing acts as a heatsink for the light. It does get hot but I can grab it and hold it near indefintely but it is hot enough for your body to give the immediate reaction to pull away. Im sure this light has been put through a serious burn in test for several hunder hours. You will be using it at night where its cooler and the air moving across it will cool it so Its should be nothing to be alarmed about.
 

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WOW! This is one great light! Icecube brought this by tonight for a look-see. I am very impressed. There is no comparison to my little REI 50-lumen bike light. Camera pics do not do it justice. The only words that come to mind are brilliant and unbelieveable. This is a definite BUY for me. Not only is it extremely bright, but the light dispersion pattern is excellent. There are no hot spots or dark areas in the pattern. Perhaps the most surprising thing to me was its size. I was expecting an old school size light about the size of an orange. It's tiny! I had Ice take a photo with it in my hand. Hard to go wrong with this one guys.

luminator2.jpg
 
I dropped into Grin Technologies today and got mine hot off the line. Mark was busy making up another batch.

Then I went down to The Grind, parked and immediately poked the bare wires into the Andersons.
Bright in daylight! It blinded a friend at six meters through glass.
Be careful where you point that thing!

It could easily be a rude light on bike paths.
The adjustable angle of the light allows you to dip your beams for approaching cyclists and pedestrians.

My problem is that I tend to lose lights that are made to be removable.
. . . or forget to take it with me and then not have it when I needed it.

At $195 CAD I can't afford to randomly replace it.
I'm puzzling over how to permanently mount it.
 
It wasn't too difficult cobbling together a permanent mount.
I dug into my bag of miscellaneous brackets and found one made for mounting a reflector to a smaller diameter horizontal tube.
I rotated it 90 degrees so it fit the stem, sawed off one of the holes and attached the cradle that came with the Lumenator.
Now I'm debating whether to run the cable to the CA or to the junction box/switch at the back of the bike where the rest of the lights are connected.
Lumenator front.jpg
Lumenator side.jpg
 
Nifty. Is that a plastic one, or metal? If plastic, an even more permanent mounting is one of these:

--metal mounting clamp/bracket for older generator-type headlights.

--metal reflector mount that sandwiches in the stem/headset nut/washer stack.

--metal reflector mount that bolts to fender/reflector/caliper-brake point on fork.

I used the first one for DGA's original CCFL headlight:
DSC00268.JPG
DSC00305.JPG
and also when I used it on CB2:
CrazyBike2HandlebarsRight040209.JPG
Very tough and sturdy.

I used the second for the front CCFL on CB2:
HeadlightMounting.JPG
 
amberwolf said:
Nifty. Is that a plastic one, or metal? If plastic, an even more permanent mounting is one of these:

--metal mounting clamp/bracket for older generator-type headlights.

--metal reflector mount that sandwiches in the stem/headset nut/washer stack.
. . .
It's plastic but the band didn't require a shim to fit the stem tightly.

The base of the Lumenator is much wider than the old style Union generator lamps so none of the brackets would fit.
I wanted to attach one to the handlebar binder bolt.
The ones fitting the headset stack didn't project far enough forward to clear the lamp body.

When I get another Lumenator for EBII I'm going to use the saddle bag loop sandwiched by the top plate of the handlebar binder clamp.
With the tilting swiveling cradle that carries it the lamp will just clear the top of the stem and handlebar.
The lamp will be dead center, low profile, sturdy, secure and very slick.
misc_brackets.jpg
 
ktronik said:
can someone tell me if the light body of the light is plastic??

K
The body is the heat sink. It's metal,
The plastic shoe attaches to that and so provides a place for connecting to the mount, placing the switch and plugging in the jack.
The outer ring is plastic as is the rest of the mount except for the stainless steel hardware.
I was warned that it's best they not be left on in still air.
 
The Lumenator was connected yesterday morning but I had to wait until dark for a road test.
With the camera attached to my helmet I went out looking for a dark road and shot a short video.
Here's a couple of captures:
View attachment 1
Lumenator light.jpg
 
Hi,
Zoot Katz said:
I was warned that it's best they not be left on in still air.
That sounds lame. How long can you leave it on in still air. What happens if you exceed the limit (melts insulation inside, destroys light or melts housing or burn yourself if you touch the light)?
 
MitchJi said:
Hi,
Zoot Katz said:
I was warned that it's best they not be left on in still air.
That sounds lame. How long can you leave it on in still air. What happens if you exceed the limit (melts insulation inside, destroys light or melts housing or burn yourself if you touch the light)?
I'm just guessing here but it probably just gets too hot to touch.
I don't think Mark's testing has managed to destroy one yet.
 
MitchJi said:
Hi,
Zoot Katz said:
I was warned that it's best they not be left on in still air.
That sounds lame.

If you want high output and small footprint, heat is going to be somewhat of an issue.

I use a Cree LED tactical style flashlight mounted to my firefighter helmet. Its only rated at 190 lumens but the machined aluminum body of the light becomes too hot to hold in a bare hand after about 10 minutes of continuous use. The output is the best I've ever had from anything of a reasonably manageable size that I could mount to my helmet though and literally a real lifesaver.
 
Heat is a big problem for LED lights, or rather the need to get rid of that heat...as the LEDs get warmer they product less light...

tjdegc.gif


The light needs good surface area to cool effectively, if not enough, the LEDs can get cooked & will slowly reduce there output.

over 65degC is the HOT limit for our skin...but its the 'die' temp that counts...as you can see from the graph, the 'die' need to be as cool as possible, to get MAX light output.

I am sure that the guys have done temp readings from the inside, but really a temp cut off is quite a good thing with using these type of smaller housings...

K
 
I don't think a temp cut-off would be good at 30mph, maybe it should just automatically dim down some.
 
ecodean said:
I don't think a temp cut-off would be good at 30mph, maybe it should just automatically dim down some.
Sorry bad choice of words, I use thermal cut back to a lower light level, yep cut OFF would be bad. :) @ 30Mph it would run fine, as heaps of cooling, the thermal kick back is in case it gets turned on, by mistake, in still air or your bag...
 
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