19 December 2007
NiteFlux Photon Max
For about a year now, I have been meaning to replace my bike lights to get a more sensible performance for night off-roading. I had a fairly good idea of what I wanted: a decent light output, equivalent to at least 20W halogen, and a sensible run time, to be able to get something like 5 hours out of them at reasonable light output (at least equivalent to 10W halogen).
In practical terms, this translates into something as efficient as an HID light running of lithium battery, and this is where my search for new lights has, until now, run into a major obstacle: the price tag. Not being able to shell out £400+, I just kept dreaming, and occasionally looking.
Behold, this autumn I stumbled on a new range of lights by an Australian company NiteFlux, offering an HID light for about half of the usual price. Still pretty dear, but going long way to convincing oneself that it is good deal.
Upon closer inspection of the NiteFlux site, I discovered that alongside the HID Arc, NiteFlux also do a top-notch LED light with a performance on par to that of the HID. After mulling it over for some time, and reading a gloating review in a Australian bike magazine, there were two factors that tipped the balance in favour of the LED (the price tag being exactly equal): comparative pictures of the light performance suggested that the LED light intensity is pretty even across the beam, while the HID intensity on the periphery of the beam seemed noticeably lesser; when riding with a single light, the peripheral lighting can make quite a difference to the overall effective range of the light. The second, and probably more weighty factor, were the power settings. On the full beam, there is not much between the two versions, the HID offering 2.5 hours and the LED 2.6 hours. However, the HID light has only two power modes, the lower being 7W providing 4.5 hours of riding. In contrast, the LED light has three modes, a 6W mode, providing 5.3 hours, and 3W providing whooping 10h runtime.
Well, I have been riding with the Photon Max for nearly two months now, and am truly impressed. What probably surprised me most, is the light output on the 3W setting. NiteFlux refer to 6W setting as more than adequate for riding around the town; that is a serious understatement of the light’s performance. In reality, the 3W setting is more than adequate for the town; indeed, I would go as far as to say that the 3W is adequate for non-technical off-roading, and that anything I am likely to ride, I can probably do on the 6W setting (far too bright and dazzling to ride with it in traffic); having the bright 12W beam is, of course, nice (it feels brighter and farther reaching than the dipped lights on my car!).
Having said that, I have two complaints. My first quibble concerns the design itself: in addition to the three steady power settings there is also a 3W flashing mode. This is entirely useless (even when riding about the town; the 3W is too bright to run it in a flashing mode), but more critically, the light power is controlled by a single switch, cycling through the four options, which means having to pass through the flashing mode when changing from 12W to 3W; this is extremely irritating, particularly as I often want to do this while riding at a fair pace.
My other complaint is to do with inadequate sealing of my unit. The lights are not meant to be watertight (fair enough), but are nevertheless sealed (essential for Scottish use). However, last week I managed to fall of the bike in a middle of a massive puddle (about a foot deep), and the lights got fair splashing over; when I got home later that night I noticed that there was condensation underneath the sealed lens. Having removed the plastic cover, I quickly discovered how the water got there — the power cable passes through a small hole in the alloy unit, and it is meant to be sealed with some silicon sealant; in my case the sealant was casually slapped on, not covering the the hole at all; it was easily remedied, but at the price tag, I would expect better. Other than that, the light seems pretty well made, and based on my experience with the Photon Max, I would certainly recommend it to anyone contemplating whether it is worth the price tag.