Dinotte or Cateye

[mikeitup]

Ok,

Finally got to test these properly tonight on my normal commute but this time after dark for the first time.

First thing to say they were really easy to fit. Two cable ties through the mount and that's it. Wrap battery pack round the handlebar stem with the velcro strap and you are ready to roll. Two minutes sorts it. Secure - didn't budge during the whole ride.

The light was bright - cars had no probs in seeing me. Traffic turning left and right all stopped for me even when no other traffic was behind me to light me up. Having never cycled in complete darkness (done the old twilight bit) before it took me a few minutes to adjust to exactly what they best way to focus the lights was and where I should be concentrating. Its not daylight so I can't just look aimlessly ahead any longer. I found the best setup between seeing down the road and seeing in front of me was to focus the beam about 3-4 bike lengths in front of me and of course the light diffuses from there. This worked really well. Once I got used to where to look I just settled into what seemed to me to be a normal rythmn as my main prob wasn't the light in front of me it was the fact that I couldn't see my polar hrm and my gears so had no idea what my heart rates were, cadence, speed or what gear I was in. Had to ride on instinct which for me was never a good thing as I usually ended up over training by working that way.

Any going into a headwind the whole way home I was surprised when I did get home to find that I had actually done my normal time for riding into a headwind, in fact I had done worse by 3 mins during the summer. I now need to get a helmet light so I can see my gear selections and my hrm because although I got on ok today I really missed not knowing what I was doing. It gives me a little something to distract me especially on a rather boring road when there is no light - nothing to see.

How did it compare to the cateye el-530. There is no comparison so far as I am concerned. The cateye does have a wider spread but the intensity of the light is very weak. If you aim it down the road to see what is coming up then you can't see in front of you and if you aim in front of you to see what is right in front of you can't see much down the road. Neither is ideal. Whereas the ayups allowed me to see both right in front of me and down the road. I though I would have to use one light to point further up the road and the other to point in front however there so much light from the unit when both are pointed down the road that you can see straight in font anyway so I found it best to have the light focus down the road that way I could see any impending pot holes, etc but still see the pot hole once I was coming up to it so as to avoid it (hope that makes sense - its one thing knowing that something is coming up but quite another to avoid if the light isn't good enough when you nearly reach in order to be able to properly avoid it).

I didn't use the cateye at all - put in my bag as a backup and I didn't feel I needed it whereas with the cateye I wouldn't risk it at all.

Would two cateye's provide as much light. Haven't a clue but at the cost of two I would say get the ayups as you get a small, neat package, lithium 6 hour battery & charger (plus other goodies) all for £116. Seems to me to be the best option. Guess that's why I chose them.

It would of course be interesting to hear from anyone who has the ayups and has a mate using the dinotte 200l to see how they compare.

Thanks for that, doyler78!
Just what I needed to hear.
I am sold on the ay-up's and will be ordering the roadie kit very soon.
They will be my earlyish xmas pressy.
All i gotta do now is tell the wife

 

[doyler78]

Thanks for that, doyler78!
Just what I needed to hear.
I am sold on the ay-up's and will be ordering the roadie kit very soon.
They will be my earlyish xmas pressy.
All i gotta do now is tell the wife

Really nervous about recommending anything as I have no experience of anything else other than the cateye el-530 therefore others might think they are sh1t. It done the job for me and that's all I can report. I hope you find them as good as me.

I got mine sent to my work address as someone else on another forum said that you have a better chance of avoiding a customs bill. I haven't had to pay anything extra (so far anyway) so you might want to try that though there are no guarantees. Will also help with the wife if you send to work. You can try her trick when she buys that new dress you have never seen before "oh that old thing sure I have had that for ages"

Good luck anyway and let me know what you think if its good and if you hate them then I don't know u

 

[alfablue]

Oh dear...

Now I've found these-

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/accessories/lights/product/sigma-mirage-evo-endurance-9051

Which you can get for £85 from Germany.

To be honest the review is not too complimentary, if you were considering them why not get the Electron 5W And 10W Double Ni-Mh and save some dosh (£45). More battery life, neater battery, lots cheaper.

 

[mikeitup]

re

the is only one answer:


AY UP, AY UP, AY UP, AY UP, AY UP, AY UP, AY UP, AY UP,
AY UP, AY UP, AY UP, AY UP, AY UP, AY UP, AY UP, AY UP,AY UP, AY UP, AY UP, AY UP, AY UP, AY UP, AY UP, AY UP,
AY UP, AY UP, AY UP, AY UP, AY UP, AY UP, AY UP, AY UP!!!!!

 

[doyler78]

LEDs are known to be very robust therefore to me that is more important than whether I can eak every little bit of light of a bulb. So long as I can see and be seen is all i was interested and if it could be supplied using leds i would be happier. For me I found this. As I say I haven't used anything else so can't comment on them however I did look at lot of stuff before making my decision and leds always came out as fantastic for reliability it just they weren't very bright so thats why a lot of other lighting systems were used. With cree leds this has changed things somewhat and now leds are able to compete better. I'm not saying buy ayup I am just telling you the process I went through and how i ended up where I did.

 

[bonj2]

so, doyler, the acid test: are the ayups going to cut the mustard for night-time XC blasts on the MTB? Or would it be more a case of they'd *just about* do for trekking if you don't bat along too fast?

 

[alfablue]

I had the Electrons last year, and sent them back after 4 days because the battery fell apart, and I didn't find it neat at all. It was a clunky thing that rattled in the bottle cage. I've handled the last Sigma model and it was very impressively built. Since posting that link I've found the Sigmas without the rear light and they're only £55, which is half the price of the Ayups. And for that I'd be willing to take a drop in output.

TBH this whole business about watts, lumens and lux is starting to irritate me. There's no ability for direct comparison between similar looking lights.

Yes, I remember the electron bottle battery was a few mm thinner than a standard bottle, a quick bit of leverage on the bottle cage sorted it (and it still takes bottles fine), my battery hasn't shown any sign of breaking apart either, but undoubtedly the Sigma will be better built and if you can get them for £55, it's a no brainer.

I agree, the various specs between lighting systems makes it impossible to compare without seeing them.

 

[alfablue]

LEDs are known to be very robust therefore to me that is more important than whether I can eak every little bit of light of a bulb. So long as I can see and be seen is all i was interested and if it could be supplied using leds i would be happier. For me I found this. As I say I haven't used anything else so can't comment on them however I did look at lot of stuff before making my decision and leds always came out as fantastic for reliability it just they weren't very bright so thats why a lot of other lighting systems were used. With cree leds this has changed things somewhat and now leds are able to compete better. I'm not saying buy ayup I am just telling you the process I went through and how i ended up where I did.

I think you chose well, and I would probably go with them if I didn't have my Dinotte, but I may find some excuse to in the future

I think Halogen and HID will soon be old hat as newer better LED systems emerge.

 

[doyler78]

so, doyler, the acid test: are the ayups going to cut the mustard for night-time XC MTB trail riding? Or would it be more a case of they'd *just about* do for trekking if you don't bat along too fast?

Haven't a clue. Never ride trails. Got a roadie kit because that's what I do. I ride roads on a commute mainly.

Having read much on the mtb forums because this is where they have first been used it would seem you would be looking at a regular kit @ £170 which includes two light sets, one helmet mounted and the other handlebar mounted. The helmet should be ordered in a narrow beam and the handlebar ordered in an intermediate beam. As these lights were built with and found favour amongst the mtb crowd first I would say that they have more of a proven record in this field than they do as a simple commute light in a single unit. Please bear in mind this only what I have read. The singletrack forum has it devotees so you might want to stop by there or if you do a search in google with ayup lights they nearly all take you to mtb forums around the world.

 

[doyler78]

I think you chose well, and I would probably go with them if I didn't have my Dinotte, but I may find some excuse to in the future

I think Halogen and HID will soon be old hat as newer better LED systems emerge.

I agree with the your last point. I wouldn't be so dismissive of the dinotte's . they have a fearsome reputation and that can't be without reason. How these stand up to them is yet to be proven. Ayup have the catch up game to play. Obviously they had me convinced (well not really them it was the users in the mtb forums that really made my mind up and the fact that their li-ion version is much more expensive with dinotte than with ayup as it is standard and with 6 hours of battery power - not tested but at least 2 hours and counting).

I doubt there would be much in it between the two however the fact that there are two independently moveable lights in the ayup gives just that little bit more flexibility about how to use the light.

Sounds like I work for them but I don't or I would have a sun tan

 

[bonj2]

Haven't a clue. Never ride trails. Got a roadie kit because that's what I do. I ride roads on a commute mainly.

Having read much on the mtb forums because this is where they have first been used it would seem you would be looking at a regular kit @ £170 which includes two light sets, one helmet mounted and the other handlebar mounted. The helmet should be ordered in a narrow beam and the handlebar ordered in an intermediate beam. As these lights were built with and found favour amongst the mtb crowd first I would say that they have more of a proven record in this field than they do as a simple commute light in a single unit. Please bear in mind this only what I have read. The singletrack forum has it devotees so you might want to stop by there or if you do a search in google with ayup lights they nearly all take you to mtb forums around the world.

ok, but the single light of the roadie kit lights the way well enough that you don't have to go deliberately slow on an unlit road at night then does it?

 

[doyler78]

ok, but the single light of the roadie kit lights the way well enough that you don't have to go deliberately slow on an unlit road at night then does it?

It certainly did for me. I didn't have any problems riding my normal speed.

 

[hambones]

I rode singletrack last night with guys with an real assortment of lights. I was using my Fenix P3D which I initially bought to try out for the road. Conclusion? Apart from the run-time (you'll need to carry a spare set of CR123s) it was as bright as the Dinotte 200L, brighter than the Light & Motion Stellar at £200!!, as bright as one set of Ayups. You could easily run just the one off-road at speed so for on-road 40mph downhills I do not foresee any problems. I suppose to be really sure you could mount 2 on your bars at different angles or one as a helmet mount. At £40 a pop I'm well chuffed!

 

[hambones]

The Ay-up set up is certainly brighter and more flexible than the Dinotte. For £170 you get the 2 light sets and I think it's 3 batteries - run-times are certainly as advertised. The forest was certainly well illuminated last night!!

 

[hambones]

Paul, just running the one set would be comparable to the Dinotte (or Fenix) from what I could tell last night.