really really REALLY bright lights

[Ahneida Ride Hide]

I just found these ..... made in USA. looks like the real deal .....

DesignShine

here is the link ......

DesignShine Lighting

tail light is 500 Lumens !

front light is 1300 Lumens !

[Ahneida Ride Hide]

Here is the correct link .... sorry.

my 2 minutes to edit the post expired.....

https://sites.google.com/site/designshinelighting/

--------

Thanks e-Richie !

[Too Tall]

Interesting. Do you use these or know the maker?
Anyone care to stack up the peculiars against Dinotte?

[joosttx]

Just watched the mounting video for the tail light. It appears to have side lighting as well as rear lighting. Nice touch.

[lukasz]

I was hoping these would have blasdelf approved beam patterns, but alas! I am curious what it would take to make one of those Cree LEDs oncoming traffic friendly.

[Ahneida Ride Hide]

I run the Dinotte 140R . It's bright ... (140 lumen) (can't use the flash mode at night it will create problems with drivers.)
That 140 lumen cuts thru broad daylight.

I purchased a Dinotte 400R for a good buddy I've seen it on her bike. You can spot it 1 mile back (300 lumen)
Yea its that bright .... who even cares about the distance.

I can't imagine what 500 lumen is. At least the DesignShine light has 5 power levels. I get the impression that levels 4 and 5 are
not to be used.

[EricKeller]

I was hoping these would have blasdelf approved beam patterns, but alas! I am curious what it would take to make one of those Cree LEDs oncoming traffic friendly.

you can't buy suitable reflectors on the aftermarket so a garage company like the one in the OP is going to have problems affording to make them. It really wouldn't cost that much to have them manufactured, someone like Dinotte could easily afford it. Not sure why they aren't doing it.

[lanternrouge]

I can't imagine what 500 lumen is. At least the DesignShine light has 5 power levels. I get the impression that levels 4 and 5 are
not to be used.

The guy who makes them says not to use levels 4 and 5 at night on the tail light. I have the Dinotte 140 but am not in lot with the mounting system, which makes me thing about the 300 or 400. Glad to hear they are crazy bright.

[pyramor]

Level 4 and 5 are for daylight use only. Been thinking about ordering one myself. I am most concerned about adding visibility during the day. This is the best I have found for daylight use. I have a magicshine which is adequate for night use but the taillight is not bright enough for daytime and the flash patterns of the headlight is not useful.

[pethelman]

I run the Dinotte 140R . It's bright ... (140 lumen) (can't use the flash mode at night it will create problems with drivers.)
That 140 lumen cuts thru broad daylight.

I purchased a Dinotte 400R for a good buddy I've seen it on her bike. You can spot it 1 mile back (300 lumen)
Yea its that bright .... who even cares about the distance.

I can't imagine what 500 lumen is. At least the DesignShine light has 5 power levels. I get the impression that levels 4 and 5 are
not to be used.

Thanks for taking a look at the lights!
You're correct on level 4/5 use not being appropriate for night, but in the daytime, level 5 is just fantastic. Considerably more "punch" than the 400R. The whole idea behind this light was to really generate enough intensity to pratically "stun" drivers out of whatever distracting activities they may be doing instead of driving.

Here's a good daytime comparison video to the 400R from one of my early customers.
DiNotte 400R and DesignShine DS-500 Comparision - YouTube

At night, it's best to run it at level 3 or lower in steady mode, and then combine it with a low power flasher (PlanetBike for example) mounted as far away as possible from the DS-500. The steady burn gives much better depth perception to the driver and the 1/2 watt flasher is plenty at night for just that extra amount of attention.

I blew through the first 50 lights faster than I anticipated, so I'm out of stock at the moment. Working on build #2 which, if all goes well, I should start to have available after the first of the year.

If you were so inclined, you could follow the progress of the new build over on the new DesignShine website Blog. The links from the earlier posts are also good and can lead you to a lot of good information.

Any questions you may have, feel free to email, or fire away on the forum, and I'll do my best to answer them.
Thanks,
Stephen

[domesgique]

Looking at the comparison images. Is the one on the left a MagicShine? They really did rip off Lupine. It looks exactly like my Tesla 5 from what I can tell.

[znfdl]

The Dinotte 400R is scary bright I cannot imagine riding behind the DS 500.....

[domesgique]

500 lumens! My Lupine Tesla 5 headlamp is *only* 700 lumens. Aside from topping the Dinotte, I'm guessing he was going for "Cars will definitely see me with this thing."

[pethelman]

Looking at the comparison images. Is the one on the left a MagicShine? They really did rip off Lupine. It looks exactly like my Tesla 5 from what I can tell.

Yes, that's correct. Poor Lupine really did get ripped off in a major way. You have to give them a lot of credit for advances in bike lighting. Although the Chinese knock-off market is booming, there's a pretty big difference in quality. The problem for Lupine is that it might not be a 300 - 400 dollar difference.

[pethelman]

500 lumens! My Lupine Tesla 5 headlamp is *only* 700 lumens. Aside from topping the Dinotte, I'm guessing he was going for "Cars will definitely see me with this thing."

That's exactly right. I've had enough friends get hit by cars from behind that I just had to try something like this. Turned out even better than I imagined. This is not the kind of light that a driver will just casually notice if they happen to be looking in your direction. This is a serious JOLT that will cause drivers to look at you from a LONG way off. In pacelines, level 3 during the day is about on par with the 400R, so it's reasonably tollerable. Level 1 takes you down to about the level of the Magicshine taillight.

[boots2000]

I just bought a Light & Motion Seca 1400. How does it stack up to these?

[Saab2000]

I just bought a Light & Motion Seca 1400. How does it stack up to these?

I have one of those as well. It's just fine. I suppose more is always better but I find it hard to imagining needing a whole lot more than what my L&M 1400 provides.

[pethelman]

I have one of those as well. It's just fine. I suppose more is always better but I find it hard to imagining needing a whole lot more than what my L&M 1400 provides.

Yes, the L&M 1400 is a serious light. The DS-1300 compares very favorably, but the beam patterns are little different. The L&M puts a lot of the intensity in the first 5 to 15 feet, whereas the DS-1300 has a bit better SPOT projection. It's good to have a little less intensity in that first 15 to 20 feet so you're not "blinded" by your own light.

You can see both lights in the MTBR shootout this year:
DS-1300 here

and

L&M 1400 here

And your right... much more Lumen output than this can become too bright, unless you really start spreading the beam.

[pethelman]

One additional interesting difference between the two is the run time on high. They both use an identically configured 11.1V li-ion pack.

DS-1300 on high: 3hr 45 min
L&M 1400 on high: 2hr 30 min

It's hard to say exactly why the L&M is so much lower, but it may have something to do with how hard they have to drive the 3 LEDs coupled with their controller efficiencies.

[Saab2000]

Mine doesn't last that long but it's an older battery.

Bottom line is that all lights are better than they were even 2 years ago. The next frontier isn't going to be brightness, it's cooling, battery life and beam patterns to provide maximum lighting without blinding oncoming traffic.

I never have an issue with oncoming traffic but I also point mine down a bit deliberately.

My next big purchase will be a proper taillight as my formerly superb Cateye is now just middle-of-the-road. But it does provide a number of blinking patterns which are irregular and quite eye catching.