Martys Trailtech Mountain Bike Light.
Update:
After burning out a globe I ordered a
replacement and also a ballast for Lithium Ion batteries. Both failed within two
weeks which is disappointing as my original light had worked well for about two
years. I decided I needed something more reliable and after a lot of looking
around I bought myself an iBlaast II. See the review here.
The Trailtech 13 watt HID light is made for motorbikes and so is a bit heavily constructed for mountain bikes, however it's the cheapest HID light available. I wasn't happy with the mount that came with it so I removed it and made my own.
Using epoxy resin and several layers of glass cloth I made a flat mounting plate to mount the light to.
I waxed a plastic sheet and kept adding layers of fibreglass cloth until a reasonable thickness built up, and while it was still wet I waxed the light and pressed it into the wet cloth and epoxy so that it would be bedded in. I used some tape to hold it in place while the epoxy set. After the resin had gone off I removed the light, peeled the fibreglass and epoxy sheet off the plastic sheet and trimmed it to shape. After shaping it I carefully measured and drilled some holes for the mounting brackets. The mounting brackets come from a friendly bike shop and are normally used to mount reflectors on bikes, but most kids take them off, so my bike shop has a box of surplus reflectors. Chose the size of bracket to suit your handlebars.
The brackets are made of tough plastic and I've been using these lights for about six months now without any problems.
The Trailtech lights are at least twice as bright as Luxeon LEDS of the same power and despite being a big fan of Luxeons this light is far superior.
My set-up use a 3.5 amp hour, 12 volt Lithium battery which gives about three hours of light. I also usually carry a 2 amp hour battery in my Camelback as an emergency spare, it's so light that carrying it isn't a problem.
The set-up could be a bit prettier but it works and I'm lazy so it's stayed in it's prototype form.
From the front
Overall view
Rear view
Side view
Another top view
Rear view
Battery
Bottom view
Another bottom view
Another top view
Links:
Home made Luxeon LED lights, 5 watt.