Between these TWO lights ONLY

[Ride-Fly]

Teh Niterider Lumina 650 and the Cygolite Expilion 600. Anyone have/used/tested these two? I know there are other lights that are great (I love Exposure lights- have the Mk6 Race) but I am limiting it to these two because I have a $160 credit at Nashbar that I need to use, and I am in need of another light. I want a self-contained light with at least 600 lumens. These two at Nashbar fit the bill. I'm primarily going to use it for road-commuting.

What say ye?

Thanks!

[looigi]

The following site shows beam shots of the two. I have the Expilion 700 and prefer it over the Niterider lights because it has a replaceable battery. The battery cartridge is proprietary however.

http://www.modernbike.com/light-comp...singleshotplus

[nOOky]

Both have more of a flood pattern and are suitable for handlebar use imho. As mentioned, the Cygolite has a changeable/replaceable battery, the Niterider does not. I can't speak to battery life with both as it varies a bit even within the same brand. They should be comparable though. I have the Niterider, but don't think you can go wrong with either. For me it'd be which one I feel has the best mounts, the Cygolite doesn't come with a helmet mount, but the handlebar mount uses a nut to tighten versus graduated clips on the Niterider.

[Doc1911]

My wife has a Cryolite (500 I think) and it works well. Very bright for riding at night, etc. The mount works exceptionally well too. It gets rcharged once a week.

I have Light and Motion headlights and will be replacing them soon with two Cryolites. Don't get me wrong here the L&M are very good, but mine (Stella 600) have an external battery which I have grown to dislike - but it works well.

[pmf]

I have owned both brands, although not the models you are contemplating. The Cygolite is on my wife's bike for the last two years. She uses it often because she leaves for work very early (6:00 AM). The thing has performed well, and I'm pleased with it.

I've been a year round bike commuter for 20 years and have tried a number of different lights. I had two Niterider systems over the years and have been disappointed with both of them. The chargers were terrible and the batteries crapped out after a couple years. Niterider customer service was lacking as well. I had one "plug it in and leave it" charger that smelled like burning plastic after a couple of hours. The thing terrified me. I never plugged it in and left it out of fear of my house buring down. Plus, I think Niterider lights are really over-priced for what they are. I'll never buy another one. Get the Cygolite.

[Ride-Fly]

My wife has a Cryolite (500 I think) and it works well. Very bright for riding at night, etc. The mount works exceptionally well too. It gets rcharged once a week.

I have Light and Motion headlights and will be replacing them soon with two Cryolites. Don't get me wrong here the L&M are very good, but mine (Stella 600) have an external battery which I have grown to dislike - but it works well.

L&M Tz 800 and 1200 are pretty sweet looking but I had 2 L&M Vis 360s and both have problems with the re-charging receptacle. It won't recharge unless I jam a wedge next to the micro USB plug. One eventually stopped recharging no matter how I tried to jimmy it, so I returned it to Nashbar (hence the $160 credit). I'm not sure if I want to give them another chance.

[Ride-Fly]

It seems a lot of folks have had negative experiences with Niterider. The Lumina 650 is the same price as the Expilion 600 so I think NR has improved their pricing.

I remember when NR first came out with the leave-in "smart charger" and they seemed to have lots of problems with that. As Loogi or nOOkyr mentioned above, the fact that the Cygolite has a replaceable battery stick has me leaning toward that.

Thanks for the comments y'all!!

[Doc1911]

L&M Tz 800 and 1200 are pretty sweet looking but I had 2 L&M Vis 360s and both have problems with the re-charging receptacle. It won't recharge unless I jam a wedge next to the micro USB plug. One eventually stopped recharging no matter how I tried to jimmy it, so I returned it to Nashbar (hence the $160 credit). I'm not sure if I want to give them another chance.

I never had a vis 360, but glad your recieved you money back... I use the vis 180 for a tail light and it has been flawless. I have really been pleased so far .... But the large battery on the Stella has got to go.

IMO I think you will be pleased with the Cryolite. As I said above I plan on getting two more.

[Bob Ross]

I just picked up a Niterider Lumina 650 maybe a month ago. It replaced a 5-year-old Niterider MiNewt Dual. So far so good; while it's not as bright or as controllable a beam as the MiNewt Dual (which isn't really a fair comparison, given that the Dual had two independently focusable lamps), it's more than adequate for the nighttime commuting I do. And the lack of an external battery is a major improvement imho. Charges quickly, run time is much longer than the external li-on battery pack, and it's much easier to mount.

[Rogus]

My experience and a few of my fellow riders that have Niterider lights is the handlebar mounts are horrible. Unless the new models are different, I wouldn't get another. My Cygolite was a much better experience, but I went with L&M in the end and have 7 of them including a Taz 800. Still given a choice between the two you mention, I'd go Cygolite.

[pmf]

My experience and a few of my fellow riders that have Niterider lights is the handlebar mounts are horrible. Unless the new models are different, I wouldn't get another. My Cygolite was a much better experience, but I went with L&M in the end and have 7 of them including a Taz 800. Still given a choice between the two you mention, I'd go Cygolite.

That's a good point -- I forgot about the NR mounts. they were such a pain to install that I'd just leave the mount on year round. The Cygolite is really simple to take on and off and easy to manipulate.

[cxwrench]

i have a Lumina and i'm not seeing any problem at all w/ the mount. very easy to take on/off, and looks like it should hold up well.

[teflondog]

My experience and a few of my fellow riders that have Niterider lights is the handlebar mounts are horrible. Unless the new models are different, I wouldn't get another. My Cygolite was a much better experience, but I went with L&M in the end and have 7 of them including a Taz 800. Still given a choice between the two you mention, I'd go Cygolite.

I had a Minewt 600 and the mount was horrible. You basically had to squeeze it closed and hope that the plastic ratcheting teeth would hold it in place.

The new Lumina mounts have a thumb screw so they're much better.

I ended up getting the Light & Motion Urban 550 due to its smaller size and the fact that I can cycle through all the light modes easily. One of the things I didn't like about Niterider lights is that you have to hold the button down for a couple seconds to access the blinking mode.

[glenny13]

I just bought the lumina 650-the thing is bright as ****. I am using the medium setting and have plenty of light and has run for over 3hrs. am a very happy customer

[nhluhr]

I had a Minewt 600 and the mount was horrible. You basically had to squeeze it closed and hope that the plastic ratcheting teeth would hold it in place.

Although I agree the new mount is more secure, I have been running the Minewt 600 for over a year now (wife has one too) and we haven't had any problem with it at all. On a 31.8 handlebar, just get two clicks out of the ratchet and you're good to go with just enough looseness to dip it for portions of your ride with oncoming pedestrians/cyclists and plenty of hold that it survives my 44mi daily commute over rough city streets.

[MikeBiker]

I've got a Lumina 350 that replaced a Minewt. The Lumina is a much better design all around. The 350 is more than bright enough for my uses.

[Trek2.3]

I have 3 NiteRiders. I love them all.

BTW, they have changed the handlebar clip for 2012.
It now has a bolt to tighten the jaws.

[gooch1010]

I looked at the same lights you are, I decided to go with the Cygolite 700. it comes with a helmet mount.
I paid 118.00, about the same as the Lumina 650 I believe. Woks perfect.

[looigi]

Woks perfect.

I have one and it doesn't get anywhere near hot enough. Are you using peanut oil?

[nOOky]

I ordered a Lumina 650 and a Cygolite 700 because I wanted another light. I don't see a noticeable difference between my older Minewt 600 and the Lumina 650's brightness or beam. Side by side I like the light pattern and color of the 650 better, so I sent the Cygolite back. If I were considering doing longer night rides or races and just wanted to change batteries I would have kept it though, it's certainly a great light too. I've had good luck with the Niteriders so far also.
Last night I ran all three of the lights on the bars and my older Minewt 250 on the helmet. When I used the 600, 650, and 700 on high all at once it was pretty awesome, I aimed the 650's side by side and pointed the Cygolite slightly ahead and center.
Now I'm thinking I should get a better light for the helmet as the 250 looks pretty dim compared to two bigger lights on the bars. You can never have enough light imho!

[mtor]

My experience and a few of my fellow riders that have Niterider lights is the handlebar mounts are horrible. Unless the new models are different, I wouldn't get another. My Cygolite was a much better experience, but I went with L&M in the end and have 7 of them including a Taz 800. Still given a choice between the two you mention, I'd go Cygolite.

Its pretty much the same on the new models

[nOOky]

The new models use a thumb screw to tighten the mount securely. If you're referring to the tab to hold the light on itself not working well that seems to be a per-user experience and not everyone has problems with it.

[Ride-Fly]

I ordered a Lumina 650 and a Cygolite 700 because I wanted another light. I don't see a noticeable difference between my older Minewt 600 and the Lumina 650's brightness or beam. Side by side I like the light pattern and color of the 650 better, so I sent the Cygolite back. If I were considering doing longer night rides or races and just wanted to change batteries I would have kept it though, it's certainly a great light too. I've had good luck with the Niteriders so far also.
Last night I ran all three of the lights on the bars and my older Minewt 250 on the helmet. When I used the 600, 650, and 700 on high all at once it was pretty awesome, I aimed the 650's side by side and pointed the Cygolite slightly ahead and center.
Now I'm thinking I should get a better light for the helmet as the 250 looks pretty dim compared to two bigger lights on the bars. You can never have enough light imho!

Dang nOOky!!! Why didn't you post this 3 days ago!?!?!? I already ordered the Cygolite 650!! Oh well. It's just as well, since I am thinking this will be a light for visiting guests that ride one of our bikes. I'm probably going to get another Exposure Light in the near future. I want to get a 2013 Strada instead of a Race. I have the 2012 Race and I think it is an awesome light, but I read that the Strada is even better for the road because it has a lower, wider beam instead of the more circular beam of the Race.

[nOOky]

Call me foolish, but occasionally I order more than one item, and eat the cost of sending the one back that I was also considering. If I have to spend $4 in return shipping on a $120 purchase then so be it
I'm sure the light you ordered will suit your needs.