Lumicycle LEDSystem4 lights
Pioneering UK light manufacturer returns to the battlefield fully tooled up
Back in 1997, Lumicycle shook up the bike light market with the introduction of its simple, effective halogen lights that matched the performance of the various US imports around at the time but were lots cheaper. Times move on, though, and with the advent of high-power LED technology other brands have moved to the fore. But now Lumicycle is fighting back.
Just announced is the LEDSystem4, packing four Cree XRE-R2 emitters and custom driver circuitry into a robust anodised aluminium head. Lumicycle claims 1,120 lumen total output, with a choice of 6° spot or 13° flood beam patterns.
The LEDSystem4 has five settings (including flash), with a cunning up/down toggle switching system that avoids having to go via "low" if you want to change from "high" to "medium". In traditional Lumicycle style, batteries are separate, with a choice of compact 2.6Ah or long-lasting 5.2Ah packs. Claimed run times with the 2.6Ah are 2.2 hours in the brightest "Smart Boost" mode, 3.6 in the 800 lumen High mode, 9 in the 400 lumen Low mode (and that's still a fair amount of light) and 31 in the be-seen Commute mode. You can roughly double those numbers for the bigger battery.
With a choice of two lamp units and two battery capacities (with the added options of having the bigger battery in a bag or a bottle and a choice of single or twin leads on all batteries), there's an impressive array of LEDSystem4 options. If you've already got batteries (it'll run off anything between 12 and 16.8V, just make sure the plug's the right way round), Lumicycle will sell you just the lamp unit for £239.99. Full systems start at £329.99 including a 2.6Ah battery and 3 hour fast charger, with other off-the-peg options including a setup with two small batteries or - if 1,120 lumens isn't enough for you - a twin-headlamp spot/flood monster with a total output of 2,240 for 2.2hours. That one's £599.99, or £629.99 if you'd like it with two small batteries rather than one big one, plus a helmet mounting kit.
If all that sounds a bit enthusiastic, Lumicycle also has the LEDSystem3 using three of the same LED emitters. Everything else is the same, you just get 25% lower output and the concomitant 25% longer runtime. It's also somewhat cheaper, with full systems starting at £249.99.
Full details at www.lumicycle.com.
Couldn't resist commenting... Two of my riding mates have 13deg system 3 and they are plenty bright, outgunning my HID light. Both of their units are quite quick to reduce the power to prevent overheating, though. Thats a good thing, but maybe the housing is too small for the necessary heat dissipation at full power, relying heavily on the thermal cutout to prevent overtemperature. Usual beef about claimed output by quoting Cree's figures, not real world. Kudos for not going the cheaper/lower output route of others mfr's using Seoul P4's. If the unit can be updated with XP-G's when they finally emerge, its a winner over other current 4 LED units - you know which ones I'm talking about. Small bolts on the front suggest the unit might be accessible, which is good. Of the lights available today, this is closest to my ideal. The spec is very similar to a well established homebrew design, which I see as a good thing. The fly in this ointment is: http://www.hidtechnologies.com.au/Lumen8RLEDQuad.htm Similar spec except for the 18.5v 4ah lipo (substantially longer run times, won't dip out of full power until the battery protection kicks in), if you're prepared to risk importing and sacrifice customer support, or the Quadblaast unit: http://www.nightlightning.co.nz/endurenz%20details.htm
Posted: 06/08/2009 15:19
Samples of the lights have now arrived here. You can indeed undo the front and access the emitter assembly, and Lumicycle specifically mention the possibility of upgrading the emitters. I know what you're getting at with the claimed output thing, but everyone does it so it's some sort of level playing field, I guess. What matters is what they look like on the trail, have to wait and see for that one 
Posted: 06/08/2009 15:37
Mike One of them was leaving the unit in boost, but not locking into boost. When standing still that clearly isn't wise, and I suggested that he powered down to low when we stand still waiting for the stragglers. The other is less clear, it had stepped down whilst riding, which was a surprise. It is possible that his Lumi battery is now quite old, he bought the lamp on its own. Whilst poking around inside the unit, was the driver accessible and was it a TaskLED Bflex by any chance? The fact that you discuss locking the light suggests it may well be as that's a function on that driver. If so, it's reassuring that Lumi have chosen a quality driver. Interesting that the 4 R2 QuadBlaast at £130 is only £10 dearer than the 3 R2 MiniBlaast already a reasonable £120 (plus a chunk of shipping and customer support is a fair hike) but Lumi's System 4 is £240, System 3 is £160. One more LED for a staggering £80! That is hard to justify and makes the System 3 the better buy, by some margin. What were Lumi thinking of?
Posted: 06/08/2009 22:55
James Appears to be essentially identical light (same Ledil Cute 4 optic and Cree R2's) unit to the Quadblaast and the Lumen8r Much nicer looking housing though.
Posted: 06/08/2009 23:19
I haven't actually taken it apart, I'm just aware that you can I'll have a little look. I like the up/down switch very much, having to cycle around low/med/high/back to low irritates me. My attention has also been drawn to these: http://www.four4th.co.uk/four4th_led_light_sets.shtml
Posted: 07/08/2009 10:00
One of them was leaving the unit in boost, but not locking into boost. I think that might be what I mean - if you flick it up into Boost it only stays there for three minutes before automatically dropping back to High, but you can force it to stay Boosted. Definitely not a good idea if not moving 
Posted: 07/08/2009 10:05
Mike Having read the manual, you are right, they are riding on high and switched to the temporary boost, which then switched back down again. Serge On the contrary, I think that they ignored the P7 & MC-E LED's is to their credit - and their balance sheet too! If you stick to the LED mfr's recommendations, both 4 die packages are rated to 700mA, the single die Seoul P4 & Cree XR-E R2 are rated to 1000mA, hence brighter, though less efficient. If Cree would make the MC-E with R2 rated dies, that gap would be closed but I can't see them doing that (assuming its technically OK) until the XP-G package is released, as they can probably sell as many R2's as they can make at the moment to the torch mfr's. When that does happen, those R2 based lights can be updated with XP-G's and stay ahead of the multi-dies again. The 900lm commonly bandied around is optimistic. At 790lm quoted, the Q5 based M-bin is the brightest MC-E, and the quoted 900lm for the P7 is based upon the D-bin, if you can actually find one, not the commonly available C-bin. 700lm has been the higest REAL lumen figures that I have seen discussed for either, and that is with a top driver and enough battery power. Other sources put the bargain basement single cell P7 & MC-E torches in the 400-550lm territory, still pretty bright. The problem with driving the power hungry multi-dies is that you need at least two cells in series to run them effectively so that the (most frequently used) buck driver can provide sufficient current as the cell voltage drops over time. In addition, getting a tight beam with the multi-die chips is more difficult, reflectors have to be larger to focus those unruly lumens. Apparently the best optic yet is the Ledil Iris, physically larger and heavier than the Ledil Cute 4 optic. I bought MC-E's and irises for my (currently mothballed) homebrew and am not convinced that it is a better option than the 4 way route adopted by Lumi and others for their lights. That said, the multi-dies do lend themselves to bar mount floody beams. Of course, you might as well just buy the ill disguised Tesla copy - $80 Magicshine from DX or Geoman, it will be cheaper in the long run, but not as much fun.
Posted: 07/08/2009 12:11
The seoul P7 is out now, with 4 led dies on one chip, giving you 900 lumnes from a single LED, same as used in the new exposure light. Although you'll note that Exposure still does the four-emitter Maxx-D as its top-end light - it's replaced the 3-LED Enduro with a P7-based unit.
Posted: 07/08/2009 12:21
(mike why can i not have the advanced forum editor, and the basic one seems broken to) Er, don't know 
Posted: 07/08/2009 14:32
bloody hell its suddenly back!    hghjg jkghkj k .,nlkl
Posted: 07/08/2009 16:31
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