Got an XinTD and thought the great spot and spill would not work well as a bike light, boy was I wrong. I jury rigged the XinTD on the following bicycle helmet with lights,
and went for a ride and compared the XinTD to my paired zoomies. No comparison! The XinTD was much better then my paired zoomies. Both setups used about the same power but the XinTD lit up the road much better. The only problem was run time so I deflowered the XinTD by drilling holes into it and rigged it to run off two 18650s. I added a light shield to shield some of the light from oncoming drivers. I now have a pretty good setup,
I got the cool white version as the manufacturer claimed it produced more lumens. Subsequent reading on this forum and it looks like my setup could be improved by going to neutral or warm white light.
You need to be really careful modifying cycle helmets in any way. In an accident they work by imploding and absorbing energy that way. Also they are designed to slide across things reducing the chances of jarring on your neck. Adding things to the outside will serious change the way it reacts. Helmet mounts are one thing I would not make at home, zip tying things on always looks really dangerous to me. Just my opinion though.
I am a pretty cautious rider and for the longest time did not wear a helmet. Some years ago a famous actress was at a ski area and I think she just kind of fell over, bumped her head and died. Since then I wear a bike helmet. I had not thought at all of the way the light would effect the operation of the helmet, so thanks for the warning.
This is the story of the actress who died,
(CNN) — Actress Natasha Richardson died of injuries caused by blunt impact to the head, the New York City Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed Thursday.
The death was ruled an accident, the office said.
Paramedics dispatched to help Richardson minutes after she fell on a Canadian ski slope Monday were turned away and did not have a chance to check her injury, the ambulance service director told a Toronto, Canada, newspaper.
Richardson — a film star, Tony-winning stage actress and member of the famed Redgrave acting family — died two days later in a New York hospital from a head injury suffered at a Quebec resort about 80 miles northwest of Montreal.
Yves Coderre, operations director for Ambulances Radisson, told Toronto’s The Globe and Mail newspaper on Wednesday that his company sent an ambulance to the slopes at Mont Tremblant Ski Resort after a call from the ski patrol.
I like the ability to point the beam with my head, in part so as to not blind oncoming traffic. A second similar flashlight was ordered and I will attach that to my handle bars to compare and see if my head mount is significantly better then a bar mount.
I remember seeing some research on the subject of bicycle helmets and whether they actually improve safety when used in regular road traffic. Maybe Australian studies? The conclusion was that wearing a helmet (for adults at least) was mostly useless or ever worse than not wearing. People tend to increase risk behavior when they feel safer as a result of taking specific safety precautions. In case of bicycle helmets, it's not just about the rider and probably even more about motorists who make the unconscious decisions for the rider. Drivers tend to pass helmeted bicycle riders closer than non-helmeted etc.
This is not necessarily off topic, at least any more than the effect of helmet modifications to the actual benefits. I wonder how drivers in darkness react to bicyclists with bright lights on their heads compared to other bicyclists. Is there any research on that? In case they are cautious, it might not be a bad choice to even use a headlight without a helmet, or it might become sort of irrelevant if the lighting accessories somehow reduce the protective capabilities of the helmet. The typical "mostly ornamental" cyclist helmets that just sit on top of your head are not very protective anyways, unless someone takes a sledge hammer skullbreaker swing at you. Want to save your life in a crash? Almost the same rules as when motorcycling apply. Wear a motocross helmet(or at least a more protective than ornamental style) when bicycling (or no helmet at all if you are a good rider, ride only in low risk situations and want the protection from psychological effect to drivers). Wearing some back or kidney protection or a ballistic vest helps too.
