[croswell1]

Hey guys,.....first time I ever posted on this forum.
I've been commuting to work every day now for the last 3 years, and recently I was transferred to another post, which is 14 miles round trip every day. This is considerably longer than what I was riding, but I'm having a blast though, and getting in better shape in the process. Last month I commuted 300 miles, just going to and from work. About half of that is in the dark, since I work the night the shift. Needless to say, I needed a dependable, bright light that would illuminate the road better than the old cateye l.e.d. light I was using without spending $400 bucks. Enclosed are pics of my new bike light I built out of 2-in pvc pipe using an mr16 20 watt halogen bulb from any Lowes store. The light is very effective, and I can easily ride 20 mph without any visibility problems. I have about $20 bucks invested in this light, with another $12 bucks for a 5 amp/hour 12v sealed lead acid battery I put in my back pack. The battery weighs about 4 lbs, but if any of you do any night riding this is the way to go.

 

[JoeDaddio]

Looks great man. And uber water proof as well!

I'm not really down with spending hundreds of dollars on a light, so I was thinking about doing something similar. I had never thought of using PVC as the casing though. Great idea! Can you not fit the battery in a water bottle? Or is the space too prescious for ya? I would think that being attached to your bike with a wire would be kind of a pain.



joe

 

[Mr. Versatile]

Nice job on the light. Any chance of getting a "how to"?

 

[croswell1]

In the works now

Thanks Joe Daddio, MrVersatile. I researched this very thoroughly because I needed a bright, dependable bike light for my 14 mile commute to work. The pvc bike light lights up the road like a motorcycle headlight, and after two months of daily use on rough chip seal roads has held up remarkably. Looks good too, and is very light weight. I'll get my act together on this and post for you. Another thing, there are no heat issues with the pvc pipe. It can more than handle the heat of a 12v 20-watt halogen bulb/reflector for more than two hours. IMO it's great, and just as good, if not better than a $400 manufactured bike light.

 

[Mr. Versatile]

Thanks. I'll look forward to seeing your "how to."