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Wall Street Journal article on LED lights

The Wall Street Journal ran an article in the Friday September 28 Personal Journal (inside front page) on LED bike lights, including the Lupine Betty (see Sept 10 blog entry). The article is titled “Bright Lights, Big Price Tag”. I’m not pleased with the article, especially since I supplied information based on extensive personal experience, and offered to proof the article for correctness (my offer was declined). Of all the information I supplied, only the least useful item was used, a quote about how people respond to the Wilma (“Is that a car driving sideways?!”). Here are just a few points of clarification:

Gold vs lead —It’s presumptuous to call something “pricey” without any reference to its quality or desirability or applicability. Keep that in mind with any article that renders such value judgments based on zero experience with the actual product (eg the WSJ article).

Heat—the article states that the Lupine Betty “generates so much heat that if the rider isn’t moving fast enough to create wind, the light will automatically start dimming itself”.

That statement misleads. LED lights are extremely efficient, generating a very low amount of waste heat per lumen of light emitted. At 22 watts, there is indeed a significant amount of heat, but it would be far more for an equivalent amount of light from other technologies.

While it’s true that the Betty will reduce power output when its internal temperature rises (to protect the LED lifespan), the Betty has the best temperature regulation and heat dissipation capabilities of any light I’m aware of. Under reasonable conditions the reduction in light output (watts) won’t even be noticed by most users. Yes, if it’s 100°F out and the Betty is left on high (22W) with no ventilation, power might be reduced to as low as 6W. Competing lights might well destroy their LED lifespan under such conditions, and the Betty at 6W will still easily outshine its “competitors”! LED lifespan can be cut by a factor of ten (10) if run excessively hot.

Battery life — the implication that battery life is poor (“some need charging after just about every ride”) suggests that lights like the Betty might be disappointing (and what if the “ride” is 30 minutes vs 3 hours?!). The Betty runs at 22W for over three hours on its standard (and quite small and light) battery, and it can run over six hours on the water bottle battery. It can run for nearly a month on its ultra-low setting. It’s a stunning world-class performance, but you’d never gather that from the article.

Bright enough — The article states that “for many cyclists, purchasing one of these lights might be overkill”, suggesting that a $20 or $30 LED light will be good enough. Sure, and a $5 straw hat is probably good enough instead of a cycling helmet. Overkill? The Betty is not the only option, and it’s not a choice between a $1100 state-of-the-art masterpiece and a $30 toy.

Most important, a tail light (red) is needed to be seen from the rear—a point not mentioned in the article, but one of critical importance for safety. I recommend the PowerFlare. For the front, a helmet or bar-mounted light should be enough to see with; safely riding at night requires being able to see potholes and debris far enough in advance to avoid unpleasant results. A $20 toy light just doesn’t cut it, except for emergency use on moonless nights in a tunnel. I speak from experience, having tried numerous lights and technologies.

Key features— To be of Service to readers, the article should have mentioned all the issues of battery life and weight, beam quality (color and uniformity), versatility (helment, headbelt, etc), durability, wet weather performance, lifespan, upgradability, etc (batteries were mentioned only in a confusing way). The article fails to help readers to make an informed buying decision, and it fails to tell the truth that there are major differences in how the lights on the market actually perform—$1000+ buys you first-rate engineering in multiple areas, even forgetting the light output. But if one has never used or even seen a product (the case here), writing more than pig swill is certainly a challenge.

Liar, liar — The author wanted commuting from work to be the story line, and even after I made it clear (twice) that I do not use the Lupine Betty for commuting (never have), it was of no concern to the author—that was the story line, facts be damned. (I use the Betty for dusk and night-time recreational rides from my home).

State parks — Exactly what connection do LED lights have to illegal riding at night in state parks? Misleading readers, failing to inform, and then topping it off with an outstandingly moronic quote from a park ranger (“I wouldn’t want them (mountain lions) hunting bicycle riders”). I’m truly embarrassed to be mentioned in this article.

It’s disappointing to see fake journalism, and it makes me wonder about the WSJ in general—maybe this is the standard applied to the rest of the paper, too.

Look for a review of the Lupine Betty here at diglloyd.com in the next month or so. In the meantime, read about the Lupine Wilma, which is of the same caliber as Betty, but with 4 LEDs instead of 7.


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