So we did the big light test at NS last night, and got some good info on 21 lights.

Here are the results, in loose order of how the pictures turned out. There was some slop in the way we were aiming the lights, which affected the outcome a little, like making carlos’s 500L look dimmer than it was, because it was aimed off to the side a little. But overall, it’s easy to tell how each light looks on the trail.

The white trail marker and hanging shirt are 30 feet from the lights. The camera was set at F2.8, ISO100, 4 sec exposure. The white balance adjusted itself differently for the halogen lights, but not much.

The overall concensus of the group was that halogens are pretty much done, and older HIDs are just hanging on.

The “cheapos” are actually pretty well put together (for those of us who don’t know what the inside OUGHT to look like), and performed as well as many lights double or triple their price. Seriously, see for yourself.

Don’t worry too much about what order I have them in… I just drug the thumbnails around in the file folder until it looked close, and called it good.

Name brand LEDs have great build quality and brightness, but top prices. I would have liked to test NR’s new Pro600 and Pro1200s, but noone had one. The “home builders” like Zen and Amoeba turn out good product, and customization is a great perk, like being able to pick between spot and flood LEDs, and getting a battery that suits your needs without being overkill. Their prices aren’t cheap, but they’re very attractive compared to the big names, and seem to perform as well or better.

So there you have it, the big guys are getting stomped by a dude in Dallas who started building lights as a side project.

]]> http://www.ryan-cobourn.com/dirtdawg-light-test/feed/ 2 http://www.ryan-cobourn.com/hucknroll/ http://www.ryan-cobourn.com/hucknroll/#comments Fri, 22 May 2009 20:18:22 +0000 Ryan http://www.ryan-cobourn.com/?p=302

PARK CITY, UTAH (May 21, 2009) — Starting today, there’s HuckNroll.com, a store dedicated to dirt riders and our take-your-personal-best-and-shove-it-up-your-ass, meat-hucking, scab-picking habit known as mountain biking.

HuckNroll.com is an online mountain bike shop. You heard right. Online. And we wouldn’t be putting it lightly to say that the bike industry didn’t want us. The consensus when we first approached suppliers about launching a high-end online mountain bike shop was, “It will never work, the bike industry is different.” Our response? “Damn right, it’s different. It’s the last industry in existence to accept the Internet as a viable sales channel.”

So we went for it. And along the way we’ve made friends with the industry’s best. In fact, the raddest brands in the biz are snubbing the status quo to team up with us. (They mentioned something about Specialized and Trek pushing them out of bike shops…) We’re stocking more than 6,000 products from 130 high-end bike-specific brands. We have components from Shimano, Race Face, Truvativ, Avid, Easton, and Gravity; apparel and accessories from Fox Racing, Troy Lee Designs, POC, Sombrio, Dakine, Endura, and Zoic; and complete bikes from Santa Cruz, Intense, Titus, Look and Rocky Mountain. (We’re the only authorized online dealer of Rocky Mountain in the U.S.)

HucknRoll.com is staffed by mountain bike gear freaks (including that dude who rambles on about the frame geometry of the 1993 Fat Chance Yo Eddy every time he laces a wheel). Only USA Cycling race-certified bike mechanics will touch your bikes, and only fully trained customer service gearheads will take your calls and answer your live chats. Our goal is to provide, hands down, the best customer lovin’ in the industry.

HucknRoll is community-powered, with gear reviews, Q&A, and images all submitted by you and other riders on the site. That means you get the god’s honest truth on the goods, whether the guys that make the bikes like it or not.

We mentioned our friends. As more proof that we have some, log on to HuckNroll.com/sweepstakes to check out the vid of pros and bros who at least humored us enough to say our name on camera. If you can ID all 15 in order, you’ll get the chance to win $2.9k-worth of gear, including an Intense Tracer VP frame, a Giro helmet and gloves, and an ass-load of Cutter swag.

HuckNroll.com is another store from Backcountry.com, who pretty much realized that skiers and climbers don’t know jack shit about mountain biking. Probably against their better judgment, they gave us some room to do what we do, the way we want to do it. We are proudly related to Chainlove.com, as well as the two shave-your-legs-to-your-scrawny-buttocks roadie sites: RealCyclist.com and Bonktown.com.

So here we go, y’all. It’s a whole new day in the bike world. We don’t give a rat’s ass if you love us or hate us, but we’re here and we’re open for business.

About Backcountry.com:
HuckNroll.com is owned by Backcountry.com—an online retailer of high-end outdoor gear and center for gear knowledge online. Backcountry.com carries more than 400 brands in various categories, including backpacking, camping, cycling, hiking, climbing, trail running, paddling, skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing and adventure travel. Backcountry also operates RealCyclist.com, Bonktown.com, Chainlove.com, SteepandCheap.com, Dogfunk.com, Tramdock.com, Brociety.com and WhiskeyMilitia.com. Backcountry.com is a controlled subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation attributed to the Liberty Interactive Group (Nasdaq: LINTA).

Edit:

Ah and the vid that goes with the launch.

Fast forward 13 years. Yesterday I had my first mountain bike race, at least it felt that way. I woke up at 5 am, grabbed a quick shower, and went to load the car up. It was 25 degrees when I got outside. As I drove to my friend and fellow single speeder Andrew?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s house I tried to pump myself up. 4 hours of driving, a race and 4 more hours of driving were in front of me. We got on the road pretty fast and we were making good time to the race, that is, until we hit the snow. It must have dumped 5 inches in central Utah, and it looked as though a plow hadn?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t seen most of the roads in days. An overwhelming sense of dread overcame us, what if it had snowed in St. George? We?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢d be driving 8 hours for nothing. But as we descended out of the mountains into the red rock desert we saw that our fears were unfounded. The temperature warmed to a cool 45 degrees and there wasn?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t a snow flake to be seen.

The size of the event was impressive. I?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢ve been to some big bike races, and I honestly expected the first race of the series to have a low turnout. As we crested the ridge onto BLM land we saw the sea of cars and tents sprawled across the desert floor. This was going to be a good time.

They don?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t call it the ?¢‚Ǩ?ìRed Rock Desert Rampage?¢‚Ǩ¬ù for nothing.

We got registered, got dressed, got the bikes ready and started riding around to warm up a little bit. This was Andrew?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s first cross country race and my first short xc single speed race.

Andrew getting warm.

Last second adjustments.

We heard the announcement for the rider meeting and got ourselves down to the line. The format was interesting, the beginners raced first and were already done. In front of us were the pro, semi-pro and expert men and women. There were a lot of factory team outfits. The starts were staggered, but not by much. I knew I was going to get passed, a lot.

A lot of pros.

The course was different than anything I?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢ve ever raced on. The 12 Miles of Hell is the nearest comparison. We started on a long flat fire road. I spun out immediately and started kicking myself for my gear choice. The course took us up and down some rollers on the fire road. Then the climb started. The trail climbed up a series of slick rock steps through a canyon. I immediately started praising my gear, even as I watched the top 10 single speeders (including Andrew) take off. We climbed up onto a series of double track climbs, those then fed into some more single track climbing. I kept looking up, hoping to see the leaders turning to a downhill or at least a flat, but it seemed to be forever before I finally reached the top of the ridge. The trail rounded the top and immediately dove down the same distance as the climb. I was in heaven. Even as I was muscling the Vassago sideways to avoid square boulders I couldn?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t help but feel like this was how a race should be: a wide open course with a lung busting climb followed by a screaming downhill, it was less like a race, and more like an amazing epic ride. But as I reached the curve at the bottom it dawned on me that I had not gone even close to 7 miles. Then it happened, the trail hooked a right (back up) into a slick rock canyon full of stair steps. I settled in for the climb, and climbed, and climbed, and climbed. The double track got so steep at one point that I had to walk it. I don?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t know if it was gearing or fitness or both, but I knew I would be walking that stretch again. By the time I reached the top of the ridge (again, only higher) my heart was organizing a mutiny with my lungs, lungs, calves and thighs as cohorts. The trail turned onto the ridge line and followed a couple of rolling climbs and descents through some rock gardens until it turned back down. I felt like I was ripping it, even though a rider on a full suspension geared bike would occasionally pass. I was going as fast as gravity and pure awesome terror would allow me. Then the trail dumped back into the fire road at the start. Rinse, and repeat.

The second lap seemed much easier, I found my flow and my heart decided to stick with my leadership for at least a little while longer. I let a lot of riders go by, probably experts who were lapping me by this point. The second lap seemed to fly by and before I knew it I was walking up the steep double track again, almost at the final downhill. I ripped it again, and I felt the best that I have on a mountain bike in a long time. Some pros from the Cannondale team went screaming by at the bottom and one guy who was racing expert on his SS passed me at the finish. I found Andrew, who I took it had finished well in front of me and headed to the car to chug a beer.

Andrew, a beer and Jersey, our other companion for the day. She didn?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t race.

Incomplete results. I would love to have been 8th. For some reason there are two expert women in there.

I still don?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t know what the results were, but I know that as I was sitting at the In-n-Out burger I was filled with an overwhelming sense of accomplishment and euphoria. The first of many painful and awesome rides was over. I might have been DFL, but I couldn?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t care one iota. I had the time of my life and I got to race on a course I was completely unprepared for in conditions I have yet to really acclimatize to. I felt like I had just done my first race all over again, and I?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢m hooked. One down, eleven to go!

Results posted: Ryan Cobourn: 15th. DFL baby! Ames Promoting