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Buyer's Guide By MBT Staff Lights, Electronics and Gizmos | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 = We'd rather eat a soggy bike sock than buy this thing.
 = Pretty good. Could use improvement, but functional.
 = If someone gives it to you, maybe. It's a paperweight.
 = Sweeeeet. We'd buy it. It won't cure cancer though.
 = We'd use it if we were in a bind. Maybe.
 = Dude, it does everything including wash your car. It rules!
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Light and Motion ARC HID NiMH White Christmas: Reminds us of a headlight on a HumVee. Lump of Coal: Um. Expensive bulbs? Santa says: Buy it, replace your car's headlamps with it. Light and Motion has long been one of the best light manufacturers out there, and in this case they've outdone themselves. The ARC HID (High Intensity Discharge) is one of the best trail lights on the market. Featuring 2 modes, high and low (675 and 550 lumens respectively) and great burn times (3.5 and 4 hours), the ARC has a number of excellent features. All the electronics are housed inside the bulb housing itself, so there are no external switches or ballasts that can be smashed. The bar and helmet mounts, both included, feature a great breakaway mechanism that will save the light head from damage in the event of a crash. The ARC also features a great safety shutoff that will first warn the user when 15 minutes of burn time is remaining. Once the battery gets within 1 minute of discharge, the light dims, giving you enough to get out of the woods fast. If you don't shut it down yourself, it will shut itself down to prevent battery damage. AWESOME! While it's pricey, it's included multi-chemistry quick charger (you can buy a Lithium Ion battery later if you wish) makes for short charging times and the beam pattern is wonderful. This one gets two MAJOR thumbs up. MSRP - $409.99. Light And Motion
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Sigma PC 15 Heart Rate Monitor White Christmas: Lots of features. Lump of Coal: After a year we still have trouble with the menus. Santa says: Great value if you need a full featured HRM. The Sigma Sport PC-15 is a great heart rate monitor for the price; packed with features and tough as nails, it will see you through many rides. The wrist unit is nicely put together, very durable and is non-intrusive while you're riding. The chest strap is adjustable to fit a wide range of bodies, both male and female, without a problem in the world. Featuring a training manager, 3 training zone alarm, zone indicator, backlight, audible alarm, multiple time functions and training functions and user replaceable batteries, this HRM packs features found on models that are exponentially more expensive. The menu functions on the wrist unit are difficult to get used to and are not entirely user friendly, but for the price, it's hard to beat. MSRP - $74.99 Sigma Sport
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Garmin Foretrex 201 White Christmas: Compact and feature filled. Lump of Coal: What? No software?? Santa says: Mount it on your bar, turn it on and forget it. We like that. If you're in need of a resonably low priced, sturdy and simple to use GPS, the Foretrex 201 is your ticket. Powered by an internally rechargable Lithium Ion battery and featuring a 500 waypoint memory, trip computer, up to 20 route memory, race timers, 15 hour battery life, TracBack technology and accuracy as close as 3 meters (10 feet for all of us Americans), this little wrist or bike mounted unit will show you max speed, elevation and GPS location and it will guide you back the route you came. Using software (not supplied by Garmin, and this is a HUGE gripe of ours) to download and view your GPS tracks will give you elevation profiles, route maps, topographic maps and even Google Earth KML files. It's a great tool for the gadget-minded cyclist, and can be found very reasonably priced. MSRP - $184.95 Garmin USA
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Blackburn System X3 White Christmas:Budget minded LED light. Lump of Coal:Needs more power. Santa says:Great if combining with another light, but it might be a stretch on its own. Putting out 85 lumens of bright white light, if you're looking to start riding at night, the X3 is a great starter light. Featuring a dimmer switch with multiple modes, you'll get 4 hours of burn time at its highest setting and about 14 hours at the lowest setting. The single light head is compact and houses a single 3 watt Luxeon bulb that produces the equivalent light of a 12 watt halogen bulb. The 5 cell NiMH battery is contained in a nicely sculpted case, even though it is fairly bulky and unweildy. Featuring a helmet and bar mount, the X3 is versatile and durable. It makes a great light for commuting or to combine with a second light (either on a bar or on your helmet) to provide a nice spot beam, and the included 3.5 hour supercharger means you'll be on the trail even if you forget to plug in your charger the previous night. The only major drawback is that this light isn't really bright enough to use as a single trail riding light. MSRP - $150 Blackburn Lighting
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Cateye CC-CD300DW White Christmas:Lots of features. Lump of Coal:Cadence isn't always necessary on a MTB. Santa says:Pricey and sometimes confusing, but a great computer nonetheless. Loaded with buckets of features including lap distance, average cadence and speed, current/average/max speed and cadence, total pedal revolutions, time, trip distance and fully wireless operation, this cyclocomputer can take care of almost all your requirements. The only thing you'd need that isn't included is a heart rate monitor. This computer isn't for everyone though, and will benefit serious riders and racers the most. Navigation can be confusing at times, but with experience you can realize the full potential of this small wireless wonder. MSRP - $149 Cateye
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