Stephen
06-25-2012, 01:37 PM
Who am I?
Cycling enthusiast, electrical engineer, certifiable bike light "nut." I've been building and strapping lights of all sorts to my bikes since I was a kid. These lights came about from a desire to increase my safety margin when riding on the road. I knew about Dinotte, but it just wasn't enough... I wanted to really go BIG and see what kind of taillight I could build with a LOT more horsepower.
139
Which came first?
The taillight (DS-500, think "DesignShine" 500-lumen) as it stands today, was the original concept. Turns out this was a conservative estimate as Lupine recently ran a test on the DS-500 and measured 800 lumens! I wanted to build the brightest taillight in existence in the smallest possible package. Excellent side lighting, flexible mounting options, long run times, and compatibility with all existing 7.4V systems were also requirements. Aside from the sheer power (10 watts at level 5), the lenses being used on this light will allow you to penetrate through to distracted drivers from a significant distance, even at large off-angles, during the day. The light comes with 6 well thought out flash patterns that I've tried to optimize for day and night use. However, each of those 6 "placeholders" can be customized or changed completely to suit your preferences, and unlike some other "daytime" capable taillights, the DS can throttle way back to around 1 watt or less for suitable (safe) nighttime use.
The headlight (DS-1300) was a "natural" progression of the taillight by changing out the LEDs and slightly modifying the case design to provide "shading" from the light getting back into the user's eyes. This light provides a fantastic all-around solution for most needs, on or off road, day or night. It's not the highest power light available, but I firmly hold to the idea that 1300 true lumens of well-shaped light is pretty close to the sweet-spot for 99% of bicycle applications. Although I love this unique headlight, I'm sad to say that it just makes since to retire the design since the headlight market has become super saturated with low-cost, foreign-made pieces. It's such a competitive market that there are now "knock-offs" of the "knock-offs." (EDIT 8/23/2014...OK, I changed my mind last minute, I just had to make a few more with the new power switch design. Limited supply for sure.)
How do you buy/demo the lights?
I'm currently completely sold out of lights (as of June 11, 2014). However, I'm very excited to announce that I'll be putting together a new run of 400 taillights starting late this summer! These lights will have the same great performance that has established the DS-500 as the single-best taillight that money can buy, but with a few new "curves" and a larger power button, along with with a dedicated battery status indicator. Here's an early sneak peak (http://www.designshinelighting.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=246&d=1402064554) at a CAD drawing.
Up till now, I've interacted personally with each and every customer to ensure that you're getting exactly what you need and that everything works as expected. As you can imagine, this is a very time consuming task. In order to continue to make these lights available on a semi-larger scale, I'll be selling the new batch directly through a dedicated on-line store (not live yet). However, my mission remains the same: to ensure your satisfaction with the lights and provide you with a world-class taillight that will run for years and dramatically increase your safety zone on the bike.
Any questions or if you want to talk about the lights...
Just shoot me an email at: [email protected]
Cycling enthusiast, electrical engineer, certifiable bike light "nut." I've been building and strapping lights of all sorts to my bikes since I was a kid. These lights came about from a desire to increase my safety margin when riding on the road. I knew about Dinotte, but it just wasn't enough... I wanted to really go BIG and see what kind of taillight I could build with a LOT more horsepower.
139
Which came first?
The taillight (DS-500, think "DesignShine" 500-lumen) as it stands today, was the original concept. Turns out this was a conservative estimate as Lupine recently ran a test on the DS-500 and measured 800 lumens! I wanted to build the brightest taillight in existence in the smallest possible package. Excellent side lighting, flexible mounting options, long run times, and compatibility with all existing 7.4V systems were also requirements. Aside from the sheer power (10 watts at level 5), the lenses being used on this light will allow you to penetrate through to distracted drivers from a significant distance, even at large off-angles, during the day. The light comes with 6 well thought out flash patterns that I've tried to optimize for day and night use. However, each of those 6 "placeholders" can be customized or changed completely to suit your preferences, and unlike some other "daytime" capable taillights, the DS can throttle way back to around 1 watt or less for suitable (safe) nighttime use.
The headlight (DS-1300) was a "natural" progression of the taillight by changing out the LEDs and slightly modifying the case design to provide "shading" from the light getting back into the user's eyes. This light provides a fantastic all-around solution for most needs, on or off road, day or night. It's not the highest power light available, but I firmly hold to the idea that 1300 true lumens of well-shaped light is pretty close to the sweet-spot for 99% of bicycle applications. Although I love this unique headlight, I'm sad to say that it just makes since to retire the design since the headlight market has become super saturated with low-cost, foreign-made pieces. It's such a competitive market that there are now "knock-offs" of the "knock-offs." (EDIT 8/23/2014...OK, I changed my mind last minute, I just had to make a few more with the new power switch design. Limited supply for sure.)
How do you buy/demo the lights?
I'm currently completely sold out of lights (as of June 11, 2014). However, I'm very excited to announce that I'll be putting together a new run of 400 taillights starting late this summer! These lights will have the same great performance that has established the DS-500 as the single-best taillight that money can buy, but with a few new "curves" and a larger power button, along with with a dedicated battery status indicator. Here's an early sneak peak (http://www.designshinelighting.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=246&d=1402064554) at a CAD drawing.
Up till now, I've interacted personally with each and every customer to ensure that you're getting exactly what you need and that everything works as expected. As you can imagine, this is a very time consuming task. In order to continue to make these lights available on a semi-larger scale, I'll be selling the new batch directly through a dedicated on-line store (not live yet). However, my mission remains the same: to ensure your satisfaction with the lights and provide you with a world-class taillight that will run for years and dramatically increase your safety zone on the bike.
Any questions or if you want to talk about the lights...
Just shoot me an email at: [email protected]