Niterider Digital Pro-12 E Bicycle Light

I do a lot of road night riding due to time constraints of two small children and the light system I use is an older version made by Niterider called the Digital Pro-12 E (Extream). This lighting system is about 8 years old but I think it is still one of the best ever built from a capability, reliability and safety standpoint and by rebuilding the battery unit with a new Li-Ion battery it is also longer lasting and lighter than the original configuration.

Let me also say that here in 2009 there are some great bicycle lights being made with the new LED technology with fabulous light output, light weight, reliable and great prices and I have recommended many to people looking to do some night riding but I like the older system I have mainly because of the vastly superior integrated taillight and the ability to easily rebuild the battery.

Tail Light

Many people focus a lot of their attention on the headlight and then slap a little red blinky light on the back. To me the most danger from night riding is the car coming from behind me in my lane as they are the car that will need to take some action not to hit me. So I tend to put a lot of focus on the ability of the tail light. The tail light that works with this Niterider system is pretty much considered the brightest you can get and the mounting bracket hangs the light low below your seat bag for great visibility to drivers. Also since it runs off the battery powering the headlight it does not lack a strong power source and you do not have to manage another set of batteries. This tail light really gets the drivers attention and you can tell a marked difference in the respect you get versus the much less powerful taillights.

Niterider has chosen with their new generation of LED lights not to include a capability to drive their tail light from the light battery so you will have to get an older light to use their great tail light which you can still buy as a part off their web site. It's not cheap but you get what you pay for.

Head Light

The Niterider Digital Pro-12 E is a dual bulb halogen light that has a 20 watt flood and a 12 watt spot bulbs. The digital control allows you many different power and light settings to cover whatever your lighting needs are. You can run it at 32, 20, 12, 9, or 6 watts and it also has walk, flash, sos and beacon modes if you need them. It uses a water bottle battery which can be easily rebuilt and makes for easy and quick mounting.

I have rebuilt two batteries so far with one done with NiMH and another with a new Li-Ion battery pack and the new Li-Ion pack is great and half the weight and 25% longer battery life.

I get these off of ebay for about $50 and then rebuild the battery to create a great light that will integrate with the fabulous Niterider Tail Light for many more years of service.

Summary

If you want a great light with a superior integrated tail light solution then it is worth the extra effort to resurrect one of these system off of ebay with a simple new Li-Ion rebuild of the battery and if you are getting a light for road riding then check out the ability of this tail light in person before making a serious investment as it could very well be the difference between life and death when night riding.

KW