Gemini Olympia 1800 Lumen Light
Canadian company Gemini are relatively new to the light market but have produced some banging LED lights since they formed in 2010.
This Olympia 1800 Lumen model is the big daddy of the range. Three CREE XM-L U2 leds in the lightweight 85g head unit kick out a mighty impressive flood of light. A flood light even.
The riding I do around the Welsh woods at night mainly consists of about a 2/3 hours session, which involves 30/40minute climbs followed by fast descents of two to three minute. Previously I’ve used a two light set up, 1000 lumens on the bar and 1000 lumens on the lid. (This is a popular set up with the local crew, the bar lamp gives a good spread out front while the helmet lamp keeps your line of sight lit as you corner.)
But with this 1800 monster, I find it’s so bright that even for the fast, flat out stuff and the technical descending, I’ve switched to just running this unit alone on the helmet without the fuss of an additional bar light.
If you prefer to run the Olympia on your bars then the common rubber O-Ring system is a doddle to use and the battery pack sits neatly on your top tube with a velcro fastener. Fitting the light to your lid via the mount will depend on the number of vents, I always gaffer tape mine on for extra stability and run the battery pack in my backpack with the extender cable.
Out of the box you get four settings low, med, high and a separate flash mode. Two modes are enough for me, low for climbing and high for descending. A middle setting keeps everyone happy and the flash is probably for roadies or ravers. Gemini have included a programmable feature which lets you customise the brightness of each setting, if you are really fussy about things.
Battery life is great, my night time sorties never go much beyond the three hour mark but the six cell supply will run on full power for nearly four hours, even longer on the lower power settings. In fact they’ll run for over 10 hours at 40%.
(I’ve got a bit of night riding helmet cam footage with the light which I’ll add in a bit)
Any snags? Only one small point is that the the on/off button on the back is a bit small with my fat gloved fingers.
Price: £209.00
Hit up www.i-ride.co.uk
Tel. 01444 243000
I have a similar one, but I bought it on Amazon for £40. Been great and reliable for the past 12 months commuting and off road. I think similar ones can be bought from China on eBay for less than that. Yours is probably brighter, and I’m sure it’s better, but is it 5 times better?
I think the Ebay jobs are a bit hit and miss. Alot of these lights might all look the same on the outside but pretty sure the quality of the componentary varies quite dramatically. I bought a 30 quid 1200 lumen Ebay spesh, it’s been okay for 6 weeks but just noticed the connectors have split exposing the fragile wires. It’s taped up now, so alls good.
Hate to say it, but I just dont see how you could not go for 2 chinese lights. Still under 50% of the cost and advantages are 1) the ability to do both bars and helmet at once, 2) second battery pack for longer rides (one light is enough) and 3) spare light/circuitry should you bang one off a tree or get a dodgy one or for when someone forgets to pack theirs. My group uses 6 different 30euro specials and none have gone wrong at any point. I was sceptical, but now dont see any value in getting anything else.
I’m using this on the bar at the moment, any problems with the battery sliding along the frame? I’ve had it happen a couple of times. Amazing beam though!
A bit of well placed gaffer tape comes to the rescue again! You can sometimes use the cable routing points as anchors for the velcro strap which will stop it sliding, depends on your top tube. It can’t go far with the short cable if that’s enough. THough I was thinking the other night about some sort of gizmo that clamps/holds the battery in place.
Deal extreme £40 spesh 2 years old plenty of light never needed more.
After having battery issues with my Dealextreme I can definitely see advantages of buying from a company so you have a point of contact for any problems, warranty issues etc… definitely considering one of Hope’s latest offerings for next winter – buy British peeps.
My Magicshine MJ 8sumthing is well good, 1600lumens maxpower. lasts long enough for me, and only £100!!!
Cree t6 1200 lumens (ok take with a pinch of salt) with lithium battery long enough to run from a backpack, £19 free delivery on ebay, i really cannot understand paying more. You could get 10 of them for the price of this! looks good though!