Lupine SL AF

kj2

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Since it was released, I was looking to get one.
Did need a front fork mount, because I ride a city bike.
The Classicmount Lupine offers, doesn't fit the AF version but that problem was tackled by a local metal-shop.

Installed to light today, and hope darkness will fall soon.
Will post some in-action pictures later.

2s7j6u9.jpg
 

kj2

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xo4lu9.jpg


Low: (5W - 600 lumens)
264taf4.jpg


High: (8W - 1000 lumens)
2m3o0sw.jpg


High Beam: (16W - 1300 lumens)
N/A

Photos taken with a Pixel 3. And I've no idea why Tinypic rotates these pictures
 
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Steve K

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Lupine makes some very high quality stuff... it should perform quite well!

That's a pretty massive lens on that light! That suggests that either the LED is rather large, or it is producing a very tight, focused beam.

Looking forward to a report on how well it works.
edit: just saw the beam shots. Looks like it illuminates the ground very evenly and has sharp cutoff at the edges. Fairly wide for a road beam too, so it should be pleasant to use. Very nice!
 
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kj2

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Lupine makes some very high quality stuff... it should perform quite well!

That's a pretty massive lens on that light! That suggests that either the LED is rather large, or it is producing a very tight, focused beam.

Looking forward to a report on how well it works.
edit: just saw the beam shots. Looks like it illuminates the ground very evenly and has sharp cutoff at the edges. Fairly wide for a road beam too, so it should be pleasant to use. Very nice!
The SL AF uses 18 Osram Compact CL LEDs. The lens creates a cutoff just like with car headlights. So you won't blind upcoming traffic. The beam is really wide indeed. It lights up evenly indeed and I can see every bump in the road.
Will report every now and then, how it holds up.
 

Steve K

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Osram is one of those LED manufacturers that I don't see mentioned a lot, but now and then I become aware of how active they are in the automotive lighting market. Pretty impressive stuff! I've seen mention of some of their linear LED arrays, which do seem very suitable to making a beam that is wide from side to side, but very narrow from top to bottom.
Just poking around Osram's web site, I found some automotive LEDs that are fairly tiny... less than 2mm x 2mm, but handle 1.5A.
https://www.osram.com/os/products/p...consumer-applications/oslon_compact_cl_cm.jsp

It's reassuring to hear that Lupine is still producing quality lights. It seems that the bike forums are full of people buying the cheap Chinese lights, which makes me worry that the high quality, high cost manufacturers like Lupine might not survive.
 

kj2

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Been riding for the last couple of days, more than I normally do. The beam pattern is awesome. It's wider than the Busch&Muller IQ-X that I used before. Pattern is brighter at every point.
Cut-off is nicely done, and no other road-users flashed/waived/yelled that they were blinded. High-beam is just awesome! I don't have any use for high-beam in the city, other than flash motorist when a dangerous situation occurs.
But when you're out of the city, on completely dark roads, it's great to have. I tend to use the 5W (600 lumens) most during my ride. Save a bit of battery, and I'm still clearly visible for anyone on the road.

So far, it has been a good purchase :)
 

kj2

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So we're a week and a half further, and still enjoying the light :D
Do wish the light-sensor wasn't that sensitive. I cycle to work between 7AM-7:30AM and the light is switching between DRL and Low mode multiple times during my ride. DRL is really enough to be seen, but not to see with.
 

Steve K

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a bit of electrical tape over the sensor will take care of the problem of switching over to DRL mode!
If you could find some semi-opaque tape, you might be able to adjust it to your desired sensitivity.

Of course, this might be difficult, depending on the location of the sensor. I've got a dead B&M Eyc, and it looks like they mounted their sensor behind the translucent switch that controls operating modes.
 

kj2

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a bit of electrical tape over the sensor will take care of the problem of switching over to DRL mode!
If you could find some semi-opaque tape, you might be able to adjust it to your desired sensitivity.

Of course, this might be difficult, depending on the location of the sensor. I've got a dead B&M Eyc, and it looks like they mounted their sensor behind the translucent switch that controls operating modes.
The sensor on the SL AF, is on the back of the light. So, a piece of tape could help. Thanks for thinking :)
 

Paul20v

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The sensor on the SL AF, is on the back of the light. So, a piece of tape could help. Thanks for thinking :)

Hi
I also have the SL-AF and you can set the delay time for the DRL switch over and you can also adjust the light sensor :)
 

kj2

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Hi
I also have the SL-AF and you can set the delay time for the DRL switch over and you can also adjust the light sensor :)
Yes, have read that section in the manual. But I prefer, not to mess with the factory settings ;)
One button interface, isn't the best to switch settings IMO.
 

macatarere

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It's reassuring to hear that Lupine is still producing quality lights. It seems that the bike forums are full of people buying the cheap Chinese lights, which makes me worry that the high quality, high cost manufacturers like Lupine might not survive.

And not just quality lights, their batteries are solidly built. Despite the price they are the cheapest lights I have, only need to buy them once :).
 

abvgdee

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kj2, I'm curious how it's made optically-wise. Does it have a reflector inside? How many LEDs are there for low beam? How the reflector (if any) and LEDs are sitting there with respect to the front lens? Things like this.

Do you know any forum threads with good photos of the insides, with descriptions? (may be you saved some while you were considering buying it?)
 

kj2

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https://imgur.com/CB5DCEl
https://imgur.com/58o98vF

AFAIK the leds are just sitting behind the lens. I don't know if all leds are been used for low- and high-beam. When you select high-beam, the beam does come up.
So I expect, the top row of leds are been used for high-beam. But I'm not 100% sure on that.

edit; Lupine has their own forum, but are currently under attack by spam-bots. For some reason they even closed my account :confused: so can't see the posts there.
 
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abvgdee

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Thanks for the images!

the leds are just sitting behind the lens
Yes, the position of LEDs suggests there's no reflector, LEDs are in focal plane, and the aspherical lens is doing the rest of magic - shapes the light into proper beam pattern. (and the 6 peripheral LEDs are DRL then).

top row of leds are been used for high-beam.
The bottom row?

I know mtb-news.de is a great forum, but couldn't find anything there.

Thanks again. Something cleared a little.
 

sstmax

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Feb 7, 2008
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Since it was released, I was looking to get one.
Did need a front fork mount, because I ride a city bike.
The Classicmount Lupine offers, doesn't fit the AF version but that problem was tackled by a local metal-shop.

Installed to light today, and hope darkness will fall soon.
Will post some in-action pictures later.

2s7j6u9.jpg

Hi @kj2, unfortunately, your photos are no longer available. Can you tell me if you had your local metal shop make up a completely new mount or were they able to adapt the Classicmount to work with the SL AF?
 

kj2

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Hi @kj2, unfortunately, your photos are no longer available. Can you tell me if you had your local metal shop make up a completely new mount or were they able to adapt the Classicmount to work with the SL AF?
They cut of, one of the 'arms'. That way the light doesn't hit the mount. But since it molded aluminium, it's very difficult to do, without it snapping off.
My lights is screwed with one screw but it hasn't moved since I installed it.

TVdi8Zj
TVdi8Zj.jpg
 
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