About a month ago I started the cycle again of debating about pulling the trigger on a new lighting system before Old Pueblo. I was very close to just closing my eyes, handing over the CC number and picking up a Arc Li-ion setup with an extra battery.

Then, as some of you might remember, the clutch on my car went out. On top of paying off a new woodstove for my house, and that little gem, the money did a vanishing act quicker than you can pull a rabbit out of your ass. . . or something like that.

Either way, the begging and borrowing began, and as I hate being that guy who comes around every time he has a race and asks if he can borrow a light, I went down the list to the next HID owner I knew whom I had not borrowed from yet. That would be RideClean Pete.

So, tonight I dropped by his place after the spin class at Synergy and picked it up.

Turns out he has a Lume light setup. For those who are unfamiliar, it’s a HID setup with a NiMH battery wrapped in a luscious looking casing of faux carbon fiber and machined aluminum.

Both of which I have a soft spot in my heart for.

Sure plastic is light and tough, but really, isn’t that just gorgeous?

The specs are pretty standard for any respectable HID these days: 3.5 hours burn time, 24.5 oz (695 grams) for the whole system, and a quick charger which will refuel it in about the same time as a full burn. It’s lacking a couple small features like a battery indicator and a ‘low’ setting, but all-in-all it looks like a nice light. You can get them off the Lume Site for $279, which ain’t a bad price for an HID (light & motion’s NiMH HID retails for about $40-$50 more). Don’t know that I’d buy one if I was getting a HID, mostly because I want a Li-Ion battery because they’re so much smaller. Lume hasn’t updated their site in what looks like a little while, so maybe they’re working on a little skunkworks effort for a Li-Ion? Or maybe they’re blowing out the old ones because they went under, and we’ll never see them again. They’re last sponsorship (and last several reviews) are from 2005.

Anyone got any info on their whereabouts? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

Ah, whatever.

I’m planning on taking it out tomorrow night for a test run and to figure out whether I’m going to run it on the bars or on the helmet (I’m leaning towards the bars, HIDs on the helmet tend to make everything look really flat). So, if I get my stuff in gear and actually get out, I’ll let ya’ll know how it works out.

You gotta have respect for a company that even machines their bar clamps. Mmmmm. . . . Aluminum . . . .