The next generation has arrived

The next generation of headlight has arrived. Regular readers of this blog (both of you) have probably tired of my harping on about how wonderful my E6 headlight was, and how it enabled me to take long rides on dark, deserted country roads late at night. There were even occasions where that light allowed me to ride through the night. Pretty good, huh? Well now it appears to have been superseded.

Last night I took my first proper night ride with my newly fitted E3 headlight (which runs off the same Schmidt hub Dynamo generatior as the E6 did). It was absolutely superb. Similar in brightness, but with a wider beam than the E6, but still managed to focus most of the light on the road where it's needed, although it provided more than enough ambient light to read roadsigns and so on (and this on a dark night with NO moonlight). In fact, where the beam focussed on the road made the car headlights look dim by comparison. Yet when I hit the stretch of the ride where glow worms lined the side of the road, they weren't disturbed by excessive ambient light. I don't think much more can be asked of a light.

I'm looking forward to giving it a more solid hit out when the Audax season starts. In the meantime, I'll probably keep an E6 on hand as a back up, should anything happen to my E3 (I'm not sure how waterproof they are, and last night wasn't going to test that, unless my excessive perspiration counts). For the moment, however, I seem to have found the next generation in headlights for long distance cycling. I might just give it another run on Thursday night.