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Dirt Rag Articles
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For 2006 Lupine Lighting Systems has released a high-performance 12W LED light system. The Wilma 8 looks to compete against the HID market with a versatile waterproof light that boasts long run times, greater durability and a level of customization that sends most lights back to kindergarten. Lupine incorporated four 3W LED bulbs with a 9Ah/7.2v Li-Ion battery that can light your way at full power for 5.5 hours and weighs in at a svelte 580 grams. The light and battery come standard with a bar mount, home charger and car charger. Charge time is 5 hours. The lights are only available in North America through www.gretnabikes.com in Mt. Gretna, Pennsylvania. For the review, Bill Gentile from Gretna was kind enough to include a helmet mount and an extension cord.
In lumen-to-lumen comparisons, the Wilma 8's 380 fall short of the standard 500 lumens that most HID systems pump out but there are a ton of advantages to this LED system over my old HID. For the sake of space here is a short list of those advantages: the LEDs are more durable, easier to maintain, upgradeable as technology improves, dim-able to specific needs, have longer life, and able to flash both SOS and Alpine emergency signals. Out of the box, I was surprised to find a water bottle shaped battery. I thought this was a little inconvenient for my hydration needs. A rider will have to decide between giving up fluids, or stuffing the battery into their jersey or hydration pack. A smaller battery is available if you're not comfortable giving up that space.
For our first trail date I mounted Wilma to my helmet, where I prefer my lights. I eventually used the bar mount and found it to be as easy to install (and mount the light to) as the helmet mount. A simple industrial sized rubber loop attached the lamp to both mounts, and made adjusting up and down light direction simple and quick. A supplied selection of Velcro straps kept everything tidy and in place. On the trail, the light cast a nice blue/white light through the 18° lens that comes standard. A 12° lens can be switched out at no extra charge at time of purchase. The quality of light was excellent and the beam pattern was wide and solid.
Wilma fell short of the HID's light power but still produced a better light than the last generation of LED lights before HID. With the current bulbs, I might hesitate to use this light alone if I knew I was in for some serious fast pace trail riding where I might risk outrunning the light. For technical twisty trails I wouldn't hesitate to strap the Wilma 8 on, and as bulb wattage improves I don't doubt that Wilma would be my go-to girl.
After about three months of use, I found that Wilma could take branch limbs that knocked me and my helmet sideways. She showed no significant loss of run time due to sub-freezing temperatures and never surprised me with any funny business. Her CNC'd body and choice of construction materials say, "I do, forever" (almost). What a good girl!
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