Busch and Muller IX-Q Nighttime Photos

The roads were dry tonight, so I was able to take the new IQ-X light out for a nighttime test ride.

My first impression was something like, "Holy s***, this thing is bright!" Based on a purely subjective comparison with the Edelux, Edelux II, and Luxos lights I have on several other bikes, the IQ-X is far brighter. It also throws a more even and consistent pattern of light on the roadway, with only minor variations across the swath of illumination it lays on the road.

The light is very well focused, with a definite cutoff that prevents the light from shining up into the eyes of oncoming vehicles. The photos below tell the story:

Adjusted for maximum throw. The far edge is about 150 feet down the road.

The cutoff is clearly visible here in the railings on the side--the IQ-X is lighting up just the very bottom of the railings, with almost no light spillage upward.

I like to run my lights adjusted to point as far down the road as they will go--I do this by pointing them up until the far edge starts to blur and get dim. With the IQ-X, that far edge is about half again as far away as with an Edelux or Edelux II, and the swath of light between that edge and the front of the bike is much more even. As shown in the photo at the top, there is only one small area in the middle of the illuminated area that's a little dimmer than the rest.

One minor quibble: When making a turn, the tilt of the bike makes the pattern change, drawing it in a bit on the side you're turning toward and creating a less "throw" in that direction. It's not a big deal (I use a helmet-mounted light to look around turns), but it would be great if the optics could be changed to reduce or eliminate this effect.

That minor quibble aside, this is an amazing bright light. So bright, in fact, that I was sure several times that a car behind me was lighting up the road with its headlights, only to check and see that there was no car there.

The IQ-X is available in the USA at www.peterwhitecycles.com and www.clevercycles.com  (Disclosure: I paid full retail price for my light from Clever Cycles.)

Busch and Muller IQ-X Headlight: Brightest Dynamo Light Ever?

Just installed the IQ-X on my Singer! Haven’t been outside to try it (it’s pouring down rain outside), but based on spinning the front wheel, this thing is amazingly bright (they advertise it as 100 Lux; Peter White calls it “… the brightest dynamo powered light,” which I take to mean brighter than even the Supernova). I’ll post photos from the road as soon as conditions dry out a bit.

Front View. "Daytime" LEDs are visible at the top.

Rear View.

Another Front View.

A few notes:

— The silver version has a brushed finish that looks quite nice, but not polished like an Edelux. According to Peter White, the housing is also the heat sink for the LED.

— The light turns on an off with a pushbutton at the back, which is ringed by a blue light that comes on when the light is on. In the light’s location on my bike, the front bag will block this from my view, but YMMV based on where you put it on your machine.

— When the light is on, it’s always in “senso” mode, which turns off the main lamp during the day and leaves on a set of front-facing LEDs that act as daytime driving lights. After dark, the daytime running lights go off and the main light comes on. There is no “full-on-during-the-day” mode (you can’t have the brighter “nighttime” light on during the day).

— There are small slits on either side of the black band that let out light for visibility from the side.

— YES, the light can be mounted upside down! Just rotate the black mounting band 180 degrees and you’re good. No more need to buy a special light for upside-down mounting! Note, however, that the wires will still come out of the *bottom* of the light (not the top, like an upside-down model Edelux).

— Connecting my bike-mounted taillight was easy. The IQ-X has the same male connector as an Edelux (but on a wire pigtail, not part of the light). I had to connect the other wire lead to the frame to ground it, but with that done everything worked perfectly.

— The wire to connect to the front hub was *exactly* long enough (well, maybe 1/4th inch too long). Per the photos, my Singer’s front rack has the light mount on the lefthand side, so I need a little extra length to get across the bike from left to right, and from the front of the rack to the fork. If you mount to the fork crown or pretty much anywhere else, the wire will be fine.

— The wires, by the way, are standard B&M side-by-side conductor type, not the nicer coaxial that comes with the Edelux. B&M’s wires seem more flimsy to me, but on the other hand I’ve never had a problem with them.

Quick BikeCharge Impressions

Because many readers have asked, here are some quick impressions of the BikeCharge integrated light/dynamo/USB charger. We've used the BikeCharge several times, including a hilly 53-mile ride and several local rides in our hometown.

BikeCharge mounted on a steel fork

General Impressions: Overall, we're impressed with the quality of the unit. It's solidly made and generally works as advertised. We took the unit up to speeds of over 40 mph with no problems.

The exception so far is the USB function, which is not working on our unit. We informed the manufacturer, and they're sending a replacement unit, which we will test and report on as soon as it arrives.

Riding with the BikeCharge: On that recent 55-mile ride, we rode with the BikeCharge's dynamo engaged for the entire ride (it's easy to disengage the unit for daytime riding, but we kept it on for test purposes). The unit's drag is minimal--we honestly couldn't discern any loss of speed caused by having it on. Lacking any special testing equipment, we'll guess that the drag is equal to or perhaps a bit less than a Schmidt hub, and certainly less than a B&M bottle generator. The unit's gearbox emits a very low level of noise, certainly less than a bottle generator. The only time the unit produces more noise is when changing speed, when the gearbox and/or the "clutch" mechanism that rests in the spokes make slightly louder gear meshing sound.

Brightness: We've been pleasantly surprised by the brightness of the headlight. The LED lamp is rated at 100 lumens, but it seems brighter than that. We used the BikeCharge for a brief nighttime ride, paired with a helmet-mounted Exposure Lights "Joystick" on the lowest setting, and adequate light for riding at about 20 mph. It's certainly not as bright as an Edelux or a similar high-end light, but certainly enough to ride with. We can certainly see this light working well for randonneuring events. The light is quite visible from the front, even in bright sunlight, making it a great running light for full-time use.

Our only minor complaint with the front light is its low-mounted location, which makes it somewhat hard to aim properly. We prefer a light mounted on the fork crown or handlebars, but the BikeCharge offers the tradeoff of being a single, easy-to-mount unit.

The red LED taillights, on the other hand, are a bit of a disappointment. They're not nearly as bright as the headlight (good thing, too, because you can see them while you are riding), and I wouldn't want to rely on them as my only source of rear-facing illumination. Riders in the USA and other countries where we drive on the righthand side of the road will also note that the unit mounts on the right side of the bike, making the taillights less visible to cars approaching from the rear on the left side of the bike.

USB Charging: As noted earlier, we couldn't get the USB charging function to work. The manufacturer said this was rare, and is sending a replacement unit. We're a little concerned about the relatively lightweight connector for the USB cord, but we'll wait to see how well it withstands regular service once we get a working unit.

More photos of the mounted BikeCharge after the break. Click here for unboxing photos.