Customer Reviews

Planet Bike Alias HID Bicycle Light Set with Integrated Battery

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This headlight fit my requirements perfectly. Since everything is contained in one relatively small sleek package, removing and installing is quick and easy. I at first worried that the mount would not be robust enough to keep the light from moving when going over bumps. No more worries - it has held its position going 30+ MPH over fairly rough asphalt. I ride a road bike so cannot comment on how well it would do off road.
Light output is excellent. It is probably about 30% brighter than my 15W halogen and has a wide coverage. I have to ride down an unlit road in pitch darkness on my morninig commute dodging potholes and the edge of the road. I reach speeds of just over 30 MPH and this light provides the luminence necessary to avoid those obstacles.
The 2.5 to 3 hours of burn time for this light is somewhat limited compared to others, but for me is perfect. I would rather have this capacity and the resulting compact size than to have a large capacity with the probable external battery. The unit uses a Li-Ion battery which is much better than either NiCad or NiMh in terms of capacity per unit size and weight, charge time, and any memory effects.
Workmanship is impeccable. This thing could be put in a museum. It looks and feels like a high quality instrument. The soft case that it comes in is very handy too.
My only complaint about this light would probably be with the mount. Although it is pretty easy to use and holds the light very well, once you get it adjusted to your handlebar it is easy to lose the adjustment once you take it off. Also, the adjustment resolution is a little coarse with one turn of the adjustment screw the minimum you can adjust. Not a big problem but I had to find something to complain about. You could avoid this by leaving the mount on the bike and just unclipping the light from the mount.

Planet Bike Alias HID Bicycle Light Set with Integrated Battery


Let me start with, this is the first review I have every done after purchasing a product on line. This should tell you how strongly I feel about this product. Another reason is the above review was one of the reasons I purchased the Alias HID.

I am a casual cyclist trying to make the jump to a work commuter. Before purchasing this light I bought a cat's eye light around 50 dollars (after some research a good light for the money) that I will now use for camping. The light is good for dusk and having cars see you, but not if you need to light your own way you will need a brighter light. After taking some advise from some avid commuters at a local bike shop, they recommended getting a light with a Li-Ion (lithium-ion) over Nicad and Ni-mh because of the "no memory" factor. This means that you can charge the battery no matter how much power is left in it and it will not affect the next charge. (http://www.motorola.com/content.jsp?globalObjectId=8514)

Another huge reason I chose this light over all the others I saw online is the - "light finder" on the Plant Bike website. http://planetbike.com/page/learn/lightfinder/ The other light I was using is very comparable to the Beamer 3 model. If you compare it to the Alias HID you will understand why it cost a lot more. I think this photo is worth the 1000 words so you might want to go check it out and stop reading this review.

If you need to light your own way like I do, you need a light with this type of output. My 17 mile morning commute starts around 5 a.m. on some roads with light traffic and little or no streetlights. I will hit speeds of 30+ on two down hills and have no problem seeing any obstructions in time to react (I did just miss hitting a skunk last week). I also have noticed that cars will now wait for me to go by if they are at a stop sign. During the second half of my commute I ride on a rail trail with a lot of trees and heavy brush surrounding it, so even with a full moon little or no light gets through. I get up around 16-17 miles per hour and can see plenty of trail in front of me.

The only negative I could find with this light is the red warning light that comes to warn you that you have 20-30 minutes of light. I had it come on 45 minutes into a ride after the first full charge. Since the manufacture booklet said it should last around 2.5 hours at full power, I left the light on once I got to work to see how long it would last. It automatically shut off after being on for 2 hours and 40 minutes.

Overall the light is exactly the quality I would expect at the cost. You can take the battery out without taking it off the mount or just unclip the light from the mount with a quick release button. I have not had to adjust the position since the first time I put it on the handlebars. I think the only thing I regret is not getting a spare battery the same time I bought the light to save on shipping cost.

While the light itself is very bright, and the enclosure looks pretty good, this product is quite delicate.

When I first got the light, I was pretty careful about making sure the light was firmy attached in place. I was actually pretty paranoid about it. Before I would start riding, not only would I make sure the mount "clicked", but I would tug it to make sure the light didn't move. About 2-3 days after I purchased my light, it slipped off the mount. I figured, okay, maybe that one time I didn't check for a click, even though I did tug at it to make sure it didn't move. Even though I wasn't going very fast at all, as I was still in my work's parking lot, the light bulb broke (in half!).

I decided to purchase a new bulb, at $110(!), since I couldn't return the item at that point, and I already spent quite a bit on it.
After a bit of inspection, I discovered that even though the mount clicks, there is a tab that has to be pulled out regardless! It sort of sticks halfway between gripping the lamp, and not gripping anything. So, I got in the habit of pulling that tab out every time I went anywhere.

Quite annoying, mind you!

The new bulb maybe lasted for a month before it slipped off the mount again.

I then decided to not purchase another delicate bulb and get a cheaper, much less fragile (but seemingly equally bright) LED light, the Cygolite Trion600. So far, so good! This light also has a mount that swivels, and has more dimming/flashing options.

Please note that I have owned a few Planetbike lights before, and have NEVER had a problem with their mounts. It is entirely possible that I got a defective mount with this light. *sigh* I would definitely buy from PlanetBike again, I would stay away from this light.

I love this light. It throws off mass quantities of lumens!! :) And the duration was great... It would throw off light for 2 hours or more.

However, the battery has really poor charge/discharge cycle limits... After 6 months or so the battery life really degraded to the point that I can only get 20 minutes of light out of it. And in fairness to the manufacturer, they state in their literature that the battery is only good for 180 charge/discharge cycles. That's 6 months of commuting. PLUS... I can't figure out how to get a replacement battery. I've never seen a time when Planet Bike has had them in stock.

So... if you want to use this thing for 6 months... great... that's a pricey way to go but each of us has our threshold of financial pain.... but if you want something that is going to last longer do not buy this product.

I'd buy another one in a heartbeat if they get the battery charge/discharge cycle count issue fixed.

Really a nice light - casts a great beam of light! I've been commuting to & from work (9+ miles) with this light in the dark & wet Oregon weather lately, and it works great.

Pros? Brightness!!!

Cons? Battery life - may need a second charger, so I can have one both at work & at home, so I can recharge at work. Also, have to take the battery out of the light to recharge - sure wish I could just plug the charger into the light!

I've had the Alias HID for about 9 months now, and I have to agree with much of B. Main's review: the light itself is certainly bright enough, but it just isn't a practical product for the price. The two main problems I have with the light are battery life and the mounting hardware. Battery life will, of course, deteriorate over time, and I've gotten 9 pretty solid months of use from mine. But now I rarely get more than an hour of use (bright setting) between charges. Since my commute is about 1:15, that's a bit of a problem. (Fortunately, I can time it so at least part of the trip is in enough daylight.) But unless you have a particularly short travel, you'll want to budget for an extra charger at your workplace as well as at home. And you should probably count on replacing the battery every year as well. Neither of these are cheap.

A more serious problem is the mounting hardware. The root issue is the light (really, the battery) is quite heavy. The mounting clip is beefier than other lights, but the weight of the light wears it down over time. Mine was fine at first, but after 9 months of constant clipping and unclipping (remember, you'll have to recharge it often), the detents are worn down so much as to be useless. Sure enough, the light finally went flying off the clip when I was riding over a moderately rough patch of pavement. The HID bulb is extremely fragile. It will not survive an unintended ejection from the bike. And, need I note, the bulb is very expensive.

As much as I love the awesome bright light from the Alias, there's no way I can justify the upfront and recurring costs of the unit. At list price (not Amazon's discount), the Alias, spare charger, extra battery, and replacement bulb cost more than my bike. My suggestion is to give this a pass.

I have owned this light for over 6 months now and use it frequently on my daily 12 mile commute.

I ride along a dark path with very few street lights and with my old light (LED) I could not see bumps, twigs, dogs, other bikers or runners very well or sometimes not at all. The HID lets me see everything I need to and also alerts people I overtake to my presence, because they notice the shadow they cast in this light's cone. What's even better, I get a lot more respect from car drivers in intersections - this light really seems to get their attention.

What I like about the alias: I decided to buy this light because it is the only self-contained HID on the market right now, i.e. no separate battery pack and cable clutter on my bike. The design is fantastic - it looks like a piece of art. The battery lasts for about 2-2.5 hrs at least, and when it gets low, it indicates it with a little red light. Then you still have about 30min to finish your ride on low beam. It comes in a very nice case holding all the gear together, that's the light, bracket, charger etc. It would be nice to have some kind of soft case just for the light, though, for carrying around in a backpack while not in use. The bracket is rock solid and the light sits on it absolutely bomber. I cannot agree with the reviewer saying that the bracket or the light is flimsy. Everything is very well engineered and looks and feels super-sturdy. Customer service from Planet bike is fantastic, too. I wanted a second bracket for my second bike and I e-mailed them to buy one. They sent it to me the same day and did not even charge me for it!

It's a bit more expensive than other HID systems. I think, that the price is justified for the amount of vision I gain at night, the convenience of not having to work with external batteries or having to worry about having your fixed HID lamps stolen from your handlebar, and the amount of visibility to car drivers this light provides.

I could not be happier with this light.

I purchased a Planet Bike Alias HID in August, 2007. I was looking for a powerful "to see" light that I could easily remove from my bike. What sold me on this light was 1. the intelligent battery charger which doesn't require monitoring, 2. the brightness of the lamp/bulb, and 3. the sturdy form-follows-function simplicity of the system. After using this light as my year-round daily commute light for over a year and a half my main problems with it are 1. the fragility of the plastic bracket (I've cracked two at the hinge -- one each winter), 2. the battery life (similar to a cell phone, it begins to noticeably loose it's staying power after a hundred or two charges), and 3. the delicate and expensive bulb (it took me over a year before I dropped this light, and I hope it is several more years before I make that mistake again). The technology, function and design are worth five stars. The fragility of the bracket and bulb for the price and environment it's designed for are worth three. But overall I love this light, and if I knew then what I've since learned after some experience with it, I would still have bought it.

Not inexpensive but if you are going to invest in a light - get this one! It lights up the road like a car/motorcycle headlight and lasts for several hours - enough for any of my training or commuting rides. Very convenient to charge, store and mount.

I've owned this light for 3 years now.

Cons:
I'm on my 2nd battery, my 4th bulb, and my 3rd mounting bracket. Everything that everyone else has said is true: The battery life goes down over time, the bulbs are delicate and if you drop the light, most of the time you need a new bulb, and the mounting brackets break. You can add all that up, it is about $800 over 3 years.

Pros:
The only other way I know to get a headlight this bright is to drive a car. I haven't broken a spoke (by hitting a pothole) since I got this thing. If I put the kind of mileage on a car that I've put on this headlight, I'd have to spend more than that on gasoline. And if this headlight is the only thing that keeps me out of the hospital, it is money well spent.