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FB18: Light & Motion Rando 500 light promises double the run time on high

Written by Zach Overholt
18 Comments
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Lights have gotten incredibly powerful lately, but one thing hasn’t changed much – run time. After numerous requests, Light & Motion decided to do something about it. That something is their new Rando 500 headlight.

 

Prior to the Rando 500, every light in the Light & Motion Urban category had the same 1.5 hour run time on high. The Rando 500 smashes that with a claimed 3 hour run time on high with the full 500 lumens. That’s great news for anyone riding long distances at night who wish they could get more light out of a small package.

Like the other lights in the series, the Rando has additional side amber illumination, but it has another trick as well. The light is dynamo compatible provided you have a way to plug in a micro USB cable to the bottom of the light. That way you can be charging as you ride to extend the run time even further.

Available in mid-March, the light has low, medium, high, and daytime pulse modes and will sell for $80.

lightandmotion.com
Zach Overholt
5,730 articles

Zach Overholt is the Editor in Chief of Bikerumor. He has been writing about what’s new in the bicycle world for 12+ years. Prior to that, Zach spent many years in the back of a bicycle shop building and repairing nearly every type of bike, while figuring out how to (occasionally) ride them.

Based in Ohio, Zach is now slowly introducing a new generation to cycling and still trying to figure out how to fit the most rides into a busy schedule as a new dad.

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18 Comments
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LateSleeper
LateSleeper
6 years ago

In terms of light * time, this isn’t very much different than running the existing Urban 900 at half power. Still, 3 hours isn’t a lot of run time on a 600k brevet. Dyno compatibility is interesting, but if someone has a dyno-equipped bike, wouldn’t you expect them to also have a B&M or Schmidt light to go with it?

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freewheel
freewheel
6 years ago
Reply to  LateSleeper

@LateSleeper i’m glad to see someone pushing features over just more lumens on a light single LED light. This thing seams to deliver a lot of features purpose built dynamo lights don’t. I can move it from my touring bike to my daily commuter or onto my helmet for a mountain ride. I also assume that it wont get dim or turn off if i slow down on a climb. Seems like a great option for a do-all light.

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Zipper
Zipper
6 years ago
Reply to  LateSleeper

From what I see, running the L&M rando off of a Dynamo has 2 things over B&M and Schmidt.
1) price – it’s hard to find a comparable lumen output for around $80 (most are almost DOUBLE)
2) ability to swap over to other bikes with ease. Having a bolt on dynamo light is great once you get your rig dialed in, but I ride with lights all the time now and it’s super convenient to be able to just buy one light and swap it over to all of my bikes.
Overall, I’m happy to see a major playing trying new stuff and moving over into the dynamo market at a good price!

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Paul
Paul
6 years ago
Reply to  Zipper

It takes all day to charge an iPhone from a Sinewave. I limit it to charging my PC8 during overnight races or reloading a storage battery during multi-day events. I seriously doubt this can be a replacement for an Edelux, etc.. or that it puts out 500 lumen while connected this way. It’s still an interesting development.

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Paul
Paul
6 years ago
Reply to  LateSleeper

Of course we do but I like the idea of being able to run this out of my Sinewave USB in a pinch.

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Supcat
Supcat
6 years ago

I wonder if this could run off of the portable USB battery packs I already have a bunch of and carry on longer rides. That would be an awesome feature. L&M urban series have been really good to me and I own several, but the red light coming on after an hour is the one thing I don’t like about them.

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Sam
Sam
6 years ago

Could any light be dynamo compatible if you run a usb to it?

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typevertigo
typevertigo
6 years ago
Reply to  Sam

Not necessarily. Cat Eye’s front lights, for example, cannot be used while charging via microUSB, so L&M have a legitimate USP here.

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Volsung
Volsung
6 years ago
Reply to  typevertigo

Niterider lights can’t be charged while turned on either. If they could it’d be a total game changer.

Why they can’t may be a good “as a stupid question” question

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gef
gef
6 years ago
Reply to  Volsung

I asked that question to them a while back, the answer was heat, too much they said. Agreed that it’d be awesome to do so though.

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Michael
Michael
6 years ago

I’ve always like the features and performance of my Urban 500! The added runtime, and ability to charge while running (not sure if other USB charged lights do this or now…) are really nice features to add. Also, I wonder if their safety pulse mode will be 24 hours.

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Paul Wilson
Paul Wilson
6 years ago

Dynamo hubs give out an AC current whereas bike lights run of DC batteries – correct me if I’ve got this wrong. So does this light have a built in converter or would you still need to run an AC/DC converter, like you would if you wanted to charge your phone or GPS on a bike packing ride?

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bsimon1970
bsimon1970
6 years ago
Reply to  Paul Wilson

“The light is dynamo compatible provided you have a way to plug in a micro USB cable to the bottom of the light.”

I read that to mean you need an a/c d/c converter between the dynamo & light. sinewave & others sell such gadgets – though they don’t come cheap!

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drosser
drosser
6 years ago

Lights would be so much better if the batteries (which are pretty much bog-standard 18650s) were swappable. Like the https://www.fenixlighting.com/product/bc21r-fenix-bike-light/

If L&M made one, I’d buy it in a heartbeat.

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Adam
Adam
6 years ago
Reply to  drosser

I got a Fenix for the ability to swap batteries, but it’s been a little disappointing on runtime and fade. Very surprised this isn’t more common.

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Supcat
Supcat
6 years ago
Reply to  drosser

I definitely agree with this — I’ve got some Urbans that are getting on in their years and it would be nice to not have to junk the whole light when it doesn’t last anymore.

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Sam Brown-Shaklee
Sam Brown-Shaklee
6 years ago
Reply to  Supcat

No need. Send back to L&M and they will do a return job.

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TDO
TDO
6 years ago

All the Blackburn lights I have still turn on while charging. I thought this was standard for all lights… guess not.

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