Vega LED Light
"Easy to pack, easy to put on and take off"
-James Sharpe, Gearreview.com

The Light & Motion Vega is the least expensive high end LED light on the market. While other LED-based lights that are powerful enough to replace halogens range from $250 and up, the Vega comes in at $175. Cheap? Not really, but take a look at what goes into the light. First off, Light & Motion use a 3 Watt LED, but overpower it at 4 Watts on high. At 4 Watts, the Vega puts out 85 lumens. This is about the same amount of light that a 5-Watt halogen puts out, but instead of being a dingy yellow color, the Vega’s light is pale blue. This helps picking out road debris at speed, since the colors don’t wash out like they do with a low-power halogen. Unlike Halogen lights, the emitters in the LED systems don’t really get hot... the circuits do. That 4 Watts needs to go somewhere, and Light & Motion have built a heat sink into the bezel around the lens to keep everything cool. The Vega also monitors the temperature of the circuit and the battery independently. By making sure that everything is kept cool, Light & Motion make sure that the Vega lasts a long time.

The Vega weighs in at a respectable 218 grams for the entire unit. That includes the battery. The built in NiMH battery is good for 500 charge cycles and comes with its own charger. Like other Light & Motion chargers, this one monitors the battery temperature to ensure a full charge as fast as possible without damaging the battery. It also prevents over charging. The emitter itself is housed in Light & Motion’s proprietary acrylic lens. This is kind of a funny looking lens, since it looks like it has a hole in the middle. What that actually is, is a collimator, effectively eliminating the usual interrupted beam pattern that many lights have. You know, the BRIGHT center, then a dark ring, and then the beam fades out to the edges. With the Vega, you get the bright center, then a nice gradual fade to the edges without any lines or other aberrations. Unfortunately, what you don’t get is a wide beam. Instead you get a fairly narrow beam with a nice pattern and no dark spots. All the light that the emitter makes is reflected forward, more or less. No light is wasted, but don’t expect much in the way of peripheral vision.

The Vega is an integrated unit, with the battery, switch and light in one complete unit. This makes the light easy to pack, easy to put on and take off, and perfect for "just in case" use when a training ride or commute might go longer or be later than expected. It fits great in a jersey pocket and, since there are no cords to tangle, can be placed on the handlebars without even stopping.

Summary: With three lighting levels—4 Watts/85 lumens, 2 Watts/55 lumens, 1 Watt/35 lumens—giving 2, 4 and 8 hours of light, respectively, this light can be used in any condition. Need to be seen? Use the flashing mode that runs at 2 Watts/35 lumens that will run for 24 hours. This has to be the brightest white LED flasher I have seen. Run it at dusk and dawn and you’ll be noticed! Need to see the road ahead? Run the Vega at its full 4 Watts and ride at normal speeds on road, or slightly slower off road. This makes a great backup light for off road night rides. It’s small enough and tough enough to be thrown in a pack. It won’t take the place of a higher-powered halogen or a HID, but it will see you safely out of the forest.