Rear lamp: Herrmans H-track
Specifications:
StVZO approval no: K778
Mass: 58 g (with nuts).
Size: 96.5 mm width, 59.9 mm height, 19.8 mm thickness.
Light source: 3 x red 5 mm LED.
Mounting method: On the rear rack, 50 mm bolt distance (80 mm is also available).
Cabling/connectors: There are 2 connectors for 2.8 mm female plugs as used on standard double strand wires you can buy from a bike shop.
Construction: Plastic, with stainless steel bolts sticking out (nice!) and stainless steel nuts.
Price: ca. € 15,-
Pictures:
The H-track at 10m and at 30m, a small test to see if I could make out the shape of the ring of light at such a distance. And in reality and in the photos it only works for small distances...
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Beam shots
See the camera settings page for more on the setup and settings to make pictures of the beams of taillamps.
Out of a corner (showing how much light is cast upwards, forwards and to the sides) [ F3.9 & F1.8 ]:
Wallshot (showing the beam pattern):
Visibility from various angles (0°, 45°, 90°, 135°) [ 0.5m, zoom x3, F3.5, ISO80, 1/250s & 1/60s ]:
Comparing taillamps
Experiences
Ring of light similar in style to B&M's Toplight line plus. Nicer than the Toplight flat plus for traffic following you. This ring of light gives a lot of light and excellent visibility, the best of any tested so far (this before I had tested the Philips Lumiring and Spanninga Brasa) when looking at all directions (so not just straight to the rear). A lot of the light from the LED shines directly as a near point-source into your eyes from the top middle, and this this a pity as it's not needed for visibility, makes estimating distance hard and is very annoying for following traffic.
Annoying for following traffic until which distance?: ≥25m
Visibility: Good.
Visibility by reflection: To be tested.
Ease of connecting wires: Good for 2.8mmm plugs, there is no other method available to connect wires.
2012-12-8: A contact in Taiwan mentioned that he thought the H-track is pretty good there in city traffic (better than the Philips Lumiring) where the traffic is almost like that in Vietnam (lots of scooters). More on this soon.
Design- and thus review considerations for taillamps
See Theory for taillamps.
Conclusion
The H-track is a good concept of using a ring of light around the reflector giving a large illuminated area but it's let down by annoying direct light from the LED. Not recommended.
Addition 2017-1-21: For those who have an H-track and want to try to modify it: Long ago I opened the housing of the H-track (using a screwdriver to pry it open bit by bit along the edge as the glued bond isn't that strong) and then I desoldered the middle LED. This removes the annoying point source and it's then a good taillamp... (power use is also lower...). You can use a glue from a hobby shop (for plastic model building) to glue to the housing back together again.
Last modified: 2017-1-25
