NiteRider MiNewt.600 Cordless Bike Light

Comments about NiteRider MiNewt.600 Cordless Bike Light:

I'm a daily commuter through downtown Seattle, and I need a light that really shows up. At 600 lumens, this light is perfect for any commuter. During the day in traffic it has a great flasher that can't be ignored, at night on the trail or road it really illuminates the road, potholes, and everything in front of you.

I used the Niterider Minewt 250 all last winter and it was a great light, but this one has a lot more power. It isn't actually brighter, but it has a much wider distribution of the same amount of light. You need to be careful not to shine it in people's eyes it's so bright. Other nice features are the USB intelligent charging. You don't need to have a proprietary charger, just a USB cable attached to your pc at work or home. I used the 250 all winter in Seattle's notorious rain and never had a problem, and I expect this one to be just as reliable since it has exactly the same form factor. It even uses the same solid Minewt mount. The helmet mount is nice too. You see a lot more when you have a light on your helmet, and a moving light on your head is a lot more visible to those drivers who may not be paying attention.

I also like that this is a self-contained unit. I've used other lights where you connect the light to the battery pack with a cable, and they were OK, but it's a pain to remove the light or battery pack when leaving the bike, and with this light I won't have to be ultra-careful with the cable connectors or snaps.

About the only thing I don't like are the "improved" on switch (you need to hold the button down for 5 seconds before you turn on the light) and the way the mount "snaps" on to the handlebars is a little kludgy. It works and it's solid, but I like screw-on mounts better.

Basically though, I love this light and strongly recommend it. For the money I think it's the best deal out there.

Comments about NiteRider MiNewt.600 Cordless Bike Light:

I bought the Minewt 250 at the end of April this year and was pleasantly surprised to see the 600 with such a huge bump in light output so soon. The 600 not only provides a wider beam, but also significantly brighte than the 250. Run times on high is a bit low (1.5 hours) but to be expected for such a strong beam in such a compact package. I'll definitely pick a few more up (both me and my girlfriend likes night riding) once the price drops. And maybe there's a 750 or even 900 lumens version on the horizon?

The biggest negatives on this product for me is the handlebar mount. I find it moves dramatically when hitting bumps in the road. My GF took it on the trails last night and said it did not move at all. I guess I have to play with it a bit, but recommend putting it on your helmet. The other negative being the long charge times. It's not a big deal and hopefully the long charge-time contributes to increased battery life over the long haul.

Always looked for a compact, cordless and powerful solution like this that is good enough to be taken on the trails at night. The 250 falls a bit short, but the 600 definitely is good enough. Two of these will definitely light up the trails. Riding tonight and will see how it performs on the trails.

Comments about NiteRider MiNewt.600 Cordless Bike Light:

I liked the light a lot and very much wanted to keep it, but some issues were just too much for me. You might feel differently.

As mentioned by others, the handle bar mount was nearly impossible to secure the light to keep it from moving during rides. I even used a cut inner tube to try to help it mount more securely. I prefer a mount that you can tighten in some other way than by having to squeeze the mounting bracket. I'm pretty strong and found squeezing as hard as possible still wasn't enough.

I also found it very difficult to change the setting on the fly using my winter gloves. The button is recessed and thick gloves make it almost impossible to push. Having to fumble around for a minute or so is just too long to ride one handed.

No one that I saw has mentioned it, but the light interferes with my Cateye computer in some settings that I would like to be using. High, flashing and walk work fine. The other do not.

The rubber cover on the charger seems to not be tight enough and doesn't seem to seat very securely.

I liked that you didn't have to remove the light from the bike in order to charge it.

I liked the helmet mount as it was very secure. It also kept the light from interfering with the computer. However, if felt a bit heavy to me and I didn't buy this particular light for helmet use.

I chose that I wouldn't recommend it to a friend, but that's not quite accurate. There a some very good features to the light and if you don't have the same concerns as I do, it could very well be a good choice.

Comments about NiteRider MiNewt.600 Cordless Bike Light:

I won't repeat the many positive comments already made about this light. I used the 250 all last winter with no problems.

Using the 600 for the first time, I noticed that my Cateye Strada Wireless had stopped reading data from the sensor during my early morning commutes here in Seattle. I changed both batteries in the Cateye and still had the same problem. I was flummoxed.

Then I coincidentally read a review of the MiNewt 350 and saw the reviewer had the same problem with the 350 and a Cateye wireless computer.

I have since found that the Strada will not read data if the 600 is in the steady low and medium modes. It will read data in the high and flashing modes. So, I'll use one of these two modes during my commutes. It's a reasonable trade-off for the brighter, broader beam of the 600. I don't know about computer brands other than this particular model of Cateye.

Other than this, it's a great light. Highly recommended.

Comments about NiteRider MiNewt.600 Cordless Bike Light:

I use this light for commuting, and generally use it in the flash mode to get drivers attention before they pull out in front of me. It is much brighter than a PB Blaze. I also have a NR Trinewt with an external battery, and this light is noticeably brighter. The battery life is short but gets me through a week of commuting with a single charge. Should make a great helmet lamp when the days get shorter (comes with a helmet mount).

Comments about NiteRider MiNewt.600 Cordless Bike Light:

I bought a MiNewt 600 back in November 2011 (it's Feb'12 now), and have been using it ever since on my half hour daily commute home on unlit paved trails and lit streets. The light is plenty bright even on clear moonless nights @15mph; it's even bright enough on the 'Low' 275 lumen setting. The high setting should be good enough for unpaved trails. The light is easy to remove from the mount, so I bring it into work with me. It's easy to charge. All of this rates 5 out of 5. Unfortunately, the toothed handlebar mount that came with the light doesn't quite work; I squeezed it onto the handlebars as hard as I dared, but the beam still shifted around a bit when I hit a bump. Plenty of on-line reviews touch on this point. But wait… there's more! I sent a friendly e-mail to NiteRider, asking if they had any suggestions for how I could fix the problem. They offered to send me a different, thumbscrew tightened mount. I just got it today. Problem solved! My MiNewt now rates an honest 5/5, and an extra 10 points goes to NiteRider customer service.

Comments about NiteRider MiNewt.600 Cordless Bike Light:

Very good light initially. But rechargeable batteries may not last long enough to be worth purchase price, IMHO. It is not a good sign that they have 180 day warranty (vs lifetime of other parts of the light). With my other NR light, with separate battery and light, I can buy a new battery (like 60 bucks!). With the integrated battery on these models, that may not prove to be an option if they turn out to suck. Also, not impressed so far with the responsiveness at support[@]. I'm interested in experience of others who've purchased NR lights within last couple years and have used them longer than six months.

Comments about NiteRider MiNewt.600 Cordless Bike Light:

I'm an obsessive bike commuter in the Portland are, and I depend on my gear to get me around. I bought this light several months ago and it has been a joy to use. It mounts very securely on my handlebars and is easily detachable for security. The mounting bracket took a little effort to squeeze tight enough not to move, but it was okay (gotta use those big boy muscles guys). The light generated at the dimmest setting is perfectly adequate for pitch dark commuting which means the battery lasts for a good long time. This is longer than the cheaper model on the brightest setting, so it's worth it to get the 600. The flash mode is great for low light situations in heavy traffic. This light is bright enough to blind and irritate people, which is a good thing, because Portlanders drive like stoners. Note to drivers: Use your turn signal and take off those silly studded tires. It doesn't freeze here.

Comments about NiteRider MiNewt.600 Cordless Bike Light:

I love this light and wish I had bought it months ago rather than using my dinky safety light for so long! I bike home from work every night, and I feel like I can see everything.

It's small and easy to mount and remove from my handlebars, though it would be nice if I could fit it over my handlebar tape, I just put it where the electrical tape is and it's fine. I do wish the charges lasted a little longer as I have to recharge about every 3 days (1:30 on high) but it hasn't been that big of a deal.

I read through all of the comments before buying it and they seem to have made some upgrades, there is now a little piece of rubber that helps when mounting to the handlebar, and it does warn you when the battery gets low, they say at about 1:25 on high beam. The button on the top turns red and it disables high/med (low is still fairly bright), saying that it lasts up to 30 minutes on low though I haven't tested that.

Comments about NiteRider MiNewt.600 Cordless Bike Light:

100% satisfied with the night rider