I’ve always been toying with the idea of a homemade bicycle light. I haven’t done it yet, but here are some resources to make it happen.
Some guy’s site that explains what Cree is, how to pick lenses and a few sources:
A forum site that has tons of information for homemade bike light building addicts. They use a lot of lingo, and assume everyone knows what a Q5 LED is, or what a Buckpuck is.
A good source for LED’s and other parts.
http://www.dealextreme.com/
Microprocessor controlled dimmer circuits and current regulators. I think the nFlex is the most geek-worthy.
Simpler constant current regulators. Makes it easy to power a LED emitter on the cheap.
Lenses
Light housing – I like the bikeled.org design using square tube aluminum housing with the square lens from led-spot.com. It’s a simple design, simple package and lightweight.
I’ll post another story if I ever get to building this thing. Days are getting short, and more night rides are coming up. If I don’t build one soon, it may be another year.