The ultimate cheap bike light £43.95 takes AA batteries!!

capoz77

I'm always shocked at the bike light reviews in magazines, the price tag is always £100+, for a decent model £300 ish.

I bought the Fenix for general use after my big Maglite broke and I wasn't impressed with the LED maglite which replaced it.

The FENIX L2D Premium 175 LUMENS of light!!! This is brighter than Maglites, brighter than the surefire Z2 torches police use


http://www.glowgadgets.co.uk/fenix-l2d- ... l-products

(above is what I bought I think there is a new model out now the Q5)

The lockblock fits it nicely to your bars

http://www.glowgadgets.co.uk/detail.jsp ... l-products


I ran this on my bike last week, full power which lasts about 2 and a half hours on 2 AA batteries was supub the entire trail was lit up. Even on 50 Lumens which lasts 10.5 hours the output was amazing. I take four rechargable batteries out as a spare but up to now my four hour night ride lasted off two 2800mah batteries.

ps. watch the video on this link to see it compared to the surefire Z2 police torches and Maglite

http://www.glowgadgets.co.uk/fenix-p1dc ... l-products

rrsodl

I saw the video comparison BUT.... I wanted to see a comparison against cateye or electron similar products.

I also watched this video and it does look as good as my electron Nano 1 wat which you can now get for £20, including a 7 LED rear light.


Rick

marmitecp

Buy from fenixstore.com. With the weak dollar, mine came to £31 including the bar mount thingy.

The power is impressive, but the velcro bar mount has meant the torch slips too easily on rough ground. I might try and cobble something more secure together from previous light mounts.

andyturner28

It could just be the rubbish quality of that video, but out on a ride it looks crap. I have a Light and Motion Stella 180 which, although cost me £175, kicks the crap out of that. I do need something cheap to run on my bars though, so would you be able to post up a high quality pic, if only to prove me wrong

Andy.

P.S. If anyone reading this has any other suggestions of a really cheap wide angle light please let me know. Not worth starting another what light thread, think i would get shouted at!

Gwaredd

My Cateye EL530 kicks the crap out of that too. £31 delivered off eBay. Wide beam & spot at the same time.

Best of the battery lights IMO

The Spiderman

My mate has jst bought one of these as a helmet mount suplement to his main USE Exposure bar mounted light,and really rates it.I will check it out next week,myself and post my findings here.

capoz77

You guys that have never seen a Fenix in action really need to see one working on full power, they are immense.

milese

The Spiderman wrote:

My mate has jst bought one of these as a helmet mount suplement to his main USE Exposure bar mounted light,and really rates it.I will check it out next week,myself and post my findings here.

Any further opinions on these?

I'm after the best helmet light I can get for £30-50ish.

Will I be able to ride with it on its own?

andyturner28

Milese wrote:

The Spiderman wrote:

My mate has jst bought one of these as a helmet mount suplement to his main USE Exposure bar mounted light,and really rates it.I will check it out next week,myself and post my findings here.

Any further opinions on these?

I'm after the best helmet light I can get for £30-50ish.

Will I be able to ride with it on its own?

I would also like to know this, as i have come to the conclusion my Stella 180 is better bar mounted so that it shows up all the potholes, dips etc. If the Fenix is as good as you say it is it sounds ideal as a helmet light. If anyone is able to post up some high quality pictures of the light helmet mounted and in the pitch black, it would be very helpefull.

Cheers,

Andy.

milese

There appear some super geeks here, but check this out:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/sho ... c&t=180263

andyturner28

Wow, geek central :shock: What light is that in the picture above? Looks like my new helmet light anyway, very impressive for a sub £50 light.

Cheers,

Andy.

EDIT: Don't worry, i found it in that link. The bottom picture with all 3 has given me an idea

The Spiderman

Hopefully will get the chance to try them tomorrw.Will be comparing against my mates USE Exposure Race and my own Blackburn X3 and Petzl Tikka XP.

andyturner28

Have you seen the T1 Tactical Cree at £47.95. It outputs 225 lumens! Think i might pay the extra as that is 50 lumens more powerfull than my £175 Stella 180. I wish you had started this thread 2 months ago!

Andy.

capoz77

See! told you they were impressive!

Ill try and get some shots in pitch black tonight hopefully

andyturner28

I am definately sold. Just need to get X-mas and Holiday payment out the way and i'll get 2 for the bars. Angled properly they will be perfect!

Andy.

rrsodl

Milese wrote:

There appear some super geeks here, but check this out:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/sho ... c&t=180263

That picture is very impressive and it belongs to the P3D Premium Q5 - 215 lumens - I think I will order that one it's a nice size for a helmet light I think


How about this L2D Q5 + L2D rebel 1000 + P3D Premium Q5 = 570 lumens




Rick

milese

andyturner28 wrote:

Have you seen the T1 Tactical Cree at £47.95. It outputs 225 lumens! Think i might pay the extra as that is 50 lumens more powerfull than my £175 Stella 180. I wish you had started this thread 2 months ago!

Andy.

The T1 is more powerful than the L2D Q5 but is 100g heavier, shorter run time, uses pain in the ass batteries and costs £10 more.

I think I'm going to order the L2D Q5 to use as a helmet light.

I thought that the pic I posted was of the L2D Q5, but am a little confused as the picture looks different?

milese

http://www.fenixtorch.co.uk/led_torches ... 3d_q5.html

Hmmmmmm, this one looks better, same weight, size, run time and brighter than the L2D.

Anyone know the practicalities of using the 3V CR123A batteries? I think I read that the rechargable versions only produce half the power, is that right because I dont want to have to constantly buy new batteries, or end up using rechargables that give less light than the AA alternatives.

alfablue

I believe non-rechargeable CR123's are around 1300mah, whilst rechargeables range between 600 and 1000mah, so I presume run-times would be shorter.

chrisjsmith

CR123's are expensive and the rechargeables dump fairly quickly. I hardly think that's a viable device to start with?

Something under 50 quid (it's not like the Cree emitters cost more than about 5 quid) with Li Poly cells around the same size would be nice, and rechargeable!

rrsodl

Milese wrote:

http://www.fenixtorch.co.uk/led_torches/fenix_p3d_q5.html

Hmmmmmm, this one looks better, same weight, size, run time and brighter than the L2D.

Anyone know the practicalities of using the 3V CR123A batteries? I think I read that the rechargable versions only produce half the power, is that right because I dont want to have to constantly buy new batteries, or end up using rechargables that give less light than the AA alternatives.

The CR123A batteries have a capacity of about 2600 mAh and the rechargable have a capacity of 600 - 1300 mAh.

You can buy them from ebay for a few £.

I have ordered the p3d q5 - the size of it and the 215 blumes convince me that is the right torch for my helmet.

I don't really need a long running torch and the rechargeble batteries are cjheap enough to have a few spare just in case I need to.

Rick

milese

I ordered the L2D today. They seem to be raving about it on STW.

If you order it from The Photon Shop and mention STW you get a free pen knife worth £6.95.

You can get it for £31 delivered from the USA with cheaper handlebar mounts and free postage if your prepared to wait and risk custom charges.

Can also get it from ebay from hong kong.

Steve I

I'm sure Fenix would sell a lot more of these torches to mountain bikers if there was a proper helmet mount available. Something could be botched up with zip ties I suppose, but I like to adjust the angle of the beam on the fly, not possible if you've zip tied it. At the moment I'm using a Tikka XP on my helmet which is ok but I'd really like something brighter.

The Spiderman

Just come back from a ride,comparing my Blackburn X3 with my mates Fenix P3D.Even in its second most powerful setting,the Fenix was noticeably better.Nice crisp light with good definition.Very impressed.
Its so light that he just lashed it on with a rubber band.More than good enough as a helmet mount.

Convinced enough to order one myself.£40 for the light,and £14 for a charger and CR123 rechargeable batteries.

capoz77

WOW! Looks like ive started a buying frenzy!


I think MBR / MBUK should run a test with the Fenix's VS the £100-£350 bike lights.

Reason I chose the x2 AA battery Fenix as AA's are cheap as chips, and with an energiser 15 minute charger and some 2800mah batteries I can have four cells charged in 15 mins which gives me over 5 hours of ride time :P

Ok tried to get a shot out in the garden but due to lack of tripod this is the best I could do.

I hope this does justice just how bright the terrain is and how far the reach of the light is. Picture this on the trail, crystal clear terrain in front of you








So to answer the earlier question you can very easilty run this as your only light on a night ride!!!

Then look at the size of the thing vs the output it gives 8) my model is the L2D Rebel 100 Premium

http://www.glowgadgets.co.uk/fenix-l2d- ... l-products

capoz77

I bar mount mine, but heres a pic of one I found helmet mounted

alfablue

Capozz77 - great pictures

Have you a view on the merits of the smooth versus orange peel reflector (your looks like OP)

I am guessing that the AA version with 2800mah NiMH batteries will achieve nearer the stated run time than the CR123 version with between 600 and 1000mah rechargeables - any thoughts on this?

capoz77

I'm not too sure on pros/cons of orange peel reflector, although before the Q5 the premium 100 was top of the range so I would say the orange peel reflector would be beneficial :P

For me CR123's are expensive and harness no where close to the power of 2800mah and above AA's. Since a double AA Fenix is still VERY small and light AA's will always be my prime choice. Oh and there veyr cheap!

simbil1

From what I've read, the 'orange peel' (textured Alu) reflector gives a better light for biking as the central spot blends into the secondary spot. A smooth reflector gives a more defined primary spot (and possibly more throw) but the secondary spot is more likely to contain 'artifacts' (patterns in the light and dark spots).

For anyone buying these torch lights, I highly rate DX:

http://www.dealextreme.com/products.dx/category.901

This was what I got - 4 batteries (1 for each light and a spare for each), charger and 2 torches:

1251 UltraFire 3.6/3.7V Battery Charger x 1 Shipped $12.28 -
1446 Ultrafire C2 3W Cree 2xCR123A 1x18650 Flahslight Black x 1
2709 Universal UK Travel Power Adapter Plug x 1 Shipped $2.32 -
4424 EYJ Cree 3W Flashlight (3.6V~9.0V) x 1 Shipped $27.13 -
5790 TrustFire Protected 18650 Lithium Battery (2500mAh 2-Pack Blue) x 2
Sub Total: $ 93.77 = less than £50!

Free postage - takes a couple of weeks for the package to get shipped out of Hong Kong.

Then buy 2 lock blocks for £12 from http://thephotonshop.co.uk/page23.htm

The downside of these lights is that the beam is a bit too tight - I run 2 now and am getting a third for a helmet mount so I can see around better. The tight beam is great for distance but not so great for seeing around corners on the twisty trails.

SPOODZILLA

Hi,

Tryign to find some more information on the orange peel reflector. I want to use one of these torches mounted on a helmet - does the OP change the light output from a tight spotlight to a wider beam? Anyone aware of any photo comparisons?

milese

The guy at the fenix store and a guy on the candle power forum, who has the orange peel reflector recommended the smooth reflector to me so thats what I've gone with.

Other say other things and I think its horses for courses really, each will have their view and its likely to be different.

If I like this light I'll probably get a second one with the OP reflector for my bars.