Tesco 3w cree

PHC

Northwind wrote:

Just for info, the big Tesco at Hermiston Gait in Edinburgh (near Halfords) has the C cell torch, but not the AA. ANyone seen one of these in Edinburgh?

The one at Drumbrae/Corstorphine (near PC World) had some the other day - 3 or 4 from memory.

Northwind

Golden, I'll check it out. Thanks!

R34PER

just bought a C and a AA, i am going to try and knock up an adjustable handlebar mount at work this week and some sort of helmet mount too. i'll try and post some pics by friday. also i spoke to a friend that works at tesco who said they may be one of the tesco offers that dont come back in stock.... when they are gone they are gone :shock:
either way my local tesco has a couple of each left (kidderminster if anyone is interested).

NinjaBadger

I lashed one to my bars last night with cable ties and electrical tape, alongside my cheapo twin halogen light and it made a hell of a difference, can't wait for proper mounts so i can drop that dead weight of a battery.

It lost a lot of brightness after a couple of hours, but I'd been playing with them in the week and it still only had the cheap tesco batteries in, so I'm not too worried.

handful

Probably a daft question :oops: but are these ok for on road use as well or are they too bright? I assume as long as they are'nt pointing too high so they dazzle they should be ok?

NinjaBadger

Too bright for the road?


Be seen - be safe! :twisted:



Seriously however, they are bright, but so are a lot of car headlamps these days so I've got no qualms about using them on the road.

Steve_F

Northwind wrote:

Just for info, the big Tesco at Hermiston Gait in Edinburgh (near Halfords) has the C cell torch, but not the AA. ANyone seen one of these in Edinburgh?

Sorry Northwind, I took the last two from that very store at the weekend. Expect they'll have them in again - Soz :P

spdpug98

I have just been to Tesco in Bursledon, Southampton to pick a few up but they have sold out. They had about 10 left the other day but I didn't buy then as I could'nt make my mind up between 'AA' or 'C' battery, so wish I bought them the other day

Hope they get them back in stock

Northwind

Steve_F, you cad! Ah well, I figure shops that have had them in stock are likely to get them back in.

NinjaBadger wrote:

Seriously however, they are bright, but so are a lot of car headlamps these days so I've got no qualms about using them on the road.

It's not about qualms or manners, if you glare a car driver coming the other way he's a lot more likely to drive straight through you. Shining bright lights into people's eyes has some nasty side effects, not just loss of vision but also target fixation and assorted panic reactions. It's not clever.

But, just aim em right and this shouldn't be a problem- you don't want to waste your beam shining upwards anyway after all. As long as they don't have mad scatter it should be fine.

Belphegor

Don't bike lights have to meet a BS standard? I'm planning on using mine along side a cheap and cheerful light. Will only use the Tesco one when I'm away from streetlights. Once I've found a mount available in this country.

Broonster

Tesco must think they're onto a winner here! Their stocks must be rapidly disappearing right across the UK at this rate!

Just bought one of the 2xC Crees, just in case the stocks completely run out (didn't have any 2xA ones)! I reckon a couple of those on the bar, plus a 2xA on the helmet, would do nicely. I've never tried night riding before, but have been meaning to for a while - just never got round to wanting to part with the large amount of money for decent lights. This method means I can ty it quite cheaply to see how I get on.

Thanks for somne of teh tip in this thread though - really useful.

stev68

just been to me local big tescos in high wycombe and they had loads of em!
Bought one aa type and wow! Its mad powerfull for ten sheets,its on the bike ready to go,rigged up an old front reflector bracket when i took them off when i got bike in april (mmmm im safe lol) two zip ties and the rubber strap off my top peak rear light its marv!
gonna back it up with my petzl heed lamp and me other cat eye lamp,should be seen for miles! right im off up the woods,hope it aint to spooky! whooooooo!l lol

R34PER

finished adapting the clamp from my old "argos special" halogen effort to take the tesco cree "C" size. i have now decided to make all my other lights redundant and i'm off to get two more of the double A versions on friday. its going to be a hell of a rig i honestly cant believe how bright it is. i recently bought a Torch dual halogen thingy with a seperate battery pack and this tesco light makes me have to keep checking that my old light is still on. there were no such things as shadows on my way home tonight

S_J_P

I'm amazed at the number of people who are singing the praises of these lights!

As a result of all the publicity, I bought a C-cell torch (on the basis that C-cells will last at least three times as long as the AA's) and after fabricating a bracket from an old Torch halogen bike lamp I tested it.

OK, so it's bright. It's as bright as my Petzl MYO XP headtorch (unsurprising as that has a 3W LED too) and a lot cheaper, but the beam is just so focused that the eye is drawn to the bright central spot and peripheral illumination, whilst not being bad, is overwhelmed.

In riding terms, my (very cheap) Electron 5W+10W halogen lights give a far more ridable even light spread, illuminating the path ahead as opposed to merely a few degrees in the center.

With a wider-angle reflector or a diffuser, these lights could be fantastic value, but as they are I think they're highly overrated for a decent riding light.

NinjaBadger

S_J_P

Do you have one or two?

I found one wasn't that good, but two (2xAA) ones gave a really useable light, my only concern's the battery life (which shoudln't be as problem with the C battery ones.

dsmiff

The AA torch has less of a spot and more spread than the 'C' version at least reading other posts that seems to be the case, I haven't got the C version to compare.

xgeek

Just got my bar mount thingy from Fenix. Can't wait until it gets dark LOL

stumpyjon

Right

tested the C & AA ones in anger last night. Setup was 2 C's on the bars and a single AA on the helmet, all fitted with the Fenix lockblocks, (Easton Monkeylite oversize carbon bars and a Giro Xen helmet). I found them perfectly usaeable for singletrack riding, albeit I rode the downhills more slowly than usual. This was in part due to me choosing the wetest muddiest, most f*cked bit of ST near me :oops: Even so I still rode it OK, it wouldn't have been a speedfest in the light either. On firmer, drier wider ST I think it would have been a lot easier / more enjoyable. My findings for anyone still interrested are:

The AA ones are better if you can get them IMHO because,

They are the same brightness but less centred. They are lighter (therefore OK on a helmet) and less likely to slip on the bars. With a bit of fettling you can get them to take rechargeable batteries.

I had some problems on the bouncy stuff with the C lights on the bars staying pointed where I wanted them (after a couple of big jolts one tended to end up pointed at the sky). Making sure the lockblock was tight was vital, especially on super smooth slightly damp carbon bars. The helmet one stayed put very well.

The AA on the helmet was excellent, can see me continuing to use that even if I end up buying better bar lights later.

All in all for £ 50 I still think they are pretty good value for money as an introduction to lights and night riding. I didn't want to spend more in case I don't end up riding much in the dark. Last night's experience certainly didn't put me off though. It was cool and really clear, fantastic feeling being up on the hill in the dark. Switched all the lights off at one point and that made me realise just how dark it was.

If I see any more of the AA ones I'll be having a couple to replace the C ones on my bars.

FSR_XC

Value is good, but as S_J_P said, there is a poor spread of light.

This is probably why they are so bright, as the beam is concentrated in one spot.

I have the AA version (as per pic posted previously).

Last night I used the AA on my helmet with a Hope LED 1 on the bars. The spread of the Hope isn't amazing, but it's sooo much better than the Tesco light.

I am considering using x2 heads from the tesco lights and making my own helmet light. One light on the helmet is not good enough on it's own for a helmet light IMHO.

Now to really upset some people:
It seems to me that the people that really praise this light have never used a proper off road light set up before.
Yep, they're cheap.
Yep if you want to put 3 or 4 of them on your bars and weight the bike down a bit they offer a decent amount of light for an hour.
Carry enough batteries for at least one replacement each ride & you'll be OK.

If you want to ride off road at night regularly, get a proper set of lights. Borrow a set from a mate or your LBS and see what the difference is.

xgeek

I am sure no one doubts that a "proper" set of lights is much better than a £10 Tesco torch. But that's just it it is a £10 torch and not a £150+ set of lights.

For me who has only had my bike for less than 2 weeks it is a cheap price to pay for an introduction to a bit of cycling in the dark. if I like it I can upgrade and get a "proper" set of lights and use these for what they are torches.

I am happy with them for what they are.

apreading

What I want to see is whether the Fenix L2d/L20d have better spill than the Tesco ones - they have better run times and more versatility but for more money.

I now have a number of Tesco AAs (for the whole family and also for my Dad who walks the Dog at night) but am wondering if is still worth getting a fenix...

dsmiff

FSR_XC wrote:

If you want to ride off road at night regularly, get a proper set of lights. Borrow a set from a mate or your LBS and see what the difference is.

I only stumbled upon the Tesco torch and was amazed how much better it was than my existing lights and also compared to the vega of a friend at work – which has some fantastic reviews (don’t believe everything you read on the web!!!).

What it gives me now is the opportunity to try a proper night ride on my MTB, something I wasn't prepared to spend £100 on (or even £40 on a fenix which until I can try one am not convinced for 400% more offers 400% more)

I have to buy lights for both my bike and my Son’s so price is important!! And I am planning on riding not more than about 1 - 1.5 hours (just for fun), so this seemed like the perfect solution.

I’m dying for the clocks to go back now!!!!

stumpyjon

xgeek

i totally agree. I'm not adverse to spending (alot) on my riding, but until I'm sure I'm going to ride at night i can't justify £ 250 plus for 'proper' lights.

the way I look at it is that if I can manage to ride off road with a couple of £ 10 Tesco torches and get some enjoyment out of it then it helps justify spending a lot more cash later for enhanced lights that I now know I'm going to use and will provide a much better experience.

It seems to me the people that praise this light have never used a proper off road light setup before

That's a very fair point and would include me. However look at it from the other viewpoint, do you need very expensive lights to ride off road? There is minimum functionnality for everything before it will work, after that more expensive usually just means will perform better. We apply this logic all the time in biking, an £ 80 catalogue full suss doesn't actually work, an £ 800 full suss does and an £ 1800 full suss works well, as long as you spend the minimum to get something that works you're OK.

speed_12

Just bought a C version, very impressed!

Is the final opinion that the C version is good to go with a lockblock?

To be fair, I might get a lockblock anyway and if it doesnt fit the C, get a AA version and use the C for camping.....might do that anyway actually I'm that impressed with cost/performance! But good to know before I buy if anyone can confirm!

Cheers!

supersonic

'Proper' lights tend to have better power regulation and beam spread for off roading. Plus of course the brackets and 'MTB' design. But worth all that much more? Hope Vision 1 is 80 quid at 240 Lumens. The Tesco Cree is unspecified, and would need to know how long it can give that maximum output for.

Given shots of the beam next to some other 100 quid bike lights on forums I have seen, it seems brighter. If you do short rides and can get say 90mins runtime from them, I would say are a bargain.

Andy B

AA batteries are easy to carry & swap out in seconds, so IMHO that negates the possibility of a low runtime with the Tesco torch

Still need to give mine a good run, damn this bloody cold, not ridden in a week

supersonic

Plus if you get rechargables to fit, then take them home, pop them in the burner.

While I can see the benefits in the expensive lights, I still think they are overpriced for what they are.

Andy B

supersonic wrote:

Plus if you get rechargables to fit, then take them home, pop them in the burner..

Yup, I have a load of 2700mah rechargeable batteries to test the runtime with.

Will let you know how long they last

Northwind

Got a couple of these myself today, one for the bike, one for camping 8) (Edinburgh folks, Tesco at Hermiston Gait has them in now, and also the £1.20 inner tubes are back in stock if you're feeling brave.)

I'm with the guys up the page, even if these aren't as good as a "proper" MTB light (and the jury seems to be out there, I can't directly compare) they're just stupidly expensive for most people- not to mention a bit vulnerable, if on a bar-top mount. It's not "Buy these, they're better", it's "Buy these, they're more realistic".

grahawk

speed_12 wrote:

Just bought a C version, very impressed!

Is the final opinion that the C version is good to go with a lockblock?

The C is too bouncy in a lockblock on anything but smooth tracks and roads. However I've only just bought a bike and it still has the front reflector on it. Just resting the torch against the reflector was a great improvement. An AA resting on a reflector was much better than without. I would have thought it would be easy to rig up something with a reflector bracket to make either size very stable.