Tesco 3w cree

wikrok

apreading wrote:

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.

A few comparison shots for you (click for bigger):


Tesco C battery Cree, Fenix L0D, Fenix L2D Q5 and an Airbike SSC P7 (or something like that!).


Tesco Cree


Fenix L2D Q5 on full


Fenix L0D (single AAA battery) on full. Much wider beam than both the Tesco and the L2D. Weaker, obviously, but wider.


Just for fun, the £100 Airbike P7 light. Wide and rather bright.

Beam shots are all 2.5" @ f/5.6. The Tesco C has a very tight beam, which is a bit brighter than the L2D at the center, it lacks light just about everywhere else. Not to mention the variable power on the Fenix is useful, build quality is way better, and the beam doesn't dim like the Tesco. I say go for the Fenix, you won't be dissapointed.

Hope that helps,
Phil

Yahoobedoo

Could people using AA rechargeables that fit without any modifications let us know the brand/capacity so I can work out which ones to get - for the record none of my 7dayshop ones fit (2500 and 2800).

Cheers.

Andy B

Tried removing the plastic labels from the batteries?

redvee

Andy_B wrote:

Tried removing the plastic labels from the batteries?

That doesn't work as it completes the circuit which the plastic coating stops. I found that out when I tried it. I've got some GP 1300Mah that slip in with a push, not tight and not loose.

apreading

Ive got eneloops in mine. Fit fine but you have to shake it very gently for them to come out.

grahawk

My Uniross rechargeaables fit (only 800mAh and I'm not intending to use these). The bottom one is a tight fit but as you can can unscrew the bottom as well as the top it's no problem.

cougie

I peeled the plastic off one Vapextech 2900 - the other fits ok - and both ends come off - so you cant get it stuck.

The Tesco seems a lot heftier than the Fenix, with a more focussed beam. Not ridden with them yet.

grumsta

Nice post from wikrok there - v useful

Broonster

Northwind wrote:

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".

Tesco @ Hermiston Gait - is that the A version or C you get there? Bathgate only has C

And, actually, where is the Tesco at Hermiston Gait?! The only ones I know close to what I call Hermiston Gait (off the roundabout - B&Q, Halfords etc) is the one at Wester Hails and the one near PC World out the Corstorphine Road :?

fcumok

picked up 3 of the AA ones in Thirsk today. Loads were in there. Tried the garden test and was very impressed. Just waiting for my lockblocks to come now

Northwind

Broonster wrote:

Tesco @ Hermiston Gait - is that the A version or C you get there? Bathgate only has C

And, actually, where is the Tesco at Hermiston Gait?! The only ones I know close to what I call Hermiston Gait (off the roundabout - B&Q, Halfords etc) is the one at Wester Hails and the one near PC World out the Corstorphine Road :?

Yeah, they have both. Tescos is in what used to be Homebase, up the other end from Halfords. The Wester Hailes one is shut, or possibly was stolen

stev68

Not long back from de woods,was good fun! deff going to buy another one to chuck on me chute.As been said previously on this post,the beam has not got much of a spread,so perhaps two on the bars an one on the head would be much better and still only £30 qiud!

Gingersaurus

Worth investing in 2 of these to replace my cheap £20 Cateye jobbie, whilst I save up for some other lights?

cougie

Definitely worth a punt I'd say.

beancounter

I'm using the Tesco C on a lockblock. It's a bit wobbly but it's ok. Torch is very good.

Can anyone tell me how to stop the batteries rattling inside the torch? Tried wrapping in tape - maybe need more tape. It's getting on my tits already...

Ta

bc

cougie

Try rechargeables ? They're nice and snug in there ?

Yorkshirepadd

I've tried some cheapo 2500 ones i got with my digital camera and some uniross 800 ones that fit both my Tesco 3w Led lights.

Can you not try and file a little bit out of it ? as I think the quality varies.

Yahoobedoo wrote:

Could people using AA rechargeables that fit without any modifications let us know the brand/capacity so I can work out which ones to get - for the record none of my 7dayshop ones fit (2500 and 2800).

Cheers.

S_J_P

beancounter wrote:

I'm using the Tesco C on a lockblock. It's a bit wobbly but it's ok. Torch is very good.

Can anyone tell me how to stop the batteries rattling inside the torch? Tried wrapping in tape - maybe need more tape. It's getting on my tits already...

Ta

bc

Either more tape, or a slice of innertube wrapped around the batteries worked for me

rowlers

just got myself a coule of these, going to have a blast riding in the dark as soon as my mounts come from dealextreme (anyone know how long postage will take?), must admit the light they give off is quite astonishing!

Panter

rowlers wrote:

just got myself a coule of these, going to have a blast riding in the dark as soon as my mounts come from dealextreme (anyone know how long postage will take?), must admit the light they give off is quite astonishing!

I ordered mine about a week ago and have just received an email saying they have been despatched and will arrive in 7-10 working days so, potentially, up to 3 weeks.

HTH

Chris

S_J_P

I took a few photographs last night to see whether the "AA" version does indeed have a better spread than tha "C" cell version. For reference, the table & chairs are 25m from the camera.

The "C" cell is significantly brighter at the center that the "AA" cell torch, and the peripheral lighting is good (you can see the bird-table on the right clearly) but the overly bright centre spot overwhelms the peripheral vision.

The "AA" cell is noticeably dimmer than the "C" cell torch overall, and the peripheral illumination isn't quite so good (the bird-table can hardly be seen), but as it's center spot isn't quite so well defined or bright this torch seems, visually, to illuminate a wider area.

The Halogen lights appear very poor in the photographs, however their very even spread of light does make them appear better than perhaps they are.

The combination of all three sets (four lights) obviously gives the benefits of each, with a fantastic spot and decent peripheral illumination.

One other point of note is that the "AA" cell torch has "O"-ring seals on the removable switch/power regulation section, on the reflector crown, and on the lamp assembly (as well as a superfluous one around the outside of the lens casing) which should make it pretty waterproof. the "C" cell torch doesn't have any visible sealing.

Here are the photos....

First the total illumination of the "C" Cell, plus "AA" cell LED torches with my Electron 5W+10W Halogen too:


Next up is the "AA" cell Tesco LED torch alone:


Then the "C" cell Tesco LED alone:


Finally the 5W+10W Halogen lamps alone:


I fixed each torch onto old bicycle lamp quick-release brackets using cable-ties, and they're as secure as anything

angelinaaaaa

Am i missing something, but are these just normal torches as opposed to specific cycle lights?

Surf-Matt

Anglinaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa - yep they are. Good torches can be bought for about £40.
Good bike lights are £100+++ so lots seem to be getting torches and sticking them on a bike.

Not convinced myself - to me they are two quite different things (bike lights and torches) and torches tend to concentrate the beam to a small area too much, even if they are a billion zigawatts and have more lumens than the sun.

Dazzza

Well my ultrafire c1 with superbright p60 host has arrived today.

Wow, the spot, incredibly intense, i can't stare anywhere near the thing, has a bit of spill but that's not it's use as this is going on the lid.

I bought the universal mount from dx, it's slightly bigger than the lockblock but both ends face the same way, mounted perfect on the helmet, quite secure if not slighty weighty so the straps on the helmet will need tightening a bit.

Can't wait to test it on the trails. 8)

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.12000

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.14027

Size wise i would put it about the same as the exposure joystick.

Horton

Tried one of the AA jobs last night - no nifty block, just a couple of zipties which worked fine. Went to the woods with the torch on one side of the stem and my £160 Joystick Maxx and initial impressions were ok - as a lot of people have mentioned, nice and bright, but no spread to talk about which makes it harder to see further up the trail etc. Also, after about 40 mins, the torch seemed to go into some sort of saver mode - light dimmed to the extent that you could not have used it as a bike light. LEDs can overheat so I switched it off and 10 mins later it was fine, but only for about 5 minutes. It could also just be the crap batteries that were in it I suppose.

For those commuters wanting to use this torch using the "be seen, be safe" line however, please beware, there is absolutely no light spill from the sides, so you cannot be seen that well at junctions etc. (Same as the joystick in that respect so if I go out on road with mine, I use a small LED job on constant but pointing backwards so it lights me and my reflective gear up)

skyliner

I've used Lupine, Hope, L&M HID and LED, Niteflux & Exposure LED lights on the trails at Afan.(Shop demo lights. You never want to spend when you can use them for free, but it gets a bit boring sometimes with all that light)
The best light out of those was the Niteflux Photon max. Based on VFM / performance.
Even over the 4 LED and Wilma. It doesn't have as wide a beam, or as bright a halo, but the others aren't 3 - 4 times better for the money.
But the Niteflux isn't 8.5 times better than 3 AA Tesco cree torches on my head.
I still had loads of fun riding The Wall last week on them, and didn't need to replace the batteries on a 2 hour ride, because I only used 1 light on the climb, and felt the benefit of 2 more when in use on the descents.

I use 2700Mah Uniross cells that I used to use on my home made 3W helmet light (emergengy backup) and they fit perfectly after the sticker is removed from inside the switch end of the torch body, and carried 2 spares to get home on for that ride.
But I was quite impressed with the spread once I'd got them set correctly, and it didn't slow me down too much.
Good performance for less money than the home made light cost to make, and 3 times the light.

littleandy0410

I went out for a ride last night using 2 tesco AA 3w torches, and also the cheap cateye that I've had for ages. Cateye had no effect at all on my view ahead, but was there so I could be seen by other traffic.

I also used a cateye rear 5 led light, and on my helmet I've got 2 of tescos cheap single led micro lights. They're £2.66 for a pair at the mo, and they have a small loop of elastic cord that loops onto the front so they can be attached to a frame or helmet or whatever. Really good for the money, as I had the rear on strobe flashing, and the front on steady.

It's just enough to light up the bar when riding, so I could see my computer, and the gear indicators on the shifters. I don't think anyone could fail to see me with all that lot on! Traffic coming the other way was very qick to dip their headlights, and I almost felt like I was dazzling them! I only needed 1 of the tesco lights on for most of the ride, especially as it was a full moon, so quie a bit of ambient light anyway.

Surf-Matt

Bought an AA one this morning - for use as a spare torch in the car.
As a torch it's amazing - much brighter than my £40 Ring Cyba-lite N16 and looks well made too. Too much of a "spot" for riding IMO but one hell of a bargain for a handy little torch.

Also borrowed a Hope 1 LED light - think I'll get one - all in one (not into a million loose cables and zip ties), compact and I'm very impressed with it. As usual Hope have somehow managed to make the mundane look sexy too.

x-isle

Just out of interest, how big is the AA version?

I use a Hope Vision 4, which is like riding with the sun on your head, but I was thinking more of a backup/repair torch to carry in my Camelbak.

cougie

The Tesco AA version is a lot chunkier / heavier than the slimline Fenix - er without having it here - I'd prob say its about the length of 3 AA batteries and as wide as two of them at its widest ?

I've put one im my backpack too - in the unlikely event that both of my 'Fenices' die !