Fenix Lights

NWLondoner
NWLondoner Posts: 2,047
edited October 2008 in Workshop
Well it seem the majority seem to rave about the fenix torches for riding at night and after my scary ride with my Cateye it seems i will have to go down this route as well.

With so many fenix models about which ones do you use?

I

Comments

  • whyamihere
    whyamihere Posts: 7,716
    L2D for me. I prefer it to the LD20 because the high mode is a bit brighter on the L2D, which means I can ride on that mode most of the time and have enough light. easily. Battery life is slightly longer on the high mode on the LD20, but I prefer brightness over longevity and carrying a spare set of batteries.

    The advantage of the L2D or LD20 is that they both take AA batteries. A few 2900mAh Vapextech batteries and you're good to go without having to track down obscure and expensive batteries.
  • cougie
    cougie Posts: 22,512
    I have an L2D and an LD20 - I cant really see much difference in the brightness.
  • keef66
    keef66 Posts: 13,123
    L2D for me. I only use it in turbo mode. Bloody amazing little thing!
  • Fru T Bunn
    Fru T Bunn Posts: 159
    Are these things friendly to other road users (cars) or are they best kept back for the country lanes?

    I'm looking to upgrade my current light but don't want to be a nuisance.

    Cheers.
    Fru
  • cougie
    cougie Posts: 22,512
    They do get you seen - and I rode past a police convoy yesterday and nobody said anything to me and I was on 'strobe'.

    Its certainly bright - but no more of a nuisance than the bright halogen lights cars have these days.

    (personally I'd rather annoy people than not be seen - if it were a choice of two. I dont hear apologetic 4x4 drivers for filling up the roads with their heavy vehicles)
  • keef66
    keef66 Posts: 13,123
    As long as you point it slightly downwards and towards the kerb it shouldn't dazzle anyone coming the other way. Mine's set up so the centre of the beam hits the kerb about 20m in front of me, but it also lights up the rest of the road. Drivers coming the other way dip their headlight pretty quickly, so I'm obviously visible to them, but I've never been flashed so I think it's not too bright.

    The good thing about the Lockblock mount is that you can fine tune where it's pointing as you're cycling.
  • keef66
    keef66 Posts: 13,123
    Tried mine on strobe the other night on a stretch of completely unlit road. Christ! Good way of finding out if you have epilepsy I imagine.
  • batch78
    batch78 Posts: 1,320
    L2D, have also been looking for a replacement for my Cateye, arrived Friday and its phenomenal for an AA powered light, medium or high power are fine on the road, max power in unlit country roads or even off road on my mountain bike.

    And as mentioned above the strobe is crazy!
  • andyrr
    andyrr Posts: 1,823
    Quick Q on the LED torches : is there a big difference between the top Fenix one, L2D currently, and the Ultrafire ?
    I have an Ultrafire (Ultrafire C3 Cree Q5 LED Flashlight with Extension (1.5V~4.2V) ) to give it the full speil) which I planned last winter to use alongside my L & M Solo Logic but I found it was really not a lot use and the L & M totally outperformed it. Can't remember what batteries I used in the Ultrafire in case that makes a significant difference but whilst a nice little torch for $20USD it was not an effective bike light for fast unlit road riding.
  • keef66
    keef66 Posts: 13,123
    No experience with the ultrafire, but it looks like it uses the same cree Q5 as the fenix L2D.

    All I do know is that in turbo mode my single L2D is good enough for a couple of hours flat out road riding on otherwise completely unlit roads
  • alfablue
    alfablue Posts: 8,497
    I have the Ultrafire, I would say it is about 60% - 70% as bright as the Fenix. Even if using the same emitter, the electronics will make performance differences. The Fenix has better beam and spill. Ultrafire performance and build quality is very variable. The Fenix is fin for fast unlit road rides in my experience. Don't use alkalines (they dim quickly in LED lights), use 2900mah NiMH charged with a smart charger.
  • Al_38
    Al_38 Posts: 277
    I've got a TK11 - it is seriously bright. The added run time was of more use to me, than the conveinence of being able to get AA batteries in a pinch for an L2D - I can just carry a spare battery for it. Especially when you consider that you will probably be running rechargeables in any of them, so charging one type of battery as opposed to another makes very little difference.

    Al
  • NWLondoner
    NWLondoner Posts: 2,047
    I do like the look of the TK11.

    As it only takes one 18650 battery carrying spares is not a problem.

    Are there any photos comparing these lights?
  • Al_38
    Al_38 Posts: 277
    try youtube there are almost certainly some videos of the lights there. Alternatively, I could post a pic of the light pattern from the beam if you were particularly interested.

    Al
  • alfablue
    alfablue Posts: 8,497
    If you look at this site
    http://www.light-reviews.com/compare.html
    you can compare control shots side by side, to see the TK11 at its best choose the 1x18650 on Turbo, and the L2D CE Q5 on Turbo, and maybe compare both spill shots. There is no LD20 but this should be very similar to the L2D CE Q5 on turbo, on high it should output slightly less than the L2D CE Q5 on high. Note the TK11 has just high and low modes, L2D has Turbo, high, medium, low, strobe, SOS

    The full reviews are here http://www.light-reviews.com/fenix_tk11/ and here http://www.light-reviews.com/fenix_l2d_ce_q5/

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