Tesco 3W Cree LED Torches - first ride!

girv73

A couple of days ago I picked up two of the £10 Tesco 3W Cree LED 2xAA torches. I've now had a chance to mount them on the commutabike and take a ride in the dark!

First, some photos taken in my garage of the Tesco torches vs. my previous headlight, a CatEye HL-500 halogen. Also shown is how I've mounted them to my bars.

http://picasaweb.google.com/girv73/Tesco3WCreeLEDTorch

The beam they cast is quite narrow but has a good range, clearly visible out to 10 meters I'd say. Two torches are fine for riding on pitch black country roads and lanes (that's what I did) provided you're careful about your speed. For off-road I think you'd need something more powerful though. On urban commutes they certainly get you seen. For mixed terrain or dimly lit commutes I'd say they were great little lights!

Battery life was enough to get me through my 2x45 minute commute today.

I've the torches mounted using cheapo jubilee clips but I think I might splash out on a couple of proper mounts, as the jubilee clips make it a bit of an ar$e to get the batteries out :roll: And they're butt ugly

I've still to give them a run in the wet to see how they hold up, but I'm not anticipating any problems as they feel well constructed and should be rainproof.

Not quite as good as a Fenix I suspect, but for the price I'm well pleased with my purchase!

nicklouse

can i also point you at this topic.

http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12588492

redvee

Two things.

Your garage is bigger than my flat and you can take the wrist straps off the torches, one of mine is now on another led torch and the other is on my digital camera.

girv73

The garage is bigger than the flat we were in before we moved here

I've the straps off now too, cheers.

dirk_van_gently

I've just bought a Fenix LD20, very impressive, but it's 4 times the price of the Tesco light !

Thing is can the tesco light do this:

girv73

@redvee - just realised, the shots with the grey blockwork background are work's car park not my garage The torch beam comparison shots against the door are in my place though.

It's still bigger than my previous flat though.

Surf-Matt

Got one that I use as...


...a torch.

Amazing vfm and will helmet mount for offroad rides but too focussed for main light cycling and quite bizarrely, rechargeable AAs don't really fit!

redvee

Dirk Van Gently wrote:

I've just bought a Fenix LD20, very impressive, but it's 4 times the price of the Tesco light !

Thing is can the tesco light do this:

That must make Fenixes the mutts nuts

girv73

Tried a different route home last night that took me through some dimly lit streets, Tesco torches seemed perfect for this sort of trip.

Electricpics

Got one Tesco 3w on my bar with a Cateye HL-EL135, another 3w on my lid. Went out onto some pitch black tracks last night and I'm well impressed. Plenty of light to ride reasonably hard with confidence.

girv73

Would I be crazy to mount a third AA torch on the seatstay of my bike, pointing down towards the ground parallel to the stay so that it illuminates the back wheel and ground behind the bike, with a red filter on it ?

Any suggestions for a mounting bracket for this setup? Inline version of a lockblock perhaps (if there is such a thing) ?

kingmho

I dissected a £10 Tesco 3W Cree LED 2xAA torch to bodge it onto my dynamo. I found that there isn't a cooling path from the LED to the outside, so it doubt it would be able to run continuously at full wack. At some point, it will overheat and a protection circuit will cause it to dim . Turning it off for a few minutes should restore normal operation. Whether this will actually happen depends on the unit, the weather and airflow, but it seems that at least one poster on the MTB forum may have experienced this.

It's still a lot of light for the money, though.

cougie

Girv - the fenix do have diffuser cones you can buy to use or even a red lens to change the light. I'm not sure I'd do what you are planning though - And not put it low down on the seat stays in case it swings into the wheel.

FOr a tenner - get the Smart 0.5W superflash - that will do.

Electricpics

kingmho wrote:

I dissected a £10 Tesco 3W Cree LED 2xAA torch to bodge it onto my dynamo. I found that there isn't a cooling path from the LED to the outside, so it doubt it would be able to run continuously at full wack. At some point, it will overheat and a protection circuit will cause it to dim . Turning it off for a few minutes should restore normal operation. Whether this will actually happen depends on the unit, the weather and airflow, but it seems that at least one poster on the MTB forum may have experienced this.

It's still a lot of light for the money, though.

Interesting that. I ran the one on my bar for about two hours yesterday and after about 90 minutes it dimmed considerably. Problem is it had already run for 90 minutes on another run out so it was likely to the batteries going. I replaced them when I got back and it went up to full strength. Perhaps a good airflow in cold weather counters the lack of direct cooling?

kingmho

Electricpics, I think your batteries were tired. Usually, one battery dies before the other, and the torch limps on for a while (at a very low output, usually with a bit of flickering) until both die.

With batteries, the voltage droop in use may actually head off any overheating issues. Only very fresh, freshly-charged or really ace batteries may cause overheating. The good part is that you won't get premature dimming due to overheating. The bad part is, the torch is not operating anywhere near full power (3W) for anything more than the first few minutes, if you're lucky. It's just very difficult for us to notice the initial dimming, because it's quite gradual.

funkywindmill

I unscrewd the top of the torch and put some silver heat sink paste on the rim to get a better cooling, seems to work fine at constant brighness, with the body of the torch getting warm for the full life of the batteries.
Also drilled out the body with a 15mm drill so that NiMh batteries fit in ok, got a couple of excellent handlebar fixings from an ebay shop in HK for a couple of quid too, they're designed for a slightly larger diameter body, but several layesr of insulating tape did the trick!

girv73

funky, got a link for those fixings?

girv73

FWIW, since switching to these torches I've noticed that the rate of peds stepping out in front of me has dropped off signifcantly. Some of them even step back ON to the footpath if they're on the road already! The torches would seem to make you more visible or serious looking or something...

kingmho

I find peds pay more attention when I play the sound of a scooter engine loudly from my mobile whilst cycling :twisted: . Of course, this makes me look a bit silly when stopped at the lights.

funkywindmill

Here's the link for the handlebar fixings, they took about 10 days to come from HK

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/360-Flashlight-To ... 240%3A1318

girv73

Cheers funky, they look sweet and I've ordered a few

funkywindmill

Forgot to say, just to be on the safe side, I use cut off bits of inner tube over the torch body either side of the mount, hooked under the fixing screw just in case the click down fixing comes loose.

nfludder

I have have just fitted two Tesco 3 Cree torches to my commuter as my Cateye EL510 just was not bright enough on the unlit back roads. I have the AA version and it gives a really good spead of light, more than enough for 20+ MPH on unlit roads, the only trouble is that cars drives seem to be braking and diving into the hedge as they come past me so they might be too bright!!

tailwindhome

Sorry if this seems really dumb

What we are talking about is 'ordinary' household torchs fitted to your bike.


Not trying to be smart just want to check before I buy the wrong thing?

daniel_b

WheezyMcChubby wrote:

Sorry if this seems really dumb

What we are talking about is 'ordinary' household torchs fitted to your bike.


Not trying to be smart just want to check before I buy the wrong thing?

Yup, that's about the size of it

girv73

@Wheezy - Tesco in Abbeycentre have a few in stock, make sure you get the "3W LED" ones as there are a couple of different 2xAA types.

batch78

Yeah dont buy the orange and black torch like a friend of mine did, its pants!

fossyant

I use 2 x Cateye 510's and a Tesco for a mainly well lit route - certainly overkill but they work...makes most of the cyclists look on my commute. Good enough for unlit lanes - took mine off up into thelocal hills to test out - fine.

As mentioned, if off road, get the better Fenix ones, but they take specialist batteries though !

nce21

Anyone used them as helmet mounted lights? Picked them up and them seemed quite heavy? Already got some ay-ups which are great for the bars, but want something to see where i look on my helmet. Any thoughts?

boondog

I stuck mine on this morning and rode to work, so its fixed to my helmet now for testing.

First impression is that it is heavy, my helmet now moves more and hits my glasses, so I think I've got to adjust it more to stop that happening.

I'll let you know how it works at night, as I'll be using it tonight for the ride home.

For this first test, I've strapped it to the helmet using some old inner tube. I cut off a 9cm section to put over the torch itself, to help waterproof it and also give the strap something to grip better

Electricpics

nce21 wrote:

Anyone used them as helmet mounted lights? Picked them up and them seemed quite heavy? Already got some ay-ups which are great for the bars, but want something to see where i look on my helmet. Any thoughts?

I've got one on my lid mounted just off centre, fastened with one of the vecro straps from a Twofish lockblock.