The big LIGHTS thread 2011-2014
Comments
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Ouija wrote:Looks more like it would take a 26650 battery but, alas, it's just a tad narrow to do so (tried) and a bit short to boot (23x53mm). Probably take a stumpy 18500 though (Torchy sells them) if you wrap it in tape to pad it out. If it had just a 2mm wider inside diameter it would have been a perfect fit for a 2550.
Do you think it would take a 18650 with an extension like this:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/300584806182?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
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No idea. If the 2.3mm bit on the listing is the width of the male threaded bit then maybe. If it's the width of the black crenellated bit or reffering to the height of the tube then probably not.
Just ordered some 1600mah 18500's from Torchy to see if they work. Technically, three non rechargable AAA batteries when wired together in series put out 3.0v to 5.7v (because they are typically 1.9v when fully charged and drain down to 1.0v) so i imagine the light can handle the 4.2v of a fully charged Li-Ion battery.0 -
Thought a few shots might be appreciated as a comparison.
Took some pics using an old Halfords "Super Bright" rear flasher (about £14). And they were Super Bright about 5 years ago... noticeably brighter than the fairy lights most people rode about with (and still do).
And then a Planet X Phaart Bleep 0.5w light (both bottom and top lights on so actually 1.0w). (now only £3.49)
Blisteringly bright if your directly in line with the focused hot spot (hence the reason it's a good idea to angle them up slightly so they point straight at a cars windshield) but brightness drops noticeably as you move to the left or the right. Also the shaped optics tend to get bunged up with dirt and can be a pain to clean.
Lastly, the Cree 3w shown a few posts back....... (£9.99)
Despite being three times brighter it doesn't appear so when standing behind it as the light is spread all over the place in an even sort of manner, giving better peripheral visibility. Certainly, when you look down you see your legs and the bike frame all lit up like a christmas tree as well as the bushes and hedges to the sides of you whereas with the Phaart your only really aware it's on if you swivel your head right round and look directly behind you.
These days you don't need to be spending silly money to get very bright rear lights. Just need to look around for anything that specifies "0.5w" or upwards (most of those cheap, twinkly, christmas tree flashers are usually only 0.1w). Wilkos (formerly Wilkinsons) do a reasonable one for about £7 that you can actually try in the blister pack. If it doesn't specify wattage... just walk on. Especially in Halfords (who have a habit of selling the most overpriced, dimmest flashers i've ever seen and don't let you try them first).0 -
Thank you very much for the pics. That new light looks superb for giving all round illumination and being noticed by cars - do you reckon its still bright enough to be seen from some distance? Looks like it still lights up that door really well.
As a non fashion nor weight conscious roadie/commuter I'm really interested as one of my rears (Smart) is dying slowly from repeated water ingress.0 -
Depends on the distance. But despite chucking light everywhere, instead of in a focused manner like the phaart, any driver who says they couldn't see you from 100's of feet away has probably forgotten to bring their guide dog. At these sort of brightness levels (and the pics are in a WHITE corridor, which makes them seem brighter than they would be on a wet, black country lane) they are giving the sort of light output that would make them visible in daylight conditions. The Phaart is borderline in that respect. On an overcast day i imagine it would be visible at closer distances if your directly inline with it's focused hotspot. The 3w cree could probably be seen in all conditions.
Your only really going to get brighter than this if you start spending silly money on rear flashers powered by big lithium power packs or have Li-Ion batteries built into them as the power requirements tend to go up up to get those brightness levels.0 -
Ouija wrote:Depends on the distance. But despite chucking light everywhere, instead of in a focused manner like the phaart, any driver who says they couldn't see you from 100's of feet away has probably forgotten to bring their guide dog. At these sort of brightness levels (and the pics are in a WHITE corridor, which makes them seem brighter than they would be on a wet, black country lane) they are giving the sort of light output that would make them visible in daylight conditions. The Phaart is borderline in that respect. On an overcast day i imagine it would be visible at closer distances if your directly inline with it's focused hotspot. The 3w cree could probably be seen in all conditions.
Your only really going to get brighter than this if you start spending silly money on rear flashers powered by big lithium power packs or have Li-Ion batteries built into them as the power requirements tend to go up up to get those brightness levels.
Brilliant (no pun!) many thanks for the extra info. I already have a Lezyne Micro Drve that gives a very intense focused beam so this looks like a good compliment to the arsenal of maximum retinal impact!0 -
Another way of looking at it is the Lezyne is 70 lumen (at max brightness) but focused, the 3w cree is 120 lumen but floody. The Lezyne only has a 3hr runtime on 70 lumen (16340 lithium batteries, but very small ones) whereas i'd expect to see the 3w Cree run for upto 6hrs (maybe more if i can get a 18500 battery to work in it).
Got it strapped to my commuting mountain bike at the moment which usually sees a two hour nightime ride to work and back so i'll see how long it does after my three shifts this week (already done two hours with it before taking the pics so we'll see how it's going after another six).0 -
Don't have time to mess around with lights so much, someone posted some suggestions back in Oct and I ordered
SKYRAY SolarStorm 2x CREE XML U2 LED Bike Bicycle HeadLamp Light +4x18650 B0193, Ebay, £13.35 from China
&
3 XM-L2 Bike light. TrustFire TR-011, True 2100 Lumen, Ebay, £40 from uk bright ideas.
Both lights are amazing, much better than anything I have tried before. The Trustfire has a slightly whiter light, stronger spot and better flood but only by around 10% or so.
Both light will easily fix onto by helmet without any special mount but have ordered a mount for it anyway. Just need to decide which one to fix to the bar and which one to the helmet, thinking the better light on the bar. Can't wait to test them out though, thanks for all the suggestions, two top lights for 50 quid, and I was going to pay hundredes from a "normal" retailer!- 2013 Cube LTD, SL 29, grey / black.0 -
Hi all
Been out of the biking scene for a few years due to having pesky kids. Looking to get back into it, but it will be mostly night rides I should think, for the moment at least.
Therefore I’m looking for some new and/or additional lights, as I understand things have moved on a lot since my current Hope Vision 2’s from about 2006/7.
Want to dip my toes in by trying one or two of these ultrafire 501B torches. I already have 18650 batteries and a nitecore charger for my electric cig, so not too much investment needed.
In the old days, it was recommended to have flood on the bars and spot on your lid. Is that still the case, or are these torches so good that they do both jobs? If not are they spotty or floody?
What’s the latest LED I should be looking at on these 501B’s on Lightmalls? Confused by all this L1, L2, U2, T6 milarky
What lens do I want, SMO or OP, or is one best for bars and other for lid?
Also, am I missing something on lightmalls, it won't let me checkout when trying to order with paypal, the confirm order button is greyed out
Is it worth still using my old hopes on the bars and a torch or 2 on the lid, or are they so outdated that a £5 torch will beat it and I should just run a couple of torches on the bars?
I’ll see how these torches go, but may also get a solarstorm x2 for the bars maybe? Dunno
Cheers
Brighty0 -
For a head torch, 501b XM-L2 18650... they are about £8 if you have cells and a charger. The lockblock mounts are about £2 from DealExtreme.
IMO an OP (orange peel) reflector is better than SMO (smooth) as you get a more even light.
For the LEDs see http://flashlightwiki.com/Cree#XM-L which shows you the 'brightness bins' of the XML and XM-L2 families... though one of the most important elements is the 'driver' as it regulates the current and determines the actual output of the light. The Lightmalls 501b XM-L2 is good in this respect as its MED mode is just under 1amp on a fresh cell, so much brighter than my older XML-T6s which run at 0.6amps... I'm happy to trade a slightly shorter run time for the better output on MED.Vitus Sentier VR+ (2018) GT Grade AL 105 (2016)
Giant Anthem X4 (2010) GT Avalanche 1.0 (2010)
Kingley Vale and QECP Trail Collective - QECP Trail Building0 -
Ouija wrote:Another way of looking at it is the Lezyne is 70 lumen (at max brightness) but focused, the 3w cree is 120 lumen but floody. The Lezyne only has a 3hr runtime on 70 lumen (16340 lithium batteries, but very small ones) whereas i'd expect to see the 3w Cree run for upto 6hrs (maybe more if i can get a 18500 battery to work in it).
Got it strapped to my commuting mountain bike at the moment which usually sees a two hour nightime ride to work and back so i'll see how long it does after my three shifts this week (already done two hours with it before taking the pics so we'll see how it's going after another six).
The 18500's arrived from Torchy the other day. They do work in the rear 3w flasher. Just need to wrap them in some bar tape to pad them out to 23/24mm and stick a 1p coin on the end before screwing the cap down (the spring doesn't make contact properly with the back of the battery unless you extend it's length a few millimetres).0 -
Ouija wrote:Ouija wrote:Another way of looking at it is the Lezyne is 70 lumen (at max brightness) but focused, the 3w cree is 120 lumen but floody. The Lezyne only has a 3hr runtime on 70 lumen (16340 lithium batteries, but very small ones) whereas i'd expect to see the 3w Cree run for upto 6hrs (maybe more if i can get a 18500 battery to work in it).
Got it strapped to my commuting mountain bike at the moment which usually sees a two hour nightime ride to work and back so i'll see how long it does after my three shifts this week (already done two hours with it before taking the pics so we'll see how it's going after another six).
The 18500's arrived from Torchy the other day. They do work in the rear 3w flasher. Just need to wrap them in some bar tape to pad them out to 23/24mm and stick a 1p coin on the end before screwing the cap down (the spring doesn't make contact properly with the back of the battery unless you extend it's length a few millimetres).
Thanks for the update- did you have to do anything else at all to the light itself? I ask cause I'm finding it hard to picture how a body designed for 3 AAAs would interface with a single battery? Apologies if its obvious but I am very much ignorant when it comes to electrics.0 -
The body of the light is just like a normal torch with a big "+" connector at one end and a big "-" connector (spring) at the other as if it took a big 24500 battery. The three AA's fit into a plastic caddy that wires them all in series (as if they were laid end to end instead of side by side). The plastic caddy is about the same width as a 24500 battery (if they existed) and isn't needed if you use a single 18500 battery (just the padding to stop it rattling around in the wider tube).
By the way, if you didn't know, these Li-Ion batteries, rather than having names, just depict the dimensions. So a 18500 literally translates as 18mm wide x 50mm long and the final "0" means that it's circular (not a square battery etc). 18650 = 18mm x 65mm x 0 (round) and so on.0 -
wishitwasallflat wrote:Ouija wrote:Ouija wrote:Another way of looking at it is the Lezyne is 70 lumen (at max brightness) but focused, the 3w cree is 120 lumen but floody. The Lezyne only has a 3hr runtime on 70 lumen (16340 lithium batteries, but very small ones) whereas i'd expect to see the 3w Cree run for upto 6hrs (maybe more if i can get a 18500 battery to work in it).
Got it strapped to my commuting mountain bike at the moment which usually sees a two hour nightime ride to work and back so i'll see how long it does after my three shifts this week (already done two hours with it before taking the pics so we'll see how it's going after another six).
The 18500's arrived from Torchy the other day. They do work in the rear 3w flasher. Just need to wrap them in some bar tape to pad them out to 23/24mm and stick a 1p coin on the end before screwing the cap down (the spring doesn't make contact properly with the back of the battery unless you extend it's length a few millimetres).
Thanks for the update- did you have to do anything else at all to the light itself? I ask cause I'm finding it hard to picture how a body designed for 3 AAAs would interface with a single battery? Apologies if its obvious but I am very much ignorant when it comes to electrics.
By the use ofa body extender and adaptor for the battery.
As seen here
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Ouija wrote:The body of the light is just like a normal torch with a big "+" connector at one end and a big "-" connector (spring) at the other as if it took a big 24500 battery. The three AA's fit into a plastic caddy that wires them all in series (as if they were laid end to end instead of side by side). The plastic caddy is about the same width as a 24500 battery (if they existed) and isn't needed if you use a single 18500 battery (just the padding to stop it rattling around in the wider tube).
By the way, if you didn't know, these Li-Ion batteries, rather than having names, just depict the dimensions. So a 18500 literally translates as 18mm wide x 50mm long and the final "0" means that it's circular (not a square battery etc). 18650 = 18mm x 65mm x 0 (round) and so on.
Have just bought one (not arrived yet) so am curious, would a 23500 fit,? They are available (not found a charger yet though) and put out 3.7V which should operate the rear light no problem.Trek,,,, too cool for school ,, apparently0 -
Ouija wrote:The body of the light is just like a normal torch with a big "+" connector at one end and a big "-" connector (spring) at the other as if it took a big 24500 battery. The three AA's fit into a plastic caddy that wires them all in series (as if they were laid end to end instead of side by side). The plastic caddy is about the same width as a 24500 battery (if they existed) and isn't needed if you use a single 18500 battery (just the padding to stop it rattling around in the wider tube).
By the way, if you didn't know, these Li-Ion batteries, rather than having names, just depict the dimensions. So a 18500 literally translates as 18mm wide x 50mm long and the final "0" means that it's circular (not a square battery etc). 18650 = 18mm x 65mm x 0 (round) and so on.
Fantastic Ouija - many thanks again for sharing your wisdom (and tolerating my ignorance!).0 -
A few photos to clarify.....
Tube, AAA caddy and screw cap...
Battery manufacturers usually refer to the voltage of a battery when it's half drained. So, non rechargeable AAA batteries have 1.5v printed on the side of them but in actual fact can be closer to 1.9v when fully charged and about 1.0v when fully drained. Three such AAA batteries wired in series in the caddy therefore put out a theoretical maximum of about 5.7v (1.9v + 1.9v + 1.9v) and only 3.0v when drained. So that's a good indicator of what sort of power range the light can take.
Rechargeable AAA's tend to be only 1.2v (1.5 fully charged, draining down to less than 1.0v) with lower capacity than non rechargeables, so your looking at 4.5v max (1.5v + 1.5v + 1.5v) when in the caddy.
Li-Ion batteries, while marked as 3.7v are actually 4.2v fully charged going down to less than 3.0v when drained. In terms of maximum voltage the three non rechargeable AAA's win the day. However, most people will probably use rechargeable batteries with these sort of lights and three rechargeable AAA's don't output much more voltage than a single Li-Ion battery (4.5v compared to 4.2v). Li-Ion batteries also tend to have upto three times the capacity of old metal batteries (such as AA/AAA's) so may be a better option for achieving longer runtimes (which is why all the super bright lights these days are powered by Lithium Ion cells as they tend to have greater ampage needs).
For those wanting to power a light like this with Lithium Ion cells there are a couple of options. But first some more pics.
The caddy is around 53mm long..
And about 21mm wide...
But the tube it fits in is about 23mm wide....
As mentioned i got some short 18500 lithium ion batteries from Torchy earlier this week and getting them to work was as simple as putting some foam bar tape around the battery (which pokes up above the rim slightly, creating a circular depression that a one pence piece will nicely sit in to extend the length of the battery for better contact with the spring in the screw in tailcap).....
Once the original AAA's that came with the light give up the ghost i'll run it off the 18500 and see what runtimes are like (already done about 8hrs on flash).
Other options for powering by Lithium Ion (Li-Ion) are trying to find one that's 22500 or 23500 for an exact match with the tube (22500 exist, apparently). However, there is one other option. Use AAA sized lithium batteries (10440) wired in parallel. You can actually buy caddies for AAA batteries, like the one above, if you shop around. Most wire in series which would be no good (becuase 4.2v + 4.2v + 4.2v = 12.6v which would fry the light) but you can also get parallel ones like these...
You don't actually need the caddy though. If you like to do things in a DIY sort of way you can simply strap three 10440 Li-Ion batteries side by side with a bit of tape and stick them in the light with two flat round pieces of metal (like the coin in the pic above) to merge the tips and tails of each battery into a single contact point at each end (if you see what i mean). Crude, but it'd probably work though 10440's don't have the largest capacities.0 -
Perfect, thanks for that.
Mines has arrived, but I don`t get home till next week so will have a play then.Trek,,,, too cool for school ,, apparently0 -
The only 23500 batteries i can find are all Lithium (not rechargeable and lower voltage) rather than Lithium Ion (rechargeable, higher voltage). Damn. I'll look again later today. Gotta get some sleep.0
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More fiddling with lights tonight.
This turned up last week for me to play with...
I like to call it the Hi-Lo light.
Unfortunately, the modes didn't work the way i'd hoped (both on, top on, bottom on) as it would of made a great light for dipping the beam for oncoming traffic. Instead both lights remain on all the time. Which is a bit of a waste because, if you aim the upper light 15/20 feet down the road, the lower light shines about five feet in front of the bike, wasting ampage illuminating something that doesn't need illuminating that brightly.
Which brings up a second point. The upper light has the distance for the conical beam to widen out and drop in brightness whereas the lower light doesn't, remaining an eye wateringly bright light that seems about four times brighter than the upper light (pumping more amps into the upper than the lower would of been a good idea). Consequently, it ruins your night vision so that you can barely see the upper light at all. Damn.
There is a solution to this though. And thats to turn the lower light into a soft flood by completely covering it in privacy film. This gets rid of the spot, turning it into a soft flood that illuminates everything just in front of the bike and drops the brightness level to be even with the upper light and expands it's circle of light until it merges with the upper one. This creates an avenue of light from the near to the far that works quite well. Trying to use the light without this mod is just pointless and frustrating IMO.
The other main, fixable, problem with this light is the bar mount. Rubber O ring mounts aren't the best solution for a light that is going to have a finger jabbing at the button on the back of it because it has no remote switch. But at least with most O Ring mounted lights you can always wrap a finger round the front and rest the edge of your palm on the bar as your pressing the button to stop accidentally moving the light. With this light that's not the case. The light is quite tall with the button situated at the top, where it has most leverage and you can't rest any part of your hand on the bar while pressing it. So unless your riding on the smoothest surface it's almost impossible for your arm to not flap about as your trying to press the button, leading to misses and accidental double presses.
Of all the O Ring mounted lights i've tried this is the one that you absolutely have to replace with a Hope or Bikeut mount to clamp it solidly to the bar or go mad with frustration.
Time for pics, methinks. The below anim is the Hi-Lo light pointed at the football clubhouse on Olivers Mount in Scarborough. The lights are aimed parrallel to the ground, so the hotspots would disappear off the curvature of the earth if the building and trees weren't there, and not at the grass. As with all my other photos, what looks like hotspots on the ground is just the edge of the ever expanding conical beam clipping into the grass due to the distances involved. The only exception to that is the Hi-Lo light which really does have one of it's lights pointed down at the grass (and the upper pointed at the center of the door).
It should also be noted that my camera is very poor at detecting shades of grey so all my beam shots seam to have a overly bright hotspot that fades into black very quickly. For instance the lower light has barely a spot at all due to the privacy tape and the Lightmall x2 light has a spot so soft that you'd swear it didn't have one at all. Unfortunately, my camera seems to exaggerate the contrast to the point that all my light pics seem overly 'spotty'. Bear that in mind.
Despite the lack of smooth gradation of my camera you can see that the Lightmalls XM-L2 x2..
tends to focus most of it's light on the far. The Hi-Lo puts light both near and far (with a little more emphasis on the near) and the Trustfire TRD x3 tends to get an even spread everywhere. However. The Trustfires three beams are adjustable..
so you could arrange them into a near/far configuration or have the spots from all three lights lined up one after the other. Though the Trustfire does seem to be a bit of a battery sucker whereas the Lightmalls X2 just seems to keep on going and going (about 1400 lumens and quite frugal on the gas).
Lightmalls XM-L2 x2
Trustfire TRD0012 XM-L2 x3
Hi-Lo XM-L T6 x2
I'm still favouring the Lightmalls X2 for most of my rides due to the small form factor, ease of operation (no flash or off modes to cycle through) and programmability. Hooked up to my Trustfire battery it's never even showed any signs of depleting it despite been on for hours (though it may just be one of those lights whose light goes red ten seconds before the battery dies).0 -
Saw the lightmalls and quite fancy giving one a bash.
Anyhoo, you must spend some time hanging around outside womens public toilets
I dread to think what would happen if one stepped out as you were light testing ! Trek,,,, too cool for school ,, apparently0 -
So would i. It's in the middle of nowhere and looks like no one has used it in years (not actually a public toilet, just a locked changing room for female players). I'm probably the only person who's been up there all winter.
As for the Lightmalls x2 light. It's not always about brightness (you can certainly get more lumens with other lights) it's about form, function and ease of use. The other lights can all have irksome "features" but the Lightmalls one just works and i can't find a single thing that bothers me about it. And i'm quite picky.0 -
What about the XML U2 version of the Cree?
I got one (x2) and it is indeed brighter than my old x3 that was the normal XML T6.0 -
T6 and U2 are just bin numbers (quality after testing). They grade quality of the finished XM-L's from T2 (poor) through to T6 (meets design expectations). Then have the extra two "U2" and "U3" designation for those few emitters that come out more perfectly formed and brighter than expected (law of averages says some are always going to exceed expectations when manufactured in vast quantities).
The newer XM-L2 emitter, in it's standard T6 quality variation is brighter than the old XM-L U2 when you pump the same number of amps through them. But ultimately, it is the number of amps the light pumps through the emitters that will determine brightness, not the model and quality variation of the emitter itself. That just determines theoretical brightness and efficiency. I've certainly seen XM-L's outshine XM-L2's in some lights and XM-L T6's outshine XM-L U2's, but they probably consumed more amps, drained the battery quicker and produced more heat to do so.
You can see the stats for XM-L and XM-L2 below..
Another thing to consider is that the number of emitters doesn't determine brightness either. A lot of people automatically assume a x3, x5, etc light is bound to be brighter than an x2 one, simply because it's got more emitters (irrespective of what model and bin number the emitters are). Most of these lights with lots of emitters run each emitter at a low ampage whereas the ones with fewer emitters tend to run them at higher ampage so that brightness levels can be the same, or greater on the x2's than the x3's, x5's etc.
The reason for doing this is to utilize the greater efficiency of emitters when run at lower ampages than at higher ones (3 emitters run at 1 amp each produce slightly more light than 1 emitter running at 3 amps..... look at the chart above). It's overall ampage that you really need to know about and some of these big lights with 10 emitters aren't drawing any more amps than the x2 ones, because batteries have limits on how many amps can be drawn from them. Lights drawing six amps tend to get you a reasonable brightness, irrespective of how many emitters and bin variations it has.0 -
-Archie- wrote:
So, what's about formerly mentioned idea of using two of them in horizontal orientation, to provide "panoramic" illumination?Ouija wrote:Trying to use the light without this mod is just pointless and frustrating IMO.
That would still work (actually taped it sideways on the bar to see what it looked like) but i'm not sure how you'd accomplish it without drilling into the side of the light to make a mount point. Until i have an idea how to do that i'm not going to order another one just yet.0 -
Seems like simple L-shaped piece of metal or plastic in between of existing mounting and its hole will do the trick...0
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-Archie- wrote:Seems like simple L-shaped piece of metal or plastic in between of existing mounting and its hole will do the trick...
Thought about that but it wouldn't work. You've essentially got all the weight hanging from one side of the mount which adds a lot of leverage to the screw and L shaped piece. It's either going to bounce around or put a lot of strain on the joint. Also, it means the mount would have to be halfway out towards your grips so that the top of the light was situated just next to your stem. If you use oversize bars the increasing thickness of the bar towards the middle would mean the top of the light would be either be banging against the bar or faceplate of your stem. Center of the side of the light is better for stability i'd imagine.
Either way, I was thinking more along the lines of a stiff door hinge device between the mount and the base of the light. It would be cool if you could have the lights sat upright for road segments and then just grab hold of them and turn them ninety degrees sideways for offroad.0 -
You've almost got my idea, but not completely.
I mean arrangement where center of mass will be placed directly above the mount. I'm too lazy to make proper 3D-drawing, but hope this quick Paint pic of frontal view of the light & handlebar explain it (L-shaped part drawn in red):
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Or just get a phone holder and clamp the bottom and top of the light....
And then rotate to face forwards..0
