The big LIGHTS thread 2011-2014

diy

Yep the £30 mini-magic-shine copy that super linked to would get my vote. I'd be tempted to buy two though as the optics are not perfect compared to other options. But at the price they really can't be beaten if you are not after the flexibility and component/module benefits of a torch.

When the batteries eventually fail, it would be easily upgraded.

tincaman

Guy on Ebay has 2 new MJ808, last years model £32.50

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/250965494155?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

apoc_reg

Quick question if I may on Expoure lights. I'm stuck between a Diablo, Toro or a Strada.

My ride home is about 50:50 between country lanes and farm tracks, thats what the lights purpose is, I definitely want a exposure light as I like the look of them

I have heard great things about the Diablo but is it good enough to be used by itself say handlebar mounted?
And conversly I have read the Strada is a better (?) road light but would it still 'do a job' offroad?

Unfortunately there doesnt seem to be any dealers around for me to see them so any advice welcome!!

Im replacing a Knog Gator 105 which just isnt up too snuff!

Thanks

bamba

"My ride home is about 50:50 between country lanes and farm tracks, thats what the lights purpose is, I definitely want a exposure light as I like the look of them"

It will be dark, it dosnt matter what they look like, its how they make things look that counts.

"I have heard great things about the Diablo"

Have you ? get one then, why ask here ?

"so any advice welcome!!"

Dont buy one, go back and read the thread.
A bit harsh may be, so i'm thinking your either a troll , or like exposure lights, a bit dim compared to others.

apoc_reg

Wow... why is it peope think its ok to act like that online.

As I said I havent had a chance to get my hands on them and I've asked here because its usually a very helpful community and I thought some of you might have.

Thanks for your constructive input, have a pleasent day... try not to fall off a cliff.

leaflite

apoc_reg wrote:

Wow... why is it peope think its ok to act like that online.

As I said I havent had a chance to get my hands on them and I've asked here because its usually a very helpful community and I thought some of you might have.

Thanks for your constructive input, have a pleasent day... try not to fall off a cliff.

What he is trying to say is that, as is stated many many times in this thread and in other parts of the forum, the dx/ lightmalls lights such as the ultrafire 501b are far cheaper, and often easier to repair, brighter and lighter than the "dedicated" lights found in most bike shops.

For example, a £20 XML U2 torch(inc batteries) delivers roughly the same brightness as a £200 exposure diablo, and weighs roughly 180g including 2800mah battery. Is it really worth the extra £180 to save 55g?

supersonic

If someone was going to give me on of those Exposure lights I'd take the Toro, but with my own money I wouldn't have any of them. Better for cheaper. A lot cheaper.

bamba

apoc_reg wrote , "Wow... why is it peope think its ok to act like that online"

apoc_reg previously wrote, " so any advice welcome!!"

you didnt seam to have welcomed my comments, based on the fact that most of this thread is about educating people that spending hundreds of pounds on lights is not the only option for high powered lights, and can be be done on a relatively small budget,I'm sure you can understand my blunt reply.

diy

Exposure, Hope Ay-up are worth every penny...

..looks around for some pencils to stick up nose... wibble. :~

chrisw333

apoc_reg - the answer to your question is the diablo will almost certainly be sufficient for country lanes and farm tracks (assuming your are not talking technical singletrack).

But with the alternatives available (look at the link DIY's sig if you need to catch up) spending 200 quid when you could do a better job for 20 is complete madness. That said, if money is no object, go for it.

ryan_w-2

apoc_reg wrote:

Quick question if I may on Expoure lights. I'm stuck between a Diablo, Toro or a Strada.

My ride home is about 50:50 between country lanes and farm tracks, thats what the lights purpose is, I definitely want a exposure light as I like the look of them

I have heard great things about the Diablo but is it good enough to be used by itself say handlebar mounted?
And conversly I have read the Strada is a better (?) road light but would it still 'do a job' offroad?

Unfortunately there doesnt seem to be any dealers around for me to see them so any advice welcome!!

Im replacing a Knog Gator 105 which just isnt up too snuff!

Thanks

I've just got a Mk3 Toro for £195 8)

Absolutely brilliant light! Used it both on the bike and for walking the bikes. It's build quality is 2nd to none! I'm going to pair it up with a Diablo mounted on my noggin for that extra visibility.

I had they money and wanted something that will last, Exposure was number 1 on my list.

Go for it!

diy

forgetting the price for a moment - 3 xpg's running at 0.8A connected to a single 2.6A cell is not ideal. There is no doubt that 3 xpgs will give a nice amount of light, but it will not be anything close to the claimed output and given the power will be dropping very fast on full power it will perform on par with a pair of t6s (albeit at lower overall lumen).

tincaman

Just bought the Ultrafire C8 XM-L T6 from kaidoman http://www.kaidomain.com/product/details.S009844

Ordered on the 3rd, received on the 10th.

Wow, been running P7 Magicshines for a year and this is much brighter, although more spotty! A bit of scotch invisible tape on the lens will help that methinks.

Gav888

Im in the market for some new lights, I currently have one of those Tesco 3W Cree's that were popular a few years back, however its fairly useless these days compare to the modern lights!

I was thinking of 2 of these - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CREE-XM-L-XML ... 23185337e9 one std and one with a flood lens both bar mounted, see how it goes.

Also stick with the Tesco jobbie as a helmet torch, but as these are so cheap I might get a couple of these as well - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-1300-Lume ... 4cfcb43761 again one flood and one std, or even 4 of these, 2 on the bars instead of the above and 2 on the helmet, 2 setup with flood lens and 2 standard.... roughtly £60 all in!

Also, has anyone swapped out there lights for these - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5-Cree-R2-120 ... 6338016153 I dont know if these would make much difference, but with lights like the Magicshine MJ872 with its 4 LED's being so good this might be alright?

night_porter

Gav888 wrote:

Im in the market for some new lights, I currently have one of those Tesco 3W Cree's that were popular a few years back, however its fairly useless these days compare to the modern lights!

I was thinking of 2 of these - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CREE-XM-L-XML ... 23185337e9 one std and one with a flood lens both bar mounted, see how it goes.

Also stick with the Tesco jobbie as a helmet torch, but as these are so cheap I might get a couple of these as well - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-1300-Lume ... 4cfcb43761 again one flood and one std, or even 4 of these, 2 on the bars instead of the above and 2 on the helmet, 2 setup with flood lens and 2 standard.... roughtly £60 all in!

Also, has anyone swapped out there lights for these - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5-Cree-R2-120 ... 6338016153 I dont know if these would make much difference, but with lights like the Magicshine MJ872 with its 4 LED's being so good this might be alright?

I am not sure why you don't just get some of the already recommended lights but looking at the ones you linked to here are my thoughts.

1st ones are headlamps and don't appear to have a bike mount attachment so you would need to do some diy to fit them. They look considerably inferior to the dedicated bike ones and will have a very short run time probably less than an hour on full. Messy option.

The 2nd one looks like they could be C8's and if so would be good quality with larger heads (better heatsinking) but as mentioned before quite spotty especially with smooth reflectors. Also they need quite strong bar mounts because the head size makes it forward heavy so prone to moving on the bars. Again head size being large may cause problems on helmets too. A very good light though, I have one I bought from KD for about $18.38 (Paypal was £12.16 delivered) so the Ebay ones in your link are not especially cheap.

The 3rd link is strange unless you have a Ultrafire wf-500 host or maybe a bored out Maglite because that is a 52.7mm drop-in and will not fit into a P6 type torch (26.5mm drop-ins only) because it is twice the size.

Maybe you think by buying from Ebay they will get here quicker but seeing as they are all from China I doubt it plus the added complicality of buying from unkown sellers. DX, KD, Manafont, Lightmalls, etc are reputable sellers that lots of people have bought successfully from and can tell you about their experiences.

Like I said just go with what has been recommended earlier in this thread.

Gav888

night_porter wrote:

Gav888 wrote:

Im in the market for some new lights, I currently have one of those Tesco 3W Cree's that were popular a few years back, however its fairly useless these days compare to the modern lights!

I was thinking of 2 of these - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CREE-XM-L-XML ... 23185337e9 one std and one with a flood lens both bar mounted, see how it goes.

Also stick with the Tesco jobbie as a helmet torch, but as these are so cheap I might get a couple of these as well - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-1300-Lume ... 4cfcb43761 again one flood and one std, or even 4 of these, 2 on the bars instead of the above and 2 on the helmet, 2 setup with flood lens and 2 standard.... roughtly £60 all in!

Also, has anyone swapped out there lights for these - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5-Cree-R2-120 ... 6338016153 I dont know if these would make much difference, but with lights like the Magicshine MJ872 with its 4 LED's being so good this might be alright?

I am not sure why you don't just get some of the already recommended lights but looking at the ones you linked to here are my thoughts.

1st ones are headlamps and don't appear to have a bike mount attachment so you would need to do some diy to fit them. They look considerably inferior to the dedicated bike ones and will have a very short run time probably less than an hour on full. Messy option.

The 2nd one looks like they could be C8's and if so would be good quality with larger heads (better heatsinking) but as mentioned before quite spotty especially with smooth reflectors. Also they need quite strong bar mounts because the head size makes it forward heavy so prone to moving on the bars. Again head size being large may cause problems on helmets too. A very good light though, I have one I bought from KD for about $18.38 (Paypal was £12.16 delivered) so the Ebay ones in your link are not especially cheap.

The 3rd link is strange unless you have a Ultrafire wf-500 host or maybe a bored out Maglite because that is a 52.7mm drop-in and will not fit into a P6 type torch (26.5mm drop-ins only) because it is twice the size.

Maybe you think by buying from Ebay they will get here quicker but seeing as they are all from China I doubt it plus the added complicality of buying from unkown sellers. DX, KD, Manafont, Lightmalls, etc are reputable sellers that lots of people have bought successfully from and can tell you about their experiences.

Like I said just go with what has been recommended earlier in this thread.

OMG thank you for the quick and detailed reply. Clearly I need to do more research!

The first link is the wrong one, I thought it was this light! - http://forums.mtbr.com/lights-night-rid ... 59177.html

I will back track through the post and any questions ask away

diy

What mounts do you use for you tesco 3w lights. Current XM-L torches (C8, 501b, 502b etc) are 9-12w depending on the driver. They will be about 4-5 times brighter. IME XM-Ls give better flood with a small head. The 501b and 502b is about the right balance IMO between reasonable heat sink and good throw. Any smaller and you get heat management problems any larger and you start having to experiment with the beam.

As the other posters have said, use the suppliers listed. I have links in my sig.

Gav888

diy wrote:

What mounts do you use for you tesco 3w lights. Current XM-L torches (C8, 501b, 502b etc) are 9-12w depending on the driver. They will be about 4-5 times brighter. IME XM-Ls give better flood with a small head. The 501b and 502b is about the right balance IMO between reasonable heat sink and good throw. Any smaller and you get heat management problems any larger and you start having to experiment with the beam.

As the other posters have said, use the suppliers listed. I have links in my sig.

Thanks for the info.

The mounts I use are http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bike-Cycle-Ve ... 255e48c844 they were a tad cheaper when I bought mine, but work a treat and are flexible, they fit my helmet or my bars nicely, and providing you do them tight enough they dont slip at all.

Gav888

I just spent my lunch break scanning the last 27 pages and some other websites and I have a few questions

From what I have read the best setup is to go for a Flood on the bars and a Spot on the helmet, now im looking to keep costs to a min. The max I would like to spend is around £60 really. I was thinking originally of getting a MJ872 but they are a tad too high plus the need for a good helmet light bumps it to over £100. I'm trying to save money for a Anthem X build im doing!

So, is it worth having 2 of these - http://www.dealextreme.com/p/t6-waterpr ... -904482510 or simular, one on the bar with a different lens/reflector to make it flood, and another left std on the helmet?

Other option as you advised are something like this http://www.dealextreme.com/p/ultrafire- ... 8650-55241 with 1 or 2 on the bar and 1 or 2 on the helmet, but runtime on these is around 60-90min from what I gather so battery changes would be a nightmare swapping them all over, plus the cost of extra batteries and so on....

Or a combination of the 2, ie, lamp on the bar and a torch or 2 on the helmet?

The problem I have (and I dont mind torches or lamps) is I want a good amount of light for solo forest riding with some exposed trail sections with a run time more like 3hrs so I dont have to stop to change batteries, I really dont want to get killed by whatever is in the bushes waiting to get me when I stop!

This - http://www.dealextreme.com/p/ultrafire- ... 8650-57007 has a 2hr runtime, but again it still requires a battery change.

Any suggestions on the best way forward considering the runtime needed?

Also, assuming I was able to get some extra dosh would the MJ872 on the bar with a helmet torch/lamp be a much better combination than the above, is it worth shelling out the extra in other words?

This thread is also worth a read viewtopic.php?f=10002&t=12807351&start=20

I have come to realise buying lights is a nightmare when you want the best bang for our buck....!

Gwaredd

broona wrote:

Gwaredd wrote:

SSC P7 and T6...

You been out any more with this combo yet mate? Looking for a set of cheap'ish lights for next weekend, very tempted to order some of these from the UK site. Cheers.

Just another quick update on these. Lights are still performing brilliantly & are lasting over 3 hours on full (although I do switch them down to low if we stop to wait for others or are on streetlit roads)

They've got plenty wet enough too, so my crude form of waterproofing seems ample.

diy

@gav888 - the torch option gives the most flexibility as you can adjust each light direction as you like are the easiest to repair and don't have any complexities with multi-cell battery packs.

My current setup is 4 xm-l t6 501bs. before that I ran 2 MC-E and 2 XPG and before that I ran 4 XRE. All 501b. For batteries I bust open a laptop battery and get anything from 4-9 cells in one go.

with 3-4 lights you wont need them on full the whole time, I run mine on low to medium for most of my ride which easily gives me a 3 hour run time. 2 on the head is a bit heavy though.

Dealextreme is not the best source though manafont or lightmalls are both cheaper and faster to arrive. You can also slip a couple of spare cells in the your pack in case you get stuck and need another couple of hours light.

Gav888

diy wrote:

@gav888 - the torch option gives the most flexibility as you can adjust each light direction as you like are the easiest to repair and don't have any complexities with multi-cell battery packs.

My current setup is 4 xm-l t6 501bs. before that I ran 2 MC-E and 2 XPG and before that I ran 4 XRE. All 501b. For batteries I bust open a laptop battery and get anything from 4-9 cells in one go.

with 3-4 lights you wont need them on full the whole time, I run mine on low to medium for most of my ride which easily gives me a 3 hour run time. 2 on the head is a bit heavy though.

Dealextreme is not the best source though manafont or lightmalls are both cheaper and faster to arrive. You can also slip a couple of spare cells in the your pack in case you get stuck and need another couple of hours light.

Cheers for the feedback. Do you have any beam shots of your setup on medium setting, I would be interested to see how much light that chucks out. Runtime is important but if this setup lasts 3hrs on medium then that looks to be it....

diy

501b Beam shots.
Canon D450 EFS18-200 F3.5 100ISO 2.5 sec
XRE 230 Lumen 250 max
MC-E 450 Lumen 800 max
XPG 400 Lumen 500 max
XM-L 500 Lumen 1000 max
2 XM-L 1K Lumen 2k Max

I'd have to re-run the test, but the last one is two 501bs at 1.4-1.5A each, so with 2.8A cells thats a run time of approx 2 hours. The lights seem brighter to the naked eye due to the ISO/Fstop Settings settings. It may actually be an F4 at that distance setting.

Gav888

diy wrote:

501b Beam shots.
Canon D450 EFS18-200 F3.5 100ISO 2.5 sec
XRE 230 Lumen 250 max
MC-E 450 Lumen 800 max
XPG 400 Lumen 500 max
XM-L 500 Lumen 1000 max
2 XM-L 1K Lumen 2k Max

I'd have to re-run the test, but the last one is two 501bs at 1.4-1.5A each, so with 2.8A cells thats a run time of approx 2 hours. The lights seem brighter to the naked eye due to the ISO/Fstop Settings settings. It may actually be an F4 at that distance setting.

Thanks, apart from the top (250 max) shot they all look good enough to me and look like they would give a good throw with some spill as well, were they on high settings (sorry still not got my head around 1.4A, 2.8A etc!) or medium settings?

Also, just as a comparison, my friend let me borrow these earlier in the week for a road ride (ive been waiting for details of them) and although I didnt do more than an hour they were really good (to me anyway) and I had one zoomed in and the other left out and I could see ok - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/290647709232? ... 3D1&_rdc=1 they are also quoted as 3hr runtime with 1 18650 battery!

How do they get such a long runtime compared to T6 501b for example, is it because they are less powerful?

How does the 501b compare to these (just so I have an idea)?

Cheers

diy

This is one of the downsides. There is no standard setting for lo - med - high for manufacturers, it depends on the driver in the unit and who you get it from. They range from:
low - 0.08A - 0.2A ~ 40-70 Lumen
Med - 0.8A - 1.3A ~ 3-400 Lumen
High - 1.4A - 2.6A ~ 5-700 Lumen

I ordered 4 units from dx and 2 where running 1.4-1.7A on high and 2 where running at 2.4 - 2.5A on high (from memory), You could only really tell when out on the trail between the two. Its annoying, but something you can put up with given the price.

As the volts drop in the cell, the amps tend to also, so the current drops as the battery discharges, which means you get longer than expected run times.

Gav888

Cool, thanks for confirming, as you say I guess with the process you can't complaint.

How is the 501b compared to http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/290647709232? ... 3D1&_rdc=1 much better, I guess you will say different just to be difficult hehe

diy

The "Cree Q5" is a CREE XRE/XPE Q5 it is the lower bin/predecessor to the LED in my first pic which is an XRE R2

The Q5 is about 230-240 lumen at 1A
The XM-L T6 is 385-413 lumen at 1A

or in simple terms the Q5 half as bright for the same power. 900 Lumen - my ar*** you'd need 4 of them.

night_porter

Gav888 wrote:

Cool, thanks for confirming, as you say I guess with the process you can't complaint.

How is the 501b compared to http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/290647709232? ... 3D1&_rdc=1 much better, I guess you will say different just to be difficult hehe

Just so that you understand the 501b is just the shell of the torch and the difference between that and most other types of the recommended torches is head size. As DIY said the smaller the head the better the spill and therefore the larger the head the smaller the spot.

What makes the main difference is the type of LED used by the torch, the ones in your link are Q5's which in the same sized torch would give out less light than the XR-E in DIY's beamshots.

The brightest LED available is the XM-L and 2 of those on your bars with zooming heads would blow away the ones you have borrowed. However, if the ones you borrowed were good enough for you as far as light is concerned then 2 XM-L's on medium power "should" be just as bright, have more spill and run for a bit longer than the Q5's.

I have a Q5 that will out throw my XM-L even in the same torch but the spot size is much smaller than the XM-L and therefore it is giving less lumens. More lumens does not necessarily mean more throw but it does mean more light.

As others have mentioned before it is a little bit of a lucky dip when buying the lights because you don't know exactly how much current they will use but I am sure DIY has said in the past that the 1.7A lights look quite similar in output to the ones that draw 2.8A. So you get similar light but longer run time no major problem really, in fact my XM-L on medium is almost as bright as when it is on high but it just runs longer. As an example I have used it on the road in medium and it stops cars on country lanes because it is so bright and they do not know what is coming towards them. Unfortunately on my torch the low is too low to ride with so I mainly use an XP-G R5 for road riding.

As for changing batteries when riding if you run both torches at different levels they will need their batteries changing at different times so you will always have at least one light on while you change batteries, problem solved?

Gav888

Awesome, thanks for explaining this for me guys, much appreciated. It sounds like the XML is spot on for my needs given I was happy with a pair of Q5's, time to get ordering

wakou

Hi guys. I have a light which takes 3x AAA baterries. If I use non-rechargeables it is very good, if however I use rechargeable batts it is TBH feeble. I guess this is because 3 x AAA rechargeables only give 3.6V and the non-chargers would give up to 4.5V .
Is there a Li-On rechargeable battery that would fit and give 4.5V? The 3x AAA are in a standard holder.

PS (edit) CREE Q5 240 lumen LED ... Like this
http://bit.ly/yo51ZO