The big LIGHTS thread 2011-2014

cooldad

I would have said ar5e but I suppose they are similar.

diy

Bats compared:
http://lygte-info.dk/review/batteries20 ... %20UK.html

If you have an old lenovo or dell laptop and a chisel you will find plenty of 2.5-2.9Ah cells with high amp discharge ratings.

YeehaaMcgee

Problem sorted, DIY.
I have old laptops, but they're old, with properly fudged batteries.
If I had batteries lying around I wouldn't have asked.

diy

I wouldn't assume there screwed. I've pulled 3 or 4 good cells out of dead laptop packs where 1 or 2 were dead. There is a rumour that some of these hk exporters are just recycling old laptop cells any way. Just putting new sleeves on.

YeehaaMcgee

diy wrote:

I wouldn't assume there screwed.

I would, they're getting on for 8 years old.

swardchill

Hi can anyone recommend a front and rear light set for about £30, I know I will not be getting anything amazing but just looking to get value for money. I would prefer an actual bike set and not individual torches strapped on and I would like the power to be contained in the units. Thanks

supersonic

For commuting, or venturing off road?

swardchill

Will just be canal towpaths and forest paths. Cheers

supersonic

This:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1000LM-Cree-X ... 3a7630ec8e

and:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-x-PROTECTED ... 25719738f4

diy

Some of those zoom XML lights have crappy drivers in. There are a few bulk shifter selling the with max 1a output. Fine for road use and will give good run time, but the 501bs from light malls are under 8 quid they are also doing kits too.
http://www.lightmalls.com/ultrafire-501 ... flashlight
I'd look at this bike light set up for 25 quid too.
http://www.lightmalls.com/light-power-b ... -light-kit
Or the twin led option one XML one xpg.
http://www.lightmalls.com/2000-lumen-ma ... dlight-kit
I also quite like the look of this tripple 4 cell stubby at 30ish quid. With adjustable strobe
http://www.lightmalls.com/sky-ray-king- ... ht-4-18650

But at under 40 quid this has to be the entry level light to go for in the 25-50 quid range.
http://www.lightmalls.com/3600-lumen-3t ... -light-kit

YeehaaMcgee

I think what he's saying, is...
Some samples of those lights that Sonic linked to have crap lamps in them. Those particular ones may, or may not.
However, the ones that DIY linked to should be fine.

Christ, that nearly crashed babelfish.

diy

iPad and the sodding intelgent corrections don't help

Proutster

diy wrote:

But at under 40 quid this has to be the entry level light to go for in the 25-50 quid range.
http://www.lightmalls.com/3600-lumen-3t ... -light-kit

Ordered one of the above this morning, will report back when it arrives.

beerglass007

I'm still looking at this thread and cant make my mind up

Which is a better buy out of these ?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fluxient-1000-Lm-CREE-XM-L-T6-led-light-brighter-than-900-Lumen-head-mount-/290760160489?pt=UK_SportsLeisure_Camping_LightsLanternsTorches&hash=item43b2a7f4e9

Or these

http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gear/category/accessories/lights/sets/product/review-mtb-batteries-v2-xml-46489

I still have my lumicycle lights but the battery is inside a bottle, which I could break open and take the battery out I guess. The battery is a 14.8 volt li lon 4.4amp/h. Could I use this battery on a LED ?

supersonic

Both are poor value compared to the same ones on ebay at half the price - just put 'xml bike' into ebay search for a raft of options.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CREE-XML-XM-L ... 20c5013dc9

Ouija

beerglass007 wrote:

I'm still looking at this thread and cant make my mind up

Which is a better buy out of these ?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fluxient-1000-Lm-CREE-XM-L-T6-led-light-brighter-than-900-Lumen-head-mount-/290760160489?pt=UK_SportsLeisure_Camping_LightsLanternsTorches&hash=item43b2a7f4e9

Or these

http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gear/category/accessories/lights/sets/product/review-mtb-batteries-v2-xml-46489

I still have my lumicycle lights but the battery is inside a bottle, which I could break open and take the battery out I guess. The battery is a 14.8 volt li lon 4.4amp/h. Could I use this battery on a LED ?

The second one is better (own both), though you can find them cheaper on ebay. The first one tends to have a crappy beam pattern (large smooth reflector tends to give you a bright spot on the road with a poor corona), less modes and poorer cabling. The second one has by far the best beam pattern (giving good flood but with enough spot to light up objects way down the road), better cabling (stiff fat cabling the same thickness as a brake cable... which means you can use some of the cable guides solutions designed for bikes to route the cables cleanly) and four modes so that you can drop the brightness right down when only riding through towns and streetlights.

diy

For that budget it would have to be this for me.

3 x Xm-l T6

beerglass007

diy wrote:

For that budget it would have to be this for me.

3 x Xm-l T6

Thanks Guys

So I could get this light fairly cheap. Does that include a battery and if so how long do they last ?

I was looking got a light/battery setup for roughly £80. What would be a better option ?

diy

The battery is the weakness plus there is no hi med low. its 1, 2 or 3 + strobe. depending on the output and the run time options the battery will last somewhere between 5 hours and 2 hours. But it will push 2k lumen and the packs are easily replaced.

Personally I'd go for the skyray king, but I have oodles of good 18650 cells, 3 decent chargers, so all I'd have to do is make up some sort of bar mount.

Both will be similar in performance (light wise) to an Exposure MAXX-d or Hope vision 4, though the battery in the maxx-d is much more powerful

Jomox

Anyone have any recommendations for £40-£60 then? (Something well built with warranty)

supersonic

diy wrote:

The battery is the weakness plus there is no hi med low. its 1, 2 or 3 + strobe. depending on the output and the run time options the battery will last somewhere between 5 hours and 2 hours. But it will push 2k lumen and the packs are easily replaced.

Personally I'd go for the skyray king, but I have oodles of good 18650 cells, 3 decent chargers, so all I'd have to do is make up some sort of bar mount.

Both will be similar in performance (light wise) to an Exposure MAXX-d or Hope vision 4, though the battery in the maxx-d is much more powerful

They will blow away the MAXXD and Vision 4!

amoparko

Hi all just joined the forum and posted in the wrong section. doh!!
Its my first winter riding and need a set of lights for riding the trail at night. think i have narrowed it down to the following.

http://www.bikelightsuk.com/front_bike_ ... _P593.html


or

http://www.bikelightsuk.com/front_bike_ ... _P571.html

One of the lads from the group i ride with has just got the magicshine but thinking the fluxient may be better because its a solid mount??

any ideas???

Thanks in advance

supersonic

If buying from the UK both are fairly priced, the former having more output. But you can get the same sort of thing from Lightmalls for less than half the price.

diy

Agree... The first option is about £35 from LM, with a cheaper mount and cheaper pack. But its fairly easy to replace both for the change you'd get. They are T6 instead of U2, but that equates to about 5-10% efficiency tops.

You can never be sure they are U2s anyway, since its impossible to tell without measuring the current and light output in lab conditions.

I like the look of the twin beam XM-L, but you can achieve the same with the tri-beam version.

Most of these UK sellers are just one man and his dog traders buying wholesale from china.

Ouija

The twin head Inton design is better than that twin head magicshine one (tried both and kept the inton as the magicshine was kinda feeble).



Both come with the same swivel head mount.. and both are rubbish if you have a oversized bar. You can't use the rubber spacer if your fitting to standard oversize bars and the screw in the clamp wasn't long enough to actually reach the hole in the other side of the clamp on my 3T bars (just barely worked on a Truvativ oversize bar). It's hard plastic as well, so even if you do get it to clamp around the thickest section of bar next to the stem it'll scratch up your bar.

You can actually buy that clamp separately. by the way. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Swivelmount-for-Magicshine-Inton-Fluxient-Starlight-etc-bike-lights-/300754616656?pt=UK_SportsLeisure_Cycling_Bike_Lights&hash=item46065f4150

However, the bit that screws into the bottom of the light can be used with the much better clamp that Halfords use... just need to sand down the sides of the base a bit (only takes a few seconds with a bit of sandpaper)



Just a fiver and fits oversize bars perfectly, has rubber feet to stop scratching up the bar and is quick release.

If you do get the Inton instead of the Magicshine, make sure you get the one with the solid mount and not the rubber ring variety .

diy

Here's another twin jobby.

http://www.lightmalls.com/ultrafire-uf- ... nd-charger

but I can't see why you wouldn't go for 2 standard ones at circa 25 quid.

amoparko

Thanks all for your help.
Think I may go with the uk seller fluxient they are offering a 2 year warranty and just searched out a discount code which is always a bonus.
Cheers
Andy

diy

helps if you work for them too.

amoparko

?? Pm you diy

diy

You post 4 posts about lights, asking for advice and then take none of it. We've had sellers posing as buyers before. Of course you are free to say you have no association whatsoever ever with the seller.

If you are genuine I would advise you to read http://www.bikelightsuk.com/terms.html which contradict the 2 year unlimited warranty. But I wouldn't worry too much about the warranty since the terms breach both the distance selling regulations and may even impact the unfair terms in consumer contracts legislation. Nice to see that a minor loss of performance is not excluded by the limitation clause since it only excludes significant loss. Sec 7 through 13 are problematic In uk consumer contracts with the exclusion of 9. To be honest the seller would have more chance of making it stick if it was written in Chinese.