A madly cheap light set...
rolf_f
Posts: 16,015
OK, summer is nearly on us but lights are still handy so, with an eye for a bargain, I picked up a couple of sets of these lights from Rutland Cycles ebay site - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ULTRA-BRIGHT- ... 9889929265
If you go to the Rutland Cycles web page, they charge £13.99 for these with an RRP of £39.99 - on ebay they are £5.49 plus £2.29 p&P (irritatingly, no discounts for multiple orders).
As you can see, the rear looks a lot like a Smart 1/2 Watt and as I was after a couple more of these (the 1 Watts eat my new rechargeables in less than one return trip - the halves last a week) I thought the rear alone had to be worth the money so I bought a couple of sets.
So, starting at the back, your £7.80 or so gets a Smart half watt clone with a single mount for a seat post (unlike the real thing which has a stay mount as well). TBH, as I have a few bikes, I'd have paid probably half the total price just for the mount so a good start already. The light itself has never seen the inside of a Smart factory. It is basically a clone made from scratch albeit with a black back rather than semi transparent. It isn't as nicely moulded as a Smart but its OK. The light itself has two options - a strobe on the main and two small flashing or just the main on fixed. The main on fixed is noticeably brighter than when it is on strobe but both options are pretty good. I just use it on strobe as it contrasts to the Smart lights. Though less bright than a Smart, it is vastly brighter than the common Cateye death glow lights.
Not sure how weatherproof it is but it has done fine so far on my beCrudded mtb and my SKS'd Dawes.
The mount is entirely compatible with real Smart rears.
The front is a torch mounted via an adaptor to a standard Smart style bar mount. As such if you have a torch already of the right diameter (about 1 inch) and are using a crappy Twofish wobbleblock to hold it on, then the price of the lightset is worth it for the mount alone.
The light is made of thin metal - one of mine had a dud switch but Rutland replaced it promptly enough. It looks pretty bright but I've not had an opportunity to run it on unlit roads. I reckon the two of them would be enough to ride by. No idea of battery life (runs 3 triple As in a cassette). The torch is also alone probably worth the purchase price.
So, basically you'd have to be nuts to pay full wack but less than £8.00 is almost a no brainer. I probably wouldn't want to rely on them as a main set (particularly the front) but as a secondary source they look like excellent value - and as I said, the mounts are potentially worth the money alone depending on what you need. My two RSP Asteris combined with the two Rutland lights look pretty tough on my MTB!
If you go to the Rutland Cycles web page, they charge £13.99 for these with an RRP of £39.99 - on ebay they are £5.49 plus £2.29 p&P (irritatingly, no discounts for multiple orders).
As you can see, the rear looks a lot like a Smart 1/2 Watt and as I was after a couple more of these (the 1 Watts eat my new rechargeables in less than one return trip - the halves last a week) I thought the rear alone had to be worth the money so I bought a couple of sets.
So, starting at the back, your £7.80 or so gets a Smart half watt clone with a single mount for a seat post (unlike the real thing which has a stay mount as well). TBH, as I have a few bikes, I'd have paid probably half the total price just for the mount so a good start already. The light itself has never seen the inside of a Smart factory. It is basically a clone made from scratch albeit with a black back rather than semi transparent. It isn't as nicely moulded as a Smart but its OK. The light itself has two options - a strobe on the main and two small flashing or just the main on fixed. The main on fixed is noticeably brighter than when it is on strobe but both options are pretty good. I just use it on strobe as it contrasts to the Smart lights. Though less bright than a Smart, it is vastly brighter than the common Cateye death glow lights.
Not sure how weatherproof it is but it has done fine so far on my beCrudded mtb and my SKS'd Dawes.
The mount is entirely compatible with real Smart rears.
The front is a torch mounted via an adaptor to a standard Smart style bar mount. As such if you have a torch already of the right diameter (about 1 inch) and are using a crappy Twofish wobbleblock to hold it on, then the price of the lightset is worth it for the mount alone.
The light is made of thin metal - one of mine had a dud switch but Rutland replaced it promptly enough. It looks pretty bright but I've not had an opportunity to run it on unlit roads. I reckon the two of them would be enough to ride by. No idea of battery life (runs 3 triple As in a cassette). The torch is also alone probably worth the purchase price.
So, basically you'd have to be nuts to pay full wack but less than £8.00 is almost a no brainer. I probably wouldn't want to rely on them as a main set (particularly the front) but as a secondary source they look like excellent value - and as I said, the mounts are potentially worth the money alone depending on what you need. My two RSP Asteris combined with the two Rutland lights look pretty tough on my MTB!
Faster than a tent.......
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Cheers for the link, just ordered two sets like you say a tad annoying that they dont combine postage but for £15 can't complain!0
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Well that's what I thought. I was slightly disappointed when it arrived to realise that the rear is not a real Smart - since Smart seem to clone their units for all sorts (eg irrc I saw some in Wilcos) it is reasonable to assume that these are the real deal - but even so I've used the rears for a couple of weeks and they seem OK despite some fairly cack weather.
It's another case of Chinese ingenuity - they haven't even used originals as the basis for the moulds - they've started from scratch and you can see it in the shape of the back piece (the slopey bit is less deep than the real ones) - the Rutland back will actually take a Smart glazing unit but not vice versa!Faster than a tent.......0 -
I bought a set of these just so I could mount my Ultrafire torch onto all my bikes using the Smart mounts I have. Torch is very bright but I did a set of batteries in two commutes, so less than an hour.
Rear is fine. As you say for the money it's worth it just for the mounts.0 -
I got oneof these sets, but the rear is nowhere near as bright as the real Smart light - held them both side to side. And the front is REALLY dim, not recommended. Yes they are better than some lights you could pay more for but still not that great. I wanted the mount for another torch though. Will let the kids use the torch for scout camp etc.0
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Veronese68 wrote:I bought a set of these just so I could mount my Ultrafire torch onto all my bikes using the Smart mounts I have. Torch is very bright but I did a set of batteries in two commutes, so less than an hour.
Rear is fine. As you say for the money it's worth it just for the mounts.
Was that on the supplied batteries? I doubt they are up to that much. The front certainly isn't really dim on mine and it has lasted an hour on flashy mode - if the light draws too much current for the battery, it will go off quickly. I put some old batteries in that still had some life and it certainly came out really dim then. But then the same applies to my Smart 1 watt rears when I use my 1000mh Duracells on it - just don't have the ooomph to run them; batteries drained in an hour and a half. I'll put the rechargeables in it and use it next week and see how it goes. Probably will only be needing them on the evening commute now.Faster than a tent.......0
ordered. cheers 
