Can anyone recommend a Cree light?

CRAIGO5000

I commute everyday and also do some club runs - both on a road bike.

I saw a nice Cree XML T6 cycle light on my club run which was mounted on a road bike and Im sold on one of those but it had the battery pack etc and looked quite heavy so Im concerned about weight, looks and waterproofness of the battery pack hanging from a stem for example.

Ideally I'm after a similar performing Cree light as the T6 but in torch form. Reason being that the batteries are integral. Ideally it'll have enough output to see where Im going on fast training rides on unlit lanes and enough juice to last for ~3 hours?

Does such a torch exist and where can I buy it WITH the rechargeable batteries - What do you guys recommend if not?

Cheers!

alan_sherman

Get a hub dynamo with a decent LED light. No bulky battery, no running out of charge.

phy2sll2

Ultrafire 501b? I think that's the one that I have. The batteries are 18650 type. You can buy them, and a charger on eBay, or I think 'LightMalls' is the new website everyone buys them from. Better to get the 'protected' type of battery if you value your possessions.

As for mounting them to the bars / a helmet - I need some advice there myself, as none of the mounts I've tried will stay pointing in the right direction for any amount of time.

pangolin

You have a lot of options...

If you want to go with a 'proper' manufacturer, this is very good for on or off the bike. Comes with charger and mount. I have the XT11 which is 1 up from this, but this would be excellent too.
http://www.taclight.co.uk/klarus-torches/xt10-bike-light-kit-charger.html

Or you can go with something from dealextreme... tonnes of lights on there. I have one which has the separate battery pack you don't want, but it is very good. Delivery can take several weeks if it's not from their EU warehouse, quality will not be as good, you might have more issues if something isn't right. Having said all that, my purchase has been fine.
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/p7-water-resistant-ssc-p7-3-mode-1200-lumen-white-led-bike-light-with-battery-pack-set-82734
They do sell lots of flashlight types as well, and various mounts.

For a bike specific light with batteries, hope vision 1 is very popular.
http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-track-bike/lights-lights-front-hope-vision-1-led-front-light/hopeligh140 The older model is a bit cheaper.
Runs on AA's, so you would need decent batteries and charger. This is a one option.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sanyo-Eneloop-Charger-Inc-Batteries/dp/B000N64EL2

mudcow007

CRAIGO5000 wrote:

I commute everyday and also do some club runs - both on a road bike.

I saw a nice Cree XML T6 cycle light on my club run which was mounted on a road bike and Im sold on one of those but it had the battery pack etc and looked quite heavy so Im concerned about weight, looks and waterproofness of the battery pack hanging from a stem for example.

Ideally I'm after a similar performing Cree light as the T6 but in torch form. Reason being that the batteries are integral. Ideally it'll have enough output to see where Im going on fast training rides on unlit lanes and enough juice to last for ~3 hours?

Does such a torch exist and where can I buy it WITH the rechargeable batteries - What do you guys recommend if not?

Cheers!

i bought a cree "torch" from maplin for about £40 it only uses 1 AA battery an is pretty light both in weight an light output

daxplusplus

Have you read the info in MTB section on lights? viewtopic.php?f=20005&t=12660193 .. it talks about the various options. Obviously MTBers have slightly different requirements from roadies but I successfully use two of the torches mounted on the handle bars of my road bike (for a main beam and dip effect but more importantly to have a backup in case of failure).

tincaman

Plenty of info in this thread
viewtopic.php?f=20005&t=12807034

pangolin

Or this one for a complete simple setup

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=17265285#17265285

t4tomo

phy2sll2 wrote:

Ultrafire 501b? I think that's the one that I have. The batteries are 18650 type. You can buy them, and a charger on eBay, or I think 'LightMalls' is the new website everyone buys them from. Better to get the 'protected' type of battery if you value your possessions.

As for mounting them to the bars / a helmet - I need some advice there myself, as none of the mounts I've tried will stay pointing in the right direction for any amount of time.

+1 for this - get on ebay for 1000lumen cree / ultrafire light. if you narrow seacrc to cycling you'll find ones that come with handlebar mount. Torch, mount, two batteries and a charger should cost you around the £20-25 mark. you can pay a small premium to get them from a UK seller nowadays rather than wait for them to come from HK or China.

andyrr

This
http://www.lightmalls.com/3600-lumen-3t ... -light-kit
is currently taking my fancy - I believe that lightmall's delivery is a bit quicker than DX - DX delivery for me took a good few weeks, probably depends if they actually have the items in stock or if they need to await delivery from their own suppliers.

veronese68

pangolin wrote:

Or this one for a complete simple setup

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=17265285#17265285

This. It's pretty much what I've got, very good.

supersonic

I added a new torch into that link at the bottom - they are a bit smaller and lighter (and cheaper), but not quite as bright (last longer though!). Perfect for a headlamp.

veronese68

supersonic wrote:

I added a new torch into that link at the bottom - they are a bit smaller and lighter (and cheaper), but not quite as bright (last longer though!). Perfect for a headlamp.

They look good. Almost certainly better on road than the 501, I like my 501 when off road though.

pangolin

True. It's worth adding, CRAIGO5000, that a lot (most) of these are overkill for all but completely unlit country lanes between 12 and 4am.

If using on the road normally, around cars and other cyclists, make sure they're not on full power and you're not aiming them at peoples eyes.

daxplusplus

To OP: you asked whether they'd last 3 hours on unlit lanes .. mine (502b shape) does.

I have a round trip of approx 3 hours across some 50 miles of totally unlit lanes and the dipped torch (which is on continously on the highest setting) lasts well beyond that.

The other torch is used as a main beam that I switch on only when there is no other traffic. It is on for over 2.5 hours of my normal commute.

I always top up both batteries of an evening ready for the next commute so I don't know for how long after the normal 3 hours they would last.

There def is an issue with using very bright torches on unlit lanes at speed - unless you do something similar to my twin torch setup then there is a danger that either your not lighting up enough of the road OR your blinding other people. However do it right and I actually feel safer commuting when it's dark with respect to other vehicles.

These torches are probably the best bang for bucks upgrade I've ever bought.

supersonic

it is worth having a look through the options on those websites such as DX, as some torches are multi mode, with a useful low setting.

CRAIGO5000

Thanks for all the replies guys. As stated, I needed something to LAST a decent 3 hour training ride in Winter that wouldn't limit me to lit roads. I got a few ebay replies back from sellers stating some won't last an hour on full and the best bet would be to buy another battery and carry that too. I really didn't want to fumbling with all that while training in a group should my light start to die. I also wanted to avoid running MTB style lighting with separate battery packs/cabling and wall chargers etc.

After watching this review of the older Lezyne Power drive: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvHJi7Dj3eE Which in a part shows it blows away 2 x battery pack powered Electron lights, I decided to go with a new model - the Lezyne Macro. It uses the same USB rechargeable 18650 cell (great for my commute so I can charge at work) and offers the same lumen output settings of the power drive but has improved run times for the same lumens.

300lm/3hr, 200lm/4.5hr, 100lm/9hr, Flash/9hr

Looking forward to using it this week when it arrives - hopefully!

walkingbootweather

Last year I was running a couple of Ultrafire torches as recommended by supersonic. In terms of bang for your buck they take some beating and were fine for an unlit off-road commute of 90 mins, but I'd have wanted to carry spare batteries if I was travelling much further. This year I bought a MagicShine MJ-808 which claims 900 lumens for 3 hrs or 500 lumens for 4.5 hrs and cost just £40. Might have been a good alternative to your Lezyne.

CiB

Nothing to add. Just fancied being the top three post on here last thing on a Sunday night,.

veronese68

If anyone is thinking of buying a Cree light I highly recommend getting this lightset for the mount. Only £3.99 posted, the torch is bright, but with poor battery life. The rear light is a reasonable and bright copy of a Smart rear light. But the mount is the same hancdlebar mount as a Smart front light and gives you an easy quick release so you can take your light with you without having to faff.

t4tomo

Does that mount fit a Cree / ultra fire torch. I.e. it's not specific to that light?

meanredspider

For Cree lights, I'm still a great fan of Ayup. Simple, effective, robust, no-nonsense lights with great battery power and sensible amounts of light (even for the Highland back roads with very fast descents that I do). Not the cheapest but frankly it's not an area I want to cut corners to save a bob or two. If I do the Puffer again this year, I'll be investing in a second set as my lid lights as they are also nice and light (low in mass ).

veronese68

t4tomo wrote:

Does that mount fit a Cree / ultra fire torch. I.e. it's not specific to that light?

It takes my Ultrafire 501. I wrapped a very thin rubber strip that you get for rear light fitting around mine to make it a bit more secure as it is a bit thinner than the torch supplied. But it's been in there for over a year with no problems.

pangolin

meanredspider wrote:

For Cree lights, I'm still a great fan of Ayup. Simple, effective, robust, no-nonsense lights with great battery power and sensible amounts of light (even for the Highland back roads with very fast descents that I do). Not the cheapest but frankly it's not an area I want to cut corners to save a bob or two. If I do the Puffer again this year, I'll be investing in a second set as my lid lights as they are also nice and light (low in mass ).

2 sets of Ayups seems like a crazily expensive way of getting the necessary lumens :shock:

I get that they're very good lights but still.

You can get a brighter, lower quality set of lights for £50. 2 Ayups are what, £300? Are they really 6 times better?

supersonic

Ayups are falling behind a bit, use older, less efficient LEDs - if they came with XML as standard they would be quite a bit more efficient (or bright). Instead they use 6 year old Cree technology. They are well built, but not for me!

meanredspider

pangolin wrote:

meanredspider wrote:

For Cree lights, I'm still a great fan of Ayup. Simple, effective, robust, no-nonsense lights with great battery power and sensible amounts of light (even for the Highland back roads with very fast descents that I do). Not the cheapest but frankly it's not an area I want to cut corners to save a bob or two. If I do the Puffer again this year, I'll be investing in a second set as my lid lights as they are also nice and light (low in mass ).

2 sets of Ayups seems like a crazily expensive way of getting the necessary lumens :shock:

I get that they're very good lights but still.

You can get a brighter, lower quality set of lights for £50. 2 Ayups are what, £300? Are they really 6 times better?

It isn't about getting the necessary lumens it's just about having one set on the bike and one on your helmet. The whole lumens thing, IMO, is way overrated. Ayups are light, very flexible in use (bike, helmet, head, front, rear, diffuse), come with lots of different mounts, with excellent batteries (also very light), charge very quickly, have excellent burn times, rebust but simple mounting, different lenses, different angles - I've tried lots of lights but none has quite met my needs as well as these. They aren't cheap but they are robust and reliable and, frankly, I'm happy to pay for that. It's also not a surprise that the Solo winner of the Puffer (24hr, mid-winter, forest-in-the-Highlands of Scotland MTB race) used Ayups where all the things I mentioned above are important.

supersonic

For flexibility I use the simple torch method - many ways and different types of mounts, and no single point of failure if you use 2 or 3.

pangolin

meanredspider wrote:

It isn't about getting the necessary lumens it's just about having one set on the bike and one on your helmet. The whole lumens thing, IMO, is way overrated. Ayups are light, very flexible in use (bike, helmet, head, front, rear, diffuse), come with lots of different mounts, with excellent batteries (also very light), charge very quickly, have excellent burn times, rebust but simple mounting, different lenses, different angles - I've tried lots of lights but none has quite met my needs as well as these. They aren't cheap but they are robust and reliable and, frankly, I'm happy to pay for that. It's also not a surprise that the Solo winner of the Puffer (24hr, mid-winter, forest-in-the-Highlands of Scotland MTB race) used Ayups where all the things I mentioned above are important.

But did he have 2 sets?

Don't get me wrong, I do understand they're quality lights, and the whole 'buy cheap, buy twice' thing. For me I think they are a bit too far along the 'buy expensive' scale. But if you like them, and you can afford them, carry on

supersonic

Talking of lumens ;-)

http://www.lightmalls.com/oem-ultrafire ... ht-3-26650

t4tomo

Holy Moly 9000 lumen you could land or crash aircraft with that.

I have one of these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251091020942?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649 and thats bright enough. The bracket is crap mind, as there is no swivel if you have any angle on your handle bars.

I use an old unversal bracket thing - like 2 rubber adjustable straps which incorporates a swivel so you can get it pointing dead ahead. this looks like the fella:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BikeBicycle-Helmet-LED-Torch-Camera-Flashlight-Mount-Holder-Bracket-Adjustable-/200751069700?pt=UK_SportGoods_CyclAcces_RL&hash=item2ebdb23a04 its not brilliant - it could do with a tighter adjustment or two, but it does the job. I loop the torch little hanging strap through the bars to make it fail safe.

edit - cheaper from HK / china http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bike-Bicycle-Holder-Bracket-Torch-Flashlight-Mount-F1-/270813157565?pt=UK_SportGoods_CyclAcces_RL&hash=item3f0db8d8bd

supersonic

Yeah, is an insane output! I have the triple version, about 3000 claimed lumens:



Compared to a single:



and the trusty old SSC P7: