Fluxient U2 Mini or Torchy BK500

duckson

Trying to decide between these 2 torches, any feedback from people who have bought them? (if any)

Same LED apparently but BK500 is £15 more but you can charge this directly via USB it seems were as the U2 needs a cradle to hold the battery which is then charged (correct me if i'm wrong).

I assume the U2 battery is a 18650 type? I have a charger for 18650's so might be better than the USB version supplied.

Camcycle1974

I have the U2. Comes with a cradle for charging via USB which is no big deal. Not had to charge it yet mind. Torch is great, illuminates the road very well. My Mrs keeps borrowing it when she goes out, cheeky mare! Didn't look at the BK 500, is that on his Ebay page too then?

cougie

I bought the Fluxient U2 recently and it doesnt seem as bright as the torch I bought off Ebay last year for about a tenner. I'd look at the torch thread on MTB and see what they advise these days. You could buy 3 or 4 of the torches and kit for the same money.

Battery is the 18650.

bikemanspen

i was also thinking about getting a u2. do you needto atach a battery pack to your bike as this really puts me off!
Hopefully ive got it wrong,help pls

duckson

Its just a battery that goes in the torch.

Think i'm just going to keep my Cree LED torch that i got 5 years ago and get some new higher capacity 18650 batteries.

bikemanspen

Thanks

Camcycle1974

cougie wrote:

I bought the Fluxient U2 recently and it doesnt seem as bright as the torch I bought off Ebay last year for about a tenner. I'd look at the torch thread on MTB and see what they advise these days. You could buy 3 or 4 of the torches and kit for the same money.

Battery is the 18650.

How bright does it need to be? Mine illuminates the road adequately to make night rides possible, all you need really. Any brighter and I think it would annoy motorists.

cougie

I thought my old Fenix torch was amazingly bright until I got the Cree torches. Brighter makes it easier to ride - you can see more. Do motorists get annoyed at each others headlights ? They're about 1500 lumens I read.
The cree torch is 1/3 the cost of the U2 though. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1000lm-UltraF ... 4897.l4275

bikemanspen

Do you think the Cree torch is as bright as the U2 also can you just buy a mount for it?
Sorry for all the questions..

cougie

Ive not tested them together outside - but just shining them inside - the Cree has the edge.
Lockblocks are the mount you need - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Velcro-Bicycl ... 99&afsrc=1

bikemanspen

Cheers mate

Camcycle1974

cougie wrote:

I thought my old Fenix torch was amazingly bright until I got the Cree torches. Brighter makes it easier to ride - you can see more. Do motorists get annoyed at each others headlights ? They're about 1500 lumens I read.
The cree torch is 1/3 the cost of the U2 though. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1000lm-UltraF ... 4897.l4275

The point is the angle of beam is different. Car headlights are designed in such a way that the beams point off to the left whereas bike lights do not. On the continent you have to have lights specifically designed with beam deflectors to avoid dazzling oncoming motorists. No law here so I guess the brighter the better? I bought my U2 principally because I did not want to have a battery pack attached to the bike so the USB charge was crucial. Compared to what big name lights cost I think the U2 is a bargain for the power of the light and the build quality. i would have my doubts about how long a £20 generic light would last in practice.

Ouija

bikemanspen wrote:

Do you think the Cree torch is as bright as the U2 also can you just buy a mount for it?
Sorry for all the questions..

Technically, the U2 variant of the XM-L emitter is slightly brighter than the T6 variant of the same emitter... if they are both run at the same amp draw. In practice, however, they can be run at a wide variety of amp draws depending on the driver the torch manufacturer uses, leading T6's to appear brighter than U2's or U3's.

If you do buy a 501/502 style torch and one of those rubber mounts be aware that you have to pad the battery so that it gets some grip on the inside of the torches tube. Usually by wrapping some electrical or sticky tape around the batteries so that they just fit in the torch and don't want to slide in and out too easily. Why? Because with those rubber mounts and a loose fitting battery, the whole torch can jiggle slightly when going through pot holes causing the battery to slide back and forth inside, momentarily breaking contact with the two springs it's sandwiched between. On torches with clicky tailcap switches, momentary breaks in power are intepreted by the driver at the other end of the torch to change brightness modes (because that's how the clicky tailcap switch also instructs the driver to change modes). Tape up the batteries and they work flawlessly, however.

bails1310

No experience of the Torchy, but I have the U2 mini, and it works fine for me on unlit country roads at 6am during Nov.

Charging isn't an issue really, cradle is USB or plug compatible [iPhone usb like plug] Burn time on my version is at least 3 hours, charge time is quite long but not an issue.

Quality feels really good, although based not on a comparison of the other. Used it in the garden during recent fireworks do and was asked by cyclist and non -cyclists where it was from given the brightness.

3 modes, very bright/narrow beam, less bright/wider beam and narrow beam/flash.

andrew_s

cougie wrote:

I thought my old Fenix torch was amazingly bright until I got the Cree torches. Brighter makes it easier to ride - you can see more. Do motorists get annoyed at each others headlights ? They're about 1500 lumens I read.

Motorists do indeed get annoyed if the oncoming motorist leaves his headlights on full beam rather than dipping. I dare say the only reason people using some of these cree-powered bike lights on the road don't get zapped by a dose of main beam more often is that there's no point in it because bike lights don't dip.
Still, I'm only aware of one person having been wiped out by a dazzled motorist so far.

Ouija

But a lot of them do dip if you tap the mode switch. Even easier to do if you buy a remote switch and mod it. Some even include a remote switch.

Ouija

bails1310 wrote:

Burn time on my version is at least 3 hours,

Which suggests it's not running anywhere near as bright as a U2 can run. A U2 will eat through a 18650 battery in under or over an hour (depending on make/model) when near it's max output. I can get a good hour and a half out of my U2 in a 502b torch, but that's because i'm using top notch Senybor high drain batteries (get just 1hr on Ultrafire batteries). 3 hours would be medium mode.

bails1310

3 hours would be medium mode

3 hours is on high for sure, the roads I use I couldn't use anything else.

I'm not expert on not sure if these are good/bad/or indifferent but you can see the type of batter it comes with plus confirmation of the buyrn time on high, which is the one I got from the same seller.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2013-model-Fluxient-U2-Mini-1100-Lumen-rated-Cree-XM-L-U2-led-3-4Ah-battery-/301010001395?pt=UK_SportGoods_CyclAcces_RL&hash=item4615981df3#ht_4650wt_1047

Ouija

You misunderstand. I meant that on a Ultrafire 502b torch with XM-L U2 and the same battery as your U2, running the torch on it's medium output would give you three hours, which suggests that your U2 mini's brightest mode setting is the same as the 502b's medium mode, hence the similar run times (because they both have the same emitter and battery in them). Or in other words, the 502b has a extra mode that's even brighter than the U2 mini's, that gobbles through the same 18650 battery in half the time (1hr 30m).