Lights for this autumn, is the P7 still the best LED?

There are newer ones that are more efficient, but not many pack the same punch.

http://www.torchythebatteryboy.com/

Give that site a read mate, the guys got some cheap high powered lights on ebay aswell. Think Im gonna buy one of his, certainly gets good reviews.

I've got several Bikeray 3's, under £100 and 1200 lumes

Try www.lightslightslights.co.uk or www.bikeray.co.uk

Very high quality, 4 hours at real 900 lumens, beats a P7 into a cocked hat

And the single 19650 P7 torches last 1 hour max which isnt long enough for a good ride (I have several P7, XML and XPG torches (good old dealextreme) and you need at least 2 (one handlebars, one head), but spread and heat management isnt their strong point. The XML is better (longer life, more spread and brighter)

Get 4 Plus hours on the Bikeray with its 5.2 amphour battery (12 hours on low!), Handlebar mounts, helmet mount, extension lead, charger, bag and everything included for not a lot more than a torch, charger, mount and 4 cells cost (plus the 1 month wait) from dealextreme. Plus you get a EU 2 year warranty, rather than the 50/50 does it work out of the box of chinese lights

The bike rays really are fit and forget, whereas with the torches you need to strip, clean, resolder, bend bits etc to ensure they work and long life. ie typical DX quality control

Horses for courses, I have the choice of both. but choose to ride 2 BR3's on the bars and a Joystick on the helmet, that way I cook the bugs on the towpath at night before I eat them

Yep agree, the small single 18650 torches are very handy, The P7 is now beaten by the XML-T6 easily on brightness and burn time, The XPG also beats the P7 especially as a triple

madmole wrote:

I've got several Bikeray 3's, under £100 and 1200 lumes

Try www.lightslightslights.co.uk or www.bikeray.co.uk

Very high quality, 4 hours at real 900 lumens, beats a P7 into a cocked hat

That;s a triple XPG light isn't it?.. which you could match lightwise with 3 Ultrafire 501b's for £24, you could get 3 XML's which would be £36 but brighter still say 1500 lumens based on above, all from lightmalls.com and I think the advantages are the different angle of beam i.e wide on bars and one on head - meaning less shadow, no single point of failure, modular design so cheap and easy to maintain, easy to carry spare batteries if 3.5 hrs isnt enough, probability of sourcing free 18650 laptop batteries, rugged once adjusted and a strip of foil sorted the heat sink in less than two mins, flexability and less weight & You can use elsewhere e.g. Daughter loves demo'ing XML power at Guide camp vs various wind up/maglight torches :-)

madmole wrote:

Yep its a triple XPG, the bikeray 4 is a quad

wow thise prices at lightmalls .com are great. Shame its the US and therefore most members of this forum cant get those prices. Thats about a third of the price of the UK providors and even cheaper than dealextreme. So for you then the torches are a real bargain

I am in the home counties. The shipment came via Singapore, no import charges so far on orders, one xml drop in needed glueing in place as per advice by DIY on mtb- buying advise- what lights.

First tried to order via dx and gave up due to delay, bestofferbuy were great but lightmalls were almost as quick and better priced, esp if you want an xpg!

Has anyone tried the cree lights mentioned here : www.torchythebatteryboy.com/ ?

They seem pretty good (ok, they seem pretty cheap) but not sure what real world performance is like.

I think my newer torch is an XML, it's a fair bit better than the P7 it replaced- on full power it's brighter but lasts slightly less long, on mid power it's roughly as bright but lasts longer. Ideal really.

The only drawback of the P7 torches I had was that the mid setting was too low to be very useful, so just by sorting that out the XML one I have is a much more useful item. Being brighter/longer lived is the icing on the cake.

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/fandyfire- ... 8650-57985

Gone up a little bit since I bought them, and the exchange rate varies. But I am not making it up. Buy 3 and save even more.

Hi all, i would like to answer some questions and make a few points.
Yes there is "a new kid on the block" The xml-T6 made by cree (rival to ssc)
It is more efficient than the P7 kicking out more lumens per watt of power consumption.
It is also a single led chip where as the p7 is actually a collection of 4.
Technically the xml-U2 is brighter but less common due to the binning process (and more expensive for little gain)

If a led is more efficient than another and can take the same amount of power (watts) it will "pack more punch"

It is true that some batteries can-not deliver the current needed to drive the leds to the max. Beware of any battery claiming to be 3000mah or more, They are very often false claims or cant meet the current required for p7/xml leds and die sooner than a good 2600mah. (check DX for "3600mah" batteries)

Different P7 torches will produce varying amounts of lumens depending on what current is getting to the led. this can be controlled by internal circuitry or not and directly driven.

true that DX quality controll leaves a lot to be desired.

import duty is a lottery, i was charged £13.50 just for the admin charge, with £9.50 duty on top

Beware light kits with sealed battery packs these probably wont have a "balancing circuit" so the cells get un ballanced after a few months and battery life takes a dive, they also use very poor cells, eg 4.4Ah @7.2V = 4 x 2200mah 3.6v cells.

supersonic wrote:

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/fandyfire-501b-ssc-p7-3-mode-900-lumen-white-led-flashlight-with-strap-black-1-x-18650-57985

Gone up a little bit since I bought them, and the exchange rate varies. But I am not making it up. Buy 3 and save even more.

This light...will it be a good helmet-mounted complement to a bar-mounted Bikeray III?

If so, is there a suitable attachement for a helmet available? (S-Works 2d)

Thanks