Decent off road lights

[Lemon Eddy]

let me know what they're like. Im currently hunting down some exposure ones on ebay

They arrived yesterday. First impressions:

Torch unit is very well made - not heavy, but a reassuringly solid construction
Clamp is secure, but far from quick release. It looks like it will work on the remains of an old cats eye qr clamp I've got, so I think I'll probably use something of my own devising.
Switch is a flaff. You have to switch it through the low - medium - pulsing mode to get to full beam
Battery is small, and clamps well to the 3 bike frames I've tried so far.
Beam is very, very bright.
Manual is finest hybrid english. Just as well it's a device as simple as a torch, as frankly I was more confused by it than assisted.

I'll be taking it out this weekend for a proper trail test, and will let you know what it's like. Certainly from the pootling about I did in the woods near my house I think it'll be up for the job, but obviously a lot depends on battery life, how well the clamp stays locked on, etc.

 

[swampy]

Ah mate it be wicked if they could as they're so cheap but I dont think they are gonna cut it offroad I'm afraid. They're 12 lumens 55 on max which aint I've been told really enough for off road. AND its battery powered. I'm after a rechargeable unit rather than AA rechargables.

Wicked for normal riding though

They're 180 lumens on max! Couple of those should be good for off-road?

Why not rechargeable AA batteries? Also quite handy to be able to use AA bats in an emergency as they're easy to get hold of.

Apparantly this is someone running on two LSd Q5's

Looks ok?

 

[djbombscare]

They're 180 lumens on max! Couple of those should be good for off-road?

Why not rechargeable AA batteries? Also quite handy to be able to use AA bats in an emergency as they're easy to get hold of.

Apparantly this is someone running on two LSd Q5's

Looks ok?

That looks good

BUT the trouble I've had with AA rechargable is their life span and memory they pick up regularly. After a couple of months they start dumping like shit take a good 16 hrs to recharge just perform badly.
I would think its likely to be new-ish batteries in em in that pic and just turned on. But it looks wicked

The power they deliver is limited as well. I think its just best to say Im not a big fan. They're great for wireless keyboards, gameboys, tv remotes tc. But the second you go for something power hungry like a digital camera etc, have a go with rechargeable AA's and again with a proper battery pack thing. I think lights will come into that realm of energy hungry. Nevertheless what with the winter coming up they'll be AA's constantly charging

I've never had those problems with any Nimh's and whatever the other ones are. My gunlights a behemoh of a light a 50w xenon (dunno what that relates to) but its last a good 3hrs and will light up around a good 250m. Now that battery is a good 2 years old and gets charged up in the car on the way to and from the shoot usually

The camera batteries I've got are wicked as well and been charged loads

So I prefer those battery pack things to rechargable AA's.

 

[swampy]

Well i took the plunge and bought two Fenix LD20's, one with smooth reflector fro the helmet and the other with an orange peel reflector for the handle bars.

Got some 2700 NiMH Batteries with a 1 hour charger, apparently the higher the number the better the juice! So hopefully these will do the business.

Will do a full report when they arrive with photos

 

[djbombscare]

yeah man keep us posted

 

[mincepie]

Looking for lights for Urban cycling here!
I don't think the Fenix type lights would be great for off road - when compared to other lights with dedicated battery packs.
Plus LED's tend to give off a spot type beam, compared to a wider throw you get from traditional halogens etc.

Was looking at some Cateye LED lights sub £40 when I discovered the Fenix range tonight, in particular the LD20 and L2D (old model) Seems to be a better buy for the money - rather than dedicated bike lights such as the Cateye models. Plus it's more useful as a torch. Abit a very very expensive one by most peoples standards.

Different, cheaper design of mounthere. Bit confused as to how it holds the torch in place??

Before I moved to the urban world, when I was just a teenage kid in the country I built a set of lights from 2xMR11 bulbs in a wastepipe fitting, backed up by a small lead acid battery. It's not really very portable - I couldn't see me cycling to work in London with it, hence looking for something else, but for off road use, it rocked.

 

[gentlegreen]

For urban cycling you want something broad beam - sadly all the bike lights seem to be about teeny "tactical flashlight" - type technology.

Sadly if you want a proper bright headlight with side lighting that works when it isn't pitch black, you'll have to make one like mine.

Mk 1. :-

mk 2. - with the aim of making the 9 watt fluorescent lamp redundant :-

 

[mincepie]

My Dad bought the LED ringlight in the second picture as a cupboard light from TkMaxx, Matalan or such ilk. Can't remember. Anyways, it seemed pretty bright for £4.

Had half considered buying one my self and adapting it for photography as part of a macrolighting setup. One thing I noticed from my Dads was that the LED's get quite hot - almost as if they are a little 'overdriven' to go brighter, fair enough, however how long to they last like this?

I've not yet tried sitting in the cupboard under the stairs..waiting to see if they do last...kinda had better things to do with my life , but just curious.

 

[gentlegreen]

I've bought two of them.

When I tested the first, I got amazing readings - 1 amp at 4 volts (which is 0.5 volts too high - should have told me something was awry) - implying each LED was being driven at 40mA which is double what it should be. With all 48 LEDs switched in, the current was about the same (presumably due to the batteries' internal resistance) - the LEDs then each taking a comfortable 20mA.

The second one I measured yesterday with a second cheap digital meter gave the correct 3.5 volts across the LEDs and a reasonable current ... different set of batteries too..

Some of these lamps have a reputation for melting diodes. They get warm because contrary to manufacturers' hype, LEDs are not a miracle technology and like any kind of lamp taking 4 watts from the battery, the lion's share never turns into light.
B-grade ones where the LEDs aren't properly matched, do have a habit of turning into a (rather dull) firework display as the LEDs overheat and release their magic smoke.

So they are ripe for improving, and my first attempt will involve re-wiring then in three paralleled sets of 16 in series with a limiting resistor :-

I plan to put a flange around it to tame the beam a bit, with holes cut either side to allow light to show for when you're pulling out onto a main road .. and I'll be sticking a 5 watt, 10 degree LED spot in the middle as some of my journeys involve unlit paths and my present 24 LEDs, while amazingly effective considering they were never intended as serious lighting, don't really cut it.

If the side light through the holes isn't sufficient, I will fit some dedicated LEDs as I did with my mk.1 tail light (copied from Cateye).
.

 

[djbombscare]

For some reason this one says oldskool doctor who to me. I love it

 

[Lemon Eddy]

let me know what they're like. Im currently hunting down some exposure ones on ebay

I finally got a chance to give the Airbike light a decent test this weekend. Very damned impressive indeed for the money, I'd recommend it as a bargain. I got a good 3+ hours at maximum burn, and they were showing no sign of fading when I rolled back to the car. A bright, wide beam that positively drowned the 240 lumens from the exposure joystick that I use as a helmet cam. I'm still waiting for a suitable deluge to check how waterproof they are, but certainly it coped with an hour and a half of drizzle without problem.

 

[djbombscare]

Keep me posted mate as I've curreNtly broken my hand and wont be riding for a bit. BUT I've got lights on me xmas list so with any luck father christmas might bring me a decent set with some gentle persuasion

 

[Lemon Eddy]

Will do. Going out again wednesday night with a group of mates, so I'll be able to do side by side comparison against the usual Hope/Exposure setups. Judging by the weather forecast, I should be able to do a pretty thorough waterproofing test too.

 

[Lemon Eddy]

Will do. Going out again wednesday night with a group of mates, so I'll be able to do side by side comparison against the usual Hope/Exposure setups. Judging by the weather forecast, I should be able to do a pretty thorough waterproofing test too.

OK, took it for a proper ride last night with local mtb club. Verdict is that it's very good indeed, specifically comparing it against:

Ayup: Blew the twin beams of the little Ayup out of the water. Far, far brighter and better beam.
Cateye Triple Shot Pro: Again, just outclassed by the airbike light.
Hope Vision 4: there were mixed opinions on which of the two had the better beam for spread and brightness. Not much to choose between them.
Lupine Wilma: Funnily enough, it did not throw as good a beam as the £400 Wilma.

 

[mauvais]

That's not bad at all, for a £140 light compared to the £240 Vision 4.

I'm waiting to get my Dinotte 200L back from repair to go on the helmet, and I've just bought a 140R tail light too. That should make me at least as visible as your average car

 

[gentlegreen]

That should make me at least as visible as your average car

I'm definitely going to have to up the LEDs on the back of my bike from 59 to 100 now.

My front configuration now seems to be heading for :-

"vitalite", plus 1.8 watt wide angle LED, plus 5 watt 10 degree LED.

 

[mauvais]

This should be good. Here's a pic, not mine:

 

[djbombscare]

is that a back light

look good though

 

[mauvais]

Yup. For the front, got a Vision 4 on the bars, & a 200L on the hat. Probably overkill already tbh.

 

[gentlegreen]

Looks like I may just add three, 1 watt LEDs to the Ikealite ...

I may even build in a flashing mode.