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Blitzu Gator 390 light review

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Blitzu Gator 390 light review

Old 07-26-18, 08:32 AM
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taz777
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Blitzu Gator 390 light review

I received my Blitzu Gator 390 light today and it included a free tail light in the box. The tail light is neither here nor there and just provides the bare minimum light output to be seen.

I got the Blitzu Gator 390 at a very cheap price on Amazon UK - it was low enough to not worry if it was a piece of junk (12.99 GBP for the set).

I'm comparing it to my (old) Moon Meteor front light that I really like. The Moon Meteor is a low output light but works really well in most urban conditions.

I was hoping the Blitzu Gator 390 was exactly the same as the Moon Meteor, but sadly it wasn't. It felt more plasticky as I believe it has a plastic body compared to the metal body on the Moon Meteor. However, it was very nicely presented and came with two charging cables in the box:





Here's a side-by-side comparison of the Moon Meteor and Blitzu Gator 390:





The clip for the mount is also larger:



So it looks almost identical to the Moon Meteor. It also weighs a few grams less than the Moon Meteor:





I believe that this may be due to the Moon Meteor having a metal body for better heat dissipation.

Finally, the LED and lens unit is better on the Moon Meteor as it produces a nicer, sharp and focused beam:



So, at the end of the day, it's okay for the very low price and looks nice too. The wide dispersion of the light means the mean doesn't light up the road ahead very far, but it's okay for urban cycling.
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Old 07-26-18, 11:14 AM
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In the end you got what you basically wanted, a light that lets people see you and lets you see when needed. These are likely using a Chinese version of an XPE emitter which gives the slightly bluer/colder tint. No it doesn't have super long throw but it does let you see where you are going. The lamp does have a hot spot very similar to a torch. If it doesn't have the throw of the Moon version likely they used a different optic and/or emitter setup. Like I said in the other thread, these are not something that a seasoned cyclist would want to ride at night with but given the choice of having no light and one of these, one of these will get you home and let you see where you are going. My biggest complaint is that I don't like the cold tint of the beam.

I'm surprised that you don't seem to think much of the rear light. For something that they are basically giving you for free I feel it does a very good job. I've seen some really cheap low output rear lights on the bike of a lot of people who ride at night. I'd estimate the brightest output mode of the Blitzu rear light ( circular COB array ) is about 40 lumen and that's enough in most situations to get you seen. I've seen people riding with less.

Anyway, summing up; This is a half decent light for someone who only wants the bare minimum when it comes to a bike light, aren't willing to spend over $20 and aren't going to ride over 12mph. This is why I said in the other thread this is something I might buy for a child who only is going to ride no more than a few miles at night.
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Old 07-26-18, 02:04 PM
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It’s far more than I was expecting at such a giveaway price, especially as you get front and rear lights in the box. Not quite a Moon Meteor but not far off. The colour is really nice and will coordinate with my hybrid really well.
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Old 07-27-18, 08:38 AM
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It is cheaper in GB than here in the US. The price on Amazon is $19.97 (plus shipping for us non-prime Amazonians) in the US and the lowest price on eBay is $22.27 with free shipping. The tail light in this set is a step above what came with my Blitzu Gator 320 light set. Here is a picture of the Gator 320 disassembled showing the Raypal (the real manufacturer in China) name and 1200 mAh battery inside. The tail light is operated by two CR2032 batteries. I can buy one like mine and have it shipped halfway around the world for $1.29 postpaid on eBay.



The lower part is the front of the Blitzu Gator 320 headlight





BTW, the Moon Meteor 300 lumen steady/400 lumen flash is still available in GB but the price is 40 GBP with shipping. https://www.ebay.com/itm/300-400-Lum...LH_TitleDesc=0 The description for the Moon light is a lot more complete than what Blitzu offers. The only way to find out the battery size on a Blitzu light is to disassemble it, which I did.


The same light shows up multiple times on Aliexpress - take a look at the pictures for these. They are identical in appearanceSame light as the Moon 300 but with a helmet mount as well as handlebar mount $14.42 postpaid from China on Aliexpress https://www.aliexpress.com/item/WEST...ceBeautifyAB=0same selection as Blitzu but different brand name $17.86 postpaid https://www.aliexpress.com/item/USB-...ceBeautifyAB=0

Last edited by VegasTriker; 07-27-18 at 09:03 AM. Reason: Aliexpress source
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Old 07-27-18, 09:56 AM
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@VegasTriker: It's interesting to see a disassembled Blitzu. TBH, the one I have looks great on my blue hybrid so it's going on that and the black Moon Meteor will be transferred to the new bike.

It's somewhat frowned upon here in the UK to have very bright lights on bikes as there's enough street lighting in urban areas.

I used to have a Lezyne Deca Drive 1500XXL which was brutal! However, it annoyed and dazzled anyone who saw the light, even though it was pointed slightly downwards. Cycle paths are often shared with pedestrians/runners/dog walkers so cyclists need to be aware of this in terms of the brightness of their lights. Thus, I prefer lower-powered lights just to be seen.
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Old 07-27-18, 01:05 PM
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Originally Posted by taz777
@VegasTriker: It's interesting to see a disassembled Blitzu. TBH, the one I have looks great on my blue hybrid so it's going on that and the black Moon Meteor will be transferred to the new bike.

It's somewhat frowned upon here in the UK to have very bright lights on bikes as there's enough street lighting in urban areas.

I used to have a Lezyne Deca Drive 1500XXL which was brutal! However, it annoyed and dazzled anyone who saw the light, even though it was pointed slightly downwards. Cycle paths are often shared with pedestrians/runners/dog walkers so cyclists need to be aware of this in terms of the brightness of their lights. Thus, I prefer lower-powered lights just to be seen.
The Moon Meteor is interesting in that it also offers an array of different flash modes. The thing is while highest output on steady is listed as 300 lumen, I'd have to wonder about that since the emitter they list ( X ETI-3232 LED ) I find no information on. I'm taking that means it's a Chinese emitter. While I'm sure the Chinese are beginning to make better LED's I would feel better if the LED were something sold by Cree. I'm pretty sure the emitter is not a Cree because even the Chinese are very quick to put that into the product description as it is always considered a major selling point.

Sounds like you need a lamp with a cut-off beam pattern. I bet you'd be real happy with one of the Raveman CR series. Always going to be people who think your lamps are too bright. Having a lamp with a cutoff beam pattern should help with this and still allow you to see where you are going.

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Old 07-28-18, 12:52 AM
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* I actually have a Ravemen CR900 on one of my bikes. It does work well but is quite large and heavy and I wanted a smaller and lighter light.

I’ve looked at a lot of Moon Meteor lights lately. The black light in the pictures above is a genuine Moon Meteor and is rated at 200 lumens. I’m not wholly convinced that anything higher than a 200 lumens rating is a genuine Moon product unless there was a newer version of the light. That light is a few years old and newer Meteors have a different design now and a higher rating. However, for that specific design I believe the rating was 200 lumens. By the way, my Moon Meteor has a strobe mode, which i term an ‘epilepsy’ mode. Of course I would never actually use that mode whilst out riding, and Moon may have ditched that mode in a newer version of that light.

In terms of riding, there have been a few occasions when oncoming cyclists and dog walkers have had to shield their eyes from some of my lights. I take a lot of time and trouble to set up my lights so that the beam is angled correctly. I live in a congested part of London where there are no big, open spaces to ride a bike so you have to share the paths with other people generally speaking. And those people can be fellow cyclists, joggers, walkers, runners, dog walkers etc.
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Old 07-28-18, 01:00 AM
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Update: it looks like there’s a new Moon Meteor which is 300 lumens and is called the Moon Meteor C3. From Moon’s own page:

Moon Sport Ltd., bike light, www.moon-sport.com | Product Page

And it does use a Cree LED.
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Old 07-28-18, 02:33 AM
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Good review, very helpful. Interesting to see how much difference there can be between two apparently similar lights.

I've had my eye on a second to-be-seen helmet light, something small and light. The original I got in 2015 isn't carried anymore by that particular vendor, but an apparently identical *looking* light is still available under other names. Might be interesting to see whether they really are identical.

I usually prefer brighter lights that I can run at low power for longer operation -- around 150-200 lumens. Good enough for rides like Friday night, puttering around at 8-10 mph with friends around the park. I've rigged up a homemade light hood and diffuser for my Light & Motion Urban 500, which shields the glare from oncoming cyclists/pedestrians, while retaining plenty of light for me. And the diffuser enhances my side visibility. It's cut from a white soft plastic vitamin bottle so the glow resembles an appliance size incandescent bulb.
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Old 07-28-18, 07:19 PM
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Originally Posted by taz777
* I actually have a Ravemen CR900 on one of my bikes. It does work well but is quite large and heavy and I wanted a smaller and lighter light.

I’ve looked at a lot of Moon Meteor lights lately. The black light in the pictures above is a genuine Moon Meteor and is rated at 200 lumens. I’m not wholly convinced that anything higher than a 200 lumens rating is a genuine Moon product unless there was a newer version of the light. That light is a few years old and newer Meteors have a different design now and a higher rating. However, for that specific design I believe the rating was 200 lumens. By the way, my Moon Meteor has a strobe mode, which i term an ‘epilepsy’ mode. Of course I would never actually use that mode whilst out riding, and Moon may have ditched that mode in a newer version of that light.

In terms of riding, there have been a few occasions when oncoming cyclists and dog walkers have had to shield their eyes from some of my lights. I take a lot of time and trouble to set up my lights so that the beam is angled correctly. I live in a congested part of London where there are no big, open spaces to ride a bike so you have to share the paths with other people generally speaking. And those people can be fellow cyclists, joggers, walkers, runners, dog walkers etc.
Well I'll be...you've got a CR-900 and that's not small enough? . My, but Englishman are hard to please. I was just looking at the Moon website and they do have some interesting lamps. The Meteor C looks like the newer version of the Meteor. While it's 300 lumen on high it does have a very narrow, torch like beam pattern. Both the Raveman CR-300 and 500 are comparable in size to the Meteor C although the Meteor C does have the smaller form factor. I like small as well but I also want a decent beam pattern. You need to decide what's more important, a couple more ounces/mm's or a better over-all beam pattern. Since you see a lot of head-on approaching traffic when you do your rides, I would think any of the Moon series lamps would be problematic. With any of the Raveman CR series lamps you can chose to mount under the bars and still easily control the modes with the remote. Not to mention you have a much more usable / wider beam pattern with cut-off. If I use my CR*900 on an MUP and I encounter any kind of traffic on approach I can quickly rapid-fire on the remote to a light level that won't blind anyone. PITA to have to go thru all the flash modes to get back to where I was but as long as I'm not doing it constantly it's not too much of a big deal.

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Old 07-30-18, 03:30 AM
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Originally Posted by 01 CAt Man Do
With any of the Raveman CR series lamps you can chose to mount under the bars and still easily control the modes with the remote.
Oh dear. You've just reminded me about the remote that came with the CR900. I never used it, but have also binned the box so I've lost the remote now!

I emailed Ravemen over the weekend and the wired remote can be purchased separately. It's called the ARB 01 wired remote and it's very cheap. I've ordered a replacement through a UK retailer.

Hopefully that will make my CR900 easier to operate as it was a bit fiddly using the touch surface on the top of the body.
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Old 07-30-18, 05:27 AM
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Originally Posted by taz777
Oh dear. You've just reminded me about the remote that came with the CR900. I never used it, but have also binned the box so I've lost the remote now!

I emailed Ravemen over the weekend and the wired remote can be purchased separately. It's called the ARB 01 wired remote and it's very cheap. I've ordered a replacement through a UK retailer.

Hopefully that will make my CR900 easier to operate as it was a bit fiddly using the touch surface on the top of the body.
Yep, don't feel bad. I lost the remote to my ITUO XP3 temporarily for at least a year. Since I use it on the helmet when MTB'n I never needed to use it. Thankfully it showed up just the other day. About the top of the CR-900's display screen; I've gotten better using the program mode. I found out if I switch it to the medium mode and then quickly press the touch panel, as soon as it gets a tad brighter a small blue light comes on in the display. At that point I stop pressing the screen and I have the next level up which is likely somewhere around 500 lumen. I know I have it if the display gives me 1.5 hrs if I'm on a full charge. After that if I want I can lock the screen by pressing he white button on back. When I do that a little orange LED lights up on the display along with the blue one. With the orange led on you can't change modes. Sadly though it still doesn't save the program if you turn it off and use the charger. Not a big deal since I've gotten better at quickly programing it but I sure do hope at some point they decide to make at least one mode that you can program and the lamp will save the setting when turned off or charging. ( It does save when turned off but doesn't once you decide to charge or decide to change modes. ).
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Old 07-30-18, 06:48 AM
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Just as an FYI - I'm really impressed with Ravemen's customer service which operates out of China. They've responded very quickly to my emails about a replacement remote for the CR900 and one is already on the way and I should have it by the end of the week. Total cost was about 7.94 GBP ( = 10.40 USD ) but a fair chunk of that was postage and delivery.

I'll have a proper play with the light as soon as the remote gets delivered. Thanks for the advice on the program mode!
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Old 07-30-18, 03:37 PM
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Originally Posted by taz777
....I'll have a proper play with the light as soon as the remote gets delivered. Thanks for the advice on the program mode!
You're welcome. Just a little heads-up about the remote; The remote requires a very small and thin O-ring in order to mount to the handlebars. Mine came with a couple O-rings but these things are small, very thin and can easily break. Because they are so thin they likely won't last long. I suggest finding some small rubber bands and have them on hand if the one of the O-rings break. I sometimes use one of the PR-1200's on my MTB and they too use the same type of remote. I had to use a rubber band on that bike because none of the provided O-rings would fit where I wanted to mount the remote. On the last ride I did with the MTB the rubber band broke which meant I had to stop to fiddle with it. Looks like I need to source some appropriate sized silicone O-rings. The o-ring hooks on the remote are small so the O-rings can't be too thick. Rubber bands will work in a pinch but rubber bands will at some point go dry-rot and break. Silicone is the way to go as long as you can find the right size and thickness..

Summing up; mounting the remote to the bars is somewhat of a PITA ( depending of course on what type of bars you have and how much stuff you already have on the bars ) . If you are the type of person who likes or wants to remove all accessories having to do with lights when they ride in the day then you probably aren't going to like messing with the Raveman remotes. As for me I just leave mine mounted to the bars and wrap the excess cord around the lamp mount when not in use. I'm not going to put anymore unnecessary stress on the O-ring than I have to.
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Old 08-05-18, 09:52 AM
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Whilst I'm waiting for the remote to arrive for my Ravemen CR900, I managed to get the latest, genuine Moon Meteor C3 front light and Moon Ring rear light.

The Moon Meteor C3 has a Cree XP-G3 LED. Compared to my original Moon Meteor, the 'epilepsy' strobe mode has, thankfully, been ditched. The light has 4 constant on modes, 3 flashing modes and 1 day-flash mode.

The Moon Ring is a lovely rear light which provides a decent amount of rearward and side illumination.



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Old 08-05-18, 12:55 PM
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Originally Posted by taz777
Whilst I'm waiting for the remote to arrive for my Ravemen CR900, I managed to get the latest, genuine Moon Meteor C3 front light and Moon Ring rear light.

The Moon Meteor C3 has a Cree XP-G3 LED. Compared to my original Moon Meteor, the 'epilepsy' strobe mode has, thankfully, been ditched. The light has 4 constant on modes, 3 flashing modes and 1 day-flash mode.

The Moon Ring is a lovely rear light which provides a decent amount of rearward and side illumination.



Very nice. The Moon Meteor C3 I would consider to be very useful to the weight-weenie roadster who just wants a light to help them get back once the sun begins to set or if they want a really nice daytime flasher. If it's using a genuine Cree emitter the beam tint should be very nice. I like the black. Three hundred lumen though I would consider the bare minimum for someone who is a serious cyclist. I will say this though about the Moon C3; Once you get used to using the Raveman lamp you'll have a hard time using the Moon C3. The beam patterns on the Raveman's are just so nice and wide that using something like a 300 lumen spot pattern would be super hard to do.

Do me a favor, plug the Moon lamp in to charge and then see if the lamp will operate at the same time. Since the Blitzu lamp did it I can't help but wonder if the Moon does it as well.
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