dougmc

There is no consistent exaggeration factor -- you'll just need to look up the specific light and see what people say.

Note that I've gotten their basic 18650 batteries ($8 for two) and I think they claim 2400 mAh and when I explicitly measured a few of them they were all right at the rated capacity. I've heard of problems with the batteries with higher ratings, but these ones have been right on the money.

treal512

I'm wary of this light because of reviews saying the batteries won't hold a charge after 2-3 weeks of normal usage. How are you guys fairing with this light?

nerys

ZERO worries treal512. it uses 4 18650 cells. (very common cells in this category) simply buy a 4 cell holder 4 cells and a charger and cut off and move the power wire to your new holder and cells.

done. should fit in the bag that came with it too. when my cells die this is what I will do. you can then buy whatever quality level cells you wish and replace every few years as needed.

treal512

Hmm, interesting. I was impatient and ended up going with a Cygolite 500 mainly because I like the idea of an all-in-one headlight that I can quickly remove and put in my pocket (I live in a college town). I'm still interested in this headlight though. Can you provide a link for a 4 cell holder and charger?

dougmc

Normally the lights have pre-made packs rather than four loose 18650 cells to put into a holder. I've never seen such a holder, though maybe they do exist somewhere.

nery's point is that these battery packs are pretty easy to find. And it doesn't have to be made of 18650 cells -- any two LiPo or Li-ion cells in series would work, as long as they have the appropriate protective circuitry. Even a 6xAA, C or D cell pack would work as well, though a pack of 6xAA's would not last nearly as long as a pack of 4x18650 cells.

As for an all-in-one headlight, the single cell 18650 flashlights excel at that role. Though the $23 amazon light we've been talking about outperforms them at about the same price point, but it's larger and more cumbersome to remove.

nerys

sure.

normally I can find 2x2 4 cell holders (same form factor as the light) but all I am finding right now is 1x4 holders.

320859084255 (ebay) $13 including cells.

that is all you need. swap over the plug to this (check power coming out of the plug first though !! I am not sure if its x4 serial or x4 parallel or x2 x2 serial/parallel (measure voltage from stock pack! you can get 1 or 2 cell holders whatever you need. 3.7 is your base voltage. if its 3.7 then its x4 parallel if its 7.4v its x2 x2 if its over 14v its x4 serial. buy the appropiate holders. (just put in 18650 x cell holder into ebay)

for charging you can buy a dedicated 4 cell charger ($15 to $25) or just use the charger that came with it since your swapping the plug over.

OR for more utility get something like this.

171143629662

$8 and it will hold 4 18650 you can use a mini usb cell phone charger to charge it has a flashlight AND a powered 1amp usb port for "charging" things like your cell phone.

there is a lot of neat things you can do with 18650 cells :-)

the advantage of the 18650 cell is they are universal. like AA's ie common and standardized (not in stores typically though) in 10 years you will still be able to buy 18650 cells most likely.

these lights are very easy to install and remove and are freakishly small (I will take a picture later in my hand so you can see just how freaking tiny the little bugger is. I am also going to get one of those 10x30 spreaders someone posted from amazon (replacement lens) very cool.

does anyone know of any of these lights with a REMOTE on off? ie not built into the light itself but on a wire I can run elsewhere?

spectastic

bookmark

Nightbird95

I'm using this on my MTB. Its a SolarStorm X2, its the cheapest X2 I can find and it performs good so far. I do my rides every night.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/330954152704...84.m1497.l2649

Nightbird95

I have also tied this, a SingFire SF-90, but I got only for $15.99 it when DX made a sale (Half-Off?).

https://dx.com/p/singfire-sf-90-cree-...x-18650-172326

It throws farther than the SolarStorm X2. I installed it into my son's MTB.

Nightbird95

If you're happy with your bike light's performance (i.e. throw & spill) but would like to have it even brighter than an XM-L T6 could offer, then I think the best thing to do is swap the LED with XM-L2 U2s with copper MCPCBs like these at International Outdoors: https://intl-outdoor.com/noctigon-xm1...led-p-746.html

U2 is about 10 to 15% brighter than T6 and XM-L2 is about 20% brighter than XM-L so you should end up with a 30 to 30% brighter bike light. The copper MCPCBs would allow your LED to to perform better than stock aluminum MCPCBs since it allows the LED to operate at higher temperature hence decreasing the decrease in lumens due to heat.

Nightbird95

Well my son doesn't want to go biking at night so the SF-90 bike light is of no use to him. Therefore I decided to install it back to my MTB. The SF-90, being the farther thrower is now my hi-beam allowing me to see objects as far as 200 meters away in the road. The X-2, having two XM-L emitters is now my low-beam allowing me to see obstacles in the path.

Here's another pic taken on my two bike lights from the opposite angle .

johnnymoses

Would be interested in hearing your review for this product today. How does does it rate in terms of staying in place? I use a bunch of Knog Blinders but because of where I ride they either shift, get knocked way out of place, or completely fly off the bars. The streets I ride on are in very poor shape - tons of potholes, drunk bumps, rumble patches, ruts, uneven shoulders, no shoulders, road construction including steel plates, the list goes on...so having a light that holds in place solidly is important for me.

johnnymoses

There are so many 1 star ratings that I would like to hear from those that have bought this light what their take is on them, now that it has been about a few months or longer

dwmckee

This light is very small and light so it has little inertia when you hit bumps and it seems to stay in place pretty well for me. I use this mount. https://dx.com/p/universal-bike-bicyc...ll-phone-68460 Don't be deceived by how cheap and simple it looks. It is very snug for mounting and will wiggle when you hit a bump but comes right back to where you had it set. I lay the strap on top of the bars and place the flashlight in position across the two thick bars on the strap. Them I loop the band under the bars first then around to slip over each end of the flashlight. This is really tight and forgiving. I now own a bunch of these straps and two lights. Use the 16500 rechargeable batteries though to get the max brightness which will be nearly double AA brightness. The cells are cheap on DX.com. This light is exceptionally powerful for it's size and I normally ride with it on Medium.

Creakyknees

So hi guys, newbie here, how do I tell the cheap crap that'll break, from real quality products? I've had bad luck with DX and Amazon, lots of spotty quality. What are some US brands that I can trust, in the category of, say Cree pocket ultra-bright torches? thanks.

dougmc

Call it spotty quality, but this light from Amazon is the absolute < $50 value winner right now. (If your budget is $50, you can afford two!)

The quality doesn't match that of lights 10x as much, true, but it's not bad.

10 Wheels

https://store.dinottelighting.com/day...ight-p117.aspx

claystevens

I'm using this Koolertron headlight. $47.99 Almost above the price limited. Didn't spend much time on buying. Thought not the top performance, this light's quality is still acceptable.

nipperdawg

how long does a charge last

Nightbird95

Recently I only bike for about 30 minutes every night, my beam setting is mid, and my X2 would need recharging every week.

The longest ride I had with my beam set at mid was 1 hr 45 mins before my X2 started to dim (with one flashing LED in the indicator). However, the light was not freshly charged, it was already used for two successive nights for about 30 mins set at mid per riding session.

I use high beam setting sparingly/ when needed. Mid is bright enough for me.

tcs

I picked up a little headlight off ebay a couple months back that’s worked out well enough to relate.

The listing was/is ‘UltraFire CREE XM-L LED bicycle headlamp + battery + charger’, twenty bucks shipped to your door. The form factor is like the UltraFire UF-18B but the electronics, LED and switch are different. These lights use a single 18650 li-ion rechargeable battery, are machined entirely out of aluminum and have a semi-integral handlebar mount.



It arrived simply but adequately packaged but the extent of the included owner’s manual/instructions was the international on/off symbol on the switch. Said switch cycles high-medium-low-strobe-SOS-off. The end caps are marked + and -. The light claims to use the XML U2 LED, which industry literature tells me is brighter than the XML T6. It has a simple flashlight-like reflector and plano, and throws the traditional round hot spot plus aura beam pattern.

(Does it really use a U2? Is it a genuine UltraFire product or a fake? Will the included charger burn my house down? I dunno, I dunno and I dunno, respectively.)

How bright is it? Sorry, I don't own lamp testing equipment, but this light humiliates my Fenix L2D. It holds a couple of CatEye LED headlamps I have by the nose and kicks 'em in the seat of the pants. I know we each have different wants and needs in lighting, but in my world I can’t see running this thing on bright on the street at night – medium is plenty. For the first time since I gave up on my Ed Kearney Bicycle Lighting Systems headlamp thirty years ago, I don’t feel like I want more photons. The strobe setting utilizes the brightest output and might induce seizures in the twilight or dark.

Run time, well, first, let’s talk about 18650 batteries. The 'UltraFire’ battery that’s included with this headlamp is marked ‘4000 mAh’. It has about as much chance of actually having a 4000 mAh capacity as I do being the direct descendant of Genghis Khan. I estimate the actual capacity to be in the neighborhood of 800-900 mAh, and the light puts out full brightness on high for maybe 35 minutes. However, fitted with a name brand 3400 mAh 18650 charged on a quality charger, the light doesn’t noticeably start to drop brightness on high until after three and a quarter hours or so. With that kind of run time, the ease of swapping batteries and given the lamp’s small form factor, I like it better than lamps with a separate battery pack and cable. YMMV.

The battery compartment will accept longer protected 18650 cells without any issue. The threads are cut clean and came lubricated, with a sealing o-ring, and the – (negative) cap removes easily for battery swap/recharge.

Likes: smallish, light weight (152 gm w/o battery), all aluminum construction, easy to mount/move/remove, secure, powerful light, long effective run time, cheap.

Dislikes: no warranty, wasteful optics, no marker light thrown to sides, sketchy included battery/charger - and of course the ridiculous class II laser safety warning sticker! The bright strobe is great for daytime use, but I'd much rather have an additional lower power strobe for twilight than the SOS setting.

davidad

that one has been one the market for a few years now. Buy some decent batteries and wear it out.

dougmc

Your light must be more efficient than the single cell 18650 lights I've got -- they put out around 400 mAh lumens real world and last about an hour at full brightness with 2400 mAh (real world -- I measured it) cells.

That said, it's estimated that Gengis Kahn is the direct descendant of about 0.5% of the world's population. Which I do realize might be exactly what you're referring to, but it probably overstates the chance of it actually having 4000 mAh, as the very highest capacity 18650 cells nowadays seem to be around 3400 mAh.

Back in late 2012, Ultrafire themselves said they don't make any > 3000 mAh 18650 cells, and that any that are out there are clearly fake.

tcs

Perhaps 'ancestor'.

Faldoe

Could someone provide some suggestions/links for a good front and rear light combo?

I'm an occasional night rider. I'd like something that is durable, and that I could use rechargeable batteries with.