jolly_ross

Gordon's alive ?!

tarwheel 

LED flashlights are a great option, particularly if you don't want to spend a lot of money. Batteries should not be an issue if you use rechargeables. One simple recommendation for rechargeable AA batteries -- Enloops. I have commuted for the past 6 years using a Fenix AA flashlight. Used it as my primary handlebar light for two years, and then moved it to my helmet after I bought a more powerful self-contained LED handlebar light (L&M Urban 500).

robert schlatte

I am a late arrival here although I did see the other post about the frustration in finding the right light. For me the absolutely most dependable lighting system is a dynamo hub which can power head light as well as tail light and other electronic devices. It has always made sense to me that as long as pedalling is providing forward movement that pedalling can do double duty of producing electricity. There is an initial expense but not as much as one might think. My total cost with hub, wheel build, and lights was around $250.- You don't have to get an expensive SON. Shimano make a very good hub for a lot less $$$.

If you are going to be using your bike for a long time, the investment is minimal. I figure since I don't use a car I can certainly afford to spend the money for an excellent lighting system. So when the $5 flashlight wears out-which it inevitably will- go the dynamo hub route and you will not have to think about it anymore.

Jewel

See this post to do multiple quotes (you can find other how to's in on the main forums page, if you scroll down to "Forum Suggestions & User Assistance" near the bottom.

The "numbers after the poster's handle" is individual to that poster, so has personal meaning to him/her. Like yours, for example has a 33r.

The ; can either be part of a hand-typed emoticon that is a "wink" or if you're referring to DX's posting, it's being used as a semicolon (two similar sentences can be separated by a semicolon instead of a period... a grammar thing).

2manybikes

If you like the one you are now using, at that price you could afford to buy another as a spare. Not much outlay of cash and if you carry the spare that pretty much covers the worst case scenario of the light failing on a ride. Especially if you carry the spare with batteries in it. The only problems left are alkalines don't work in very cold weather. I think you said you don't commute in the cold? The last thing is the price of buying alkalines with a short burn time. As mentioned, you can get a charger and rechargeables for maybe $30. Rechargeables will take hundreds of cycles, and they work better in the cold. If you use the light every day eventually you'll get sick of buying alkalines. Still not an expensive solution. I would say that for now you have a good solution.

droy45

Even though its a cheap light, it sounds like it throws quite an impressive beam. All lights are (eventually) disposable. The better the quality, the longer it will last as far as durability, performance and battery lifespan expectancy. At that price, you can't go wrong especially if your commute is short and your total darkness trips are few. For some of us, our safety depends on the light as we go out in total darkness, (rural roads) several miles in distance, for a few hours at a time, and a light failure is no option at any cost. That is why some people select the higher quality lights and demand a lot from them. I believe that should be a good light for yourself and someone needs to be the lab tester anyway . Let us know how it works out as time goes on.

cyccommute 

Lux is more useful but without stipulating the distance from the light source, lux has less meaning than lumen output. Lumens at least give you some comparison value. Lumens can also be calculated based on the output of the light source. Lux has to be measured and, since the light isn't uniform across the beam, will vary depending on where you measure it.

enigmaT120

That was the origin of my complaint in that other light thread, whereupon you gave me the link to a bunch of information about bike lights. Thanks for the link, though I'll not likely see any of those lights in stores around here. That guy did more testing than Peter White. Here they boast about lumins, and very few mention lux. All we can do is assume that more is better.

My LED generator hub light set was expensive but works well and I don't really think it's disposable.

Leisesturm

Laws of physics. That says it right there. Even the o.p. cannot be so daft as to think 3 AAA batteries can compare to a four 18650 Li-Ion batteries... can he? If yes, who are we? Let him go on deluded and think that his 32 LED wonder is outperforming MagicShines and Dinottes and what harm is there? Its not as if he is actually riding where he NEEDS useful amounts to see by... for those of us/you who is... ... $4.99 isn't a lot to explore proof of concept. Take your new 32 cell wonder out on a suburban freeway shoulder for a typical ~8 mi. night commute home. Ah yes, those long shadows from the oncoming high beams (actually low beams from pickups lifted so high their headlights are level with the head of a seated cyclist...) and the interesting problem of how to accurately judge the abrupt transition between paved road surface and soft shoulder when you are riding to the right of the fog stripe(!).... ... four pages... ... I don't think so. When your broken collar-bone heals there are any number of worthy lights out there.

H

the sci guy 

..

Papa Tom

>>>When your broken collar-bone heals there are any number of worthy lights out there.<<<<

Chill out, dude! I've been doing this a long time and I've made it clear this is an experiment!

My experience, so far, has been that the cheap crap I buy in the department stores always seems to surprise me. The $25 Schwinn rack trunk/pannier I purchased after buying and returning Ortliebs and all kinds of other bags is working incredibly well, as much as I WANT it to fall apart. And the $4 X-Mart inner tubes I use NEVER seem to catch a flat. And, oh, did I tell you the bike that has carried me over literally thousands of miles of pavement, gravel, and dirt is a $300 GT Outpost from 1996? And what about the $1.99 brake and derailleur cables I've been using for almost twenty years?

Anyway, as I said earlier, we'll see what happens with this light. You may very well be 100% correct that it will be in the garbage in two or three weeks. I really only purchased it to see what 32 LEDs look like. But if it serves my purpose and doesn't blow through batteries, I'm gonna keep it and I'm gonna do the happy dance all over this place!

87gerG

I believe this is the light the op got from HF.

https://www.harborfreight.com/3-3-4-q...ght-98504.html



Will be interested to hear how it works out.

Papa Tom

That's the light. And did you check out the glowing reviews? The only negative thing I saw posted (and I think it was only one of several users) was an opinion that the batteries wouldn't last long. However, anyone who commented on battery life after actually using the light had good things to say.

cyccommute 

Lux is but one measurement and it doesn't tell you all there is to know about the light. As I stated above, it is a meaningless number without knowing how far from the front of the lamp the lux is measured. Lux is more of a measure of the optics of the lamp than the output. For example, you could have a spot light style lamp that would have a high lux at a given distance while you could also have a wide angle lamp that would have the same output but it would be a low lux lamp.

By the same token, lumens doesn't tell you much about the optics of the lamp. Both measurements need to be used but the lux measurement is more difficult to obtain.

ItsJustMe

I'm a bit concerned that it's just splashing light all over worse than normal lights. Lights like that tend to just vomit out light, blinding anyone on the pointy end.

kingsqueak

That light is crap, just try scuba diving with that one or clubbing a mountain lion with it and see who has the last laugh.
I'm sure it will be lousy in an earthquake as well. You should sell that one for $20 and find at least a 33 LED model to be truly safe.

Now if you had a 35x Cree with the submariner and weaponizer option, you might make it home alive.

the sci guy 

punny

SnowJob

+1

Best bang for the buck. Have had mine for a couple of years and it's the best light I've ever owned.

no motor?

This is more great advice. But congratulations to the OP for taking the next step and finding out what you've been missing for so long. And how little it cost.

HydroG33r 

Thanks for this; the post you linked to described a brute force method, but it'll work. I was just hoping for something more sophisticated (per my follow-up questions).

Actually... no. 33r is part of my handle (I know this because I made up my handle), but not everybody has numbers in their handle. I'm talking about the numbers that appears in the QUOTE script when I quote somebody. When I "Reply With Quote" from your post, the script to quote you is "QUOTE=Jewel;16184153" in square brackets. Similarly, if you quote me, it's "QUOTE=HydroG33r;16183599" in square brackets. It's these bold red numbers that I'm asking about: "QUOTE=Jewel;16184153". I haven't explored it, but I suspect that the 16184153 is not the same number for each of your posts; probably relates to a specific post of yours. What I wanted to know was if there was an easy way to predict what that number would be without having to hit "Reply With Quote" for every person I want to quote.

... appreciate you trying to help, but I can't tell if this is sarcastic or condescending.

locolobo13 

I use a cheap LED light. Like someone suggested above I'm using NIMH rechargeable AAAs. 4 for the light, 4 for 2 blinkies, 4 spares. Charge and rotate them weekly. Been doing this for 4 yrs, no need to replace yet.

My commute is approx 5 mi each way. Don't need the lights at all in the summer. Need them in the morns fall, winter and spring and evenings in the winter. So not too much use.

Jewel

I'm sorry. It wasn't meant as sarcastic or condescending. Sometimes tone is hard to get in written replies. I figured you were asking an innocent question & I wanted to help. I'm sorry it came out wrong.

himespau 

Have you tried the multiquote button? next to the quote button. click it for all the posts you want to quote and then hit the reply with quote for the last one. Doesn't work over multiple pages, but it's the best I've found.

PatrickGSR94

Yes, it does actually. The Multi-quote buttons puts the quoted posts in your reply in the order that you clicked them, even across multiple pages. You can even leave the thread, come back, and the multi-quote buttons you clicked previously will still be active.

The numbers after the username in a quote create the little arrow that a user can click on to go straight to that original post (where the quote was pulled from).

I just might stop by Harbor Freight and pick up one of these and do a direct side-by-side comparison with my Cygolite ExpiliOn 700. My reason for choosing that light is that it's compact, doesn't rely on external wires or battery packs, and is USB rechargeable which is very convenient. Our old Moto Razr phone chargers work perfectly with it and also my Cygolite Hotshot tail light.

Also the various flash modes come in handy. When I leave in the morning when it's dark, I use a rather unique setting that strobes the light, but keeps the light on in between strobes. Then in the daylight I use the daylight flash mode, which is extremely bright. People have commented from the side of the road that they saw me coming literally a MILE away, in the middle of the day.

noglider 

I really like 18650 cells and own several. I own two or three chargers, just to be safe.

Fenix lights seem, in general, to be good lights, well made.