Tourist in MSN

I agree that the 65 has a very wide beam. For bike touring, I put both on my bike. I use them in daytime in flash mode. If I am mostly riding on straight roads, I am inclined to use the plain Superflash that has a tightly focused beam to the rear, but if I am doing up and down or winding roads, I use the Superflash 65 for the wider beam so that following traffic that might be off to the side or above me is likely to see it.

I have not used the Turbo.

Or on a day like the photo they are both turned on.

flangehead

I've had good luck with inner tube rubber bands. They don't last forever (hence 2) but they last a long time and heaven knows, I've got a lot of raw material to work with...

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Typical installation. Prevents both jumping off the mount and body separation.

I like the rechargeable AA or AAA systems for just this reason. Also, they just get dimmer whereas many of my USB-recharge lights turn off at low voltage. I run multiple lights forward/rear for redundancy, but I'd rather have a dim light than none at all.

noisebeam

Have you checked how wide the 65 beam is on a wall or similar? I found it to create a 10'+ diameter circle even 10' back - worse is the center part is much dimmer than SF regular or turbo. So wide it the thin circle of brightness will be out of sightlines even on a very curvy road. The standard/turbo SF beam is not really that narrow either when tested against a plain wall from 30' back, at a 100' back it is wider than a 3 lane road.

Tourist in MSN

I also have some cheap lights that I sometimes use around town near home, those I also use the same inner tube rubber bands you use, the inner tube rubber lasts much longer than regular rubber bands. But my Planet Bike lights do not need the rubber bands to hold them together, but perhaps they will some day with enough use.

I used to recommend the white color Ikea Ladda AAA and AA batteries over Eneloops, but they have changed their models and no longer make them. So, now I recommend Eneloops. I started using Eneloops over a decade ago, some of mine that are that old are still working like new.

Touring, I am charging up my batteries in a AA/AAA charger that is powered by USB, use my power bank to charge them, the dynohub charges up the powerbank.



The single green LED in the photo below means one AAA is still being charged, the others are charged up.

Tourist in MSN

When I store my bike inside my condo, the taillight shines on the door about 3 feet away, I can see the beam shape quite well from that.

I live next to a small park. Initially I was worried about the 65 for the reasons that you cite, but I put both my plain Superflash and my Superflash 65 in flash mode on my rear patio on a sunny day. Walked across the park and I could still see both lights at quite a distance, and if I walked around so that the angle changed, I was still happy with how bright the 65 was in flash mode.

rumrunn6

wow that's thick!

2_i 

Ladda batteries die in the cold and got restricted to indoor use in my household. Eneloops struggle in the cold, but are still usable.

Tourist in MSN

I think it depends on how you define cold. I do not like hot weather for bike touring, most of my tours were planned to be in places that are cooler than average. But I find that in the temp range of 40s or upper 30s (F) they work fine.

I use Ladda AA (white color) batteries in my GPS, that works fine in temps from the teens (F). But for high flow rate usage like a flashlight you might need disposables in really cold weather. I have used that to keep track of my route for cross country skiing.

On the other hand I tried to use my camera on Monday outside, temp in the upper teens (F) and although the Lithium Ion battery had been charged up the night before, it only had one yellow bar for power. Indoors where it was warm, that battery showed fully charged again.

When someone says cold, I really have no clue how to interpret that, as I grew up in Minneapolis. To me if you spit and the spit breaks when it hits the ground, that is how you know it is cold out.

Now I live down south in southern Wisconsin where temps like the photo are rare, but occur. It is supposed to get down to minus 8 (F) on Fri night here.

2_i 

Ladda has been dying for me, rather abruptly, below 0C. Last night I threw Ladda and Eneloop into the freezer, I think -7C. The battery tester recognized Ladda as dead and Eneloop as OK. When I say cold, the vagueness is actually intentional. When you go out for the day in the morning, you cannot exactly tell what the temperatures will be. Even on the scale of a year, reviewing what batteries you have on the bike vs weather is awkward. Personally, I want to have a setup that is going to work near 100% of times, no matter what.

2_i 

P.S. Obviously any chemical battery (though presumably not nuclear) will eventually die out if you lower temperature enough. There was a guy describing experiences of riding on S Pole, but I could not find his writing online recently. He had to regrease his bike completely, because the regular grease solidified, and he might have needed to get rid of some plastics. In any case, I aim at temps down to -30C, though recently we barely get to -20C. The NiMH have been near to useless below -15C or so, no matter what brand. However, the lithium technologies pushed down the utility to lower temp. In my main power station on the bike, I even use some less common lithium batteries that perform better at low temp than the popular.

Tourist in MSN

If you tested them in the freezer, that is a good test. The Ladda batteries that I spoke positively on are white in color, but they have had brown ones and now have some gray ones. Each has different chemistry.

Arctic explorers need to use mechanical watches, watches with batteries do not work for them in cold.

Riding a bike at the S Pole, that sounds a little rough. Rohloff has suggestions for different lube oil in their hubs in really cold weather but if it is colder than about 20 (F), I do not use a bike.

If this is strictly for winter use on a bike for lighting, perhaps skip battery power completely and use dynohub lighting?

About 45 years ago I needed to use some battery powered flashlights in below zero (F) conditions. I found Rayovac Heavy Duty to be best, they were cheaper than alkaline batteries at that time. But I do not even know if you can buy non-alkaline disposable batteries any more.

Maybe a battery store like Batteries Plus would have some suggestions?

2_i 

My test was with the white ones. I have some of the newer blue-gray ones, but have not tested them. However, my first problem with Ikea batteries and temperatures was with the alkaline ones that quit working below freezing - I suspect that the temperature range is something that the supplier(s) does not care about.

I saw some program where the frame of host's spectacles cracked when he went out to open in some subarctic region.

I actually sought out and got the grease he ended up using. However, I strayed since and use one rated just down to -30C, as I just checked.

In my system the dynohub power is smoothly integrated with that of the battery, going in or out. The battery is good when I need few amps to feed a horn for use on cars.

When I was deciding on the lithium technology to use, I just went over different datasheets and picked the type that seemed optimal for my use. They cost was higher than the common but, given the one shot purchase, it did not matter. Yes, some of these battery stores can provide you with different options and some technologies fade out and some are even ephemeral in the market.