Looking for detailed reviews on the LuminTrek TrailBlazer TB-1000 and TB-1600 ???

Background info:
My wife and I are starting to ride bikes more and finally I have an application to get her to appricate nice lights. Right now I'm lending her my Eagletac T20C2 MKII with an XP-G R5 drop-in. She runs it on medium ~60 lumens and thinks its soo bright compared to everyone elses Bell $10 walmart lights.

We do only biking in town so far and her Schwinn cruiser bike is really only good for the street since it doesn't have the tread like a mountain bike.

We were biking last night and a car was coming up behind us on the street fast so we started to make a fast downhill turn onto another street. I was in the lead with a cheap bell light on a borrowed bike, but flipped on my Quark X 123 on turbo in my left hand just as we started down the hill. There was a pot hole and I saw it :huh: but couldn't avoid it :sweat: I managed to hang on fine but my main point was to illuminate the bad spots in the road for my wife who can't ride as well and she had my 2yr old soon riding in a carrier with her. Because of my XM-L Quark lighting up the whole street she was able to avoid the bad spots.

I have been telling her that while the Eagletac is a great light for other things, a more floody light like the quark is really helpful for illuminating the road without having too intense of a spot.

While the Quark and Eagletac flashlights are great for intermintent use on Turbo, I am a little leary about sticking them in a holder on full blast for a 1hr bike ride at speeds less than 10mph most of the time because I am worried they will over heat.

Cutting to the chase:
I am looking for a dedicated bike light with a 4400mAH or higher battery that can handle biking at low speeds for 2hrs without over heating and still have the power for lighting up the whole road on fast downhill stretches where 30mph is reached.

I have been looking at these LuminTrek lights because they provide lots of extras like both clear and diffused lenses and a 5600mAH battery pack and they look to be the closest thing to made in USA I can find. Also the TB-1600 really looks to have the beam pattern I think will be best. <- correct me if I am wrong.

I think the TB-1000 looks neat as well and I know she would like the pink/purple colored one, but I'm not sure it has the right beam pattern we need??? :thinking: I know the light head looks bigger than the T20C2 MKII, but I don't know how it will compare.

Also on the LuminTrek lights do you always have to start in high mode from OFF mode?? Is there only 1 button or 2 buttons like on the Magicshine lights??

I have a degree in EET so I know my way around with a soldering iron, programming microcontrollers, circuit design and debugging. I can't help but wonder what the quality of these LuminTrek lights is???

Has anyone taken the TB-1600 apart and photographed the guts?

How are the electronics and LEDs mounted to sink the heat?

I really am leaning between the MagicShine MJ-856 and the TB-1600. Aside from the MJ battery issues, the light head looks like it could handle heat well, but I'm unsure of its guts as well...

I have seen the MJ-872 and have read about its over heating issues, so I think it might be best to avoid it since night temperatures here can be 90 degrees in the middle of summer. Looking at the Mj-872, the fins are just cosmetic since they slip over the body of the light like a sleeve and it is not one piece.

Any suggestions?

Clint

Nobody has any suggestions between the LuminTrek TB-1600 versus the Magicshine MJ-856 ???

Anyone used both of these ???

Which one would handle operating in 80-90 degree weather the best when biking at slow speeds???

Hmm. sorry I dont bike so I cant help with the light question. But how about just carrying an extra cell on you? Dont worry about the heat. Check out some lights that work on 18650 or better yet 26650 (for much longer MAH) and see what temp they run for extended periods.

Most well designed lights shouldn't overheat to the point of damage under normal use conditions (aka not turned on in a gym bag or something). Those that do have potential to overheat tend to have automatic step down in brightness functions that are based on amount of time on or temperature.

I would echo Solscud007's advice and look for something that takes 1x18650 or 2x18650 Li-Ion rechargeable.

I personally own a Zebralight SC600, Fenix TK-12, and Fenix PD32 which take 18650's. I would not hesitate to use any of these on a bike for a second, nor would I worry about them overheating running them on max 100% of the time. There are many other lights that would fill this requirement too.

I wouldn't worry about running your Quark X on max 100% of the time. It has a stepdown function as well to keep it running in the cool.

pinetree89 said:

I wouldn't worry about running your Quark X on max 100% of the time. It has a stepdown function as well to keep it running in the cool.

Click to expand...

Could you tell me where you find the Quark X tactical 123^2 having a stepdown function for thermal protection? I can't find it here:
http://www.4sevens.com/product_info.php?cPath=297_306&products_id=2686

Now I know the Quark 123^2 Turbo X states that it has thermal regulation, but I can't find that on the above.
http://www.4sevens.com/product_info.php?cPath=297_330&products_id=2621

somename said:

Could you tell me where you find the Quark X tactical 123^2 having a stepdown function for thermal protection?

Click to expand...

Read Selfbuilt's Review here: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?321913
It is mentioned in there.