SPARK SB100-CW Twin XM-L - Twin beam Bike light review

Skyraider59

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Sep 17, 2009
Messages
178
Location
Sussex, England
SPARK SB100-CW
Twin XM-L - Twin beam Bike light review

(photo heavy)
mounted1%20%281%29.JPG
mounted1%20%283%29.JPG
The Spark SB100 is Spark-light twin XM-L2 impressive entry in the world of high power cycle lights.
I am please to see that the Lumen figures given are perfectly achievable and not some of the over inflated figures you see on some lights.
The SB100 was supplied for the review by spark-light.com and 4 x PluzPower 3400mAh 18650 supplied for the review by "multicorepc" from UK ebay.
What's in the box
The box is the typical Chinese mat black presentation box with the manufacturer Silver logo embossed on the top and with a Model number/bar code sticker on the side. It was a little marked presumably due to damaged during the long trip from Shenzhen to Sussex (GB). I was surprised by the size of the box when it arrived 20x16x8cm and I was even more surprised when I flipped the lid open to discover a fairly large cycle light!
The SB100 did look big on Spark-light.com website, but as always you never fully appreciate the size until you physically see item.
Inside the box was the main head unit with an in build quick release clamp, 3 spacers, a battery pack and a very small Chinese and English user manual/sheet.
(please note my review sample unfortunately did not have the listed battery charger, but all Spark SB-100 do come with one)

IMG_0001.JPG


IMG_0003.JPG
Initial overview and feel
As mentioned earlier, the SB100 is a big light, OD 63mm, length 63mm, and with a weight of 353gr for the head and the thickest spacer. The head as the shape of a cylinder with cooling fins on most of its surface, the optic is retained by a ring with some knuckling. The two switches and battery condition light are position on a flat section right on top of the light, the 180 mm battery lead come out from the centre of the rear section and has the plug which appear to have a grove for an O ring but none was present, the connection is tight and has a screw cap for safety . The quick release bracket is bolted to the light and use removable plastic spacers to cope with different handle bar sizes (3 sizes are supplied). Once fitted and the tension adjusted, this is rock solid. The reflector is where the light really differ from other cycle lights! This is made of 4 different reflective areas designed to reflect the light in different ways from the two LED. Something else worth noting is that one LED is facing up wards and the other downwards and both are shielded to stop direct light projection. It looks to me that manufacturer has been inspired by modern cars headlamp technology. The instruction are mentioning the orange switch for "near range illumination" (top LED ) and the green one for "far range illumination" bottom LED, Both switches have glow in the dark caps, nice touch. I instinctively thought of a deep beam for the orange and main beam for the green, but once field tested I found out that they were more to it and the beam was very specific. I will come back to it during the tests. The two LED on my review sample are the XM-L2 in cool white ( neutral white also available but you do loose a little lumens as they are quoted at 550 instead of 600)
IMG_0004.JPG
IMG_0020.JPG
IMG_0005.JPG
IMG_0010.JPG
The battery pack is made of two part: an outer bag 10x5.5x5.5cm with long velcro straps, so this should not be a problem attaching it to your frame or handle bar.
Again the cable is quite short 230 mm, but this was ample to secured to either frame or bar.
IMAG0272.jpg
IMAG0268.jpg
2nd photo a BikeRay Ray III is next to it so you can fully appreciate the size of the SB100
Inside the bag is an aluminum battery pack in a shape of a small barrel. The bag and battery pack are only 154gr empty, once the screw on cap for battery pack was removed, a 4 x18650 battery cell cradle was found.
The removable cradle which is often a weak point in that type of battery pack, appear to be well made and sturdy but the high capacity batteries 69mm are very tight in it.
Older 2400 or 2600 batteries measuring about 67mm are easy to get in and out. The batteries are mounted in parallel keeping the voltage to 4.2v but giving you a variable amperage according to the batteries used.

IMG_0012.JPG
IMG_0014.JPG
Please note the four batteries will have to be identical, preferably from the same manufacturer and have the same amperage and voltage.
IMG_0013.JPG
IMG_0015.JPG
IMG_0016.JPG
IMG_0017.JPG
IMG_0018.JPG
The four outer column are metal and close the circuit from the bottom to the top board, connectors and spring appear to be gold plated , a very well made cradle
charger.jpg
No batteries are included in the kit which will add to the initial cost but on the plus side this will allow you to custom build your battery pack with quality batteries and with the amperage of your choice. On many lights the battery pack is the weak points as some manufacturer do not supply top quality batteries in them, this way you are in control of what goes into it!
A plug in battery pack charger is included with the SB100 but unfortunately was missing from the review sample send. So no real data apart from a photo, so quality and charging time unknown.
Batteries can be removed from the battery pack for charging into a dedicated 18650 cells charger if required. This method would be better for getting balanced cells but is not as convenient as plugging the supplied charger in! Another good point is that you can use the light with 1, 2, 3 or 4 x 18650 batteries of your choice. I have tried the SB100 into one, two batteries and four batteries configuration and this works fine, obviously,
the fewer batteries fitted, the shorter the run time will be.
Cycling with the SB100
Once the battery pack was connected to a fully charge pack, the battery indicator did cycle from RED, BLUE then GREEN within a few seconds. The two switches have a positive feel and the warning light is not too bright and is well recessed so that it does not interfere with your night vision. The quick release clamp need to have its nut fully unscrewed for the front to separate so that you can remove the light from the handle bar. The spacers are made of a hard plastic and are well designed with a small bridge holding the two parts together making this the best spacers I have used so far.
03.jpg
Both beams are quite distinctive with what they refer as the "near range illumination - orange switch" giving you an arc shape band of light by your front wheel and a hot spot/rectangle further away and the "far range illumination - green switch" giving you the more common triangular beam pattern. The two LEDs running on high does give you a very good level of light. As with all cycling lights the maximum useable light will be achieved by correct adjustment of the light angle to suit the speed or terrain you are cycling on. The SB100 has been tested with two AW 2600 mAh batteries during a 1.5h MTB forest ride and with four new PluzPower 3400mAh supplied for the review by "multicorepc" from UK ebay. The two LEDs do provide a very distinctive beam working well if running together. If you look at the drawing above, you can distinctively see the beams shape . The first two beams near to the bike are the "near distance" illumination (orange switch), you can visualize the dark area seen on some of my photos, the "far distance" beam activated by the green switch is the more conventional light beam that we are used to. The auto step down function do work well and on my field tests did activate to achieve good run times. This is certainly a good safety feature and will give you extended runtime but for some, this will be nuisance as you will only be able to get your max lumens for a set time.

beams.jpg
Here in​
IMG_0034O2.JPG

photo showing the distinctive "near distance" beam on high

IMG_0007.JPG
IMG_0008.JPG
The reflector is a combination of smooth, fluted and orange peel areas, you can also see the direction of the two LEDs, pointing up/down and the silver shield right in front​
IMG_0005.JPG


Manufacturer Data
Features
With dual feature reflector provides dual beam pattern
Maximum output up to 1200lm
Reliable and solid bike clamp with cushions for different size of handle bar
IPX 8 waterproof
Runtime over 26hours

Weight
Without battery :500g

Battery indication
Green battery capacity over 75%
Blue battery capacity within 40%~75%
Red battery capacity within 15%~40%
Red flash battery capacity below 15%

4*18650 battery pack
Compatible spare part with SX5 headlamp

Operation
Single click to turn the headlamp on & off.
Hold on button to go through Minimum, Medium 1&Medium 2, Max modes. When desire mode is reached, release to stop brightness ramping and current mode is memorized.
At any mode, quick double click on button to trigger the Super mode. Double click again to return to the previous mode. ***please note this is wrong as the my SB-100 do not have the SUPER MODE, I beleive this is a mistake from Spark as this not appear on the printed datasheet/manual enclosed with the light. the data above is straight from their website ***

Emitter Informationn
SB100-CW Cree XML2 cool white
SB100-NW Cree XML2 neutral white

Output (with one led on)
P/N High Med Low
SB100-CW 600lm 350lm 120lm
SB100-NW 550lm 320lm 110lm
IMANUAL.jpg
Home test and runtime test.
Measurement were taken out of my home made integration sphere, PLEASE NOTE, these are LUX and not LUMENS, the Lumens figures given have been calculated from the manufacturer data.
Both LEDs where on high mode
TIME
in mn
LUXBrightness in
%
Batteries condition light with
4 x PluzPower 3400mAh 18650
677000100.00%by manufacturer data: 1200 lumens
564400095.13%
1063300093.50%
1562200091.88%
2062200091.88%
2562100091.73%
3061900091.43%
3561100090.25%
4061400090.69%
4560200099.50%
5060500089.36%
5560500089.36%
6060500089.36%1 hour
6560600089.51%
7060000088.63% Approx 1063 lumens
7541000060.56%Blue/ both step down to medium
8040800060.27%Approx 723 lumens
8540900060.41%
9041400061.15%
9541500061.30%
10041500061.30%
10540600059.97%
11040400059.68%
11540500059.82%
12040600059.97%2 hours
12540600059.97%
13040600059.97%
13540600059.97%
14040600059.97%
14540600059.97%
15040600059.97%
15540600059.97%
16040100059.23%
16540100059.23%
17040100059.23%
17540100059.23%
18040100059.23%3 hours - Red flashing Intermittant
18540100059.23%
19040100059.23%
19540100059.23%
20039800058.79%
20539800058.79%
21039800058.79%
21538500056.87%
22038000056.13%Approx 673 lumens
22516200023.93%Red constant -both step down to low
23016300024.08%Approx 288 lumens
23516300024.08%
24016300024.08%4 hours
24516100023.78%
25015900023.49%
25515900023.49%
26015900023.49%
26515600023.04%
27015600023.04%
27515600023.04%
28015400022.75%
28515300022.60%
29015300022.60%Approx 271 lumens
29515200022.45%**I stopped the test**
3005 hours

You can see that the light has been designed around run times as the step down maximize this!​
runtime1s.jpg
As you can see, the runtime versus output is pretty steady apart for the two automatic step-downs.
During the home test and while riding I did notice the warning red light flashing very intermittently from about 230mn on. During the rides I have also noticed that the battery light did sometime change colour then back to original colour according to the light power level and number of LED on. I raised the question with Spark as to why: <<What you have noticed on the battery indicator, it is normal, because the build-in monitor chip only inspects the voltage of the battery but not the real capacity of it. The high mode drains out very large current of which makes the battery voltage drop massively. That's why when you turn on two leds at same time, the indicator suddenly may turns to a different colour momentary. To make sure the step-down function works fine and to ensure the rider safety, this feature is linked with battery monitor reading the voltage parameters>> Spark-light
What I also noticed is once the step-down has happen, you can still increase one of the LED to the next higher power level without the light stepping down straight away.
I did a quick measurement during my home test: at 75mn when the SB100 stepped down from 600 lux to 410, (both LED from high to medium level), I increased the " far distance" one to high again without the light stepping down, this did increase the output to 506 lux. No idea for the moment on how long I would have been able to maintain this output for.
Also to be fair, these results where also achieved thank the PLuzPower 18650 batteries
which have the Panasonic NCR18650B 3400mAh Cells Inside.
This is a new brand here in the UK and I am looking forward to carry more run test on a single 18650 flashlight powered by the PluzPower 3400 mAh.
pluzpower.jpg
PluzPower 3400 mAh battery specifications from the seller:


  • Battery Type: Protected 18650 Li-ion
  • Capacity 3400mAh​
  • Cell Inside: Panasonic NCR18650B 3400mAh (GENUINE)
  • Nominal Voltage 3.6V / 3.7V
  • Fully Charge voltage: 4.2V +/-0.05​
  • Discharged Voltage: 2.5V (Recommended 2.75V)
  • PCB Trip Current: 11.5A (Maximum Sudden Discharge Current)​
  • PCB Trip Current: 7A (Approx. Max. Continuous Discharge Current)​
  • Recommended Maximum Continuous Discharge Current 2C 6.8A​
  • Protection Built in Li-ion Rechargeable Battery​
  • Size: 18.80±0.1mm x 69.05±0.1 (Our Measurements)​
  • Weight: 48g (Our Measurements)​


Outdoor beam shots
This is a couple of photos of the high beam on my garage door, first one is the near distance/orange and the second one is the far distance/green.
beams have been set up high so that you can see the shape.
IMG_0042O3.JPG
IMG_0041G3.JPG
Photos of different SB100 settings
Garden shots​
Photos taken with Canon Powershot SX110 IS, 100ASA, f2.8 -2"
IMG_0052O1.JPG
IMG_0053O2.JPG
IMG_0054O3.JPG

near distance/orange switch - from left to right low, medium and high
IMG_0049G1.JPG
IMG_0050G2.JPG
IMG_0051G3.JPG

far distance/green switch - from left to right low, medium and high
IMG_0055G3O3.JPG

Orange and Green switch on high ,​
SB100 head and the camera were adjusted to a slightly different angle and you can see the darker area between the two light spot in the "near distance/orange " settings
IMG_4167O1.JPG
IMG_4168O2.JPG
IMG_4169O3.JPG

near distance/orange switch - from left to right low, medium and high
IMG_4170M1.JPG
IMG_4171M2.JPG
IMG_4172M3.JPG

far distance/green switch - from left to right low, medium and high
Both beams on high again​
IMG_4174O3M3.JPG

Orange and Green switch on high ,​
Distance shots in my back garden, the tree is about 80 to 100 foot away​
IMG_0060O3.JPG
IMG_0059G3.JPG
IMG_0057G3O3.JPG

from left to right: near distance/Orange on high, far distance Green on high, Orange and Green on high​
On a field track​
IMG_0033O1.JPG
IMG_0034O2.JPG
IMG_0035O3.JPG

near distance/orange, low, medium and high
again you can see the darker area between the two light spost in the "near distance/orange" settings
On a
IMG_0030G1.JPG
IMG_0031G2.JPG
IMG_0032G3.JPG

far distance/green low, medium and high
o3g3full.jpg
Both beams on high

To give you an idea of the size of the SB100, this has been placed near two other common cycling lights, a Solarstorm X2 and a Bikeray Ray III

IMG_0025.JPG
IMG_0024.JPG
IMAG0268.jpg

Cycling with the SB100
Apart from a little road use, so far I have done 3 MTB nights rides in Friston Forest with the SB100.
The first one was done with only two AW 2600 mAh flat top batteries, the ride lasted about 1.5 hours and when I got home the battery light was still on blue. The next two rides, I used my new 3400mAh PluzPower batteries, they are the conventional batteries shape and despite being the same length 69mm were a lot easier to remove from the cradle. As mentioned earlier, the Spark battery charger was missing from my review sample and the battery were charged two at a time by the XTAR VP1 charger that I purchased from ebay. I already had a Nitecore I4 charger but wanted something else to monitor the battery voltage while charging as I wanted to be sure that my battery pack was balanced. I was very impressed with the CPF review of the VP1 and the charger is as good as it reads! This was purchased from the same UK ebay seller that supply me the Pluzpower 18650 FOC for the review. Both rides were about 2 hours and the battery warning light after the ride was showing green on both occasions. I found that you could cycle with the two LED on low setting on the wide forest fire-roads, but all the downhill trail did require both to be on the high settings to have a good level of illumination. I did not like cycling with only the "near distant" beam on as this left me with a dark area in between the split beams (see photos), the "far distance" beam was good with a nice spread and a long enough reach. The two combined together does really give you a very uniform wide and far reaching lit area. What I found by using the SB100 is that the two switches, give you to much control on its lighting modes resulting in to many clicking and having to think on which switch to operate! For me the light would have been more user friendly by having just one switch operating both LED for low medium and high as the beam is at its best when both LED are on!
I do understand that in some counties the use of flashing light on roads is forbidden, but a flashing mode should have been included as an hidden mode as this is used by many cyclists worldwide.
The access to the low, medium and high modes by ramping (ie keeping the switch depress) is not again an ideal way of changing light levels for cyclists as
this involves having one of your hands of your handlebars grips for to long, a standard push switch would have been much better.



For/Against
Please note, the For/Against is always down to the reviewer personal preferences and for some, my FOR could be AGAINST and vice versa
For: excellent beam, when both LED on,
Good output,
long runtimes,
secure clamping,
replaceable and upgradeable batteries,
battery pack offering good protection against damage,
possibility of running the SB100 on 1,2,3 or 4 batteries,
step-down safety system,
screw cap on lead plug,
glow in the dark switches.
good quality build and strong battery cradle
Against: no flashing mode,
step down coming in effect a little early, no over ride
heavy and large for the light output 1200 lumens and can not be mounted on a helmet,
running on 4.2v instead of the more common 8.4v (at time of review), so can not interchange battery pack with some other lights.
two separate ramping switches operating LED independently
(charger unknown as not supplied with my sample)
The SB100 from Spark is a high quality cycle light at an affordable price. (around $150)
Its innovative reflector do make a broad and uniform far reaching light beam which is ideal for an handle bar light.
This is a good choice for road use where low or medium will be most often used giving you very long ride times
when couple up with high capacity batteries like the 18650 3400mAh PluzPower batteries.
The dual beam is also excellent for MTB , what is less appealing is the sudden step down which drop your output from around a 1000 lumens
to about 700 lumens after about 75mn.
For many MTB riders this could be half way through their ride!.
I am unsure if the Spark SB100 is available from UK sellers YET but they can be obtained direct from China as the light do not contain any batteries, so it is not subject to current Airmail restrictions.
(Mine arrived within 10 days)
3400 mAh batteries are a good choice for the battery pack and are available from UK sellers at good prices and I am sure will be also available in your country of residence.


The SB100 was kindly supplied by Spark-lighting.com for review and the 4x PluzPower 3400mAh 18650 batteries by Multicorepc from Ebay UK to power the light for the review.

Skyraider59





 
Last edited:

conrincon

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Oct 24, 2013
Messages
23
Hi,

I received this light from HKEQUIPMENT. Tonight I have taken time for testing. I used for a tough 4 hours trip in the forest. Trails, mostly enduro, and 700 meters altitude difference.

My review:
The good:
Light is very reliable and works flawless. i used it for 4 hours nonstop in full power mode.
It is very solid and doesnt move much in fast downhill sections.
The bad:
The power is about half of a "cree bike light" purchased from ebay for one seventh of the price.

Issue:
In the manual and in the description from the website, it says "
At any mode, quick double click on button to trigger the Super mode.". I am used to this mode, since we have several Spark ST6 headlamps with the mode. However, the SB100 does not NOT NOT have this mode. There is no double click possibility.

Can anyone help me?
M




At any mode, quick double click on button to trigger the Super mode.​
IMANUAL.jpg


For/Against
Please note, the For/Against is always down to the reviewer personal preferences and for some, my FOR could be AGAINST and vice versa
For: excellent beam, when both LED on,
Good output,
long runtimes,
secure clamping,
replaceable and upgradeable batteries,
battery pack offering good protection against damage,
possibility of running the SB100 on 1,2,3 or 4 batteries,
step-down safety system,
screw cap on lead plug,
glow in the dark switches.
good quality build and strong battery cradle
Against: no flashing mode,
step down coming in effect a little early, no over ride
heavy and large for the light output 1200 lumens and can not be mounted on a helmet,





 

Skyraider59

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Sep 17, 2009
Messages
178
Location
Sussex, England
Hi,

I received this light from HKEQUIPMENT. Tonight I have taken time for testing. I used for a tough 4 hours trip in the forest. Trails, mostly enduro, and 700 meters altitude difference.

My review:
The good:
Light is very reliable and works flawless. i used it for 4 hours nonstop in full power mode.
It is very solid and doesnt move much in fast downhill sections.
The bad:
The power is about half of a "cree bike light" purchased from ebay for one seventh of the price.

Issue:
In the manual and in the description from the website, it says "
At any mode, quick double click on button to trigger the Super mode.". I am used to this mode, since we have several Spark ST6 headlamps with the mode. However, the SB100 does not NOT NOT have this mode. There is no double click possibility.

Can anyone help me?
M
 

Skyraider59

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Sep 17, 2009
Messages
178
Location
Sussex, England
Hi Conrincon

You are absolutely correct, regarding the Super Mode not been there!
As stated in my review, (At any mode, quick double click on button to trigger the Super mode. Double click again to return to the previous mode) was under the manufacturer data which was copied from their website: see link http://www.spark-light.com/2013/products/SB.html and not what I have experienced!

This was not highlighted during the review as I was working from their printed data and instruction manual included with the light, on the one send (see photo), they do not mention a Super Mode.
Thanks for bringing up the discrepancy between the Spark data sheets advertised on their website and the one send, I will amend the review .
 

CyclingSalmon14

Enlightened
Joined
Feb 10, 2014
Messages
944
OMG - That thing is huge, at least no heat worrys! Not something Id want on a road bike lol, but seems ok for MTB, Im enjoying my BC30 at the moment =) Not been to friston for a few mounth's, really should go more often, as I do love it, just need a much better bike XD. Hope you are doing well Skyrider.
 

Skyraider59

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Sep 17, 2009
Messages
178
Location
Sussex, England
OMG - That thing is huge, at least no heat worrys! Not something Id want on a road bike lol, but seems ok for MTB, Im enjoying my BC30 at the moment =) Not been to friston for a few mounth's, really should go more often, as I do love it, just need a much better bike XD. Hope you are doing well Skyrider.

Will be there this Friday with my BC30 as well :) Hope to see you?
 
Top