AirBike SSCP7 Everlight

[julesb]

I received my Airbike EverlightSSC P7 headlight through the post today, seven days after purchase.

The Everlight is a Korean made light available from Airbike.kr and is also marketed on EBAY. The manufacturer claims the following specification, cut and paste from the listing:

1.SSC P7 Led light with 3 cells Li-Ion Batteries
2.Color : Black, Blue, Gold, Red
3.Weight : 398g( Light body, bracket and battery )
4. Mode : 4 steps( Low[375lumens] => Normal => Flash => High[670lumens] )
5.Burnning Time : High mode( 670lumens, 3 hours ), Low mode( 375lumens, 5 hours )
6.Batteries : Li-Ion batteries with 3 Cells
7.Charging Time : 4.5 hours
8.Charger : 100Volts ~ 240Volts
9.Bracket : for 25.4mm & 31.8mm


The physical appearance of the light is smart, and its small run CNC origin is obvious - more "Paul's" than "Shimano". The anodising is even coloured and the milling has no burrs.

The light is controlled by a small rocker switch on the rear:

It is fitted with a deep smooth reflector of about 37mm diameter. The emitter is slightly off centre.

When switched on and off the light Cycles (oops) through the following modes: High Low Medium Flash. It appears always to cycle to the next mode irrespective of how long it is left off or how briefly it is switched on.

The clamp allow for mounting on a wide range of bars and appears secure. It is a little shabby in appearance compared to the lamp body and bezel.

The unit is sealed with a single o ring at the lens. There is no seal on the switch or bezel thread although an external o ring shields the join between the bezel and the lamp body.

First impressions of the beam indoors were that it was a little ringy and that you could see the four dies of the emitter within the pattern. In the outside world this is not obvious and I do not think one would notice on a bike. The beam is not tightly focussed and had far less of a hot spot than my P7 MRV. Beamshots will follow. A ceiling bouce test suggest that the output on high is similar to my direct drive MRV P7 with fresh batteries.

The battery pack is a very tidy bundle apparently composed of three 18650 cells in parallel. I do not know if it has a protection circuit. a 4.2v smart charger is included. I have not yet tested the battery life.

 

[julesb]

AirBike SSCP7 Everlight - beamshots

Here are shots of the Everlight and for comparison my P7MRV, a 3x SSCP4 Maglite, a Dereelight DI Q% on max and a Wolf Eyes Q5 D26. All shots are taken at 4 seconds, F6.3 ISO 640, with the torches held above and to the left of the camera, directed at the willow tree behind the hen house. The distance to the tree is about 100 feet. My overall impression is of a very MTB friendly beam.

First the Everlight on high:

Next the MRV P7:

Now the Maglite. It has three SSCP4 each driven at 1A with IMS20 reflectors. Lovely beam isn't it?

Now the dereelight:

And the wolf eyes:

This is the Everlight on medium:

And the Everlight on low:

The flashing mode is of similar brightness to low mode, flashing briefly once a second.

 

[greenLED]

Re: AirBike SSCP7 Everlight - beamshots

That looks promising. Linky to the product page, please?

 

[julesb]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/New-Airbike-l...hash=item200250555296&_trksid=p3286.m63.l1177

Also:

http://www.airbike.co.kr

 

[luc]

Thanks a lot for the demonstration !!!
pretty impressive

 

[Zero_Enigma]

Please take a photo with all the lights on please! This is just for :twothumbs:naughty: effect/reason.

 

[greenLED]

:thanks: Julesb!

 

[LEDAdd1ct]

Thank you for the little writeup and photos!

 

[kland1234]

Any idea or indication if it is waterproof?

Thanks
kbb

 

[julesb]

Any idea or indication if it is waterproof?

Time will tell. It certainly would not survive immersion. It looks like it will survive wet riding.

Jules

 

[Phaethon]

Thanks a lot julesb!!!!!
Is it possible to measure the led draw in amperes, on each mode? That would make a full review. I didn't quite understood if it has a battery case where you can easily swap the cells , or it's a sealed block.

 

[TONY M]

Thanks for beamshots and review! It seems decent enough.

 

[julesb]

I can't see a way to measure the current, unfortunately, as the battery block is sealed and the connector does not lend itself to being tapped.

 

[JB01245]

Can you take a picture of the battery pack? It looks intriguing.

 

[julesb]

Here is the battery:

I have removed the original mounting hardware from the lamp body and sealed it with screws (and threadseal):

Then I mounted it using a twofish lockblock. This uses velcro instead of a bolt so it is quicker to swap from bike to bike.

 

[HEY HEY ITS HENDO]

Hey, nice work jules, Great pics!:thumbsup:
hmm, shame the strobe is a bit slow
...... can`t wait till you open it up

 

[chris_m]

Looks pretty good for a commercial bike light at that price. Shame about the rubbish UI - who want's to cycle through 3 modes to get from low to high using a toggle switch (with 3 off states in between)?

 

[Ducaticorse]

julesb, thanks much for the posts, writeup and beamshots. Very nice! Seems that this light solidly sets a new pricepoint for this type of output level. Looks like there are some work-able issues that could be addressed, but it seems to blow most options out of the water from a $$/output perspective.

It looks like there's room to add a small momentary switch/button which might make it easier to cycle thru the levels on the fly. Wire it up to pass current in the released position, and break circuit when pressed. Should be able to "tap" thru the levels with this kind of mod, it would seem....

Although it already looks like a pretty flood-y beam, I wonder if stippling/sputtering the reflector would smooth it out even more - nice for a bar light.

Any in-use riding impressions yet? Do you plan to use it alone or with a headlamp?

 

[julesb]

Firt impressions riding are that the beam pattern is fine, wide enought not to need a headlamp. The throw is not as good as my old L+M ARC (which I sold a couple of years ago thinking it would soon be obsolescent), it is very similar to my mate's NiteRider HID. In use one rarely got the hot spot of the ARC exactly where it was needed, so in the real world this seems as good, but lighter and cheaper. The UI will be improved by a change of switch either to a reverse clicky or the addition of a push to break button in series.

I think stippling, or better still an OP reflector, would be a minor aesthetic improvement...but I will not be doing this. It's not like stippling a maglite where if one messes up one can just buy another reflector, and I am not confident of getting it perfect.

 

[LEDAdd1ct]

In the photos, it appears to be almost all flood. There doesn't seem to be much of a "hotspot" on your willow tree.

In reality, does this throw enough for a road bike light, or, is it really only good for mountain biking?