bicycle light

[houndlegs]

hello everyone
Apologies if this has been asked a million times before but i`m new to this and i want some advice about an LED flashlight to use for mountain biking in the dark.
I`ve been looking at 900 lumen torches on DX but to be honest i`m finding it all a bit mind boggling, plus they seem to be a bit hit and miss with customer satisfaction ,from what i can see.
I`d be interested to hear from anyone who has a bike set up and what they think of it, or just from anyone who can give me some advice.
I seem to be going down the road of 18650 batteries(i`m not sure why though, so if anyone wants to educate me on batteries please do )
Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance
Phil

 

[HKJ]

We have a bicycle forum here, your will probably get more answers there:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=86

 

[houndlegs]

sorry mate , i didnt see the bicycle forum bit.thanks for pointing me in right direction

 

[B@rt]

I'll move it there for you.

 

[RGB_LED]

hello everyone
Apologies if this has been asked a million times before but i`m new to this and i want some advice about an LED flashlight to use for mountain biking in the dark.
I`ve been looking at 900 lumen torches on DX but to be honest i`m finding it all a bit mind boggling, plus they seem to be a bit hit and miss with customer satisfaction ,from what i can see.
I`d be interested to hear from anyone who has a bike set up and what they think of it, or just from anyone who can give me some advice.
I seem to be going down the road of 18650 batteries(i`m not sure why though, so if anyone wants to educate me on batteries please do )
Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance
Phil

Phil, :welcome:! As a fellow night-time off-road mtb'er, I still find it difficult to decide on a setup for night riding. I've currently use 2 handle-bar mounted Q5 lights for general illumination and a 3xSSC P4 helmet-mounted light for twisty singletrack. Read the links in this thread and you'll probably get some ideas as to what would make a good setup for you.

There are many ideas here for bike light setups from using two Fenix L2D's, Cree P7 lights to custom-built lights.

So... the Cree P7 lights from DX are definitely a cheap and easy way to get started but a few things to note; it will not be 900 lm, from what I have read, it would be between 500-700lm and, in its stock form of using 1x18650, you will get only about 1 hour of light with diminishing output throughout that 1hr period. Still the P7 and MCE based lights show a lot of promise for night riding. For info about Li-Ion 18650's, read MD's thread here; basically, 18650's provide quite a lot of runtime for it's size, for example, many lights that use the 18650 can run for 2-3 hrs at max output, for example, Fenix TK11, JetBeam + other 18650 light review. Also, bike light makers (ie. L&M, NR, etc) make their battery packs from 18650's combined to make-up the voltage required for their lights.

Will you be riding mix of single-track / double-track? How long of ride do you usually go for? 1hr? 2hrs? 24-hr races? Give us a better idea of what you'll use the light for and I'm sure that there will be some great suggestions.

Good luck with your search.

 

[houndlegs]

hi again
I would be using the lights for double track , mountain paths and bacic cross country (nothing technical at all) and i`d be looking at about 3 hours maximum.
thanks again
Phil

 

[1 what]

Hi Houndlegs. I'm using a Q5 Jet3Pro. See:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=199696

Having said that over Summer I plan to make a 4x18650/P7 unit...not that I really need it...I just plan to make it!

 

[RGB_LED]

houndlegs, do you have a budget? That will help us with the recommendations as we wouldn't want to break your bank...

 

[houndlegs]

budget of £100 (ish)

cheers
Phil

 

[bitt3n]

Hi Houndlegs. I'm using a Q5 Jet3Pro. See:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=199696

Having said that over Summer I plan to make a 4x18650/P7 unit...not that I really need it...I just plan to make it!

how would you make one of those? that sounds perfect for me, reasonably cheap 3+ hours runtime.. of course I have no experience with this kind of thing (although I do have a soldering iron kicking around somewhere).