Help - very confused!

[Paul-Michel]

At the moment I have been running Cateye 5310 on my bike and I dont find them bright enough.

I would really like a head torch, of the p7 variety, but I am so confused...

I use Ansmann batteries and want to carry on, as I have a good charger etc for them too. WHat P7 can I buy that is good value and can use standard rechargeable batteries?

Thanks

 

[yellow]

That light is of the usual kind of "real bike lights", that ppl like to buy, thinking that such one, made for biking, must be good.
in reality such a light is junk, every light addict here knows that, nothing to wonder.

When You absolutely want to use Your AA rechargeables (which You by the way could dump also, they are also not too good), then get a Fenix LD20, or a similar light, and clamp that to Your bars.
You, as well as anyone else seeing it, will be BLOWN AWAY.


When You really want even more light with a P7 / MC-E light, only the ones driven by 18650 Li-Ion cells would make sense, even when a single 18650 P7 light is not good (my personal view, of course)

When You absolutely want a bright P7 bike light, go to www.dealextreme.com and get their Bike light,
if You can live with a much much much much smaller light, offering much much less output - but still extremely more than that Cateye - go for the 2*AA LD20.


PS: by now there is only one Quad-led light that runs on AAs: the Fenix TK40.
Read in here for its con's and pro's, imho not suited for bike.

 

[Paul-Michel]

Why are AA not too good?

What I want is a compromise betwee performance and economy; I would rather not be charging it all the time, everyday, but equally am not satisfied by these Cat eyes lights at all....

Thanks,

Paul

 

[yellow]

AAs live mainly from their charger!
If the charger is crap, even the best cells give poor results.
... so it is expensive to "start" with Ni-Mh, because of the electronics. If someone already has a good charger, just get some LSD cells and be glad.

but then there is the size thing.
To make it easy, one could consider lights with 2*AA, 2*CR123 and 1*18650 as being identical,
* with the 2*AA being longer,
* the 2*CR123 running on the most expensive batteries and
* the 1*18650 as the one with the most power in the package.

Now, the charger for Li-Ion is very cheap, cells are ok in price, give the most power, are safe (buy protected cells!), have almost no problem with wide range of temperature and keep their charge very long.

... the 1*18650 package is the best, therefore that view
(which might be a very personal one)

 

[ryball]

If you really need to stick to AA for whatever reason:

http://www.nashbar.com/bikes/Product_10053_10052_162531_-1
http://ecom1.planetbike.com/3045.html

There are tons of better options out there, though.

 

[Paul-Michel]

Ok, great, you have convinced me!

I do have a good AA charger, though, Maha Energy and only use excellent Nimh batteries like Ansmann Max-e.

The standard P7 light I read about that used to be recommended needed recharging after 1 hour of use! Is that still the same now? In an ideal world, I'd like to get 10 hours out of it so I only have to recharge once at the weekend after a week full of morning commutes.

But whatever happens, 18650 is the one to go for right?

 

[yellow]

the P7 is four led in one package, so needs the POWER of four led
(to give the output of roughly three, but thats too much ...)
sure it is bright.
To adress what is meant, we name the led by their names, but that might be confusing.
Easier is: P7/MC-E are four led in one led package = "quad-led".
"Normal" led P4/XR-E/XP-G/Rebel/Luxeon, ..., could also be named "single-die" led, they feature "only" one emitter plate inside them.


If a single-die led light is enough for You, then a 1*18650 light gives 2 hours of full blast light.
(for me it is enough, for full trail riding (but I know most of them, go a tiny bit too quick for the light from the single die and am lucky so far, or have someone riding in front of me)).

Difficult to give advice, as one can live with just a single die, the other needs a P7 (= quad led), or even two of them, and does not care for the more power needed ...
As typed, I like my small single-die and can also use it for hiking, caveing, anything a small light is of use.


The comparison between a fully driven P7 and a single-die might be similar than single-die to that Cateye
(but I think the difference between P7 <-> normal led is much smaller, than normal led to Cateye. That Cateye will be smoked anyway).
So:
* the Cateye is only a bit too dim AND You are a hiker (--> small light) AND You want a good light for all around use:
--> something like a Jetbeam Jet III Pro Ultra, a Shiningbeam L-mini II, Fenix TK11, ...
* You want much more light than a single die and dont mind that at 30 mins the output is no longer much brighter and the runtime is 1 hour max:
--> some 1*18650 P7 cheapo
* You want a bright bike-light and dont mind a deal:
--> Dealextreme Bike light with P7

 

[Paul-Michel]

HA-III SSC P7-C - Is this the one on deal extreme?

Why do you word it 'if you dont have a problem with deal extreme' - is the build quality not brilliant?

The Shingbeam doesnt even appear on their website?? And the Fenix looks better to me than the Jet - slightly brighter and runs longer... what do you reckon?

 

[Paul-Michel]

Also, whats wrong with the TK40? Uses AA looks very powerful....

Why is AA so much worse I dont get it

 

[Paul-Michel]

Can anybody help with this last question?

Sorry for the bother!

Thanks

 

[PCC]

Can anybody help with this last question?

Sorry for the bother!

Thanks

AAs live mainly from their charger!
If the charger is crap, even the best cells give poor results.
... so it is expensive to "start" with Ni-Mh, because of the electronics. If someone already has a good charger, just get some LSD cells and be glad.

but then there is the size thing.
To make it easy, one could consider lights with 2*AA, 2*CR123 and 1*18650 as being identical,
* with the 2*AA being longer,
* the 2*CR123 running on the most expensive batteries and
* the 1*18650 as the one with the most power in the package.

Now, the charger for Li-Ion is very cheap, cells are ok in price, give the most power, are safe (buy protected cells!), have almost no problem with wide range of temperature and keep their charge very long.

... the 1*18650 package is the best, therefore that view
(which might be a very personal one)

Yellow's answer pretty much sums it up. You get a much higher energy density from a Li-Ion cell than from the equivalent size NiMH cell. That is even more true when comparing Li-Ion to alkaline.

 

[yellow]

And the Fenix looks better to me than the Jet - slightly brighter and runs longer... what do you reckon?

is that TK40 vs. M1X? As I have not read it yet.

I would mean: everything the same, no matter what typed on the descirptions,
but with the TK40 You have to change 8 cells when the light is done, so You have to bring at least 16!
M1X makes 4 pc. 18650 for the same runtime. Size and pocketability (weight) is also a win.
... I simply do not like many, tiny cells floating around.
(PS: my expensive charger can do 8 cells at once, how would You plan to charge 16 (or any other multiple of 8) cells? That might take days on 4 cell chargers.)

 

[Paul-Michel]

Right OK Thanks. I understand now.

The M1X looks great but I'd like one a bit smaller and possibly with less of a spot light type beam.

It is also a bit more expensive than I hoped. What is the JetBeam equivilent of the TK11?

 

[amigafan2003]

The M1X looks great but I'd like one a bit smaller and possibly with less of a spot light type beam.

Have a look at the MG PLI from Shining Beam.