Recommendation for backup bike light?

[markus_i]

Hi everybody,

I need one (or a couple - my wife also occasionally rides at night) backup light for on-road night bike rides (well, you'd probably call it commutes ;-) ).
It needs to be cheap, reliable and reasonably bright - I have a good triple Luxeon generator driven light setup, so I really need the battery lights only as backup or for the slow uphill struggle.

I've been looking at the 18650 or AA driven Cree lights from dx and Kai - and I'm a bit overwhelmed from the choice. What I need:
- runtime >90 minutes at >650 mA through the LED
- smooth beam (not necessarily far throwing)
- all-weather proof (I'm not going to use them as dive lights, but they'll have to work in a 90 minute rainstorm)

So what would you recommend - a single of the 18650 lights (which one?), a pair of the 1AA dx/kai special lights (sku 1892) or a single 2AA light? AA would have the advantage that I wouldn't need new batteries as well, self-discharge is not an issue for my use.

Bye
Markus

 

[barkingmad]

The Princeton Tec EOS is available as a bike version (usually a headlamp) - it comes with a 1W LED as standard and it's easy to mod with a 3W Seoul for a lot more light.

Costs about $32 - another $7 for the Seoul star emitter and 5 minutes time.

It's a nice light - waterproof / resistant - regulated circuit and runs off simple AAA's (rechargeable NiMH recommended or alkaline primaries).

 

[markus_i]

Thanks for the tip - but not quite what I wanted. Maybe I should clarify:

- I don't want to mod (or rather, I don't have the time... even a 5-Minute job usually takes ~2 hours - which at the moment I'd rather spend e.g. on laying a floor in our new house)
- I'm limited to AA (sufficient supply on hand) or 18650 (charger on hand, price/performance acceptable - 14500 would be too expensive to get a sufficient capacity)
- price is an issue. If I have to go above ~25$ per bike, I'd rather use a dedicated low-cost LED (Luxeon) bike light (worse performance, but even less work) or even one of those 12...53 LED cluster lights (probably unreliable, but cheap. In fact - does anyone have an idea about the runtime of that 10$ 53 LED cluster light at full power?)

Bye
Markus

 

[Buck91]

Well, I've been using one of the cheap 1 watt headlamps off ebay as a bike light. I just zip tie it to the handle bars and go; works alright. Now I also have a 1 watt dorcy headlamp and a 2.4 watt (or so) Trek halogen I'd like ot up grade toLED, but i'm not sure what the simplest most effective route is for that. My point is simply that even a POS 1 watt LED is going to put out plenty of light for city commuting.

 

[FASTCAR]

I use on my bikes a Wolf Eyes 6a /cree lasts 3+ hours 130 Lumens.
I secure it to the bars with 2 hose clamps in a figure 8.
uses a single 168a ( 18650)

I use a full time diffuser on it. It lights up curb to curb BRIGHT from the bike to out about 100' like a car lowbeam.Beam is a creamy smooth artifact and hotspot free PURE even flood.


I have used and tested 30+ bike lights...this is what I kept and use.

 

[cy]

simply use what ever standard light you already have and trust.

key is to purchase a Twofish mounting block. contact Fenix store aka foursevens to purchase.

what I use to backup my ARC HID/ HID Storm is Surefire U2 mounted with a Twofish block.
U2 is early version, fits 18650 perfect.

 

[socalrunner]

If you are going to stick with aa, I would say L1d or L2d Fenix light. With decent nimh, they will both give you 90+ minutes of runtime. I know they are a little over your 25.00 budget..

If $$$ is the biggest concern you have many choices from Kai, but you can get a fenix fast..

 

[roverjohn]

Just buy a Cree'd Elly for $10.49 and one of his $0.99 bike light mounts. My factory made Cree'd Elly runs brightly for about 180 minutes on a 2600mAh NiMH and there is still a ton of light after that. While I love the 6x and 10x Cree bike lights I ride on road so don't need aircraft landing lights.
John....

 

[cy]

the only after market bike mount that I've ever seen or heard of being any good is Twofish cycloblocks.

the only one's better are bike light specific mounts, that come one bike lights.

 

[LightScene]

The Ultrafire C5 (2xAA, or 1xCR123/RCR123) from kaidomain or dealextreme works very well. It's just about as bright as any other Cree on 2xAA NiMh. I mount it on he handlebar using hair bands.

 

[Zefiryn]

This is what i use :



More than enough to ride in darkness. Tryed many times.

Ultrafire 502B, i use it alternativly with two level switch and standart module or 5-mode 150lm module. both work suberb.

 

[mpk]

I use a full time diffuser on it. It lights up curb to curb BRIGHT from the bike to out about 100' like a car lowbeam.Beam is a creamy smooth artifact and hotspot free PURE even flood.

Is the diffuser from the manufacturer, or something you did on your own?

Never mind. Found the answer to my question in a different thread

 

[AndyTiedye]

Added to Bike Light Thread Links

 

[z96Cobra]

Assuming a headlamp is OK, you need to check out the Garrity 1 Watt headlamp (its even 2xAA). It has a Lux1 for the main beam (it has High, Med., and Low) and you also get 3 5mm LEDs that can be turned on (high, med., low) with or without the mainbeam. Then you also have 2 red 5mm in the front and 2 more red LEDs in the rear that are either steady on or flashing. The light is water resistant, no problem with rain from the looks of mine. Here is the info from their site...

"You won't find a headlamp with as many features at twice the price! This pivoting 1 Watt has an additional 7 LED's for multiple uses. The primary 1 Watt throws a 100 ft. beam. The 3 white secondary LED's provide task lighting, and operate individually, or as one unit.

The 4 red LED's located on the sides and at the rear of the battery pack are an added safety feature so you can see and be seen.

Three 2AA Duracell alkaline batteries are located in a water-resistant rear battery pack, which balances the weight -- just 2.7 oz. on your forehead.

Multiple modes for the 1 Watt provide over 50 hours of continuous light at 100%, increasing to more than 80 hours at 50% power. "

I bought mine @ WalMart for ~$18 but I don't know if you have access to WalMart in Germany. You can see it here... or here...

The first link is from walmart.com and has some different pics of the light, and the 2nd link is from garritylites.com. I love mine and take it fishing all the time.

Roger

On Edit: Where it says "Three 2AA Duracell..." it is actually 3 X AA cells. They just worded it weird. Also, most of the head is rubber coated including the switches on top of the head. Where the wire enters the head it goes through a rubber grommet which also has silicone on the inside. The battery pack has a very secure latch with an O-ring to keep the water out, and the wire also enters through a rubber grommet.