Specialized Flux Expert/Elite

[HRHPrinceCharles]

Specialized have a technical bulletin about the rattle here:

http://service.specialized.com/collateral/ownersguide/new/assets/pdf/0000048569.pdf

 

[Pablo0975]

They stole my idea!!!!

I have copyrights! Now they will know what it feels like to be a "Café Roubaix"!

The lawyers have been un-muzzled and are going in!

 

[Marcturus]

The world's first true HYBRID bicycle lamp -- thanks to Lithium-Oil technology!

Trick question to rocket scientists at Specialized: Should we consider the problem "closed" now? Or would this sound too much like 1986, Morton Thiokol?

 

[znomit]

You have to oil the light every 50 hrs? What? Really? :thumbsdow

 

[SBCTech]

Hello,

My name is Todd Anderson and I'm a Rider Experience Rep at Specialized Bicycle Components that introduced the Flux lights this season. I wanted to jump in and reply to this thread about lights and specifically the rattling issue some people have reported with the mount. We spotted this problem in the first production batch. The mount needs a very small amount of play to properly lock and release but we found in production this amount of play had increased to the point that on some lights it could make noise while riding.

The fix for this is an additional O-ring on the mount which reduces the movement from lock to lock as well as creates a damping effect between the light body and clamp that resists the rotation that can cause rattling. You can find a technical bulletin on our site that illustrates the fix: http://service.specialized.com/collateral/ownersguide/new/assets/pdf/0000048569.pdf

If you are experiencing this problem or have any questions related to Specialized Bicycle products please contact your local Specialized dealer or you can contact us directly at [email protected] or by phone @ (877) 808-8154.

 

[abvgdee]

Would any Expert owner volunteer to make good wall (ceiling) beamshots?

I got recently a very good match between light distribution from my ceiling beamshots and from goniometer measurements for Philips Saferide 80. More info here. Briefly, photos can be a pretty accurate method, and it's accessible for anyone.

It would be sweet to see a 3D-view colored log comparison SR80 vs. Expert (like this one for SR80).

I can write detailed instructions how to make beamshots (it is not trivial) if there's a volunteer. My requirement is that the raw photos must be publicly available. I can do the rest of the processing if octave/matlab is too difficult.

 

[PaulRivers]

Would any Expert owner volunteer to make good wall (ceiling) beamshots?

You can find something closer to that in this review on this site:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...Flux-Expert-Bicycle-Headlight-Photo-Intensive

 

[angerdan]

Unfortunately there's an recall for all Specialized Flux/Stix lights (front&rear).
specialized.com/safety-notices
Lights - Rider Notice.pdf
cpsc.gov/en/Recalls/2016/Specialized-Bicycle-Components-Recalls-Headlights-and-Taillights/

In German:
specialized.com/de/de/safety-notices
Lights - Rider Notice_ger.pdf

Positive:
All Flux taillights will be replaced, so everybody will get the new 2015 version with 110lm

 

[Steve K]

thanks for the info on the recall. I don't own one, but it's good to know that Specialized is a responsible company and replacing these lights.

It did seem like Specialized had a well made light and that they did a decent amount of validation testing. I wonder what was failing or not working correctly?

 

[angerdan]

CPSC says "the firm has received four reports of Flux headlights or taillights overheating and two reports of Stix headlights expanding and bursting. No injuries have been reported."
The taillights will be replaced and the frontlight just receive an firmware update.
See details in my links.

I guess there could be something with the battery.

 

[Steve K]

It might just be a random batch of batteries with some flaws. In a previous job dealing with power systems for satellites, we got a bad batch of cells from our long-time supplier. These were cells that get lots and lots of attention during manufacturing, and we did a lot of testing too. Still, the problem only showed up after the satellite was launched.

So... it's not impossible that Specialized might have gotten a few bad ones too.

Still, I'd love to know if they had a problem with the charging circuit or something like that. Lots of ways for things to go bad, and if you work with electronics long enough, you'll see more of them than you wanted to.

 

[angerdan]

We Test Lights | Flux Expert Test and Review

Specialized Flux Expert has measured 610lm:
wetestlights.com/test.php?l=175&n=Flux%20Expert

But some voices stated that only the luminous flux at a relative degree is counted. So the light seems to be better than the measurement shows.