Tiablo A9 as bike light?

[brh]

Hello all!

First, I must say that I've lurked here for quite a while and learned a lot, made some well-informed purchasing decisions, so I must thank you all.

Second, I'm about to get into cycling again, after a few-year break. The world of cycling lights has changed dramatically, reminding me of when I switched from my Maglite collection to a SureFire E1B.

So I think I've made one decision, for now at least, to go the flashlight rather than bike light route. At first I thought something floody would be good, but the consensus seems to be something throwy. And not so spilly as to spill into drivers' eyes.

So I had originally thought of some kind of Malkoff creation, but I'm leaning toward a Tiablo A9 with the aspherical head. I figure I'll get good throw, be able to focus it depending on my needs, though I'm not sure how the spill will affect drivers. Will orange peel vs smooth make a difference in that regard?

Any opinions? I know people love the Tiablo, but would it make a good bike light? This is going to be on a small (folding) bike for short commute/utility purposes.

Appreciate any help!
Brian

 

[1 what]

Hi BRH and welcome to CPF.
I don't know if the A9 would be much good especially with an aspheric since you need to see the road around your front wheel as well as have some throw.
In case you're wondering I ride in the dark (both on and off road) at least every 2nd day and have used and made multiple bike lights in the past. For on road use you don't need that much throw.
No doubt others will disagree with me on this but that's the fun of CPF!

 

[brh]

Thanks for the response!
Kind of a disappointment - I'd love a good excuse to grab one of those lights! ;)
I guess my thought re: aspheric was that I could play with the focus enough to get good coverage…*But I guess that's not as plausible as I'd hoped.

I had thought that from my reading of other topics, throw was the quality to look for in a bike light…*To get the beam down the road a bit… Something floodier originally seemed more practical to me, but doesn't seem to be the consensus - too much light 'lost' in the spread, or just that you don't need a terribly wide beam…?

Anyway, if you have any wisdom on what to look for in a bike light, I'd appreciate it. I've seen recommendations on (some) specific lights, but not a more general-purpose 'these are the qualities!' sort of checklist or theory…

Thanks again!
Brian

 

[brh]

I have a new idea…*The Tiablo, much as I want it anyway, doesn't seem ideal…*I thought with the focusable aspheric, I could defocus it enough to get a bit floodier… I still like the idea of having some adjustment - I like to travel light, and the light will stay in my bag, on my person unless it happens to get dark and I need it as a bike light. So this could be doing double duty…*

I'm wondering about the Romisen RC-29, now… So this is another aspheric…*I've seen some of the beam shots, and it seems to go floodier/more practical than the Tiablo aspheric…*Anyone think this is a possibility? I know some people use Romisens as bike lights, but never seen mention of this specific model… Would it present itself well on the road?

Thanks again,
Brian

 

[generallobster]

My A9 with aspheric lens just came today. It is probably not a good bike light. At 10 ft it thows a 5 inch square of focused hot light with little to no spill. Without the aspherical lens it might work just as well as any other 18650 light like the m20, jetbeams or tk11.

 

[BirdofPrey]

Well, as you may have guess, the Tiablo with ashperic is a bad idea for a bike light. The Tiablo A8/9 are actually both bad for this regardless of orange peel or smooth reflector as well.

My suggestion would be to get a Zebralight. Bright enough to see ahead of the bike as far as you need to unless you are a true speed demon on the bike.

Since the light is unfocused, it will have little effect on car drivers (doesn't bother me much when approaching someone with the light on their head) but they WILL be able to see you which is not a bad thing.

There are other lights out there that would do the job as well. If I can figure out how to mount my Eagletac M2C4 on my bars and get it to stay aimed properly and not jiggle around, I'd be mounting it. Since it has a bright spot with a lot of bright spill, it would be great. With multi-power levels I'd be in good shape too depending on how much ambient light there is. If its dark where I'm at, I can put it on low. If ambient light is making it hard to see, I can ramp up the power.

Lots of options. The hard part is choosing which way to go.

 

[1 what]

Just found an old post of mine re using a Jet3Pro as a bike light.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=199696
You could certainly use one without the modified end cap.
The throw/spill was reasonable for bike use.

 

[heckboy]

I use a Raidfire Spear for a headlight on my bikes that do not have permanently mounted generator lights. It is bright as all get-out and throws way down the road. It also has some spill which is sufficient up close, although frankly, I am typically looking 20-40 yards ahead not at my front tire.

Later,
HB

 

[Tatjanamagic]

I have a new idea…*The Tiablo, much as I want it anyway, doesn't seem ideal…*I thought with the focusable aspheric, I could defocus it enough to get a bit floodier… I still like the idea of having some adjustment - I like to travel light, and the light will stay in my bag, on my person unless it happens to get dark and I need it as a bike light. So this could be doing double duty…*

I'm wondering about the Romisen RC-29, now… So this is another aspheric…*I've seen some of the beam shots, and it seems to go floodier/more practical than the Tiablo aspheric…*Anyone think this is a possibility? I know some people use Romisens as bike lights, but never seen mention of this specific model… Would it present itself well on the road?

Thanks again,
Brian

Since I have both of them I reccomend Romisen RC-29. It runs on 1 × AA cell but man it can throw for small flashlight...

But not only throw. U can focus it like ledlensers on desired level.

Much better choice than tiablo a9 with aspheric lenses because it is extreme flashlight for lighting objects on far distancec from 80 - 250 meters

On shorter distances beam is blinding bright. So no chance of driving bike if U R getting blinded...

Buy Romisen RC 29 for few $, and for that money U will get an awesome flashlight...

 

[brh]

Excellent, thanks everyone! I guess I'll grab the Romisen…*It's cheap, so worst-case scenario, I just have another flashlight :)

Is the output on the Romisen RC-29 regulated (I'll be using NiMH cells, with some Lithium primaries on-hand just in case…)?

I actually hadn't noticed the RC-C6 before, which seems to use the same optic, but 1xCR123 instead of the 1xAA… I'd probably prefer this, actually, and eventually I'll invest in an RCR charger…*I assume the output is the same or better than the 1xAA RC-29…?

Anyhow, one of these lights will like be the way I go… Thanks again for the advice! I just picked up the bike so I'm pretty excited… Lot of stuff I need to get for it, light is fairly high priority though if for no other reason than I like gadgets :naughty:

Brian