Flashlight for bicycle commuting - Strion?

JackJ

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Dec 28, 2005
Messages
157
I commute 26 miles round trip by bike twice a week, and at least one direction is in total darkness. I purchased a NightHawk Raptor 10w light as a primary, and it works adequately, but the lead acid battery is heavy, and installing/removing the light is more involved than I'd like. (I don't always ride the same bike, and I don't want to have the extra stuff on the bike during daytime weekend rides.) I may eventually replace the NightHawk battery with Li-Ion, but I'd prefer to get a simpler, more versatile light.

I could simply get a better bike-specific light, but the idea of a regular flashlight that could be used for other purposes has great appeal. I already have velcro/rubber mounts for a handlebar installation. My criteria are that it should be fairly small and light (e.g., 8 inches, 8 oz.), have a minimum of 60 mins. runtime, use rechargeable batteries, have an appropriate beam pattern, and cost < $100. Oh yeah, it's got to be bright, too!

My ideal light would use AA NiMH cells, since I have a couple of chargers (one for work, one for home) and be LED, so there'd be no bulb failure worries. The Streamlight ProPoly Luxeon looks to be a value leader here, but I'm worried about the beam pattern being too tight, and the overall brightness being inadequate. What else is really bright, running on AAs?

The Streamlight Strion has also caught my eye. It's not LED, and I'd prefer a non-proprietary battery, but it's got the right form factor, and there's no complaint about brightness. Runtime is just adequate for me--I'd need two chargers. My big question about this model is the beam. When focused, it looks like it's too tight, but it's advertised as adustable. However, someone in another thread said rotating the bezel might pull out the bulb, since there's apparently a gasket of some sort between the bulb and reflector.

Can anyone tell me how well the adjustable beam works on the Strion? Flashlightreviews says, "Although the reflector is textured, the predictable 'holes and rings' do appear once the light is unfocused past a certain point, however they are not as bad as would occur if the reflector were smooth."
That sounds acceptable to me, but I'd like to hear more.

Thanks!
Jack
 

greenLED

Flashaholic
Joined
Mar 26, 2004
Messages
13,263
Location
La Tiquicia
Not too familiar with the Strion, but I've been using a Pila GL3R for my (short) rides. I charge the Pila batts about once every week.

I used my SF U2 last night, and it's a vastly different experience to using a LuxV (color rendition, throw, intensity, washing out by street lights?, etc.)

I also have a sammie-based minimag strapped to my helmet. Very useful for sideway signaling/viewing.
 

Paul_in_Maryland

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Mar 27, 2005
Messages
3,191
Location
Maryland, USA
As a former predawn/postdusk bicycle commuter, I urge you to reconsider. I can appreciate your wish to have a light switch hit between handlebar and hand, but there's a reason that bicycle lights cost more and weigh more. You need more watts to deliver a low beam that's adequately wide and/or a high beam with adequate throw.

Have you read the lighting reviews at http://www.mtbreview.com? I'll sure you can find a true cycling light that comes close to meeting your requirements for low cost, low weight, and easy mounting and dismounting.
 

cratz2

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Apr 6, 2003
Messages
3,947
Location
Central IN
The Strion is a very impressive little package but in my opinion, the beam is far too tight for use on a bike.
 

MSI

Enlightened
Joined
Jun 4, 2005
Messages
368
Location
Mostly Staying Inside
I would not use the Strion as bike light. The best for bike use I'm aware of is McGizmo HD45, but it is $185 and currently out of stock at The Shoppe. But it is a light you will not regret getting if you get one.
 

JackJ

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Dec 28, 2005
Messages
157
cratz2 said:
The Strion is a very impressive little package but in my opinion, the beam is far too tight for use on a bike.

But isn't it adjustable?
 

cratz2

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Apr 6, 2003
Messages
3,947
Location
Central IN
Yeah, about as adjustable as a Maglite...
naughty.gif


I've never had a bike light except for one of those old chrome jobbies from WAY back in the day, but I'd imagine I'd want a balance of throw and flood, perhaps leaning towards a bit more flood. Though I'd love to have an HD45 or an Aleph III, I think they may be to 'throwy' and not enough 'floody'.
 

JackJ

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Dec 28, 2005
Messages
157
Yes! The L&M Vega looks like quite the ticket, and I've been considering that light, despite the price. It seems like by far the best purpose-built bike light for my standards, mainly due to the self contained battery. I hate the cords and the bottle cage carry on my NightHawk, problems solved by the L&M. I sure wish it had individual user-replaceable cells, instead of a proprietary pack.

In fact, the existence of the Vega gives me hope that something exists in a traditional flashlight form factor. I look forward to your review!

Jack
 

editedby

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Dec 13, 2005
Messages
79
Location
New York City
I have a vega and it's got good throw not too spotty it's much more light than the strion which I also have. The vega has a blink mode which I find useful (attention getter!) in certain bicycling situations. Too heavy for a helmet mount, that's the one drawback. Look around, prices vary. Hope this helps.

ps this thread has a lot of information
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=142723
 
Last edited:

BentHeadTX

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Sep 29, 2002
Messages
3,892
Location
A very strange dark place
A LED light for cycling (my mantra since 2002)
I have been using flashlights for cycling lights for over three years and have some thoughts. There are two types of cycling lights... one to see with and the other to be seen.
In pure darkness (backroads of Oklahoma on a cloudy night) my Fraen LP optic equipped BB500 R2H minimag was enough to see with at speeds of 16-17 MPH. The light is mounted to my helmet and worked well. Presently, it is mounted under the front boom of my recumbent bicycle using a 20mm reflector with an extended minimag bezel. Works OK but has problems with strong ambient lighting here in Turkey. A Fenix L1P is mounted on my helmet and is great for drivers to see me. Nothing like looking at drivers with the Fenix causing them to take notice. The Fenix will run 2 to 3 hours on a single 2500mAH NiMH AA battery and makes a great helmet light. Waterproof, small, light and bright for it's size. The combo is good to be seen with or to see at 16 MPH in darkness. I figure the BB500 R2H pumps out about 55 to 60 lumens at the LED so for brightness, I'll need about 4 times the output or 240 lumens.
2006 is the year of my new bicycle frame mounted light. Andrew Wynn has a project that is a simple upgrade for a C or D series Mag to add LED power. It will use four Luxeon K2 LEDs that will punch out over 400 lumens when adjusted to high. It has three positions (low medium high) and they are selected by turning the Mag head. The amount of power used (and lumens produced) can be adjusted and I will go for each LED to run at 700mA for around 10 watts of power draw or one amp from a 8AA NiMH battery pack. Take a hone to a 2D Mag body tube and enlarge the diameter slightly to fit those 2500mAH NiMH batteries and it will give over 2 hours of runtime on high. If you need to ride for 4-5 hours, rotate the head to medium for around 240 lumens at 4.6 watts and over 5 hours of runtime. I'll have to make a custom mount to hold the Mag but it will be worth it.
The BAM project drop-in is projected at around $120, 8AA to 2D pack holder is $18, eight 2500mAH Energizer NiMH cells are $20 and a 2D Mag is $18. Not exactly cheap but an adjustable output LED light that will push 240 lumens for over 5 hours or over 2 hours of 400+ lumens is worth it to me. The hotspot should be quite large as four emitters hotspots will be combining so it should fit the bill. The sidespill should be considerable as 4 small reflectors have that effect.
My 8AA LuxeonV Mag works fine as a bike light although I use it at work. It should put out an average of 170 lumens at the LED and it punches through the ambient street light well. I just think about a light that puts out a broader hotspot and a bit brighter would be perfect. For me, the large Mag mods work very well.
For your needs, check out the Inova T4 rechargable lithium-ion "4 watt LED" flashlight for $85. It comes with an AC charger and a DC car charger to recharge the light in 3-4 hours. The runtime is 2.5 hours and it has some serious throw with it's TIROS optic. Figure about 80 lumens with that light and it should be usable to 17-18 MPH in the dark.
 

AlienRFX

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Dec 11, 2005
Messages
57
I'm going to have to say stick with Bike specific Lights, I've done some 24 hour mountain bike races and well the durability, stability, run times and sidespill of a purpose built bike light are far superior to any flashlight I've ever used. Also you have to think about weight distribution on a bicycle. Any flashlight with selfcontained batteries that comes even close to the output of a Bike light with seperate batteries is going to be heavy enough that when mounted to the handlebars that it will noticably effect steering response. The lights with frame mounted battery packs eliminate this problem and put the weight where it is useful, down low.
There are also kits for some systems where you can add a superbright taillight that runs off of the battery pack too. You may want to take a look at Niterider and Marwi Nightpro systems. I personally have no problem spending far more on a bike light than on a flashlight, as they are designed provide critical illumination for a very visually oriented sport, and when you are bombing down a hill at 20-30 mph you need something that projects far enough with bright enough sidespill to avoid obsticals or to be obviously visible to other motorists so that they don't pull out infront of you. Bike lights are something that your life depends on when you are riding at night. Don't skimp on quality lighting for cycling just as you should use a properly fitting helmet.
 

Brlux

Enlightened
Joined
Jan 28, 2003
Messages
400
Location
Mesa, AZ
I just got an Apex headlamp which has A 3 watt luxeon which is good for being able to see becaule of it's throw and 4 verry bright 5mm leds which don't throw as far but are great for being seen. Unfortunatly you can't run bolth at the same time but atleast you have the option to switch. It runs on 4AA nimh cells for several hours and I got mine for $65 shipped. It is a great every day use headlamp and I made some custom velcro/elastic straps to mount it to my helmet. While you may ride different bikes you probably use the same helmet.
 
Top