Honestly it’s not too expensive IF it truly is a quality product AND has a warranty. You’re going to have a very hard time finding a light with these features at this brightness level that is a quality reliable product as a lighthead only under about $100 (note: I still don’t like the 1LED-2LED-3LED “feature”). Over at MTBR our pool of “budget” lights to recommend is very small. I’m talking lights that are reliable for mountain bikers bombing down fast descents that need a light guaranteed not to quit after hitting a few bumps. The current most highly recommended bang for the buck are the Ituo lights. (Notice those light head only options start at over $100.) This Zanflare is supposed to be direct competition but at a more budget friendly price point (the original goal of the MTBR custom light build).
Battery packs - we already have quality Panasonic cell packs available from KD. As you can see, adding a battery pack really boosts up the cost! There is NO WAY you are going to get a quality triple LED bike light suitable for mountain biking with battery pack at this lighthead only price.
probably less stressful than mt bike riding
the $25 ones work for me
(plus if the light fails, you can usually ride at night slowly with streetlights and whatnot. i also have an EDC light in my pocket.)
at least the lights work until the batteries start fading.
then i get a whole new light and battery pack
i am on number 3 now on about 7 years.
currently i’m using a thorfire double led one they sent for review (but i had to waterproof it myself, they left out the main gasket)
and the battery pack is not waterproof, the cheap ones never are, but you can stick it in a plastic bag with just the wire coming out.
i’m also skeptical of these zanflare guys.
their advertising and specs indicate to me, more marketing hype than engineering smarts or technical skill
just an opinion.
i think they are marketing something that looks good, pretends to be good, is expensive, MAY actually be good, but i would have to see it.
nothing that they have presented to the public convinces me
maybe they have good engineers, who don;t write the marketing blurbs
or the videos
or maybe it is just a language problem
again, i would have to be convinced.
which is also hard because i like the $25 solution already.
i just had a manker light fail, and manker said ‘sorry, you bought that from gearbest or fasttech, they are not authorized dealers and do not have after sale service’.
so how was gearbest or fasttech able to sell them, if not buying from manker?
just saying - it;s another loophole they can crawl through
Because automobile drivers, between their cellphones and their other distractions, can’t see pedestrians or bicyclists reliably. Or each other.
I carry and use a flashlight with a “bike strobe” setting just as a pedestrian — and I turn it on before stepping into the crosswalk because if some nitwit comes around a corner fast I won’t have time to fiddle around finding the right setting on the flashlight. I’ve brought several automobiles to screeching halts because I refused to run out of the crosswalk when they’re expecting me to. Too old for that BS.
Same applies for bicyclists. They need to be attention-getting.
Notice how Zanflare has skirted by the issue of whether or not this light is the product of the MTBR custom build (not entirely to MTBR specs, but very similar)? I was chosen to be the reviewer of the light and was close to receiving a sample when the project was abandoned.
zanflare - it is simple - i am a potential CUSTOMER - one of my APPLICATIONS is to use the light in the day time - you do not need to know why - if you do not support that, you lose a sale
and possibly other sales as well
(i also gave a reason for day time use, which was not confusing to an english language reader, if you care to go back and read, maybe have it translated.)
may we assume your light will not work in day time?
(since you prefer to disrespect my question, rather than provide an actual answer)
Yes, that is what I like, actually, the $25 ones, I just use them for 2-3 years til batteries fail then get another, or fix the batteries.
$25 all day long on amazon.
With batteries.
I’ve had at least 3 of these and the light/switch unit never fails, just the batteries. Even so they last 3-4 years, several hundred charges.
So there are not reliability issues really with them.
$25.
And you can use the strobe in the day time (apparently, they get hot but have never failed).
Zanflare won’t say if theirs works in the day time or not.
They would rather pooh-pooh the question and asker [me].
Daytime use is to be noticed by drivers who are talking on their cellphones or watching videos — it’s a life safety issue.
Zanflare ought to be aware of that.
Yeah, what corners did they cut from that cooperative spec?
I can overlook that wonky 1-2-3 emitter user interface. I cannot overlook cool white emitters especially on my mountain bike. Mite as well use the lattice brites that accompany every POS $20 light from Amazon. Betting Zanflare went cool white to fluff the lumen output numbers. Hope I’m wrong….
Out for holidays and just back. So many discussions. Hi wle, I think it is no need to compare the prices of Zanflare B3 and your $25 bike lights. Just my opinion. Different products have different prices. You did not try the Zanflare B3 yet, as well as me. I look forward to having a try. According to the Zanflare’s introduction, some new ideas really attract me. I hope more and more manufacturers use new tech/design to develop the industry.
Well it’s hard to say without seeing this new product. The work on the custom light was also dropped some time ago, so I’d have to look back in the MTBR thread to see what was decided (link was posted if anyone wants to see for themselves). Specs I think I remember were:
Neutral white XP-L emitters
2000 Lumens+
Maximum heat dissipation with cooling fins facing the right way for airflow (I think they/GearBest showed us prototype sketches showing the finning like this light has).
Proper thermal monitoring with stepdown
Programmable driver - similar to the KD bike light driver
GoPro mount standard
Handlebar remote with option to unplug & remove
3 mode driver (or at least main mode group with three modes) with blinkies NOT in the main mode cycle and “off” not part of the mode cycle (i.e. very difficult to accidentally enter strobe mode or turn off while riding).
Standard/Typical 20mm optics so that user has a wide selection of optics to utilize (like LED-DNA’s selection) to customize the beam pattern (this is the biggest issue this B3 light failed to deliver).
Thick power wiring & wiring from driver to LEDs.
LED mounting directly to a solid wall contact of the body (i.e. no “pills” or “hollow” mounts).
Offered to MTBR users in a Group Buy with a price of $40 (light head only).
I remember GearBest posted up a video (which I believe was taken down) showing their Engineers struggling with it overheating at max output. I do however have email correspondence from Nefertari @ GearBest on 12/1/2016 stating “the prototype passed the heat transfering performance test, the supplier now work on moulds(case, button, seal ring…). The whole mould should be ready at the middle of Dec.”
I’m emailing Nefertari now to inquire about this B3 bike light and see what she has to say.
my guess is they didn;t think about it, because they are not cyclists, and have not tested that
which is just as bad as ‘we know it has a heat problem and can;t be used in day time’
Sounds to me like Huntking and Zanflare need to send product test units out to our community for testing. If they are not willing to do that then I think we have our answer.
