Nice big hotspot with plenty of flood, a wall of light and great run time, all in a fairly compact form with 3 modes (H/M/L) that are perfect for night riding. The JM07 fits nicely on the handlebars in a TwoFish Lockblock and is adequate by itself for most riding situations. Add on a nice thrower on the bar or helmet and it is night cycling heaven - at least on the road and on non-technical trails.
I've tried a lot of lights over the last 3 years and seriously started getting into big flashlights about a year and a half ago. While many are good, the JM07 is just awesome. Modes are perfect - Medium is plenty to see by and Low is good for when you are in the back of the pack and don't want to overshadow the riders up front. Two hours run time on High means you can easily stretch it to 4+hours if needed with a judicious use of Medium and Low modes. Pictures above show the JM07 paired with my P-Rocket, which was pretty much washed out when the big dog was on high. With a little trial and error, I found the SMO lights to work best in tandem with the JM07 - SF L2P, SF M6 or N-Light ST50 all did great. Here's a pic of most (but not all) my cycling lights:
(L-R) SF L2, SF L2P, ST50, SF M6, P-Rocket, JM07(L-R) SF L2P, JM07, SB S-mini
Also on left in the pic above is the 26650 to 18650 reducer, which came with the light. This allows you to carry a pack of spare 18650 cells just in case you need them on two lights. Talk about versatility. I love this flashlight! The JM07 will be replacing my Baja Designs Stryker, which is a dedicated bar light that has served me well for lst two years. It is being donated to my son (avid Mtbr) who is moving to Colorado in a week. I've managed to get him hooked on night riding over the last 6 months. Here's a pic of the Strykr along with it's C8 little brother. Both of these have SSC P7 emitters and nice big OP reflectors. The Strykr has a 4 cell battery pack with 3.5 hours runtime, can dive to 30 feet and is built like a tank - I'll miss it.
I am looking at the JMO7, also the Keygos M10. I am finding out that my zooming M12 is not going to act right. It slides in the zoom while riding. On my helmet, it works out nice. Might be going to sell both of these M12s..
I know the JM07 is the better light, but I think I can get two Keygos M10s for almost the same price, and you know I love pairs too.
The JM07 is an amazing light, for sure. I knew it was a thoroughbred after 5 minutes use. It's hardly heavier than a P60 but run-time and beam are vastly improved.
26650 is here to stay, guys and lights as good as the JM07 are why.
Betweenrides - which P Rocket did you have? I've been looking for a bike light (I'm RoadTired over on BF) Part of the question how much light is needed to see tire-shredding or teeth jarring road hazards?
To give my opinion on "how much light is needed", I think it comes down the type riding you do, and what kind of bike. I think MTB riders, and those that ride at night, require very, very high standards of light. Also, from my experiences, street/road riders that ride in full traffic in the dark, also should have high standards of lighting.
Good point, I kinda left the question, "...how much light..." open-ended. Oooops. :-)
I'm a MUP oriented Road biker. (prefer to stay away from traffic when I can) The MUP's are old train rail beds so straight and flat. The rides I expect range from average city lighting to dark rural highway and MUP's. It gets pretty nice around here at 1 in the morning after work. Peaceful.
My night vision isn't excellent - I'm 52 and wear glasses, so contrast is a bit of an issue. I really don't like the blue tint of LED's, prefer incandescent, but the LED's are so bright now that I'm on the bandwagon.
As far as speed, I usually set a good pace ballpark 15 mph. I'm not going to be flying downhills as fast as I can. Lived this long without breaking any bones, so I figure this isn't the best time to start.
Still leaning to SB's P-Rocket for quality/features, but the 26650 runtimes are enticing. Never liked a light that wouldn't run for 8 hours. (Old school I guess)
This One from Shiningbeam. In my opinion, P-Rocket is a good supplemental light, but the tint is too warm and it has an OP reflector. It's kind of middle of the road, not really outstanding at flood or throw. SF M6, a good XP-G/XM-L C8, SF L2P with the Manafont 3 mode drop-in or even the N-Light ST50 outperform it. The JM07 is in a class of it's own, with great throw and decent flood. If I had to pick one light to ride with, that would be it. Glad I don't have to use just one!
cehoward is correct, different types of riding require different lights. For road riding where speeds are higher, I prefer two lights, one for big flood up close and a thrower that points down the road a bit further. You need to be able to spot them road hazzards a ways off to give yourself time to react.
Most MTB riders I know (me included sometimes) want a multi-level flood on the bars and a great thrower on the helmet to see up the trail or down as the case may be, but particularly to be able to scope out turns.
Welcome to BLF! Didn't even notice your post count. Sorry I didn't see your second post while I was writing my tome, I understand exactly what you mean. I'm 55, also wear glasses, am mostly a roadie, and ride in groups, but we extend our weeknight rides with lights. During the Fall when daylight starts fading we use lights even more and switch to gravel roads, MUPS, crushed gravel trails and some twisties, but most of us are using Cyclocross bikes - nothing too technical. My night vision isn't what it used to be and I actually prefer Cool White on the bike because it makes everything look brighter. Natural White is fine for walks, but it appears dimmer to me on the bike.
Don't get me wrong, the P-Rocket is a great light, very high quality and nice form and size, but I prefer it more for walking or general use. You would probably be very happy with it for close up (flood) in front of the bike, but I'd suggest a second light with better throw to complement it and extend your field of light out further.
I found some beamshots of the JM07 in this thread "Beamshots and measurements TR-J12 DRY TK35 STL-V2 UF-V6 V60C and more (add pics)" https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/6094
- looks like great flood blending with a very nice throw. It's nice to get such good info from you folks that have tried so many lights. Did I read somewhere correctly that the JM07 has reverse polarity protection in case I put a batt in backwards?
So, if I understand correctly the JM07 has much better beam pattern (flood/throw blend) than the 850 lumen P Rocket?
Now if I can find comps on the Romisen RC-T601 II XM-L U2 2-Mode LED Flashlight 750+ Lumens and the Keygos M10 as less expensive options.
JM07 has current regulation and low voltage warning, but I don't see where it has reverse polarity protection - most budget lights don't, unfortunately, cause I think it's a great feature, especially when you're riding a bike at night and trying to change a battery on the fly.
Beam pattern - JM07 is pretty much perfect, but not that much different than the P-Rocket. JM07 is just brighter and bigger, perfect mix of flood and throw and very white. P-Rocket with NW tint just does not appear as bright - it get washed out by the JM07. Used in conjunction with another NW thrower, I'm sure the P-Rocket would be just fine. Maybe this will explain it better: Last night 3 of us did a heads or tails ride after work (20+ mph North wind on the out leg, tail wind on the return - Wheeee!). We roll at 6 pm and were planning on doing a bit under 30 miles, meaning lights on the bars for at least part of the return trip with sunset around 7:22 pm.
Lights on for all three of us at dusk around 7:10. Two other riders both have SMO XM-L C8's, which project out a small hot spot in front of the bike on the road, even at dusk. My JM07 was not nearly as noticeable, but still visible. As it got darker, the difference started to show. By the time we got back to base, the JM07 is lighting up the night and riding side by side, washing out the light of the two C8's, except for their hot spots.
Now, your other choices: Romisen RC-T601 is one of my favorite C8 style lights. Great quality, great beam & throw and very bright. Don't own one (oh, I will) but a cycling buddy does and it's a perfect bike light. He has 3-4 lights and that is his go to light. Keygos M10 - As I mentioned to cehoward, this looks like a nice light and I think very similar to the JM07 at a budget friendlier price, we just don't know anyone that has one. And here's a few alternatives to the M10 that are apparent exact clones:
BetweenRides, Thanks for the descriptive comparision. You said some things that stand out in your review:
[Quote]- Nice big hotspot with plenty of flood, a wall of light and great run time.
- JM07 is lighting up the night and riding side by side, washing out the light of the two C8's, except for their hot spots.
- The JM07 is in a class of it's own, with great throw and decent flood. If I had to pick one light to ride with, that would be it.
- Two hours run time on High, ...current regulation and low voltage warning...but I don't see where it has reverse polarity protection ...unfortunately, cause I think it's a great feature, especially when you're riding a bike at night and trying to change a battery on the fly. [/Quote]
Those comments, along with the beamshots I found, make for a glowing (no pun intended) endorsement.
One has to see beyond the brand and presumptions, yes it's hard, for both ends of the price spectrum. It has a Nanjg 105C driver, in this case 7*7135 not 8, which has a reverse polarity protection. I have tried it myself on the JM07-Pro and it doesn't burn the driver, timed 10 seconds on, twice. Haven't tried longer than that.
Thanks for adding some expertise to the subject, Hikelite. I'm not sure I understand, however.
So if I get you correctly, the driver in the JM07 does not 'officially' have reverse polarity protection, but accidentally installing a battery in backwards will not fry it?
The Nanjg 105C has the reverse polarity protection, theoretically, so, I have twice, intentionally, inserted the battery reversed and kept it on for 10 seconds, timed (of course no light) and it did not burn the driver or the LED.
I have just tried another light that has a Nanjg 105C driver (this one has only 6*7135 chips, compared to the standard of 8).
It's the Shadow VG10, same test, 10 seconds on, battery incorrectly inserted. I repeated this 3 times and check each time if the light is still workings and if the mode still work. The light is OK, no burns.
The reverse polarity protection is of course not physical as it's with some 4Sevens, Eagletac, EOSlamp flashlights I own. By physical I mean, psychical parts of the flashlight that block the flat cathode to make contact.
I'm not sure I understand, however.