Kinda by accident really. On a bit of a whim I added a Supfire L5 to my order from Mtn electronics a while ago. I had Mtn Elec do mod#1 for me (current bump and braided springs). I’ve been taking it to work for the odd occasion I might need a light. I found I didn’t really like the UI, too many modes for me (Hi med low stobe sos). Short press to next mode, long press to turn off. Long press was meant to be only 1 second but mine seemed to be 2-3 seconds. So I swapped out the driver for a q-lite with star momentary firmware and extra chips, two modes 15% 100%. I quite like this setup. 3 positions off>low>high and access to the other 2 positions from any point.
This arvo work put on a BBQ at the workshop. Usually I throw a bike on the ute in the morning so I can have a drink and then ride home. Well I stayed a bit long and it was nearing dusk by the time I was ready to leave. Figuring I needed a light for the ride home I jury-rigged the supfire L5 to the bars.
The beam profile was very good for a handle bar light. On rare occasions I wear another light on my helmet, I prefer this headlight to be quite floody compared to the bars light. While riding I used low mode so others could see me and high mode for when I wanted to see the track in front of me. I could cycle high and low as many times as I liked and not have to go through ‘off’ to get to either, it was great!
As I said in the title it’s almost my favourite bike light. The only downside to this thing is the 7 extra chips I added. IMO I think 5+ amps is too much for a bike light (purely for efficiency/runtime). 26650 is a good battery size/capacity but not at 5amps. A standard 3 amp driver would be perfect I think. I don’t often ride in the dark but when I do it can range from half hour to one and half hours. I have tried one or two dedicated bike lights but I reckon a bar mounted torch is just simpler and the UI of this thing is easily the best I’ve used for a bike.
I was so happy with it I just wanted to share