Oh now, there won’t be downhill paths or fast woody trails, just travelling. Usually it will be asphalt but sometimes not. Also the asphalt in the balkan area, especially in smaller roads is not of best quality.
Right now I use a sigma quadro x that is only good to allow others to see you. It’s no good for you to see your way in dark places. It also gave up spirit and decides to turn on/off on its own leaving me moving like ninja biker. I haven’t started travelling yet, just planing ahead But I do use my bike as main means of transportation within the city and outskirts.
You have a point about the headlamp. I was thinking to overcome that by using a diffuser to save weight, something like that
The diffuser will work but you still got to fix the light somewhere and make sure it still lights the things you’re working on without you standing in the way of the light. I just use those film canisters cause they’re free and have double use.
I drive in the city and there are a lot of cobble stone roads here in bad shape, never head a problem with my headlamp on my head. But yeah a convoy is much cheaper and I think Simon (from convoy) cells good headbands cheap and thingies to mount the light to you’re bike. So you can go that way. Just fix the light to your bike and when camping put it in the headband. It still doesn’t compare to a good headlight that you can position and operate with one hand but it will be an enormous help.
Before I knew BFL I used to use dirt cheap 3xAAA headlamps, they are crappy and drain NiMH batteries in an hour or so but I still would not have traded them for a $50 light just cause they are so handy.
And for your traveling I don’t think you will be needing lots of throw, I believe the skilhunts have 120m throw. I think that will be more than enough.
One problem I have encountered is when it’s really foggy or the air is filled with light rain and the light from my headlamp just blinded from reflecting on the fog/rain. I think that if I had my light fixed on the bike it might have been less blinding for me.
Ah you use the film canister as a diffuser! Now I get it. Thanks for the tip on fog/rain I’d need to experience that, no way I could imagine it.
Yes 100-120m should be is enough throw. That’s why I was curious about the s2, from what I have read and seen it’s more of a thrower; not dedicated, but a thrower nevertheless. For example, I have a Varta/Rayovac Indestructible that is completely useless for the application, the beam is too focused
The S2+ with narrow TIR has a bigger beam than the reflector versions. This is because the TIR collects more of the light that would be just spill and puts it in the beam. So the beam itself is wider, but the spill directly from the LED is more narrow than a reflector light. There are also wider beam TIRs and elliptical beam TIRs made for biking.
It’s hard to talk about the narrowness of beams without comparing to lights known by both parties, but I measured the beam size of mine to be ~1.2m at 4m distance. The beam is perfect, IMO, for riding quickly on not-so-well maintained asphalt roads. Mine has a FET driver and does 20Kcd on full. I find that about 30-40% of that intensity is bright enough to comfortably ride quickly.
Here is a pic comparing the narrow TIR with XPL HI (left) with the S2 SMO reflector with XPL HI (right).
Ok the TIR one is clearly better but still both look too focused compared to a cheap zooming xml clone I have around
I’ll try to get comparison shots tomorrow, the only place I can do that is the bedroom and the wife will kill me if I wake her up for that :face_with_monocle:
That clone though, fully zoomed out, would give a ~2m diameter from 1.5m distance…
Not sure about S2, but Convoy S2+ is definitely a flood, not a thrower.
As far as lights that take 3xAAA as well as 18650, there is Anker LC40; however, you’ll only get about 250 lumens out of it when using AAA batteries (400 lm when using 18650). It’s got a fairly pronounced center spot, but decent amount of spill as well.
Uhh, no. Not sure about the S2 specifically, but the S2+ is definitely NOT a thrower. It’s a nice smooth floody beam which is great for close-in work, lighting up the walking-path in front of you, etc., but not for looking way down a trail to see what’s 100m out or even 50m out.
The lights I mentioned, and any decent P90 or P90ish light will have a nice hotspot for seeing far out, as well as enough spill to see what’s up close.
My own idea for a custom-built bike light would be to have at least 2 emitters, with TIR lenses, one “highbeam” and one “lowbeam”. A nice floody lowbeam for seeing up-close, and a nice throwy highbeam for distance. I’d rather go for 4 emitters, 2+2, for redundancy and switchable for “city” vs “dark”.
Well, EasyB above has a shot with an S2 creating a 1.2m diameter from 4m. Compared with my cheap zoomer that creates a 2m diameter from 1.5m I’d say it’s more of a thrower than flooder. I’m not sure I’d feel comfortable with that amount of flood. Is s2+ that much different?
The varta/rayovac indestructible on the other hand from 1.5m creates a hotspot of ~22cm and a (barely) visible circle of 1.2m. I definitely would want to use that
It’s a MOP reflector, so there’s no real distinct hotspot to speak of. But it’s definitely floody. Short of an aspheric, it’s the nicest flood-beam I’ve seen in a while.
Well, of course it will be less floody than a zoomie in mule-mode.
Only you can decide if a beam is wide or bright enough for your riding. But you can’t have a beam be both wide and intense unless you increase your total lumen output. For instance, your zoomie in flood mode will probably not be intense enough for fast riding.
I see. I also come across a polish forum with photos from almost the rider’s position. Indeed it looks alright, even too bright at 500lm. I have the S2+ 4c version it in the basket along with the 18350 conversion tube. But I’m still undecided, what if I run out of batteries? It won’t be possible to just buy, I’ll have to find a way to charge :person_facepalming:
Anyway, in the meanwhile what type of mount would you suggest? That should be easier to get out of the way. Velcro, fixed or elastic
The velcro one. I use this kind and it works great for S2 sized lights.
If you really want 3xAAA compatibility there is probably a suitable host available, but it would be a gamble whether it was a quality host, you would almost definitely need to mod it to make it suitable as far as modes and brightness, and the stock reflector would probably be a bit bigger in diameter which really might make the beam too narrow for biking.
Thanks. I have the liitokala li-202. I like that it also doubles as a power bank.
I saw that SingFire, there’s also an ultrafire that uses this host, it comes without the 3xAAA holster and a Q5. C13 I think is the actual model name but couldn’t find much info about it other than it’s modable
I think I’ll go for the s2+ AMC7135*4 T6-4C. I need something dependable and cheap and that seems to fill that role but fall short on battery options. For that I’ll also get a UINFIRE B68 that runs on a single AA for those times. Sometime in the future I’ll probably get that nice boruit headlamp but not right now. The total cost is about $6 less than TK737 which isn’t that much of a difference, but I’ll save some weight and bulk in daily transportation and end up with two torches that are more easily modable, at least for a beginner.
Any objections?
I’d like to also order a TIR to try but I know nothing about lenses. What type should I get and what diameter? I’ll order the rest from FT, the prices are very good so ideally I’ll get the lens from there too
S2+ is a great all-around light. Note that if you get one with a domed LED, rather than an XPL HI, it will have less throw and a wider beam. I personally would go with more current than the 4x7135, but 1.4A is probably enough for most uses.
You can order every angle TIR from leddna for sub $4. Once the weather breaks I’ll see which I prefer for night riding on the local trail with my 8x7135 S2+.
It’s a very subjective topic, people praise floody headlamps and others praise far throwers. It’s really about what you want and prefer.
Why pick narrow beam lens? If anything I’d like it a bit more flooder than the comparison photo you provided above …or at least I think so, I’ll know for sure when I actually use it. I was thinking more like 45 degrees or perhaps something like that http://www.leddna.com/20mm-elliptical-spot-lens-optic-30-x60-for-cree-xhp50-xml2-xm-l-led/ (thanks for suggesting ledna)
Where do you get an s2+ with XP-L I see only XM-L2 even on the official shop. I mainly picked 1400mA for longer runtimes. Oh btw these are regulated right?
Well you can try different TIR beam sizes; they are cheap and interchangeable. Personally I felt like I needed more throw to ride fast with my S2. The narrow TIR was a good improvement over the stock S2 orange peal reflector. Similar beam size but quite a bit more throw.
Not sure where to get a XPL S2+. You can always switch the emitter later if you want.
But I do use my bike as main means of transportation within the city and outskirts.
