My current light has decent floody beam and maintains high mode on rides. I need my next light to be more of a thrower and the BLF and Sofirn lights are the best bang for the buck. I doubt the Sofirn SP32A V1.0 high mode of 900 lums will maintain brightness. The Sofirn SP32A V2.0 seems like the safest choice of a high mode of 500 lums and the longer runtime. BLF A6 is the most customisable for handlebar mounts/lens/etc.
Sorry to hijack this thread but it’s probably the most appropriate place to ask. Does anyone know where I can buy a new reflector for my A6? I accidently damaged it a while back
I generally use my Zebralight SC600w IV Plus at 700 lumens when cycling. I bump it up higher if I’m going downhill. On a mountain bike trail, I’d definitely want more than 500 lumens.
The problem with the Sofirn is it’s too light and generates too much heat, so you can’t run it on high output for long periods of time. The Zebralight uses a much more efficient boost-driver, and a more efficient LED, so it runs a lot cooler at similar levels of output.
I think the BLF A6 would be a better choice for cycling than the Sofirn. I used to use one, and only switched because I wanted regulated output. The BLF A6 isn’t any more efficient than the Sofirn, but it’s a bit larger so can shed heat a bit better.
Unless you’re concerned about handlebar space, you can just mount two A6s, one on either side of the stem. Then you can run them on high instead of turbo and still light up the trail. I routinely carry two A6s in one hand when I walk my dog at night in the fields. As bright as the A6 is, it’s not as bright as two A6s!
I like biscotti on the C8 (I just set to to always run on max). Not so much on the S2+. The modes just don’t seem very well spaced, to me. I’d like the low to be lower, the mediums to be higher, and the max brighter. Even with 8 7135 chips, the max doesn’t seem bright enough, and it suffers from dimming as the battery voltage drops (though not as bad as with a FET driver like the A6).
The advantage of the S2+ is that it has much longer run times, since it’s not sucking as much juice out of the battery as it can.
Although not the factory replacement, the 20x12mm reflector is said to fit. May give a llittle more throw, however. Widely available at Ali Exp, Ebay, etc.
Personal, preference, I guess. I actually like the mode spacing very much.
The jump from 35% to 100% of power output is great, so your eyes can actually notice a visible difference between the two levels. Too many lights go from 70-80% to 100%, and your eyes can’t tell much difference.
For bike trails, I found the Convoy S2 at 50% max power (Biscotti, mode group 8) lights things up nicely with an even beam. Although that may suit technical singletrack full of turns and twists better than a more straight flowy trail, in which case the M1 has a great beam profile balance.
My problem is the driver. I found the timing necessary to cycle modes was fiddly.
For clicky switch lights I much prefer the DrJones H17F driver with its intuitive double-click for turbo setup. And I find all clicky switch UIs to be inferior to good e-switch UI like Ramping IOS in the Emisar D4 or Anduril.
The normal “quick press” timing is fine. It’s the reverse “long press” that is complete crap. Hard to get right even when it works, and it changes all over the place depending on the temperature. I don’t even bother with it. Just set it to a 4-mode light and use the regular quick-press cycling.
that is funny, i almost never use the long-press to step down
i find that it is just as fast to go up 5, as it is to go down 1, gets to the same place and you don;t have to do the fiddly timing
going up 1 step is lightning fast—not even a click or a half press, just kind of a tap will do it
also since it does not go to a blinky mode if you click really fast, it makes going up 5 faster and less thinking, than going down 1