A Bike Light that takes 18650 and 21700 batteries.
I got this from Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08FDK43X7
When it was on sale for $19.99 – Thanks to the Amazon Deals thread!
It arrived in an Amazon box. Strangely it did not have the typical battery warning label on the outside like other battery included lights I have purchased.
The Instructions state that there is a 30 day free repair/replacement, 5 year free repair, and lifetime fix for coat of parts.
The light is IP68, 2 meters. “Designed with German standard, reduce the hazard of glare to oncoming people and traffic.”
The Lumintop box is quite nice and sturdy. Inside we find the light, Instructions, Spare O-Rings, 18650 battery (inside the flashlight), 21700 to 18650 adaptor, Handlebar mount, and the ever present lanyard.
The battery states it is a 2600mAh cell. Kind of wimpy in this day and age. Wonder if it’s an older battery re-wrapped. It came with a plastic disk to prevent discharge. The battery was setting at 3.58v out of the box. So a good voltage for long term resting.
The light measures:
Length: 115.3mm, 4.54”
Head: 37mm. 1.46”
Switch area: 33.4, 1.31”
Body: 25.49mm, 1.004”
Tail Cap: 27mm, 1.06”
Length of Body Tube between head and tail cap: 54.6mm, 2.15”
Weight with 18650: 4.8oz
Weight with 21700: 5.3oz
Reflector window size: 17.8mm (.7”) x 31.5mm (1.24”)
Compared to the Convoy S21 and Sofirn C8G
The tail cap has anodized square cut threads. So a quarter turn or so will give a mechanical lockout. It was lubed out of the box and there was no binding.
The spring is not very heavy duty but this is not a high power light so that makes little difference.
Looking down the rabbit hole - there is a spring contact.
The E-Switch is sticks out a bit. The Bunny is illuminated when the light is off. Good deal. Makes finding the switch in the dark easy to do. The Bunny goes dark when the light is on. I wish it was on all the time.
The front of the light shows a non-typical LED mounting and reflector. The LED is mounted in the top of an oval shaped reflector. The LED faces down.
The reflector is faceted to control the beam pattern.
The UI
The UI is simple (as a bike like should be). The UI has memory.
From off – Click to go to the last brightness mode (not including Turbo or Blinkies).
While on – Click to change cycle through the brightness modes. Low, Med., High.
From On – Press and hold to turn off the light (from any mode).
From on - Double Click for Turbo
From Turbo – Single click to return to last mode.
From Off – Press and hold for Strobe.
From Strobe – Click to change from Strobe to SOS.
Lockout – Press and hold switch for 5 seconds.
Measurements:
The Battery
The 2600mAh battery tested to: 2807mAh at 500mAh discharge.
The Button Top 18650 is really an 18700. I assume there is a protection circuit built in.
A flat top 18650 is just long enough to make contacts with the springs on each end.
Lumens
Mode: Spec, Measured
Low: 10, 10.7
Medium: 250, 217
High: 450, 453
Turbo: 850, 840 (brief at turn on), 770 – 790 (ANSI depending on battery)
So pretty close to rated specs.
In light Charging
Using the supplied Micro USB cable, The max charge rate was 2.25a for a brief time.
It settled down to 1.9a. The little bunny is red while charging.
The bunny turned blue but the light was still pulling .1a charge rate.
After the charge rate dropped to zero, I pulled the battery. 4.17v – Excellent!
The light got noticeably warm during the higher current charge times.
The Micro USB port cover is seated well into the body. Much less likely to get opened by accident. It’s also a snug fit to keep moisture out.
Beam Pattern
This throws an oval beam that is designed for road use. The wall shot doesn’t show the lower spill well.
On the left is the beam pattern with the light flat in normal operating position.
On the right is a shot with the light sitting sideways. Up is to the left of the image.
Beam Pics
Run Time
The High mode runtime was done using the included 18650 battery
The Turbo runtime was done using a 4000mAh 21700.
You will note in the Specs, the Turbo runtime is almost identical to the High mode runtime.
Both runs were done with fan cooling as this is a bike light after all.
Turbo steps down at 3.5 minutes.
The included 18650 starts dropping off at 2h 5m. The 4000mAh 21700 starts to fade at 3h and ramps down to a little past 3h 55m.
The little bunny starts flashing green when he thinks the battery needs a charge.
Then the light keeps burning at a very low level. The 21700 was still going 13 hours later (dimly). And the Bunny was still flashing green.
I pulled the battery and it was sitting at 2.54v. I wasn’t going to let it discharge further than that.
So it looks like the light does not have low voltage protection.
Current Draw
Off, with the Bunny glowing: 0.09mAh
Low, 0.02a
Medium, 0.4a
High 1.03a
Turbo 2.34a
PWM
A light with crappy PWM is useless as far as I’m concerned. The BL01 has none.
Modes Low through Turbo all is see is a DC offset with some high frequency noise from the driver.
Strobe
The Strobe runs at the High mode (400+ Lumens) with a spike at the very beginning of the waveform.
It has a frequency of 12.44Hz with a Duty Cycle of 48%.
So basically a steady 12.5Hz on/off pulse.
This is not my favorite. The low freq. strobe is useless to light the way. Other than running during the day time as “Hey See Me Now” type of thing.
I would much rather have something like a steady light with a series of very quick pulses every second or two. This lights the way and still gives something different/strange to attract the attention of motorists.
The Mount
The light clips into the handlebar mount from the top. The mount is adjustable side to side to some extent. The flashlight clip part is attached to the clamp via a single screw. Does not leave me with the greatest confidence of staying put over time.
The Handlebar mount can be cranked down fairly tight. BUT the inside of the strap area is just smooth nylon/plastic. So I don’t expect this to stay put with any great deal of vibration - like for riding a bike.
I think some foam or other kind of sticky (double sided tape?) would make things more permanent.
Impressions
The machining is very good as is the anodizing. The E-Switch is easy to find in the dark. The beam pattern if pointed down keeps the light out of oncoming drivers vision.
At 450ish Lumens it’s not the brightest light for illuminating a trail. For Mtn. biking I’d want to add a helmet light and more Lumens out the front.
For street use a taillight need to be added to the mix.
Still for $20 + tax & Free Shipping - I think it’s a good deal.
All the Best,
Jeff