Long time don’t post here and here I come again looking for recommendations. Ok I’m looking for a flashlight to use with my bicycle I don’t want to buy a bicycle specific flashlight because I want the convenience to use it everywhere else. Right now I’m using a small flashlight that uses a single 18350 battery. I bought that after following your recommendation and it has been grate (even after a battery mishandling), the problem is that even in the lowest setting it doesn’t last long and it doesn't have strobe mode.
I’m looking for a flashlight that have to be water proof, have to last at least two hours, use no more than 2 18650 batteries (I don’t know if there is something new better than the 18650), have a compact body to use it with a flashlight holder on the handlebar, as most “flood” as possible, and it have to have at least 3 modes one of them being intermittent or strobe. Of course it has to have as most lumens as possible complying with the described specs.
Also what bicycle handlebar holder for flashlight do you recommend?
you can check this flooder light it use 18650 and has 3 modes… high- low- strobes
best of both world as it can flood and throw ( it has a square throw though)
I don’t use lights on the handlebar, they go on my helmet however, a LOT of people recommend the twofish attachment thingies. Lockblock or cyclopblock. http://www.twofish.biz/bike.html
If you like flood, look for lights with smaller reflectors and bigger LEDs (XML) or multiple LEDs. You can also buy some sort of diffuser film or go cheap and use 3M brand scotch tape over the window of the light to spread out the beam.
I would agree with both of those lights, provided on floody light 1 you choose the XP-G2, specifically because it uses a different driver and lower current draw for longer runtime. Floody light 2 will use only slightly more power.
Keep in mind that both these lights will still only provide about an hour on high, but more if you bump it down, or use strobe.
My only suggestion with those mounts is that you try to use them under the handlebar instead of over, and balance the light fore and aft best you can, so it doesn’t tend to dip down or up on bumpy rides.
i have the skyray S6 which is using 3 LEDs and also a generic 4 LEDs… you really can’t tell the different in output between both
if any is very insignificant… the bad thing about sky ray is the mode…
low is 1 LED med is 2 LEDs and high is 3 LEDs ( which is not much brighter… ) usually i used medium mode to conserve the battery.
on the other hand my generic 4 LEDs have low-medium-high mode using all 4 LEDs
Most of the lights that I have handled that have a strobe are waaay to much for use on the road. In the UK most would be illegal to use and I really have to say drivers will hate you with a passion if you choose to use them. We actually have a Hz rating for strobes front and rear, prior to 2005 they were technically all illegal, even rear blinkies.
The lockblock mounts work well but are seriously overpriced. I’ve got a genuine one and two copies. The copies are identical but cost less than 1/3rd the price of the Blowfish ones. ebay and DX both carry them.
It’s not all about the lumen count with bike lights, the beam makes a huge difference. I’ve got an XML dedicated bike light and with the standard lens it’s hard work on anything but straight trail. Also the beam blinds any oncoming traffic. With a wide angle lens kit I get far less throw but much more spread, it’s better for most of the riding I do although I am going to run a second thrower to fill in the gaps.
Personally I’d look for two lights, one a wide flood and the other a thrower. Don’t rule out AA batteries, I lasted 3 years on an AA Fenix and do miss the runtime, although I can’t go back now I’ve seen the power of a decent unit.
How long do you really need it to last. A decent driver on my FandyFire 2160, like the Nanjg, low on mine lasts about 17 hours, .15 amp draw on a 2600 mah battery. An XM-L on .15 amps may not seem like much but it’s perfectly serviceable as a general riding light. Maybe not the best for downhill technical off roading but for around town riding it’s plenty to see in front of you. Not to mention the invisible PWM is the best you can get so you don’t see weird strobing due to motion.
that’s what i have… it’s a small size as the magicshine clown XML t6 light…but the component inside is need to be desire, lack of heatsink research. driver pill wasn’t touching the metal body, i’m worry about the heat issues…
as far as brightness? almost the same as generic 3 leds light
Ultrafire has confirmed that they don't make the light. I made a suggestion that they produce something similar in terms of driver modes, with more amperage (1.5A+), XM-L2 U2's, a diameter similar to the Sky Ray S6, sold without a battery pack, and priced it competitively with the S6.
