Hello, i am looking new flashlight for my bike night riding. Currently i am using Keygos KE-1 that i have bought from Ebay 5 or 6 years ago (yeah crap i know now). I served me well but the problem that i have is battery drain.
This is problem of buyin stuff from ebay, so i bought 18650 batteries "Ultra-Fire" 9600 mAh (and yes now i know that is crap also) and it lasts in best situation 45min.
Then i realised that *Fire* batteries are shit and max capacity for now is around 3400 mAh, so i bought Samsung 3400 and it lasts for 1:25 h but still intensity of light drops fast as voltage drops by time and that i want to avoid if possible.
What i would like from new flashlight (if possible):
18650 battery or should i go for bigger?
1:30 h of constant light with warning of low voltage (i always ware a spare one with me)
Overheat protection if needed
50m trow but usable 50m
1000 lm on mid (i need around 1000 lm or less with good optics but i want to avoid turbo mode or high mode and i want to have a spare power if needed)
buying for banggood?
Should i go for XHP35/HI led? What driver? I found BLF A6 XPL 1600Lumens which i think that will be good, but it uses FET driver and i read that is not gentle to battery and it have voltage drops that i have now.
I’m not sure if it will work for your use case, and I am relatively new here, but I recently got a Emisar D4V2 which actually has a “Bike Light” mode with adjustable brightness. It is very small and runs from an 18650. With one of the Cree LED options I think you’d get the run-time you are after. You also may want to look at the Samsung “30Q” batteries. They are 3000mAh but may actually perform better for your use case.
I don’t have the equipment to measure lumens so I can’t just setup my light around 1000 lumens and see how long it lasts for you. I’m guessing someone on the forum has done extensive runtime testing and can help you with those numbers. It is a fairly small light (barely larger then an 18650) that is capable of putting out 4000ish lumens depending which emitter you select. However its size also means it gets hot quickly at that high output level.
If you are mounting it to a bike, maybe you can fabricate a mount that also has a good bit of metal around the head of the light to help dissipate heat.
Of course a light with a larger head would be able to run at a higher lumen output but also be heavier and more difficult to mount to a bike I would think.
Sorry I’m not more help. Hopefully more experienced people can chime in.
Would be helpful if you tell us your idea of a price range which would be acceptable for you.
In the past I tried a lot on my handlebar during night rides. Good regulated, and highly efficient compact lights are often pricey.
Depends on use of turbo. Both have their pros and cons. If you already have a good fast charger, the v2 is a good contender, albeit excellent for the price.
There are some lens filters available too. New Sofirn SP33 V3 !! post #162.
All good bike lights have separated batteries and using like 4x18650. For driving you need much more brightness . You dont need to carry all battaries in your pocket so its logical to have separated pawerfull battery pack fixed on bike
Are you sure you need 1000 lumens on mid? That will mean you’re looking at lights rated for 2000 or even 4000 lumens. My dedicated bike light is rated for 2 hours at 350 lumens and is adequate for the riding I do. I also use a Convoy S2+ or BLF A6 with an elliptic TIR optic or stock Sofirn SC31B and get acceptable performance. My rides are on unlit bike paths, lit and unlit suburban streets, and country backroads.
FET - higher output but drops as voltage drain (in turbo). V3 has high at 1600 lm compared to 1000 lm for v2.
V2 has timed step down on max (turbo) but is thermally regulated on v3. UI is has ramp mode also on v3, v2 is only stepped (which I prefer for bike).
Your charger if only at 1 amp will take much time to charge. V3 built-in is 2 amp (half the time) when you forget to charge and notice is low prior to a run.
Have you looked at cheap soda can lights like the Sofirn Q8 or SP36
The SP36 review found it stayed above 1000 lumens for over an hour, and above 500 lumens for over two hours.
The other drawback is that the beam shape is not optimal for biking. If you’re on streets and seeing oncoming traffic, you may need to fashion an aluminum foil or plastic shield.
Since i have 4 Samsung 18650 3500mAh i will use this mode (1A) only once, every other time i will charge only one or maybe 2 (3A or 2A) so it will be ok.
Lumintop B01 seems to be safe option with a little less lumens... I like Sofirn more, but shipping time to Croatia is 2 months ... I ll make decision today . Thx to you all for helping.
