Hi,
I’m looking for a bike light (not a dedicated bike light, just some flashlight I can strap to the handlebars) for rural, unlit areas. My current one lasts 40h but is way too weak to illuminate potholes, tree branches or whatever else is in front of me.
I have no preference for batteries, aside from being rechargeable, as I’ll probably have to buy new ones anyways. I only have a charger for AA/AAA NiCd/NiMH cells, guess most modern flashlights require something more high end.
Battery life should be at least 5h, the light should hence have a good heat sink.
A floody light is preferred, throw or super high range won’t be of much use for this application.
Water resistance, at least enough to withstand rain, would be a plus.
Open to all suggestions.
Thanks
This is the easy way to go. Less than $20, quick shipping, probably around 500 lumens, includes battery and charger. Battery life might barely make it to 5 hours, but that depends on which side of 500 lumens you're at. Heat shouldn't be a problem while you're moving, but you'll want to turn it down when you stop. You can get a wide angle lens if it's not floody enough for you, and a bigger battery if you need more runtime. I haven't seen any of the batteries get tested, so I'm wary of recommending an inexpensive one...although a 4x26650 should be good enough.
As leaftye said, these lights are the leader of budget bright bike lights. Not much for modes and you might end up with a bad one, but in general, these are the best budget offerings out there if you want a lot of light. The lens option too helps diffuse the light so the on-axis sting is reduced.
I get a long runtime with the batteries using the hyper flash mode. I use them day and night (daytime brightness is a real test of a bike light) and I know I’ve stopped soccer moms in their tracks when they are ready to blow a stop sign during the day. I cannot recommend a better light for this purpose alone.
The batteries are cheap 2200mah cells in a 2p2s arrangement. The switch is a mode switch only so there is a constant low current through the light when not in use.
This is one that caught my eye recently…
http://www.amazon.com/Lumen-Cycling-Bicycle-HeadLight-Headlamp/dp/B00F372RGK/ref=aag_m_pw_dp?ie=UTF8&m=A9B7LOSV5QQZX
The fact that amazon is going to the orient for product is interesting. Shipping may be a lot longer than we’re use to from amazon, but at least Amazon should stand behind guaranteed delivery.
Just beware that generally lights under $20 are going to be questionable on reliability (those SolarStorm clones like linked in post#2 are known for questionable heatsinking but you never know if you'll get a good one or not), could have very poor battery packs (possibly even so bad that they are dangerous), and chargers that are not very safe.
Your safest option would probably be to choose a reputable light head (based on other's reviews and experience), your own battery holder such as the Pannovo battery case (few sources for this and DX is not the greatest source), and some quality name brand protected 18650's (that case will run with just 2 or 4 for increased run time). Oh, and you'd need a reputable 18650 Li-Ion charger. This combo will run over $70 I'm sure, but that's still cheaper than name brand reliable lights from the big bike light companies.
You particularly asked for a flashlight . . . I don't believe that you'll get 5h with 500 lumen output on a single 18650 (or even 26650) Li-Ion. You'd also still need to spend money on a good reliable Li-Ion charger too. I think a good medium mode on a single 18650 XM-L2 flashlight will get you around 3 hours (I'm guessing though). Floody is going to mean smaller lens (i.e. tube light like a Convoy S2) which will heat up quickly - ok while your moving, but needs turned down or off when you stop.
You may also wish to look into LED tints, as a more neutral tint will make features like sticks, branches, holes, etc . . . "pop" out to you.
Where are you located? USA?
-Garry
BTW - I recently ordered this floody light from FastTech along with a neutral white LED to swap into it, but the light they sent came with the wrong lens (came with a standard clear lens). Note that this one is "head only". Small review found here.
-Garry
I use to feel that way, Garry. These budget lights went from $50 down to the now new low of $18. I have 2 and they are both functioning perfectly for 2 years now. 2, of course, covers the backup in case of problems. The batteries have the protection circuit built in and the charger has been more than reliable. These are pretty much time tested and rolled out by the 10’s of 1,000’s! I looked into mine, of course and decided they were not bad. They are not weather sealed where the wire comes out but the wire is strain relieved inside the light; there is copious amounts of Fujik holding the emitter in place; and there really isn’t much more to it. If you end up with a failure, and you know your flashlights, it can be fixed… but it you get a year out of a $20 light on a bike, you got your money’s worth.
All too often I see people riding with woefully insufficient lighting. These certainly outperform many of the much more expensive offerings.
I also use the trusty P60 504B light for a helmet light. With 3400mah 18650 and an XP-G running 1 amp, you get a good solid 3 hours from the light. In blink or custom modes, you can really pull that out further (low beam for rural riding at night, for instance). Pretty easy to carry a spare cell or two if you need more.
Garry, the light you linked doesn’t come with a battery. Real nice light but above your price range. . There are cheaper versions but I get the impression that their batteries arnt all that good.
Saw E17 zoomie on Ali express today.shows it mounted on bike.Still 16$ left for batteries and charger.don’t know how to copy paste from my tablet so look at my other few posts and you will find the link.
JUST NOTICED ITS 3 AAA only.might work well with 3 eneloopes.
Yep, I overlooked the bit about bikedude wanting a flashlight, but perhaps that's because I also think that there isn't a $20 flashlight that will do 500 lumens for 5 hours. That's going to take three very good 18650's, or four okay 18650's, and those bigger lights cost a bit more.
The bike light gives you everything you need to ride your bike for less than $20. What I really like is that it has room to grow. If you swap the head, you can still reuse the old battery as a backup. You can do sense resistors mods. You can put in that wide angle lens. You can get that Pannovo battery case and use your own 18650's. You can get a splitter cable and use your battery to power a tail light. There's extension cords, and replacement mounts/bands/screws. There's just a lot that you can do if you start with that system.
I too am interested in a bike light.
I’ve been happy with a KD C8 on my bars and a Shiningbeam S-mini on the helmet. I just ordered a XinTD V5 from mtnelectronics.com. It’s $30, but is rated at over 1000 lumens. The KD C8 is probably about 600. The S-mini is 400 lumens. These are both 18650 lights. The C8/XinTD have 1” diameter barrels which are easy to mount on a U shaped rubber holder. The S-mini gets velcroed to the helmet. I get 1.5 hours on high with either light.
I personally prefer single battery flashlights. I can easily carry a spare battery. I also don’t like having to find room on my small frame for battery pack and wire.
https://picasaweb.google.com/107855960503641197230/BikeFlashlights?noredirect=1
@garrybunk: I’m located in southern Germany, forgot to mention that in the first post. Maybe bc I didn’t think of non china based vendors like amazon.
Thanks for all the replies so far.
How about snapping a Convoy s2 to your handlebar with Something like this
That would do more than 2 hours on medium i suppose, while giving a whole lot of light. (I think around the 300-400 lumens at med.) (they also have 1400 ma version, would do 400-500 lum on high and last you at least 2 hours with a 2600mah battery. Thats not the 5h you want, but that would be impossible with 500lumens and 1x 18650 i suppose)
Could also build yourself if you want, and have more control over battery use and light color
It was mentioned above, just carry spare 18650's to swap in/out. On a flashlight that'll be a quick swap. Oh, you can also mount that wide angle lens linked previously in a C8 flashlight to turn it into a wide beam. There are before/after pics around here on it.
-Garry
LanWolf, that’s a great deal for the S2 and you can choose the output option. There really is very little difference between 1050ma and 1400ma output when it comes to night vision. 500 lumens are easily eaten up in traffic but in the dark back country, 500 lumens is a huge amount of light.
The runtime is simple math. 3400mah cells will get you 3 hours easily at 1050ma. And from tests I performed on XP-G and XM-L, the 1050ma option will provide very little, if any sag in light output until the last 5 minutes or so of battery life (before fold-back begins with the NANJG 105C).
One thing to be aware of, the S2 body has very little to compensate for heat saturation. They can get pretty warm at even at 1400ma. The C8 does work a little better in this respect as it has more surface area.
S2 at 1400mA is safe wrt temperature. The 2100mA and 2800mA versions would need motion to keep them cool. For road, I really only use max modes when I’m going full out on a downhill. I also recommend the S2 however, I didnt mention it earlier because I’m unsure about the shipping ban on like ion cells out of China.
there might be a ban on cels, but s2 light is no problem.
Cells you might be able to harvest from an old laptop pack, or look in the sale part of the forum for some cheap cells.
I can recommend the nitecore d4 charger, good value for its money, and is able to charge nimahs also.
some cheaper option could be nitecore i4 or even i2 (or d2)
If you want a cheap nightcore d4 charger there will be some cheap ones coming on eBay soon.not sure if I am allowed to mention seller I’d,s so I will suggest you search i2 completed listings.I got my i2 with both cables £5.50 shipped ,just because the box is lightly damaged.
Seller informed me he has some d4,s in same box condition,might only reach £10-15 shipped.
Guys, remember,bikedude has one post. We can’t assume he can, or is even interested in anything but the simplest solution. Laptop pulling is not something I’ll automatically do and I’ve been in this for 10+ years.
i’m into this self building lights since a month or two and pulled my first laptop batteries already 
Until a 2 months ago i only had AA and AAA (and Maglite D) lights too…
Now i know what i’m doing (at least i know what not to do )
But the simplest solution is to buy a S2, and Nitecore charger and Batteries from Fasttech i think.
But i don’t know how battery shipping restrictions apply these days. Can always buy them in the USA too.