thoughts on this?

LED Flashlights – General Info 18650 Flashlights
21

I just ordered from I/O and KD about 4 weeks ago. My orders took only about 2 1/2 to 3 weeks. The I/O order said "shipped" status much quicker than KD, however KD's showed up a few days earlier. I usually try to leave a comment when ordering that says "please inform me if any items are out of stock before shipping. Or, better yet, email and ask if items are in stock before placing the order.

You can add HK Equipment to the "recommended sellers" list, but they don't really sell parts - mainly flashlights and batteries/chargers. I had excellent communication with them by email and highly recommend using them.

-Garry

22

are there specific lights that regulate better than others? what should i be looking for? do you get what you pay for essentially?

23

Lot's of lights are regulated, but as a general rule, most cheap budget lights are not. Among my collection, the two I know for sure that are current regulated are my Balder BD-2 and my Thrunite T30. Generally it says so in the manufacturer specs if they are. In practical terms, for cycling it's not that important to me. With my ride group, we're trading pulls, so I'm switching frequently between Medium, Low and High. Even riding with it on High for a long time, your eyes don't really perceive the gradual drop off in lumens until it goes pretty far.

24

are there any recommendations for the 3*xml led models? is that overkill? i see some say not to run them on high for too long. Is there a 2*xml light?

25

Hello boy1dr , and welcome to the forum!

First of all : loose the Light & Motion ARC , it’s outdated , and IMHO you’ll be better off without it…

As an XC rider and a flashaholic for a couple of years now, I found that a combination of 2 flashlights will get the job done wherever you go , and whatever you do.

As I was saying , you need 2 flashlights :

one Thrower mounted on the handlebar (to have a good view of the road even 25 meters ahead)
one Flooder mounted on the helmet ( to fill out the tunneling vision created by the thrower)

Recommended Throwers :

XinTD C8 V3 - 29.95 $ - with the option to choose the modes you want…

KEYGOS KE-5 - 21.99 $

SltrFire - 14.71 $( Keygos KE-5 clone , lumens somewhat 50 % of KE-5)

Recommended Flooders :

LXP - 28.5 $ - with the option to choose the modes you want…

ROCHE F12 Mini - 29.95 $ - with the option to choose the modes you want…

UltraFire UF-2100 - 15.32 $

UniqueFire UF-2100 - 11.99 $ (DinoDirect is known to send wrong items or stuff like that , I haven’t had problems with my 8 - 10 orders, but others did…)

N-light ST50 - 37 $ + shipping

Bike Mounts :

for handlebar - 1.10 $ ( it holds very well the flashlight, I haven’t had any problem with the flashlight slipping out when going down the mountain …)

for helmet - 1.65 $

or, a wide choice here …

18650 batteries that I use :

Hi-Max 2600 mAh protected - 5.99 + shipping ( but you can get a better price when buying more …:wink: )

Trustfire Flame Protected 3000 mAh - 11.70 $ (Real capacity ~ 2400 - 2500 mAh)

Trustfire Flame Protected 2400 mAh - 10.89 $(Real capacity ~ 2200 - 2400 mAh)

Panasoni NCR18650 2900 mAh - 7.69 $ ( don’t really know how well the protection works , but I think that it’s safe also to buy Panasonic uprotected because of the 2.5 V discharge limit…just be sure to change the battery if you see a drastic light decrease in output)

Panasoni NCR18650A 3100 mAh - 9.99 $( same as NCR18650 with buying unprotected)

and others (just search the forum )

Chargers for 18650 cells :

16340 TO 32650 LI-ION BATTERY CHARGER - 4.71 $

TrustFire TR-001 - 9.42 $

ML-102 USB CHARGER - 8.95 $ (you can also charge mobile phone/mp3 player etc. via USB, from the battery)

SYSMAX™ IntelliCharge Li-Ion Ni-CD Ni-MH 4-Channel ~ 25 $

XTAR WP2 II - 19.39 $ (you can also charge mobile phone/mp3 player etc. via USB, from the battery)

and others

26

Yes there is !

SHADOW TC750X - 65 $

3 * XM-L lights will be much heavier and bulkier for bike riding … and you really don’t need 3 XM-L’s on a bike , I had all the light I needed when there were only Q5 led’s , with 2 flashlights that had a total of 400 - 450 lumen :), now you usually have a minimum of 450 - 500 lumen on any 18650 XM-L light :wink:

27

I’m guessing it would. My dedicated Titan Gemini bike light has a similiar style head strap that stretches and fits over the helmet, and I’m guessing this was made for this purpose as it has a reflector at the back.