Bike lights

[drcarlos]

Re: Re:

Yeah I need to get some new battery packs, after years of summer unused and plenty not recharges, they're not so good now.

Modified mine by shortening the cables, they always come so long you have to wrap the whole stem and frame in wire.

These https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Durable-8-4V ... Sw-ktflqJU

or These https://www.amazon.co.uk/TrustFire-Rech ... 7912&psc=1

Add some Foam tape and fill with your selection from here:

https://18650.uk/shop/18650-batteries/

I use Samsung 25R, my mate has some Samsung 25R, 30Q annd Panasonic B's. The B's do last longer but I think with a 4 LED light they will easily hit 3 hours (at full power) none of our rides last longer so the cheaper 25R's are enough. Most of the time I'm doing 2/3 rides before I need to charge again as I use the lights on medium setting mostly.

 

[FluffyChicken]

Re:

Many thanks.

 

[legrandefromage]

My cheap chinese bike lights did another good run tonight without exploding or flying off in the air

riders in the opposite direction could have been a bit more polite with their retina rippers

 

[ishaw]

Re:

Got sidetracked with work so just catching up on this thread. Was going to put some of the torchy ones on my Xmas list but they have completely home from the website. Not even out of stock.

That's the kind of light I'm looking for I guess, not too expensive so could get a couple and some spare batteries.

That option has gone. The nestling ones look ok but mounts don't look great and I'm not sure that ebay is the kind of place my in laws frequent. Any similar/better options from a UK retailer?

 

[greencat]

I've always bought my cheapo chinese lights (inc nestling) off amazon. If they are duff, it will eventually show up in the reviews.

Appreciate what others are saying about variable quality, but bar one power supply going pfft (they all use USB charging now so no longer a problem) - they've been good to me. The mounts are a weakness, but even then I've seen variation in design and frankly it hasn't been that much of a problem even on some very rugged night time terrain and conditions (eg horizontal hail on Snowdon in November). Some of my batteries are 3+ years old and I'm still getting 2+ hours at medium beam out of them.

And for £250 that some of the other recommended options cost, I can get 10+ sets of Chinesium lights. I now use them on my helmet and bike - and I have similar products as head/chest lights for running at night.

 

[Rank_21]

Light experience: Bought one in the €80 range which rusted near the input, had some other similar ones in the €40 range from decathlon, stolen. A super cheap one with normal batteries, just works and nobody steals them. Petzl head lamps, on head or helmet, useful when you need to see when off the bike too, ex. pumping up tyres etc. Nobody steals them, easy to charge.

 

[adroitstif]

My experience echoes Greencat's. One Nestling headlamp bought a couple of years ago has worked perfectly in some bad weather, and nothing wrong with the mount either, though the metal mount parts rusted quickly. Bought as a backup to a more expensive Lezyne, but the Lezyne's not so much better as to justify the 4x price difference!

 

[Raging_Bulls]

Still got my Cateye LED back light I bought in 1990. And the twin halogen set from a few years later. Was looking to change them to some sort of LED system but mostly cant be bothered

A bit of a late reply, but hey.

Depending on which halogen set, it can be pretty easy. I run the classic Cateye Halogen HL500 headlights on my bikes, and did replace the bulbs with LED ones.
The bulbs in the HL500 use the P13.5S socket. The original Halogen bulbs are marked as 2.5V and 0.5A, so they're 1.25W. Given the 3V that the batteries push when full, I suspect that their actual consumption is about 1.5W until the battery is starting to get drained.

I ordered a pair of 0.5W and 1W bulbs (I didn't want to buy from Ebay, I just wasn't confident about the accuracy and quality of the cheap Chinese LEDs) that worked with 2.5-3V. The lights work just fine and due to the reduced wattage the C-cell batteries will last a lot longer. The light output is also increased from 11 lumen for the halogen, to 22 and 65 lumen depending on which LED I install.

Some pics. I think it's fairly obvious what's what.



I normally have the 0.5W LEDs installed on my bikes. There's plenty of light over here even at night, so the 1W setup is complete overkill.

 

[rwm1962]

Great to see old kit like this repurposed. I did similar with an old 1981 Petzl Zoom headtorch I didn't want to retire. A case to replace the old flat 4.5v battery takes 3 rechargeable AA's & a LED bulb instead of the old halogen. Much brighter & great battery life. Still weighs a ton so lives in the van instead of the pack.

Some of us simply cant afford the price of an Exposure, some of us live in the real world...

Aye - I'm well & truly in the real world now!