Front light review.

[mr-mac]

Torchy BK650.

Have known torchy as a vaper for probably 3 years now. He does very well regarded lion battery tests and is highly regarded for very honest tests in Ukvapers forum. Though he started out testing lights as was fed up with false claims.

I have purchased many lion cells and chargers etc off him over the years and never had an issue with his service.

This brings me to the light. Torchy BK650 which I won along with a back light on his cycling competion picking a rider in the Vuelta a San Juan I picked 195 Diaz who was highest placed out of entries

The light retails at 29.99 features 2 x Cree XM-L U2 and is powered by two 18650 cells.

What can I say for the money it’s a lovely product Anodised Aluminium Case which looks lovely and feels great in hand and has weather sealing which appears to be up to the job of a wet cycle (ip65 rating).

The light output is superb 650 lumens And torchy test comes in at 656 lumens. However unlike a lot of proclaimed super powerful lights who do output 1000+ lumens then drop of to less than 500 within minutes this light keeps a strong output hour after hour.

Has 3 power settings + strobe and sos.

The clamp to fit to bike is superb, fits quickly and easily and stays in place nicely. You plan on a long ride and it’s easy to carry extra cells. But 2.5hr in full power up to 6.5+ on low power mode should handle most situations.

It’s very bright indeed and would happily allow me to cycle a dark, unlit trail.

Can highly recommend if you want a good value front light with good power output that doesn’t drop off. My only downside is I wish there was an easy way to flip between low and high outputs without cycling through the 5 modes but it’s not that big a deal.

John

http://www.torchy.co.uk/product/torchy- ... ont-light/

 

[tenbikes]

I bought one on the strength of the above.

Lasted three uses, then overheated to such a degree that it burned my hand. The springs in the 'lid' had all but melted.

Good light whilst it lasted, but dangerous.

No response from Torchy re any warranty.......

Bucket job.

Replaced with a very similar Fenix jobby at nearly 3x the price, but hopefully won't burn my house down.....

 

[mr-mac]

Re:

That’s unusual torchy usually comes back to me via email. Though he did take a while once as my email went into his junk items.

Mine is still going strong with no issues but yeah it’s not good when something like that happens esspecially with li-ion cells.

I’ll also send an email to torchy and link to here and prod him into action I hope as I am sure he’ll want to know about issue and obv try and resolve.

 

[jimo746]

Re:

I've had my BK650 a few months now, Torchy got back to me about an alternative mount to fit a GoPro adapter, there wasnt one, so I managed to fit a GoPro mount myself, with the help of some JB Weld for me its a neater solution than the supplied handlebar mount.

I've also bought spare 18650 batteries from Fogstar, and a decent Nitecore D4 charger from Amazon. This was bought with a view to competing in the Strathpuffer 24hr event.

I use it on the GoPro mount attached to the bars, along with a helmet mounted light, and for that it's just fine. On the road to the trails I just use the BK650, its bright enough to use alone on the trails, but once you've tried brighter lights it's difficult not to want more illumination , which is where the helmet light is useful for tricky singletrack, with the added benefit of reducing the amount of shadows cast.

I'm happy with the BK650 for the price, being able to change batteries and extend the runtime is a big plus for me.

I'll keep an eye on it though and check the springs in the cover, sounds like they may be the weak link.

 

[mr-mac]

Re:

Springs may be like some vape springs and designed to distort and retract in event of a short so they basically break the connection rather than it continuing to run away and cause a much worse outcome.

Torchy was quite surprised as he’s sold a lot and had no issues but he’s gonna check back through his emails for the one about fault. he says he’s been utterly swamped with emails due to Royal Mail delivery times over last couple of months so likely missed it. Can see why as I one item take 11 days at end novermber and another posted 12th dec just arrived on 30th.

 

[Nob]

I bought one on the strength of the above.

Lasted three uses, then overheated to such a degree that it burned my hand. The springs in the 'lid' had all but melted.

Good light whilst it lasted, but dangerous.

No response from Torchy re any warranty.......

Bucket job.

Replaced with a very similar Fenix jobby at nearly 3x the price, but hopefully won't burn my house down.....

Yikes that is not good at all....was this ever addressed?

 

[tenbikes]

I bought one on the strength of the above.

Lasted three uses, then overheated to such a degree that it burned my hand. The springs in the 'lid' had all but melted.

Good light whilst it lasted, but dangerous.

No response from Torchy re any warranty.......

Bucket job.

Replaced with a very similar Fenix jobby at nearly 3x the price, but hopefully won't burn my house down.....

Yikes that is not good at all....was this ever addressed?

Not so far....

 

[mr-mac]

Re:

You wanna pm me email address you contacted him from to aid him searching the swamp of emails he has.