[Closed] Is it too soon for a lights thread?

It seems the gearbest nightrider batteries are said to be pretty good.

Iainc have you got any lights for sale? 😀

Muggo - nope, all gone now, thanks 😀

My 2016 MaxxD and Joystick are on their way from Wiggle. I tend to change them every yr or 2, that way they have a decent residual. My venture into Chinese eBay ones last autumn was an experiment.

I would be interested to know how much folk reckon decent lights work out at, cost wise per annum. I reckon running less than 2 yr old Exposure lid and bar combo works out at £100 pa for me.

I wouldn't touch budget chinese lights . I've had a few and don't like it when they just die . I've 3 2 fenix torches , one on helmet one on bars and a fenix bt20 . Bit more expensive but super reliable . Nothing worse than sorting out a light when it's total darkness and your in the middle of nowhere .

What 18650 charger?
I don't like leaving them charging overnight so would like something that would charge 2100s in about 7 at work.
I've got a nitecore charger and it's not that reliable.

Nothing worse than sorting out a light when it's total darkness and your in the middle of nowhere .

The only lights I've had that have just died on me while I was out on the trail was a Lupine HID one which cost around £400 back in 2005. Luckily I was able to ride down to the road following a mate. So how much it costs or the reputation of the brand isn't a guarantee, but of course in general the build quality will be of a higher standard.
The newer Chinese lights IME are much better made than the original magicshine lights and it seems that even the battery packs are getting better if you buy from the right places and avoid the clones.

Solarstorm x6 on the bars, held on with a hope mount.

Tom, how did you modify the light to take the Hope mount? Would like to do this myself to another similar Chinese head unit I have.

Logging in, keep the links coming chaps

please beware some of those links are to unprotected cells. They may have a ntc (over current device under the top cap) but they're is no overall protection circuit. You are relying solely on the light and the charger to cut the battery out in use.

Some of these imported lights are drawing well above the limits of the battery - I've had one battery returned as the customer wasn't happy as it wouldn't work. I asked for him to return the battery and also his imported light. It turned out the light was drawing just over 6A on full. The protection circuit was cutting off the current as part of its safety feature.

This is one reason why Li-Ion and Li-Polymer batteries get such a bad name, so please be careful.

Just imagine charging with a faulty charger. They're is no over-charge protection for a start.

Can anyone confirm if the Nitefighter light heads are compatible with a Solarstorm battery?

Sure I saw a picture of the connectors on one of the epic mtbr threads linked previously on this thread and they were the solarstorm/old magicshine round connectors. It would be worth checking through them if you want to be certain. I've looked through that many mtbr light threads recently I'm not sure what light has what anymore.

Nightfighter headunits from gearbest fit / work with my magicshine batteries / connectors.

They also work with my solarstorm connector - but lack the screw on thingy to make them more waterproof.

Delivery from gearbest was 7 weeks from despatch til it was delivered in the uk.

No duty etc as usual.

There was a ping sound on this evenings ride, ignored it and carried on. Having arrived home 20 miles later it seems my rear light has escaped

Any recommendations ?

Smart Lunar R2 is a good rear light, as is the Moon Comet.

R2 requires aaa batteries. I use Duracell rechargeables- the ones that hold their charge and they last ages.

The Comet has a fixed usb rechargeable battery.

Tom, how did you modify the light to take the Hope mount? Would like to do this myself to another similar Chinese head unit I have.

Unscrew the original mounting from the light, remove screw (may need a slightly longer one M4?), apply locktite (obvs), screw hope mount to light. Simples 8)

Any recommendations ?

Lezyne Zecto drive is pretty good, big enough to to withstand a coating of mud and still be visible.

Request from a night riding novice...

Can anyone recommend two lights, one head and one bar mounted, that are cheap, bright enough (I don't need a collapsed sun but I'd like to be able to see where I'm going) and come with batteries?

I'm trying to decipher the various options but it's boiling down to the fact I don't actually know how much I need. These will be used throughout this winter, the puffer (in a pair so no problems charging them up) and possibly beyond.

Perfectly happy to buy Chinese and do a bit of tinkering.

Cheers.

I ordered some lights from gearbest following this thread. but I then received this email. I used PayPal and
I have no intention of sending these guys a copy of my credit card and my passport. Is there. anyway round this or will my order get cancelled. Seems well dodgy to me never had to do this with DX.

Dear customer

Thanks for your order at Gearbest

Your order is now ON HOLD,we need to complete this one-time verification.

This is a standard anti-fraud check for online payment,please check our website for more details here :

http://www.gearbest.com/about/verify-payment.html

We will process your order as soon as we receive the payer's ID confirmation.

Please provide us the following documents:

1) 1 color photo of your identity card or passport or driving license.

The photo must show clearly, the full name, expiry date, signature and address if applicable.

You can hide the date of birth and document number for your privacy.

2) 1 credit card photo of the card used for the payment

For your safety , please just show the cardholder's name,the expiry date and the last 4 numbers.

If you have paid with a virtual credit card please us sreenshot of your electronic bills, which shows the card number and details.

If you have paid by Paypal?please send the credit card's copy that you have registered in PayPal.

Stainypants - I wouldn't even respond to that, i'd be searching to cancel the order by any other means asap.

Bloodsexmagik - hopefully someone can shed some light for you (s****), I'd have a stab at answering for you but im 18mths out of date myself.
For the record - Smudge knows his beans when it comes to batteries - avoid cheap chinese batteries where possible - when users claim 'the batteries are genuine panasonics (etc), this is a good thing.

I'd go for nightfighter BT21 on the helmet and BT40s or BT70 on the bars.

If you want to buy a separate battery pack (mtbr users seem to think the battery packs with the nightfighters are pretty good) then you can try these [url] http://www.mtbrevolution.com [/url]

In September Hope are releasing some uprated lights including an R4+ that swapa out the XPG LEDs for some better Cree LEDs which I assume would still be XMLs of some variety. I think they will be doing an R2+ too.

As much as I like a bargain Hope lights are always good and have top notch back up. Never mind buying British!

[url= http://www.hopetech.com/product/r4plus-led/ ]hope linky[/url]

Oooh, integrated hope light. Take my money.

Thanks Muggo, appreciated.

Any other options? I could get a Solarstorm X6 and X2 for head from amazon for ~£35. This is cheaper than the nitefighter ones but if the batteries are inferior and will need replaced then it'll work out better to get the nitefighter ones.

Be careful with Solarstorm lights from Amazon and eBay. There is a lot of inferior copies out there and most of them seem to be for sale on those 2 sites. I bought a SSX2 from eBay last year because I left it later than usual and it was next day delivery. It wasn't anywhere near as bright compared to a mates X2 and kept dimming even when I was careful to switch it off when not moving.
Could have just been a dodgy unit, but I suspect it was an inferior made clone and now only buy through Gearbest as not had any issues with the few lights I've had from there.

What's good for road cycling for about fifty to sixty quid?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Xeccon-Link-Duo-CITY-COMMUTE-LIGHT-USB-charging-/291543299876?hash=item43e155b724

Thanks Matt; have you got one? Probably worth a go at the price, just a shame it has flashing modes and no medium mode.

Ok i was going to pull the trigger on the nitefighter lights but i have now read several reviews of bad transactions with gearbest, all of which have ended with the buyer well out of pocket. Is this just a few in a million or are there genuine concerns with this company? Would a fluxient light from torchy boy stand up againt the nightfighter?

I have never had a problem with Gearbest. I think the majority of people on MTBR lights forum have had their transactions go through ok. That said I did make an order for something recently from Gearbest and after 10 days it still hasn't been dispatched which is unusual based on previous experience.

[url= http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/article/philips-saferide-80-led-bike-light-battery-front-light/aid:642257 ]Philips SafeRide 80[/url]
Or
[url= http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/article/b--m-ixon-iq-premium-led-illumination-set/aid:703616 ]B&M Ixon IQ[/url]

(Road use)

@davidtaylfortn

I don't have one, but someone in the club does, and being from TorchyTheBatteryBoy I think it would be a better bet...

Has anyone done a direct comparison of a SS X2, a Yingding and a BT21?

I had both a yingding and a SS x2 and found the solar storm had better light/beam but looked cheaper

For road cycling check out the cateye volt 300, I've been using mine in the daytime and it's very impressive. It has a great pulse feature which is much better than a flash

jruk - Member
Has anyone done a direct comparison of a SS X2, a Yingding and a BT21?

[url= http://forums.mtbr.com/lights-night-riding/budget-light-yinding-bt21-bca2-xt40-x3-beam-shot-comparison-978711.html ]MTBR is your friend[/url]

If I didn't have the Magicshine MJ880U already then I'd probably be torn between the Yinding and the BT21 for a helmet mounted light, but most likely leaning towards the BT21 as it has the extra lumens on turbo should you ever need it.

This is insanely bright, but heat is obviously an issue so save it for the really fast runs.

[img] [/img]

Muggomagic that is properly bright.

I am now looking at the 1200 lumen front light from c and be seen purely because that will be enough light for the lid and its only £15 quid dearer and comes with lots of accessories. All this and its uk based so good support and quick delivery. Anyone had any experience with there lights?

User review here

[url= http://forums.mtbr.com/lights-night-riding/c-b-seen-cabs-1200-1200-lumen-bike-light-headlamp-kit-review-942146.html ]CABS 1200[/url]

Seems ok for the money, just a little dated in terms of LED tech, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. As you say though the trade off for less lumens is dealing with a UK retailer.

Thanks for that linky muggo, i tried a search on there and couldnt find it (user error i suspect). It did make interesting reading but what would like to know is what that author thought was the best light for that money as he said it wasnt the best light and not the worse either. As my budget is around the fifty quid mark i am back to thinking may be risk a chinese light....i used to be decisive but i am not sure now!
I will keep looking around and hopefully by the weekend i might have made my mind up.

It's a tough choice as there are just so many options.

Personally I'd go with either the yinding or the BT21 and a XT40 or BT40s combo.

With gearbest is it best to pay via paypal or debit card (i dont have a credit card)?

I pay via PayPal as it's easier for me. Not had any of the emails asking for pictures of card or ID as above either.

Cheers Muggo. I've got an XT40 as well but not used it as yet - would like to put it in my lid but it's a bit tall / chunky for that. Will prob get a BT21 for the helmet and run the XT on my bars.

Ok i thought i would live life on the edge and go with the bt21, lets see what happens.

XT40 is v bright but sucks serious current and is badly sealed from elements.

Just received my BT21
Looks really nicely made and turbo seems brighter than my Solarstorm X2.
Connector fits with Solarstorm (but without screw).

Hope mount arrived from Tredz for 6.99. Doesn't really fit 35mm bars, but I can put it at the tapered end and angle the light slightly. Seems snug. Not really necessary with X2/BT21 but I bought it for the BT70.

Haven't tried them outdoors yet so can't really talk about beam pattern.

How long did it take to arrive?

Looking forward to seeing what you think of the BT21 when you have a chance to use it.

Shipped on 18th - arrived 28th - very impressive!

That is good. Mine shipped on the 22nd so with any luck it'll be here in the next week or so.
Is the Hope mount just a case of unscrewing the supplied o ring mount and screwing in the Hope one or is there some fettling required? I've got a plastic mount I got from Torchy that I use on the 7 LED light that I've been using on the bars, but that's a bit of a struggle to get on 31.8mm bars near the stem.

Just seen this (scroll down the page a bit) Magicshine 2016 lights. [b]8000[/b] lumens with 3 hours run time 😯

[url] http://ride.io/news/eurobike-15-day-2-3/ [/url]

Is the Hope mount just a case of unscrewing the supplied o ring mount and screwing in the Hope one or is there some fettling required?

Thanks. I'll get one ordered.

Subscribing for later reference

Ordered my bt21 on 26th but still waiting for the status to change from processing....

Is the hope mount necessary for the bt21 or is this just a preffered option to the oring mounts (i am not a fan of the rubber rings)?

Alexsimon how long from point of ordering to receiving was it?

Is the hope mount necessary for the bt21 or is this just a preffered option to the oring mounts (i am not a fan of the rubber rings)?

Alexsimon how long from point of ordering to receiving was it?
Posted 1 hour ago # Report-Post

Thats pretty quick, i guess you dropped lucky with the shipping schedule. Looks like i could be in for a bit of a wait, no rush though.

Video review of BT70

BT21 and BT40

Just had to start using lights on my after work rides starting around 6.30-7
Currently using a nukeproof reactor on the bars and lezyne on the helmet its a good setup but my nukeproof seems to get flooded by my friends £18 ss x3 when he's behind me
Can't believe how bright it is
My nuke is nocking on 4 years old now and not had an issue, my lezyne is used daily for commuting aswell so lots of charging almost daily with no issues

The Winter Lights Arms Race is on!!

Nitefighter BT70 just ordered 🙂

I ordered a BT21 from GearBest on 21st August and it arrived today (1st Sept).

People who have ordered from gearbest can you keep me in the loop with how your orders are progressing? I reckon people who ordered around 22nd august got theres delivered quickly due to shipping calendar but after that it seems to have slowed down. I ordered on 25th august and my order in still in the processing stage, its not even a week old so i am not going to hassle them about it. If it all goes well and somebody can confirm they will work with magicshine battery connection then i may order an extra head unit.

EDIT: my order has now changed to shipped so i will let you know when it arrives so you might be able to guage your own orders

All the pictures I've seen show they have the older round connection and not the newer magicshine rectangular connection.

Thats just what i wanted to hear muggomagic as my magic shine is a few years old and has a round connection. I will see what my bt21 is like first.

I ordered a BT21 from Gearbest around the 21st and got it within a week.

Took it out for a first ride last night. I'm running it paired up with four good quality protected XTAR cells in a battery box. It survived getting rained on, and is plenty bright enough. I only used the overdrive mode on fast descents and suspect it won't do much intelligent stuff to mitigate the heat buildup over time. It does get hot fast, so we'll see if the driver burns out in the next few months (a similarly built one sold as the Jexree Owl seemed fine at first, but has got noticeably dimmer over the year to the point it's useless now - whereas I've had years of use out of P60 based XM-L2 and P7 flashlights).

One of the things I liked the look of with the BT21 was the heatsink giving a decent mounting area at the side of the light. I hate the rubber band light mounts these all come with, so bought a Gloworm quick release mount off the classifieds here, and adapted the light with a bolt, a range of drills from 2.5 to 5mm, and an M3 tap:

[img] [/img]

[img] [/img]

The messy looking spacer is there for now because I only had long M3 machine screws to hand. The first fin has a 5mm hole to accommodate the inner facing part of the mount, the thread goes all the way through the rest.

[img] [/img]

Gloworm mounts are the best I've seen: machined aluminium, low footprint, can raise the light up a little to help fire it over cables, and let you position the light body directly over the stem (which is more an OCD thing for me than anything, but does take up less room on the bars).

Nice mod.

I like the look of these that a user on the mtbr forum has made. They're made out of Aluminium and he's extended the fins to help with the heat dissipation. Not sure if he'd ship to the UK or how much it'd be.

[url] http://www.pacifier.com/~kevinb/Additional_adapters.html [/url]

Not sure if he'd ship to the UK or how much it'd be.

[b]nach[/b] - nice work.
How did you find the beam pattern?

Cheap Cree ebay jobby is still doing me well a year later and hasn't yet burned my house down

Nach - liking the look of that. I'm using a Hope handlebar mount from CRC for my C&BSeen but looking at other options for mounting a light to the o/h's bike.

What are other people using?

Also, any neat solutions for mounting the battery packs or is everyone using Velcro straps like me?

Cheers,

Si

I just use Velcro for the battery. Works really well on my square stem.

can someone please tell me the best universal charger for a solarstorm?

I know there's been threads on this but just need a link or just point me in the right direction.

I bought it last year so it might be a v2 or something, if that makes any difference.

many thanks in advance.

If you can get a magicshine charger with the round connector, that would be a good reasonably-priced bet.
You'd have to check on the connector, but I think this:
http://www.bikelightsuk.com/accessories/uk_mains_magicshine_charger_P580.html

Otherwise http://mtbbatteries.co.uk/ are a safe and quality but pricier option.

has anyone bothered dropping new LEDs into Trouties Lumen Liberator? Mine is coming up for it's 6th year of use this month and whilst it's been brilliantly reliable and pushes out a proper dose of light, Im sure there is new LED tech that should be able to drop in on the same driver. Anyone?

I put my battery in a tiny topeak bag (not a saddle bag but a small square bag that just about fits the battery) this way its an extra layer of protection plus its quick release so no faffing with velcro. I mount it on underneath the top tube close to the headset.

AlexSimon - Member
nach - nice work.
How did you find the beam pattern?

Ta. I found the beam fine, but I do ride with a XM-L2 torch on my lid that throws a spot quite a long way, and tend to use bar lights for flooding the trail closer by. I'll let you know if I find anything rubbish about it in the next week or two.

Overall, with all of this stuff I'm finding about 1/3 of cheap lights are a pain in the arse. Still works out cheaper than brands, but it's very much for fettlers.

Quick update on my order. Day 9 since ordering and my parcel left hong kong on sept 2nd, it seems to have been on a journey just to get there so not sure where next destination is.

Anyone recently got theres and had a chance to test yet?

Rode with the BT21 last night.

Loved it.

Brighter than my Solarstorm X2

The neutral colour of the beam really does work better. Much easier to see things and just more pleasant.

Cycling through the modes confused me a bit, sometimes seemed to have 3 levels, sometimes 4. I'll have to investigate - perhaps it remembers last mode at switch-off.

Beam pattern is very nice. No visible hotspots. Quite floody.

I put my X2 on the helmet, but it seemed very spotty and blue in comparison. Might need to think about a second Nitefighter product. I'm also getting tempted by a Hunk Lee battery.

AlexSimon - Member
perhaps it remembers last mode at switch-off.

It does.

Second ride with mine last night, and like you I found the light on my helmet was noticeably bluer. The BT21 throws a wider beam than I feel I need that close to the bike, but even so the output is more than adequate.

I seem to remember somebody on here mentioned about buying another neutral white light as it will likely clash with non neutral white lights. Thats the reason i was asking about the connection as i might by another bt21 head unit only and attach to my current magicshine battery.