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Can anyone recommend a light that meets the following requirements:
1. Bar mounted light 1000+ lumens
2. Is reliable
3. Safe to charge
4. Good mounting clip/mechanism
5. All in one, no separate battery packs.
6. will compliment a helmet mounted light such as a joystick
Dont want to spend silly money, so if anyone has proven (1 years) experience with something from DX that hasnt burned their hands off I would be really interested.
Unfortunately most threads these days go into endless details about battery life, doing this and doing that.
All I want is something that will work reliably and not risk burning the house down.
Look forward to hearing your recommendations.
J
what is silly money?
maxx-d from primera is still £246, which is the cheapest Ive seen it.
sorry, want to spend sub 100 pounds or there abouts.
Basically not to 250+ for a hope or exposure bar mounted outfit.
Perhaps Im wanting the impossible?
Think you hit the nail on the head there, perhaps you could try and source a second hand maxxD or diablo?
All in one is the issue at this price, think that's going to mean a torch really. Ultrafire 501B maybe, plus quality charger and a couple of batteries and a mount, should be well under budget.
Used Exposure might be an option? But I'd sooner buy a cheap, new torch than an old, expensive, low powered Exposure tbh.
that inton double t6 looks interesting.. 10Ah battery too.
I'll post the same question on bikeradar as it seems there is more experience of cheaper solutions there.
Im amazed no one has run a cheaper alternative to all the big brands successfully for a year or so.
Perhaps people dont want to give up their secrets?
Loads of people have, but your criteria rule out all those options. I mean, to me it's a no brainer, you should be buying a MJ-872 or a Fluxient 4x. Quality, reliable lights within your budget. But you want self-contained so they're all out.
There's one or two reasonably priced self-contained lights, but none of them makes close to 1000 lumens.
That also rules out most of the older torches- I've been using my P7 torches for years and they've been flawless, but they only throw about 600 lumens. Good beam pattern etc, great lights but not up to your spec.
My advice is, go with the first option I mentioned there and forget about self-contained. It's a luxury and usually comes with drawbacks, and it rules out all the better options in your budget.
what about the Cateye nanoshot? should be bright enough for most stuff
250 lumens claimed, those... Look like nice wee lights but way under his spec.
check out cateye#s headlight chart
Aye... Could look at the Urban 300 as well. But still, nothing like the requested power output.
nightrider 600?
A real600 lumen output - worth 900 of most claimed outputs the link says 350 but there is a 600 option
http://www.thebikechain.co.uk/NiteRider-Minewt-Mini-Cordless-350-201108300601/
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Sounds like I could drop the requirement of 1000 lumens and go for a couple of cheap 300-600 torches instead.
Thanks for the suggestions.
J
If you've shifted your "requirments", maybe check out this [url= http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/ebay-cree-xml-20-torch-out-of-the-box-pics-review ]XML torch[/url] off eBay. Very impressive for the money, though at that price the batteries and charger aren't going to be the best, m8 bought one and one battery failed to work last week after working for a couple previously (may have just failed to charge). I've run a couple of P7 version for several years and they've been the most reliable units out of any torch/bike lights I've seen. Though with these unit you'll need to swap the battery after around an hour (1.5hr maybe), which does put some ppl off. At worst the most common faults you get with them is that they unscrew internally due to vibration, so you may need to screw internal part back together, not exactly hard.
This [url= http://www.torchythebatteryboy.com/ ]guy's[/url] site may help in terms of beam comparison, and he sells what he considers to be a better quality those types of torches, batteries and chargers on [url= http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/big_f_d_d/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=25&_trksid=p3984 ]eBay[/url]
I purchased mine from a local dealer [url= http://www.MagicShineNI.com ]MagicShineNI[/url], great communication and a fast delivery. Price is inline with most of the suppliers on Ebay too.
The thing for me and most people was the price, which I have noticed differs greatly. Some dealers are really taking the piss!! On another UK based site, they are almost £40 more expensive with the difference being Warranty but ALL suppliers are getting them from the same place. There is no such thing as an "official UK seller" to my knowledge so adding this to their site offers no great value.
Just my two cents...
Enjoy whatever you purchase, night riding is awesome 🙂
I use a powerfull ultrafire torch with lithium rechargeable batteries and bike handlebar mount. It's more than enough for me and I do mountain mayhem 24hour with it and use it everyday on my commute in the winter. Very wide flood area with a spot in the centre. The torch cost about £15-£20. The batteries are fairly cheap so you can get lots. Check out e-bay and look at the night shots. Mine has been reliable in all weathers and is still going strong after 2 years. Im not exagerating when I say that I have not noticed anything better when racing 24h. In fact, mine is one of the better lights i've seen. It could be that people run their lights on low settings when racing 24H because of the cost of buying spare batteries. I have some expensive kit but have to say that I think if you spend over £100 on lights these days you are wasting money. There are some crap cheapo lights out there though. Ultrafire are generally very good and you can read reviews online.
check out this one massive battery runtime even just as a back up also very bright for the price http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Electron-Micro-5-Front-Light_15518.htm