MTB Winter Lights?

Author
Discussion

magpie215

4,370 posts

188 months

Saturday 7th December 2013
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scottri said:
What difference is the higher rated mAh going to make?

Cheers
Longer runtime

scottri

950 posts

181 months

Saturday 7th December 2013
quotequote all
magpie215 said:
Longer runtime
Thanks, i'll probably give them a try then.

yellowjack

17,065 posts

165 months

Saturday 7th December 2013
quotequote all
scottri said:
The existing battery says its a 18650, 3.7v 2400mAh, 2 amp protected. What difference is the higher rated mAh going to make?

Cheers
As other's have said already, higher milliAmp hours rated batteries last longer.

In the very simplest terms, a lamp which draws 2,400 mA per hour will remain lit for one hour when connected to a 2400mAh battery. Link that same lamp to a 4800mAh battery, and it will remain lit for 2 hours. Voltage and the electrical current fuse protection rating (Amps) should closely match the ratings of the original battery, but mAh is a way of stating the amount of electrical power a battery can store and usefully provide to an appliance.

Chicken Chaser

7,744 posts

223 months

Saturday 7th December 2013
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I've just picked up a Candbseen Ultrafire C8 U2 light, and I'm immensely impressed by its power. I bought a couple of Xtar batteries and a decent charger so they cost me more than the light itself!

The beam has a really decent bright spot, but also a fair spread. I bought it for commuting which might cause some issues with its spreadable beam, but I might buy something with a focusable beam and use it in conjuction. It'll be ideal for a bit of off-roading i'm sure too.

Maybe a little heavy and bulky to strap to a helmet, but the 501b might suit that function better.


bakerstreet

4,755 posts

164 months

Sunday 8th December 2013
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D4MJT said:
I have a CREE eBay job that I bought recently, and have tried out last night.

2 worthwhile points, mine has 3 x LED's in it, which I imagine accounts for the tragic battery life. From a full charge I got 31 minutes out of it last night before it died.

The other (and main) point though, is that mine didn't go dim and die out, it simply turned itself off. At this particular point I was doing 19.8mph according to Strava, cycling in the back of beyond means no streetlights, so it got dark very quick laugh

Worthwhile knowing, I expected it to die down and get dim, and it just completely cut out. It was quite exciting.
I run the 5 LED Cree Light and its good for my hour long commute. I tried doing two commutes on one charge, but the external battery is only good for an hour and half.

I always have a spare in my bag should the Cree fail unexpectedly. I currently mount the battery pack behind the steerer. I can't use the stem as my Garmin is mounted to the Stem.

ism123

373 posts

209 months

Sunday 8th December 2013
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I use Magic Shine 1600 lumens, get 2-2.5 hours depending on intensity. Think I paid £120

D4MJT

1,253 posts

157 months

Monday 9th December 2013
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Quick update, my batteries seem to be holding well now, I don't know if they needed a good charge, discharge and recharge or something but they're lasting my commute easily now.

I've been using my MTB for a few weeks but I pressed my road bike back into service yesterday, gave it a good service and sorted out my lights. I'm now running a 3 x LED CREE with a normal lense as a sort of high beam affair, and a 1 x LED CREE with a wide angle lense. I also have a Cateye AA powered jobby as a failsafe.

Not the best pic as my phone doesn't take good pics in the dark, but this is the end result, I think I'm in about £35 for the lights and the wide angle lense which isn't bad, I had the Cateye set already.




scottri

950 posts

181 months

Friday 13th December 2013
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scottri said:
Hi,

Can anyone advise me whether the above batteries would be a good replacement for my lezyne light? Its stopped holding charge and the lezyne spares are a) out of stock b ) quite expensive...

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/lezyne/led-sup...

The existing battery says its a 18650, 3.7v 2400mAh, 2 amp protected. What difference is the higher rated mAh going to make?

Cheers
An update, just in case anyone else is in my situation. I ordered some of the panasonic batteries from ebay to replace the Lezyne one. All arrived, looked fine etc, was quite surprised that when installed into the light the battery rattled around, to the point of losing contact when riding over anything bumpy, a quick inspection...



Anyway, i've bodged a fix and packed out the light with a 5p coin and some tinfoil! Another point to note is that the contacts are actually below the surface of the battery.




caul pope

250 posts

167 months

Saturday 14th December 2013
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I'd very much like a front and rear light that share the same rechargeable battery pack.
As far as I'm aware the options are;

C&B Seen Commuter Kit (£70ish from the UK) - http://www.candb-seen.co.uk/bikehead-lights/commut...

MagicShine (£85ish from Australia) - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/290950267992?ssPageName=...

But does anyone know if I could fit the MagicShine rear light - www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MJ-818-Splitter-kit-85-Lumen-wi...
and a £16 eBay special together?

Cheers

Smartboy

231 posts

207 months

Sunday 15th December 2013
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My Exposure Red-Eye rear light runs off my Exposure Toro front light, just Zip-tied the cable along the top tube. A bit over the £16 e-bay special though!

caul pope

250 posts

167 months

Sunday 15th December 2013
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Nice one.
So something like this? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/USE-EXPOSURE-JOYSTICK-RE...

My budget would obviously prefer an eBay special, so I'm on a mission to find a rear light set up solution.

TheLemming

4,319 posts

264 months

Sunday 15th December 2013
quotequote all
caul pope said:
I'd very much like a front and rear light that share the same rechargeable battery pack.
As far as I'm aware the options are;

C&B Seen Commuter Kit (£70ish from the UK) - http://www.candb-seen.co.uk/bikehead-lights/commut...

MagicShine (£85ish from Australia) - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/290950267992?ssPageName=...

But does anyone know if I could fit the MagicShine rear light - www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MJ-818-Splitter-kit-85-Lumen-wi...
and a £16 eBay special together?

Cheers
The magichsine rear is very bright, excellent vfm and it also works using a splitter cable and the generic Chinese eBay cree light battery packs.

caul pope

250 posts

167 months

Sunday 15th December 2013
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TheLemming said:
The magichsine rear is very bright, excellent vfm and it also works using a splitter cable and the generic Chinese eBay cree light battery packs.
So the MagicShine rear will connect to the bog standard eBay pack with the y-splitter; awesome!!!

TheLemming

4,319 posts

264 months

Monday 16th December 2013
quotequote all
caul pope said:
So the MagicShine rear will connect to the bog standard eBay pack with the y-splitter; awesome!!!
Yep. When I use mine that's how its hooked up.
Its an awesome little light :-)

Fartomatic5000

558 posts

154 months

Monday 16th December 2013
quotequote all
TheLemming said:
caul pope said:
So the MagicShine rear will connect to the bog standard eBay pack with the y-splitter; awesome!!!
Yep. When I use mine that's how its hooked up.
Its an awesome little light :-)
Yep, but be careful, the magicshine is 8.4V as are most of the ebay lights, but recently I bought a light which was listed as 8.4V which turned out to be 4.2V (said so on the charger and the battery wouldn't work with the magicshine).
Just something to look out for.

caul pope

250 posts

167 months

Monday 16th December 2013
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Fartomatic5000 said:
Yep, but be careful, the magicshine is 8.4V as are most of the ebay lights, but recently I bought a light which was listed as 8.4V which turned out to be 4.2V (said so on the charger and the battery wouldn't work with the magicshine).
Just something to look out for.
Thanks for the info/heads-up!

TheLemming

4,319 posts

264 months

Tuesday 17th December 2013
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caul pope said:
Thanks for the info/heads-up!
Haven't seen those either. Will keep my eyes peeled.....

Steamer

13,846 posts

212 months

Sunday 23rd February 2014
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Viperzs said:
It's very interesting people talking about dodgy batteries and chargers. It looks like you DO get what you pay for after all...
Just to bring this one up again...

I bought a Chinese Cree two winters ago and it developed a fault last night - I've got it stripped down but it seems to be a fault on the switch board... not much chance of saving it. Although it works it is cycling through the different modes and switching off by itself (made the ride home entertaining)

However - £15 and its been awesome for two years... thats pretty much one night ride a week, rain / cold / mud. The velcro strap needed mending recently. But the battery & charger have performed really well.

Just pondering buying another (at least I have a spare battery / charger / battery holder for the next one)