[Closed] That 50 Quid DX bike light dissed disected oh sod it. ( its not good news )

It's a [i]service[/i], Troutie offers to STW.

Wonderful. Thank you Troutie! 🙂

I only night ride occasionally in winter, so something like this seems ideal. Would like to buy something dead flash, but just cannot warrant the outlay for several rides over the winter. £50 tho.....[s]

This thread is the top result on Google already! http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=DX+bike+light

Particularly enjoying the macro photos.

He should write for stw.

Where can you get these lights?

fair play for supplying such a unbiased view & lots of piccy's.

Beams shots next please

mk1fan... assuming you not taking the pee: https://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.25149

Nice one Mr T,

A

Cant do beam shots till it gets dark tonight . but will try .

Maybe STW will give ma a job as official light tester

Still burning on full after 2.5 hours so looks like it will make the 3 hour as stated on the box

bit of a shame about the mount screws and the epoxy, other wise looks pretty solid.

Cheers for the review!

great review, I was concerned about quality of the unit at that price, as i built a cutter kit rated at 500lumen for more than that (including second hand battery, SS salt pot from ASDA and a dubious switch!)

But the checks and changes you have made can be repeated by me with limited tech skills, and hopefully get a great light for another mad winter of muddy, snowy night riding. Any ideas about mounting it as a helmet light?

Excellent post, Mr.T. Your photos are outstanding. I'm still going to get one as a cheap commuter light, but I'll use this thread to mod mine a bit, then I'll invest in one of your whizzy new high-power lights later in the year.

what would be usefull is if companies published plots of brighness (mW/m3 ?) against angle, as my current lights struggle to go above 500lumens, as the central spot gets too bright to be of any use, the trail just turns white!

As a result I'm going to sell 2 of the head units and the wireing, you have to provide your own battery, im running 2xAA battery packs, giving about 2 hours per lamp per pack. Each lamp gives 240lumens. Each lamp weighs 58g, and mounts easily onto a helmet with a zip tie as they'r covered by rubber grips, adjustment is by altering where on the helmet you stick it! I'll include a lockblock as well if bar moutning is your thing.

Fairly waterproof (has survived torrential rain), the wiring hole is silicone sealed and covered in tape, but I'd be wary of running them underwater! Its probably as waterproof as the switch anyway.

The beam is a spot perfect for singletrack (about 2m diameter at 10m ditance?) surrounded by a bigger flood about 100deg wide perfect for periferal vision keeping an eye on those wherewolves chasing you!

LED's are cree Q5's for anyone that wants to know.

Battery voltage, I know it runs at 2.4V upto 3.7V, above that I've no idea.

Cost of original torches from DX was £15 each, so I'll sell them for that? 1 is adequate for flowing singletrack, two is awesomely bright! I tried three but had to look so far ahead to get over the brightness i was almost looking upwards!

Top review Trout, great to see a honest review from someone who is liable to lose out from doing so. Many thanks for doing it for me, & of course sorting it out.
Now, when can I have it back 😉

Cheers.

How come I just CANNOT get onto the Dealextreme site? Not on my work PC or my iPhone?
This is the second or thisd time I've tried today with no joy...
🙁

Trout - how much to mod the stock light to take in the small changes you have made and any others you would recommend?

PP try [url] http://tinyurl.com/DXlight [/url] It may work?

Trout, I forgot to say I thought a potential weekness may be the wire getting damaged when fitting & removing the O ring bar clamp over time, that and the useless flash mode instead of a real low output that you could use onroad.
Thanks again.
Cheers.

Martin was there any mention of me returning it 😈

I will get it in the post monday for you .

OMITN
takes about an hour to do
probably bout a tenner plus you pay postage each way .

Peter the DX site has been up and down all week probly overrun with orders now

PP try my link (above) it's too the secure version of the site, there was a thread about problem with the DX website earlier in the week...

Martin you are correct there but you only put the oring on the front once un till it breaks .and hook and unhook it from the back .

nowt you can do about the flash except change the driver but then more costs unless DX read the reviews.

Ahh, the tinyurl one works, thanks
🙂

Just ordered a set..

Trout, you gonna start a modifying service up??

Would gladly pay for the "upgrades"

Teetosugars.

I might as well do as I aint gonna sell many of my hi quality state of the art led kick ass lights now .
so the answer is yep will do .

Here is a little video for those who dont believe how much heat this thing can create. if it works

[URL= http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa46/amticoman/DX%20LIGHT/th_dxvideo.jp g" target="_blank">http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa46/amticoman/DX%20LIGHT/th_dxvideo.jp g"/> [/IMG][/URL]

The probe was attached as close to the dies as possible .
after the 2 minutes the case was at 30 degrees c and bear in mind the led dies will be at least 25 degrees c hotter than the probe reading at any one time, and the hotter the leds get the less light they produce and the shorter life they will have .

And An update on the runtime I had to postpone it a little while I went out but on resuming it managed 3 hours 20 minutes burn on full throttle.

I hate this Light Sooooooooooooooooo Much

Trout

I have been following the led progress for the last 2 years and you have beena insperatin with what you have been up to.

But I am more impressed with your unbiased views of other lights

Thank you

BTW dx have dispatched my light and I will do your mods and for short rides a 2 cell turboferrit battery pack that will give a good 1 1/2 hrs of full beam and weight bugger all about 225g

Cheers saladdodger.
I was hoping it was shite ,
It will be interesting to see how they last through a hard winters night riding so hopefully the folks who get them will keep us all updated good or bad with reliability .

There is some bad news now I just had it on charge from flat and after 1 hour the charger was at 51 degrees c on the outside casing . it does have a fuse inside but that heat is not healthy so do your charging somewhere cool and preferably fire proof dont want to burn the house down while you sleep .

Well, thanks to 2unfit's sneaky link, I've just ordered one of these. I was going to add some more batteries and a second charger but the site wouldn't let me. I'll have to order them later. Thanks, MrT, for all your work taking the light apart and checking it out for us out here, that is service way above and beyond the call of duty. I'll follow your instructions when it arrives and make the mods. What size and length screw did you use for the mount? I've probably got some kicking around, but It's the length I'd need to cut one to avoid damage to the inside. Also, can I get the right sort of thermal epoxy from Maplins? I can get some from Bath tomorrow if so.

Mr Trout,you are the man- I think a lot of people would just have kept their mouths shut. The DIYers on MTBBritain seem to be convincing themselves these are rubbish even though most haven't seen them. Very good of you to take the time!

Disclaimer ( small print in view of recent threads )
anything said by Trout is only his opinion and as he has nowt then sueing him is a total waste of time 😛

Hey folks dont buy this light based on owt I have said ( in fact dont buy it at all buy one of mine for lots more dosh )

I dony want sueing when it fails
I am just saying it as I see it and time will be the judge on whether it is a good un or not .

there are a few more opinions from more qualified electronics guys over on MTBR . and it seems there could be issues

Count0 I have never seen Arctic alumina adhesive in maplins .
But the thermal past is and would be as good but you then should drill and tap a couple of fixing screws for the led star

Northwind
I should have kept my mouth shut but that is not me and Martin was kind enough to send his purchase to a total stranger for an evaluation so it was my duty to tell the truth as I saw it .

would have been real nice if it was total crap though

Rather handy finding this. I've been after a half decent bargain lamp to replace my ageing halogen set. Looking forward to seeing the beam shots before I pull the trigger on ordering a set.
Thanks Trout.

Just to sway slightly off topic Trout. Finally tested my troutlite properly last night, went out with my mate and his brand new hope 4 led light. I think there's a place for your lights still Trout as i have a funny feeling his Hope is going on e-bay and you may be recieving another order soon ..........

Sod it this is real bad now Took the pooch for a later walk than usual to get some beam shots now in deep dispair and the forth tinny of bloody stella shite.

ok so here we go I do all my beam shots in the same place and at the same camera settings f4 @ 6 seconds white balance daylight .

the big tree on the left is 35 metres away the bunch further on the right are 75 mtres away and the ones in the distance are 150 metres

DX bastid cheap shite crappy light on high

[IMG] [/IMG]

on low
[IMG] [/IMG]

now for a comparison to a similar light a MCE with a new optic which is the best I have tested on high

[IMG] [/IMG]

and on low but this low is a lot lower than the bastid light
and can be adjusted to be higher or lower

[IMG] [/IMG]

I am now going to drink the rest of the 24 pack of stella and beat the wife up

Oh And Thanks Mark you have made me feel a load better

Trout - you will get your reward in a better place - and next year there will be some even brighter leds to play with.

Thanks TJ but Would rather I was alive when it happens.

Any hows I still have my own light to play with

[IMG] [/IMG]

Or as mark above mentioned to compare it with my 6er Troutlight

[IMG] [/IMG]

Christ! what lighthouse did you nick that off? 😆

**** me! Trout, I hope to God you don't live anywhere near an airfield, 'cos you're going to have a bloody great jet trying to use you as the flarepath. Yes, I've just bought one of the cheapie DX's but your light is on a whole other level entirely. People seeing those photos I'm sure are going to want your lights. I know I do!

Yup Trouty's light is SO bright it burns the leaves right of the trees 😉

maybe it's time we all give trout a pound for the service...
Seems pretty fair to me

Trout.

How much for a built up 6er please?

Trout, well done for staying up & doing some beam shots, they don't look to shoddy 🙂

Bad news about the charger though, how hot should a chrger get?

Cheers.

Stu

all the bits as a kit are £135 plus £15 for the build and some postage

I did charge £165 last winter so I hope it does not upset any past customers

LOL at stuey Never noticed the leaves missing .

What battery and charger would I need for it?

If anyone wants to see one i'll be at MM next weekend with my Trout 6er thingy. Just come over to the retrobike bit and you can have a play with one and see just how bright the barsteward is. You going to be there Trout? if you are i'll treat you to a Pims!

sss smudge is your man, 14.8v Li-on and charger from him. I just orderd one due to my ham fisted messing up of my Ni-MH one 😳

Mark.

How much did that run out at?

Money or run time?

Money was about 70 for a bat and charger from smusge. Run time i reckon 2 - 2 1/2 hours at full pelt and 4 hours at 350 ma - about half power. The thing is due to the amount of leds in it i found out that u can run it at lvl 2 - about 100 ma ish current and it's still perfectly useable. Theoreticly 7 ish hours of usable light of a 2600 mah battery. If you pay more - Smudge does 5200 mah bats as well for 80 -90 ish i think then you can double that. Trout should be able to give you exact details.

One thing, don't run it in double - just high and low - i done this with it set to 350 low and 700 high and got a right bollicking from the police when i was riding on the road.

great review troutie, lovin this bit

I did a very non techy test (of) the seal this involved sucking with the whole bezel in my mouth to create a vacuum and you can soon tell if it is sealed and it passed with flying colours no leaks there.

[img] [/img]

Great review, if the bike mags tested to that depth then the manufacturers would really have to get the quality right. DX should put you on commission!

Trout I am very impressed with your honest review, it would have been easy for you to knock the DX model and people would have listened.

If you do start offering a modification service I for one would use it as I'm sure many people can't justify laying out too much for winter lights.

Your sets look infinity better tho and if find I use the lights a lot would upgrade to your set in a flash.

Chances are a lot of the DX models will fail and folk will be knocking at your door once more!

SSStu yep Mark has it right there it draws 1 amp on full and needs a 14.8 volt pack minimum .
a good deal if Smudge has any left are the 3600mah packs he does gives a good runtime of 3.5 hours on full or forever on low so with a bit of power management a whole night race is possible .

sadly I will not be there as I am at a landrover trial that weekend but thanks for the offer.

Lol mtb-idle
Yes it does seem a little daft maybe I should get the missus to do the vacuum test 😮

GnnR
with work being so crap ( self not employed very much carpet fitter )
I will do anything .
so the service is there if anyone wants it get in touch mail in profile

Shack
thanks maybe I could become light tester to the masses

You should get a job in freelance MrT. If I bought one of those lights the first thing I'd do is post it to you for modding, would hate to be blasting down some singletrack and have it overheat on me.

Battery wise I've got a few 2.6 and 5.2 Ah Li-Ion in either 15V or 7.5V only. Oh, also a 15V 5.4AH.

1 less 2.6 li-on now smudge 😉

You should get a job in freelance MrT. If I bought one of those lights the first thing I'd do is post it to you for modding

I already did, Trout is a top bloke & very clever, for the money he has suggested it's a proper bargain, why wouldn't you? 🙂

Shitting Jesus; I want a Troutelite 6er, for the trails in Epping. something like that will instantly dry all the mud, and my bike won't get filthy!

That is ridiculous, mate. And to think, me and some mates first went night-riding with those Smart 10W lead-acid battery jobbies!

I have a L&M Li-ion battery available, not sure if it'll work with the troutlight, but if it will I can bring it along to MM if you cross my palm with silver.

Got to ask whats the best buy now, one of these dx lights or a 5 mode P7 torch, batteries, charger kit?

Well I have just got my "bastid" light and i am mighty chuffed

I compared it to my P7 tourch and found the light output to be very differant, the mte ssc p7 tourch is a very white light, yet the Bastid is slightly er green as reported by others. But as a light on the lawn and trees it gave a more detailed light in that the grass and my trees seemed more 3D where as the p7 light just seems in comparison to "flatten things"

I will be in touch soon Mr T for your assembly mods

Bottom line I am well chuffed

Hi Mr T.

That bastid light looks good, better than my Exposure race, before they went 'turbo'. But yoour lights look quite simply amazing. I would love to buy one of them. I think that with a light of the quality it sounds liek yours are, alot of people will buy them.

I know that when i get back from holiday, in august, i would buy a light from you very happily, as i will be looking for a new one for the winter.

I think what im trying to get at, is your light looks f'ing ace compared to the 'bastid'.

think what im trying to get at, is your light looks f'ing ace compared to the 'bastid'.

Yes I agree but with the "bastid" on my bars and a dinotte on my bonce I will be well sorted

To think not so long ago I was realy happy with the brightest lights going with my old HID which had almost half the lux output of a p7 tourch

Just received my 'bastid' (love the moniker) P7 bike light. I was a bit nervous after the problems trout and [url= http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=526474 ]El34 on mtbr[/url] found. However there were no bits of aluminium swarf inside the light and the screw that holds on the mount looks longer with at least 4 threads protruding as opposed to 2.

Heartened by these findings I didn't remove the P7 star from the heat sink (it is well stuck down) nor did I pry the brass fitting with the circuit board off the back. I did blow a bit of air into the heat sink cavity to clean out any metal shavings but none came out.

I put the light back together with some thermal paste between the heat sink and the housing and some on the threads of the heat sink retaining ring.

I am going to look at the mounting screw again and probably put some loctite on it.

I am going to use the light tonight alongside my Ay-ups and will take a few photos and post them.

Good one FB looks like the Bastid light makers in asia read the forums
or you were just lucky

Cheers Lyons
Got your mail I think it was you, will get you a price out tonight .
sadly with the economy as is cheap and chearfull is more popular than reasonable and quality .

great review trout, many thanks for your effort and integrity

Any chance of some close up pics?

Trout don't give up with developing new lights, I am convinced that either the light, battery or charger will only last a few months which makes the Bastid light much less apealing. I always prioritise reliability and longevity over simple low cost.

That said money in our household has never been tighter.

The 6er light looks amazing and should our sun ever burn out I will be straight onto you for a replacement.

Is their a possibility of a less powerfull but equally well made light. My logic working that it would be much easier to compete with the DX light if a similar output of light was possible with your great quality but to come in under £150 with battery and charger (not suggesting that you start selling battery's and chargers smudger seems to have that market covered very well). I guess a lot of your costs are tied up in the housing would I be right.

Keep up the good work and I hope come September I will be placing an order for a 6er.

Bigsurfer.
Cheers for the good vibes and suggestions
yes I am working on a nice little quad design also and the integrated battery triple in partenership with Smudge and Steve the cnc man .
just waiting for the new leds to arrive before we can make any more progress.

Yes you are right the CNCd housing is a big lump of the cost followed by the electronics .and then the leds which are the very latest and bestest out there.
cost can be trimmed in the electronics but at a loss of functionality
and more importantly heatsensing .

this time last year the big buzz was the airbike light at £120/130 for a similar product as the Bastid , I wonder how many of those have died
so come on folks if you got one and it died lets be knowing or even lets be having a look for an autopsy .

Trout.- How does the light stack up against an MTE P7 ??? Its hard to tell on your beam shots. I like my P7 beam spread and output, but the runtimes are low. Maybe a brace DX p7 on the bars and P7 on my lid , clicking betweeen lo / med/ hi as required ??

GnR I have some carpets that need fitting, after skirting boards are replaced. You interested??????????

Well I used the P7 bike light last night instead of my usual intermediate beam Ay-up on the bars.

All the fittings all work fine. The battery attached neatly in the frame (my bike computer is on my stem) and everything stayed put on what was a very steep, rocky and technical trail.

The casing of the light did warm up slightly but I wouldn't go as far as saying it was hot. I did turn it off when stationary or on long non-technical climbs. Of course this could be an indication that the heat from the LED is not being dissipated to the case but I did re-assemble the light with plenty of thermal paste (see above post).

The light is noticeably brighter than Ay-ups. It is about as bright as the narrow beamed Ay-up spot but with a much wider spread. As others have commented, there is a slight green tinge.

Here is a picture of the mounting screw that is longer than that on trout's model.
[img] [/img]

Time will tell how long this light lasts. I intend on giving it a thorough work out over the coming months (it's winter here) and will report back any failings.

I'm interested for peoples oppinions of how this 'bastid' compares to te DealExtreme 5 mode P7 (SKU 12060).

duckers

read my previous post 😉 about 1/3 down this page

A bit of bad news from over on MTBR forums [url] http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=527707 [/url]
cut and pasted from there just to keep this thread on track and honest

Well, I just came back from a shortened night ride and I'm quite disappointed.

I received my DX Bike Light a few days ago, and after it was fully charged, tested it out the first night with just a quick ride up and down the street and for less than a few minutes, while holding it in my hand without moving.

I don't have any experience with the P7 flash lights, but coming from a "120 lumens" LED flashlight I got from Sam's Club that I've been temporarily using as my bike light, I was pretty happy with the huge improvement. I also liked the beam pattern, as it was not too spotty and not too floody, and there wasn't a dark spot. From the packaging to the exterior build quality, it feels and looks pretty nice. There are no instructions or anything inside the packaging though.

I was really excited to finally get a chance to test it out on a night ride tonight, but about 10 minutes into my ride, the light quit working. While playing around with it I was able to get it to come on once but that was it. At this point it appears dead to me. The green light comes on when the battery pack is connected, but I also noticed that a couple of times that light was not coming on, despite it still being connected.

I have a feeling we're going to see a huge defective rate with these units. At $80, I feel like I just got duped considering this didn't even last more than 15 mins. I really know nothing about LEDs and while I'm a DIYer for some kind of projects, I really do not feel like brushing up on my weak electronics knowledge and learning more than I want JUST to make this light work.

I purchased this knowing that it probably wouldn't last me very long but it would last long enough where I felt I got my $80 worth. I didn't expect it to die 10 mins into my ride. Thank god I was riding in the city and not going fast on a dark, downhill ride.

So my advice is: If you don't know how to fix this when it goes out, DO NOT waste your $80.

just concluded that myself when i put my exposure race maxx up for sale - deleted the for sale thread after 5 mins reading!

I think it needs more than one faulty light to form a consensus regarding longevity. DX have a good warranty, so a replacement is just a pain, rather than a rip-off. Let's see how others on this forum get on before getting all doom-and-gloom. I'll be doing an evening ride this week with mine, so I'll see how it goes.

Hi Trout, bad news indeed, but have you thought of a mod for them yet?

Lets assume...

1, The housing & led are good, but the electronics are shite
2, The batteries are OK, but the charger is shite

Between you & smudge I'm sure you could come up with something that would cater for dying/dead DX lights that would bag you a few quid each???

We all do need to keep this in perspective this is only one of 3 fails I have heard about from god knows how many sold .

the first was left plugged in in a bag and some how got switched on and overheated.
the second failed after a guy tinkered with it quite a bit so may have been a factor , and this one which he can send back for a replacement.

There were a few fails for the airbike last season . and even Lupine will have failures of some kind.

yes if any of the bits fail then it can be replaced for not a lot of dosh but then again is it a standard 12 month warrenty on them or is it buyer beware what is DXs customer support like

Be good to get a dead un to have a play with but I aint buying one

Just put it into perspective how much you are paying for a 'Light, Battery & Charger'
I can't compete with their prices either, but then again I only use high quality Li-ion cells, circuits and chargers

Besides, I now never night ride with just a single light.. good tip, put it down to experience and a tree :-T

Trout, how about I send you a new one, you mod it to how good you think these lights can be, with new electronics & charger, then I send you my original set that you reviewed as payment?

From my point of view I get a decent light for £100, from your point of view you get a 'swaper' for making a sideline modifying others dead/dying/alive DX's, that is of course unless the bits would cost a few bob.

Viable?

I'd be interested in knowing how much the internals would cost to put right.

BTW, the light doesn't get hot unless it's on full, but as the low setting still kills my old Lumi's I'm happy enough, thanks for you effort putting it right.

Cheers.

Excellent work Mr Trout, may I join the others in commending you on your thorough and honest review.

I noticed this on th thread you linked to regarding the failed unit

[i]Our club has ordered 5 of these lights. After reading these reviews, I have done some basic clean up of the lights by adding thermal compound and blasting these with compressed air to clear up any swarf. Each light has about 10 hrs total run time now. The longest ride has been about 3 hrs running 50/50 high and low. Mostly mountain biking.
0 failures/issues to date.
We are pleased with the light and have just ordered another 10 for other riders.[/i]

So it would appear the jury is still out
Very tempting light at the price.

Hell Smudge you usually take about 6 lights with you as loaners
and Your troutlight has that lifetime warranty too 😆

Heck Smudge you usually take about 6 lights as loaners too plus the Troutlight with lifetime warranty 😆

Martin
not really that much to do untill one fails
if the charger goes pop then I am sure Smudge can fit you up with a new one , same goes for the cells.
the P7 could be replaced with a newer model about $20 ish
same goes for the circuit the stock item is very cheap but works and a good one will add a bit of cost
so not really worth the cost unless one fails

Billyboulders
Yes I just seen that the guy who wrote it used to build lights for the club members and retired when this Bastid light came out

Martin
not really that much to do untill one fails
if the charger goes pop then I am sure Smudge can fit you up with a new one , same goes for the cells.
the P7 could be replaced with a newer model about $20 ish
same goes for the circuit the stock item is very cheap but works and a good one will add a bit of cost
so not really worth the cost unless one fails

In that case I'll chuck it your way when it does then 😉
Cheers.

I was out last night with my "Bastid" and on main / high beam it is superb better than my old HID

But the low beam has a bit of a potential issue in that it flashes I descovered this because as I was riding along the wheel appeared to be stationary with the stroboscopic effect, I did not like it at all and some folk who are sensative to flashing lights may have a real problem.

But 3 hrs on high will be more than enough riding time for me