Viewing 23 posts - 1 through 23 (of 23 total)
  • 1300 lumens for less than a tenner
  • neilnevill
    Free Member

    apologies if this has been done but I’ve had a quick search and not seen it.

    I just found this
    http://www.aliexpress.com/fm-store/607776/211357923-473581397/-13-5-Ultrafire-501B-Cree-XM-L-U2-1300-Lumen-5-Mode-LED-Flashlight-Free.html

    for $13.50, so less than a tenner, a xm-l u2 emitter ultrafire torch. okay, add in a mount, battery (plus spare) and charger, but you can have all that for 25 quid….Sod it, get 3 lights, stic 2 on the bars and onew on the lid for less than 50 quid (including spare batteries)

    I know it won’t actually do 1300 lumens, 600+ lumens is perhaps reasonable, but for a tenner…wow.

    tootallpaul
    Full Member

    Hate to rain on your parade but it says on the site:

    This Supplier/Shipping Company does not deliver to your selected Country/Region.

    nick1962
    Free Member

    Fine for my UK address but I don’t live in Alderney…..you did change that bit didn’t you tootallpaul?

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    tootallpaul
    Full Member

    Please ignore me. 😕

    smudge
    Free Member

    + another $19 shipping and then youll get hit by customs/import duty/ handling charge. As someone found out today on here, just the handling charge can be £10.
    Keep us updated on how you get on though and what the overall cost came too if you go ahead.

    By the way not knocking the post, just from experience the extras can mount up without you realising.

    highclimber
    Free Member

    IMPORTANT: Hongkong Post Air Mail deliveries might result in delays and lost parcels.

    This would put me off!

    landcruiser
    Free Member

    What ? the brutal honesty of the statement.

    How about……..

    Royal Mail deliveries might result in delays and lost parcels.

    andrewh
    Free Member

    Royal Mail deliveries might will result in delays and lost parcels

    .
    FTFY

    landcruiser
    Free Member

    I couldn’t write that or my postie mate ‘kicks off’ ! 😀

    neilnevill
    Free Member

    ah yes, postage, I did find the same torch elsewhwere on the same site with ‘free shipping!’ in the title, but of course it wasn’t…it wanted 23 dollars. 😳

    still, it is an absurd little torch with a mighty punch. I assume this is the same thing on ebay for under 18 quid
    http://compare.ebay.co.uk/like/270961890713?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar&cbt=y but nearly claiming a sensible light output…nearly.

    landcruiser
    Free Member

    Try to get the one WITHOUT the 5 mode switch if possible ! It is unnecessary and unreliable.

    neilnevill
    Free Member

    found it for $14.50 with free worldwide shipping
    http://www.exalttrade.com/ultrafire-wf-502b-cree-xm-l-u2-1000-lumen-led-flashlight.html

    or $15.30 here
    http://www.ledsupermall.com/ultrafire-wf-502b-cree-xm-l-u2-1000-lumen-led-flashlight.html

    no idea if any of these are to be trusted

    land cruiser, yes, other tail caps/switches must exist to fit, it looks the standard torch body size

    neilnevill
    Free Member

    found the 3 mode version on ledsupermall, 50 cents cheaper too

    http://www.ledsupermall.com/ultrafire-wf-501b-cree-xm-l-u2-1300-lumen-3-mode-led-flashlight.html

    neilnevill
    Free Member

    just reporting back. I got 2 of the 3 mode torches for about 22 quid, arrived last wednesday. got some batteries and a charger from torchythebatteryboy so I knew they were good and safe.

    my oh my it’s bright! only used it once on the bike, commuting across london, but the beam from the orange peel reflector looks good. a central super bright spot with a nice wide and plenty bright enough flood around it. Not sure on burn yet as the batteries need a few cycles I’d imagine, but first run was just over the hour and though dimming a bit it was still super bright.

    I’m very impressed with the build quality too. However the torch didn’t feel warm, so I have now wrapped the bras pill and screw on reflector in tin foil so it is now a tight fit in the case and should conduct the heat out from the led much better.

    overall, a real ~1300 lumens for about 45 quid (22 for the 2 torches, 20 for 2 batteries and a charger, 3 quid for 2 mounts). incredible!

    FunkyDunc
    Free Member

    Neil. Are you using it helmet mounted? If so what mount works?

    mrjmt
    Free Member

    These look interesting, a T6 LED, nice and compact, looks ideal as a helmet mounted light. For £32 I might give it a go some time soon (don’t really need it at the moment!)

    (will do a bit of googling to see if the site is dodgy or not)

    yesiamtom
    Free Member

    definately not 1300 lumens from those torches. I had the 3 button one and I would say closer to 400-500 but has a bad beam pattern. Still a good torch just it would be nice if the optics were better.

    timnwild
    Full Member

    I’m going to give it a try – any recommendations for a good way to bar-mount it? Even if it turns out not to be great, it’s only a tenner.

    neilnevill
    Free Member

    I’ve not used it off road yet. Just commuting. I mounted it with one of those rubber blocks, the twofishblock things. fine for commuting but wobble a bit for off road. if you want to mount it solidly for off road then you want one of these

    http://www.focalprice.com/product/LFD09B?utm_source=CS&utm_medium=GM_PA&utm_campaign=CS_PA_US_LFD09B&gclid=CMjc3rToo7ACFcwNtAodAzh1XQ

    As I said, not used it off road yet, so can’t be 100% sure but on road the beam looked okay. it had a central bright spot and a nice wide flood around that, I’d be pretty confident it would work okay on the bars or helmet ok. It’s the standard size so you could swap the reflector for another if you prefer.

    I’ve no way to measure or compare the light output, and no I’m sure it’s not 1300 lumens. I searched around a bit and read somewhere (one of the torch forums i think) that it is possibly about 640 lumens.

    Oh and its fairly light too, much lighter than the led lenser p7 I have. I reckon you could helmet mount a couple of these okay if you wished (not tried though) one would definitely be fine

    timnwild
    Full Member

    Mine just arrived – like an idiot, I’d assumed it was powered by standard AA batteries, when of course it requires special lithium batteries and a charger (can you tell this is my forst foray into bike lights?) but found a pair of batteries and charger for 12 quid and the mount’s on the way, so if it works, that’s still less than 40 quid.

    neilnevill – what did you do with the tin foil exactly? I didn’t quite follow that.

    Thanks

    neilnevill
    Free Member

    if you unscrew the bezel the reflector, and the brass pill (the bit with the led) will drop out. (the reflector screws on to the pill.) To keep the led cooler, and more efficinet it needs to have the heat conducted away from it (it generates a fair bit) so, take some tin foil and wrap it tightly around the outside of the pill and reflector such that it is then a nice tight/snug fit inside the torch (you’ll notice it is a loose fit currently) this will help conduct the heat out to the torch body and away into the air. apparently some people also put thermal paste on the threads between the reflector and the pill, if you have some then why not?

    timnwild
    Full Member

    Just a report back – the clamp, the batteries, the charger and the torch all arrived in their promised time and condition, despite me having a few mild panics about the trustworthiness of ordering single low-value components from Chinese wholesalers.

    Torch was 15 dollars with postage
    2 x ultrafire lithium batteries + charger 12 quid off amazon (adaptor for the charger was wrong, but I had a universal one that’s better anyway)
    Clamp for the bars was another 4 quid

    Clamp isn’t quite as good a fit as needed – but with a shim/wrapper for the torch it’ll be fine.

    Quick garden light test last night – pretty f88king bright, to my inexperienced eyes, and more than enough for the sub-2 hr pootle in the local hills that most, if not all my night rides will be.

    And at under £32 quid all in, a significant bargain.

    timnwild
    Full Member

    Update – did my first night ride with the 5-mode Ultrafire torch and bar mount last night.

    Main thing – bright as hell. The people on here who know better are probably right about its lumens claims being a bit far-fetched, but it was certainly bright enough for me to hit a few of my local trails at close to normal speed, and I had no problem seeing anything.

    The beam, angled right, projected about 25ft in front and spread easily wide enough for the South Downs bridleways at (my) speed, and wooded singletrack was even brighter.

    I’d happily ride with that alone, locally, for a few hours (spare charged battery was in my backpack) with no trouble at all.

    Sorry NevillNevil, but the barmount you recommended isn’t great – it took a lot of fiddling about to find a way to mount it that didn’t slip, and it doesn’t really fit the torch properly – I had to shim it with a spare velcro tie and I’m not convinced it won’t fly off at some point.

    If you’re interested, I’ll repeat the links –

    Torch is here:
    torch

    Charger with 2 batteries (and shite adapter) is here:
    charger

    But I’m going to scout about for a better mount. Anyone got any ideas?

Viewing 23 posts - 1 through 23 (of 23 total)

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