Hi folks

This looks like stupidly good value:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lumen-Cycling-Bicycle-Light-HeadLight/dp/B007OKE19K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1350897637&sr=8-1

Given that I can’t even get a second hand Hope Vision 2 or Exposure Joystick for this money this looks like a no brainer

Does anyone have any experience of these lights

Ta

Rich

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/cb-seen-lights

Why shouldn’t you buy that light?
Because it’s cheaper from their own website?(obviously Amazon charge commission)
Other than that it’s what I’ve recommended to a friend.

SM

I got one a few weeks ago. No complaints. Very bright.

You shouldn’t buy that light because this:

http://dx.com/p/t6-waterproof-xml-t6-3-mode-1200-lumen-white-led-bike-light-with-battery-pack-set-82510

Took about a week and a half to arrive. £30. Job done 😀

aazlad – Member
I got one a few weeks ago. No complaints. Very bright.

+1

I bought same as stimpy a month ago , its great 4 hours on bright and battery was not flat . BARGIN !!

Thanks guys.

I ordered the C&B Seen light off their own website £41 including postage.

Hopefully I’ll get it today or tomorrow. I’ll post up some beam shots

Yeah cheers folks, I’ve also ordered the C&B seen light, same one as richmtb, should partner my 4 yr old Exposure Enduro and Joystick rather well as we plan on doing long night rides to the Galloway bothies and beyond this winter, and at that price it’s a no brainer.

because on ebay and amazon you can get “1600 lumen” XML T-6 lights for 30 quid (covered in other threads here)?

got one of these which looks very similar but costs a lot less.

Seems to work well for me.

For the sake of it costing an extra £10 along with next day delivery i can live with the price i paid for the exact same item as you can buy cheaper from china, nae point in waiting an extra 3weeks to save a few £ and at least if anything goes wrong with it i can get in touch with the supplier easily.

I doubt very much they are a “true” 1600 lumen output for 3-4 hrs – if so then they defy the first law of thermodynamics and the designer deserves a nobel prize, here’s an output graph showing a T6 with 6A input curve but you won’t be able to maintain that output for long as heat build-up will be a major factor in diminishing light output, A stable 900 lumen output with reduced Amps is a more reasonable assumption for extended run times is shown by the C&B Seen @ 2.5A input for 3-4hrs use.

I think 40 quid is about ballpark for a decent light from China.

I’ve had one marketed as an ultrafire SSC P7 1200 lumens for about 8 months now and it has been brilliant (no pun intended). It is also exactly the same as the kit in Stimpy’s link, so I think there is a couple of huge mass-producers in China who are selling on – then the rebranding happens.

One tip if you get something like Stimpy’s set is to tape a square of plastic (from food packagin or something) to the end of the fabric battery case if you’re going to mount it under your stem. I found the bag had worn through on mine and the battery’s outer casing has its paint rubbed off. Just to be sure.

Otherwise, very bright, quite focussed beam. Amazing run times.

Rich – Pete got a C&B one a few weeks ago, as back up. It’s pretty good for the money. You gonna come out night riding with us now ? 😛

this might be worth a look too
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/psa-ssc-p7-super-bright-rechargeable-led-bike-light-uk-store-2789

I can understand wanting to order from somewhere in the UK to get backup, but I can’t understand this:

You shouldn’t buy that light because this:

http://dx.com/p/t6-waterproof-xml-t6-3-mode-1200-lumen-white-led-bike-light-with-battery-pack-set-82510

Took about a week and a half to arrive. £30. Job done

When it’s £17.30 from here:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/170876182742

And took about a week and a half to arrive.

£17.30! That’s bonkers. I almost wish I needed one!

Just ordered one to go on my bars.

TBH it’s almost cheap enough to just use the batteries as a backup for the one I’ve already got.

Rich – Pete got a C&B one a few weeks ago, as back up. It’s pretty good for the money. You gonna come out night riding with us now ?

My trusty Hope HID only runs for about an hour and its only 600 lumens. And the stem mount means I can’t use it on my Blur

I’ve got a NiteVision 4W Led which makes a decent enough helmet light so I was looking for something nice and cheap to use as a bar light to replace the Hope Hid.

Its hard to grumble at £40 for a 1200 lumen – so 900 in the real world light.

So you never know I might join you, but its the same distance from my place to Carron Valley as it is to Mugdock and CV has a lot less mud. But if you are heading out near EK then let me know. I’d like to see what trails there are around there.

Think my head is going to explode! So confusing..

Which one do I buy!? The £17.30 one is the same as the £27.89 one?
Or 3600-Lumen 3T6 LED High Power Bicycle Light For 3*Cree XM-L T6 for £37?

…Looking to replace my Cateye Stadium 3 HID Light.

rich – nae decent riding off road near EK I’m afraid – some nice night road rides though !

Milkie – Member
Think my head is going to explode! So confusing..

Which one do I buy!? The £17.30 one is the same as the £27.89 one?
Or 3600-Lumen 3T6 LED High Power Bicycle Light For 3*Cree XM-L T6 for £37?

…Looking to replace my Cateye Stadium 3 HID Light.
At those prices why not buy all 3 and look like a mobile Sun? 😉

That one coming from China would be a PITA if it went wrong, plus import duties / taxes could come into play, no?

The first one I bought didn’t incur any charges.

Will have to wait and see what happens this time. Let’s just hope that reception at work has some change in the petty cash box. 😉

That one coming from China would be a PITA if it went wrong, plus import duties / taxes could come into play, no?

The £17.30 one linked to does in theory have a 6 month manufacturers warranty, but yes, by the time you’d sent it back you probably might as well just buy a new one.

It’s worth noting that the C&B Seen UK lights only have a 1 month warranty, so that’s hardly brilliant either.

No import duties/taxes on the chinese one because it’s below the threshold.

Ive just ordered a £17.30 from China. I’ve already got 2 that I paid £30 each for in the UK. At that price I couldn’t say no. In fact, I might order one more as a spare.

I read on another thread, that it may be wise to be careful charging them, as they may try and burn your house down. I’m charging mine in work.

Anyone tried one of these? £37

3x XM-L

I read on another thread, that it may be wise to be careful charging them, as they may try and burn your house down.

Probably not a bad idea to charge them whilst you’re awake, just in case.

I must admit I do this, but it is my Exposure Joystick charger that makes the hissing noise, though.

It’s the same argument as most things, though – not many people leave Xmas lights on at night either!

I nightride on a Wednesday then charge them on a Thursday evening.

Six days in the box fully charged doesn’t seem to have had any detrimental effects yet.

So went out last night with my C&B Seen light.

Got to say I’m very impressed.

Build quality of the lamp unit is pretty good, well made aluminium body. There are threaded caps at both ends, one for the lens and reflector and one for the switch. Both have O-rings and spare O-rings are included in the box. The emitter itself looks solidly mounted and I couldn’t find any evidence of swarf or metal shavings from manufacture left inside the light.

The handlebar clamp is a bit snide. There is a plastic semi circle on the base of the lamp unit which you fasten using a rubber strap.

However you can unscrew this mount and use a Hope bar clamp instead – instant upgrade!

In use the light is very bright and has excellent throw. I’m not sure if it reaches the claimed 1200 lumens but its substantially brighter than my old Hope HID which was rated at 600 lumens.

Its a bit spotty, there is a very definite bright centre to the light pattern but the spill is still easily bright enough to be useful. I wouldn’t use it as a bar light on its own except on relatively straight trails – but then I wouldn’t rely on any light on its own for technical trails.

Battery life is shown from the glow on the switch. It glows green when the battery is full or almost full – blue as it runs down and then red if you are about to run out of battery. I rode for 90 minutes last night and the light was still blue.

Downsides – The way you change modes on the light is a bit of a PITA. It has 4 modes – High – Low – Fast Flash – Slow Flash. When you first switch the light on you can cycle through the modes with a press on the switch. But after five seconds the next press on the switch turns the light off. So if you have been riding along in high mode and want to switch to low you have to switch the light off, then cycle to the correct mode. Not ideal if you want to go from low to high on a tricky bit of trail. So after farting about with it I just left it on high!

Overall though I’m very impressed with it. Seriously it was £40! one on you bars and one on you helmet would be a pretty good lighting set up with change from £100. I’m seriously considering buying another.

Richmtb, have you tried it with the hope helmet mount? It’d be ace if that worked, I’m looking at one to compliment my vision 4

Richmtb, l ordered one on Tues night, so am hoping it comes today or tomorrow. Did you get any confirmation of your order from them? I payed by Paypal and have only had email from them not C and B Seen.

Cheers
Ian

Richmtb, have you tried it with the hope helmet mount? It’d be ace if that worked, I’m looking at one to compliment my vision 4

See the small piece I’ve highlighted, that should screw onto the lamp body. You can then mount this on your hope helmet mount (I’ve not tried it but no reason why it shouldn’t work)

Richmtb, l ordered one on Tues night, so am hoping it comes today or tomorrow. Did you get any confirmation of your order from them? I payed by Paypal and have only had email from them not C and B Seen.

I ordered mine on Monday and received it yesterday. They sent me an invoice / order confirmation on email on Tuesday. It was sent 1st Class Recorded

It’s worth noting that the C&B Seen UK lights only have a 1 month warranty, so that’s hardly brilliant either.

not entirely sure that’s legal?

My concern with these low cost lights is around the battery. Lets face it, lights are pretty straight forward these days, led tech makes it simple and cheap. But battery tech is where it counts. What’s the burn time going to look like after a few months of regular use?

I guess there is an argument that says they are almost disposable at this price.

The only problem with those £17 lights is that the beam is very narrow.
I bought one a while back (for £27) and in the end swapped the reflector from my old P7 – that’s given a much better spread of light.
I couldn’t live with the spot on the bare unit.
It would make a great headlight to accompany something more floody on the bike though.

There is no legal obligation for companies to give any warranty. You still have your statutory rights though, as laid out in The Sale of Goods Act.

My concern with these low cost lights is around the battery. Lets face it, lights are pretty straight forward these days, led tech makes it simple and cheap. But battery tech is where it counts. What’s the burn time going to look like after a few months of regular use?

I guess there is an argument that says they are almost disposable at this price.

A few years a go I spent £170 on a Cateye Double Shot. Its a bit old hat these days and not particularly bright using as it does early generation LED’s. Its is nicely made though. The batteries on the other hand are 10 chinese AA NiMH cells soldered together and shrink wrapped, hardly cutting edge for a light costing £170.

So given that a replacement battery pack for one of these lights is only £20 I’m willing to give them a go!

Ooh, mine has just arrived. Looks really well made for the price. Going to try it on my Hope helmet mount to compliment my Trouted Vision 4 on the bars 🙂