That time of year is coming again – what's hot in the lighting world?

This may be of use, here’s my mates X3’s one in brown box has “R” mark, phillips screws, rough slightly unfinished looking silver metal finish, and poor output, even the LEDS look different..

Well, that advice from Cruzcampo has made me buy one from Fastech (not the cheaper one!).

Just got to wait til Xmas for it to arrive now…

(@cruzcampo – I will hold you personally responsible when I burn down my house and the light then fails as I ride to get the fire brigade and I cycle into a tree etc etc 😉 )

madeupname – Member
Well, that advice from Cruzcampo has made me buy one from Fastech (not the cheaper one!).

Just got to wait til Xmas for it to arrive now…

(@cruzcampo – I will hold you personally responsible when I burn down my house and the light then fails as I ride to get the fire brigade and I cycle into a tree etc etc )

😆

The three below are all fasttech expensive link ones, all still going strong, all ran on high for 2-3 hour rides without any driver throttling/dimming etc, . I think fasttech pride themselves on sending exactly what you see in the pics 8) Hopefully no bark to wash down the turkey will be happening come xmas!

I replaced by 4 year old – once repaired FoC – Joystick at 325 lumens with a new but last years stock diablo at 1100 lumens. Paired with my 3 year old Lumi XPG 900 lumen single bar light. Riding in the FoD, you REALLY need a helmet light if you want to see round corners! The Joystick was great, but used to get a bit ‘lost’ against the Lumi. The Diablo is awesome although run time on ‘night-sun’ setting is only an hour so you need to power it back a bit when not descending.

The Diablo was discounted but still expensive compared to the lights shown here. And the Lumi was about £200 when I originally bought it. But riding at least once a week for six months or more in the dark, in all conditions, getting them wet, muddy and occasionally bashed by shrubbery I just want something powerful enough, totally reliable and backed up by UK support.

YMMV etc 😉

@cruzcampo

Oh I know they aren’t solarstorms but you’ll find half of “solarstorms” actually aren’t solarstorms.

Not overly worried about lack of cooling fins as it will most likely be on 1/2 power most of the time and then go on full power on downhills.

I’m going to use it tonight so will let you know how i get on!

BillOddie report back on how those new versions work, i’ve been keeping my eye on them for a few weeks now but not seen many.

I have an old hope vision 2 but can’t find the charger. Can someone please tell me what universal chargers will fit and possibly post up a link for me to buy?

Also, I’ve just bought a solarstorm light so if I can get a charger that works on vision 2 and solarstorm then it’d be double good.??

thanks

Just back from first ride with the new lights…

First impressions are that compared to the original Bastid DX lights the beam is much more usable.

Flood is good for cruising along on tarmac/gravel.

Spot is good for normal off road riding.
The spot is a nicer spread than the DX light which I thought was too hot in the middle.

Both is good for when things get a bit hairy.

They also didn’t set me on fire.

Going to order one of these, go for it? Looks like the better model as described above
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251423689585?var=550343030403

@officer id probably send a quick pm to the ebay seller asking about the above pointers. If its all good 15£ is a bargain!

battery life very poor, and not entirely waterproof. Plus the emf radiation knocked out my cycle computer interestingly, not when switched off but only when switched on

I’ll agree the battery life is poor, but I wouldn’t expect any battery to be entirely waterproof. I’ve had no issues with my garmin and I was using the solarstorm twice a day all through last winter.

Pleased with Letraset Promarker amber ghetto tinting [tm] ssx2 and headtorch. Too bright white bluey, this tones it down a smidge and adds a bit contrast.

This arrived yesterday. With whatever batteries I could find laying around it’s not as bright as a solar storm. Same amount of width though. Once my Torchy batteries arrive I’m hoping there won’t be much in it.
As a self contained easy on ,easy off it does it’s job.
Still plenty bright enough for commuting through the woods and unlit tracks. £23 off ebay, then you need to add batteries.

Took delivery of one of these today… http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/350800657075?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2648&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

I was looking for a torch for commuting duties and to stick on my lid for night riding off road. Its small, very light and cheap as which is perfect. As you can see from the picture it’s not that much bigger than an 18650. It’s probably not as technical as an Exposure but for £9 I wasn’t expecting it to be. Reliability remains to be seen but first impressions are excellent.

Is it really 50g? That’s half the weight of my 501B which is just a bit too heavy on the head. Could be ideal.

zippykona – Member
This arrived yesterday. With whatever batteries I could find laying around it’s not as bright as a solar storm. Same amount of width though. Once my Torchy batteries arrive I’m hoping there won’t be much in it.
As a self contained easy on ,easy off it does it’s job.
Still plenty bright enough for commuting through the woods and unlit tracks. £23 off ebay, then you need to add batteries.

got a link? if it’s possible to fit a 18650 based battery pack inside it with a charge port mod to try to set fire to my house/workplace charge without taking the batteries out i’m interested

Not got any scales to hand but it’s feather light compared to my other Chinese torches.

*Edit, according to the kitchen scales (who knew we had those.!) it’s bang on 50g.

Ordered, thanks 🙂

@zippykona, I had one of those for a while, it was dubbed The Fist Of Light. Should be brighter than a solarstorm, mine was a fair bit anyway, beam pattern was a wee bit tight for bar mount but otherwise cool. I ended up selling it on but I was planning to fanny around with the reflectors, LED height etc to try and open up the beam.

zippykona.Have you got the link for that torch please or Northwind do you know where the bloody thing is.
That would be perfect for work.
Scrub that.Found them. 😀

Just added another Lez Zeckto front light to the collection, I now look like an Xmas Tree 😆

i’ve had the CandB Seen light for 2 years now and its so far been faultless.
on full power i can get 3 hours out of it and the light is well made.

i paid much less than what it now costs via amazon
good visibility and output

the gate at the end of the alleyway is 50m away

What do people think of these[/url] Magnic lights? Newer version due out soon.

Just got back from a wee road ride and came back in the dark. I can confirm that little torch is way better than my car headlights.

Here’s the link.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/191313879360?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2648&var=490431527413&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
There’s similar ones on Deal Extreme.
Looking forward to some proper batteries turning up.

Christ on a bike.! You could burn the paint off a car with that beast. 😯

Ah- actually I think mine was the 4XML version in the same body

Have just popped in the 2 Torchy batteries I do have and surprise,surprise it works.
Brighter than a freshly charged Solar Storm. Same as my Magic Shine 872 which looks really yellow in comparison.

Thanks zippykona.Couldn’t find that one as i too have a charger and loads of batteries. 😀

SKYRAY SOLARSTORM
edit it normally takes 4 batteries but works with 2 , so you’d only need 2 spares for emergencies.

Zippykona, that’s very interesting. Let us know how you get on with it.

I bought the same as billoddie and it’s great. I have some yindings from last year which were exceptional quality but a bit pricier and these aren’t far off in quality especially given their price and speed of delivery. The one spot,one flood set up works well, as does the hood that stops you blinding yourself as you get out of the saddle. Chargers look OK too.

Zippykona

Is that beamshot on high?
Don’t think you will get 9500 lumens out of it..
One XML-2 pumps out 1100 ish lumens.. 7×1100=7700 @3amps.
Battery according to eBay is 3.7v, assuming you have 3000mah x 4 18650’s you have a 12000mah battery.

7 XML’s @ 3amps =21amps
So on high it should last a quick dash to the shops? Or 30mins..approx.

zippykona, what is the size of the lens on the skyray?

Would this lens work with it?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wide-Angle-Lens-for-Magicshine-Lupine-and-Gemini-Bike-Lights-/261599734509?pt=UK_SportGoods_CyclAcces_RL&hash=item3ce88f2aed

Thanks

Size wise it’s 57 mm by 136.Not sure about the lens but it’s plenty wide enough already.
Both pictures are on high.
If you run solar storm and then put sky ray on it gets a lot brighter. Turn off solar storm and it doesn’t get much darker.
No idea on run time as awaiting decent batteries.

Neilsonwheels.. what mount did you use for the little torch?

^ Cloudnine I’ll make mine fit my Exposure helmet mount. (£10 at Wiggle delivered free) Might need packing out a bit but if defo won’t be too thick for it.

This one..?

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/exposure-helmet-mount-bracket-kit/

Yep. They’ve had them for a tenner for yonks.

Wait a day or two til my torch arrives if you like, I’ll test it in the mount.

Neilsonwheels.. what mount did you use for the little torch?

Used the mount off an Aldi torch. In fact they are in Aldi today. I ditched the original elastic that and used a a large rubber off my solar storm. The Aldi one is perfectly usable but the solar storm one looks much tidier.