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

And here’s the same miniT6 torch on the Exposure helmet mount. Fits perfectly and at about 90g for torch with 18650 battery it (together with the mount) weigh no more than an XML T6 lamp without batteries.

What with the zoom it’s the perfect head torch for now I think

Rich 3 they are great torches. I managed to get mine for £2.26 posted.

Rich 3 they are great torches. I managed to get mine for £2.26 posted.

Where.?

Neilsonwheels.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221527867603?_trksid=p2060778.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
Mine has Ultrafire written on it.

These are excellent mounts for them.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bike-Torch-Flashlight-Velcro-Mount-Bracket-Clamp-Holder-/120651771120?pt=UK_SportGoods_CyclAcces_RL&hash=item1c1767ecf0

http://www.amazon.co.uk/KK-LIGHT-Headlight-6800LM-Battery-Charger/dp/B00F5QJ5UA/ref=sr_1_9/279-6341425-3831163?ie=UTF8&qid=1411853632&sr=8-9&keywords=cree+t6 with a bigger battery

With a single Cree with an adjustable beam pattern, on my lid. Needs a bigger pack on the t6 but other wise it’s ace

Solar Storm XT40 arrived, its as I expected, akin to having an SSX2 on the bars and lid at the same time…

Low

Medium

High

The distance of the beam along with height is phenomenal 😯

Do you have a link to that XT40 Cruzcampo?

What sort of runtime do you get from that and the torches on the previous page with the single 18650?

Thanks

@j273 £37.50 😀

http://www.amazon.co.uk/SolarStorm-3300LM-Bikelight-Headlight-Black-4×18650/dp/B00GYQWQ2O

Ran it last night for an hour on medium/full mix and voltage in the batteries went from fully charged @ 4.19v to 4.03v.

Did a test off the bike today and ran it for 4 hours on medium, went from 4.19v to 3.78v. So i’d wager you could get 6-8 hour out of it on medium, 2.5-3 on full.

XT40 looks interesting. How does the XT40 compare to a yingding? Is it a flood or spot beam pattern?

@skooby if you look at the last pic it floods the ground close up beuatifully with a very wide beam, then casts the top two leds right into the distance and very high up to boot, the grounds lit up a good 50 meters away.

Yingdings more comparible to a 2 LED solar storm X2 i’d have thought.

Getting a bit silly now with that XT40 🙂

Is it not too bright? I find my bar X2 and helmet T6’s bluey whiteness washes everything out, that’s why I lightly tint them yellow orangey for contrast, loses some brightness but still bright enough.

Somebody asked about run-time on the T6 torches. A good hour plus on full from a single 18650 (will depend on the quality of the battery of course). I get in the habit of switching it on only when needed ie singletrack, and carry a spare 40g battery. Bar light alone is fine for everything else (X2 3hrs++)

Comments I saw on the xt40 where that the heatsink arrangement wasn’t very good, whereas it was ok on the ssx2.

Silly bright appeals to me though 😆 it is proper OTT. Medium is a great mode for long runtime and toned down white.

In terms of temp it heats up quickly on medium and high but doesn’t get any hotter when up to temp. Mate did a run test with his today and left it on medium on his decking for 4 hours, it was rather warm outside today! No issues at all. So on the trail going at warp factor 10 with moving air temps should never be an issue. The speed the exterior warms up seems the heatsink is working as it should and getting temp away from the leds.

Anyone tried this?

http://www.dx.com/p/ultrafire-u-l2-7-x-cree-xm-l2-t6-3-mode-4000lm-cool-white-bike-light-black-4-x-18650-241291

I’ve had one of their torches before (well 4 actualy) and they were well made. And the numbers just about add up to making the lumen claims credible.

Also, I’ve now got dead batteries for magicshine p7 and a smudge lumenator. What’s the best way to save them/build a new battery? I’ve no use for the p7 but it may as well be put to good use on a spare bike and the lumenator can go on my lid.

Bought 6 of the XT40s (group buy) direct from Blackcat last winter and so far so good. Rarely need them on high…

No-one got one of these yet?

I’m now using the pairing of a Lumenator and Lumen 800 from Mark aka Smudge at mtbbatteries.co.uk

http://www.mtbbatteries.co.uk/mountain-bike-lights/

Mark is a sound guy and very knowledgeable when it comes to his batteries.
They may be far eastern lamp units but they seem well put together with a good beam pattern. Price wise they cost more than the current EBay special stuff but I prefer the idea of a well selected lamp combined with a UK assembled battery pack using good quality cells. You get the peace of mind of UK service too.

I’ve used the Lumen 800 on it’s own on the bars and for solo riding it’s brilliant. In a group it can get a bit lost but as a helmet light it’s spot on.

I look at it more like a much cheaper alternative to the Hopes, Lupines and so on that I’ve bought in the past but if you’re after the cheapest and highest claimed Lumen count then I guess you’ll look elsewhere.

DezB – Member

No-one got one of these yet?

Pahhh, 7 XML2’s? That’s frankly DezzzyB, a bit old skool.

Exhibit 1:
Sharks with frickin laser beams!

Exhibit 2:
9 XM-L2 ‘s, and a claimed/bullshine 15000lumens!

Exhibit 3:

What are the “frickin laser beams!” for? 😆

Mine looks better and would proper suit Womp’s bike on page 5

I have absolutely no idea, but it could make riding on the army ranges a lot more fun if we coul accidentaly call in air strikes.

This arrived for me today.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00KR6C6QI/ref=redir_mdp_mobile?ref_=pe_385721_37986871_TE_item

It’s mental bright for £19… Won’t be able to test it properly for a while due to injury but still glad I purchased it.

I took an interest in that SS XT40 that cruzcampo posted further up, but Amazon are sold out, so I done some searching, and came across the same unit at Fasttech, but instead of the dodgy recycled laptop battery pack, it just comes with one of those highly elusive 4×18650 battery boxes with the screw-down lid, allowing you to use your own trusted batteries. I’ve just ordered one. The link is https://www.fasttech.com/p/1527803, Use code BLF for a whacking great 5% off 🙂

I should add the disclaimer that I ordered 3 things from fasttech last year, and none of them ever arrived. Hopefully the fact that these don’t actually have batteries in them will smooth their passage through customs.

Does anyone have a MS MJ872 and XT40 ?

How do they compare ?

Had the MJ872 for a few years now but this XT40 looks decent.

@J2723 the XP-G is quite dated now and around half the output of the new XM-L2 (x4 used in the xt40)

http://www.cree.com/LED-Components-and-Modules/Products/XLamp/Discrete-Directional/XLamp-XPG

http://www.cree.com/LED-Components-and-Modules/Products/XLamp/Discrete-Directional/XLamp-XML2

So each LED could be twice as bright!

XLamp XM-L2
Delivering breakthrough lumen output and efficacy

Built on the SC³ Technology Platform, the XLamp XM-L2 LED delivers up to 20% more lumens and lumens-per-watt and double the lumens-per-dollar of the original XM-L. The XM-L2 LED offers the unique combination of high efficacy and high lumen output at high drive currents, delivering an unprecedented 1198 lumens at 116 lumens-per-watt efficacy at 3 A, 25°C.

kevin1911 – Member
I took an interest in that SS XT40 that cruzcampo posted further up, but Amazon are sold out, so I done some searching, and came across the same unit at Fasttech, but instead of the dodgy recycled laptop battery pack, it just comes with one of those highly elusive 4×18650 battery boxes with the screw-down lid, allowing you to use your own trusted batteries. I’ve just ordered one. The link is https://www.fasttech.com/p/1527803, Use code BLF for a whacking great 5% off

I should add the disclaimer that I ordered 3 things from fasttech last year, and none of them ever arrived. Hopefully the fact that these don’t actually have batteries in them will smooth their passage through customs.

Thats an amazing offer Kevin! Especially as you get the SS battery pack. With Torchy 3400 mah’s the run time is insane. I’ve always received my fasttech stuff in 1-2 weeks.

1981miked – Member
This arrived for me today.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00KR6C6QI/ref=redir_mdp_mobile?ref_=pe_385721_37986871_TE_item

It’s mental bright for £19… Won’t be able to test it properly for a while due to injury but still glad I purchased it.

POSTED 2 HOURS AG

Mike cracking light for the money, that was 2 years ago must have light, and I think everyone has one of those in the drawer as a backup now. Reliable, good run time and bright.

@cruzcampo Thanks the X40 must be insanely bright as I thought the MJ872 was good.

Thanks for the help – that’s a nice deal with battery box

I read a thread on mtbr about the XT40 light that said they suffer pretty badly with getting hot. So make sure you switch it to low/off when stopped.

Here you go. Found the thread here

Yeah, I’ve pretty much got into that habit already – as much to preserve the battery as to stop the whole unit melting. It also helps that it’s usually <5degrees in the winter up here.

purchased a solar storm x2 last winter which gave great service but upon digging it out and charging it up it looks like the battery is goosed. Lasted less than ten minutes on low, recharged it and still the same. Looking at getting one of torcheys battery packs off eBay :
http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm?itemId=291254386245
Anybody use this pack with a ssx2 and can give us an idea of run times ?

I’m liking the Look of the various versions of DEATHRAYSKYRAY.

Self contained 4×18650 cells 3 or 4 LEDs…. I think I might just order up one of the cheaper 3 LED versions from China to try out as a Commuter light… I’m getting bored of faffing with cables TBH.

What are people using to mount them?

Edit:
Seven LED Version in the same body!

Just be careful with Zectos, my front one has an LED out, only 3 weeks old 😆

Cokeaa check page 7.

Yeah Saw your mount Zippy, hows that working out?

I’d imagine its quite a weighty light, is they much material for drilling into and tapping if I fancied?

There’s a review somewhere of a similar 7x or 9x XM-L2 torch and it does pump out a lot of lumens, but they had issues with the light dimming linearly with time, the batteries just can’t pump out that much current at anything other than full charge, i.e. it started at 3000 (measured) lumens, dropped to 2000 at half charge and 1000 towards the end. It wasn’t clear though if it was due to the voltage drop to 7.4 as they discharged or the battery’s chemistry limiting the maximum current draw (i.e. would they be back to full brightness if switched off for 10 minutes to let the batteries rest).

I was thinking of getting one of the 7x XM-L2 lights I linked to up there —–^ and running it from a 2s4p battery rather than the 2s2p or 2s3p they come with, to reduce the current drawn from each cell. Planing to semi-permenantly mount the lamp on the fork crown (rigid forks drilled for guards) and a magicshine rear light, then make a wiring loop for the bike all neatly ziptied with a connector next to the ST bottle cage to make removing/chargeing/fitting as simple as possible.

What we need is 8.4V dynamo’s!

is anyone using Uniquefire XM-L2 X2?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/201163626290?var=500344273474&ssPageName=STRK:MESINDXX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1436.l2649&clk_rvr_id=706172831562&afsrc=1

Thanks for the info on the skyray, it does look like a nice solution as the batteries are within the unit so will be find in the rain. It’s just a shame there are no wide beam lenses for it.

That said, I imagine to get this 7 LED monster for around a tenner:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251655051800

Seems too cheap to me, I’m wondering if it will arrive at all? I don’t care if customs bin the batteries, as long as the light itself arrives.

Cook..It weighs 478g with mount and batteries.
The mount stays put over the bumps.

Liking the all in one skyrays, perhaps a 4x or 5x would be more reliable/still able to melt owls.

Some appear to be being sold with half decent batteries, wonder if these can be trusted?

QR cage mounts should be able to carry up to 750g steadily enough. Those handy slits in the rear fins of the torch are made for cable or velcro ties!