Is anyone getting batteries through from Fasttech?

Seems to have been / still is a problem with HK post now refusing to ship any batteries at all

Good man 😉

Unfortunately the whole thing has been hijacked by U.S style trick or treating plus our Supermarkets over commercialisation of everything associated with it (Pumpkins, costumes etc)

I have fond memories of it as a kid – cost the family nothing more than the price of a Turnip and a candle. All the costumes were home made at zero cost and I cant even remember any of the houses giving us money, it was tangerines, monkey nuts, sweets and toffee apples (home made.) Also, there was none of this pitching up with a sh1t joke and trousering ££ – we had to sing, or tell a story or play an instrument. Dooking for apples that’s gone too. Sighs…

ali express, 11 days, just arrived 😉

Dont get the Ryobi – I’ve got one:

1. Bitch to start
2. Weighs a ton
3. Badly balanced
4. Very temperamental
5. Makes an absolute goddam racket.

If it’s light work I wouldn’t rule out the latest Li ion. In fact having browsed the most recent Husqvarna chainsaws I wouldn’t rule out Li ion for anything.

£30 for a light with the same guts and de-rigeur iffy battery / charger as the Solarstorm?

You’re not selling it to me 😉

Unless it’s available as a head only unit for £15?

RicB – I think you chose the source to validate your price 😉

Which is almost double what you’d pay from other reliable sources…I didn’t buy my charger or batteries from Ebay got them from Fasttech. Research on the Candlepower forums and elsewhere indicated they were reliable for both.

>Unfortunately, believe it or not, the Chinese have figured out how to make fake CE labels!! My burny Belkin and Dell charges were enough proof of that<

Yeah that was my fist instinct – I gather its very commonplace for Chinese manufacturers to churn out and apply these labels whether they have the certification or not.

That Lezyne unit looks very nice. Seen mixed reviews on Exposures effort.

The candb seen unit is definitely a get your tanks off my lawn statement 😉

Was thinking more of Exposuresque products. Like this:

http://dx.com/p/3-mode-1-led-red-light-bike-safety-black-yellow-2-x-cr2032-225313

How waterproof is it?

40 middle aged? Not these days.

I think your problem’s down to bad genes, high impact sports or poor technique or poor set up. Or possibly all of these 😉

>Its more about the chargers than the batteries, specifically the build quality and the (non) CE approval.<

For sure, so the best idea is to buy the light separately and get the best charger and batteries you can. As I set out above 😉

Really? Not if you do your homework….

I’ve bought 1No quality 4 cell charger (each charges independently)4No Panasonic’s must powerful protected 18650@s 1No battery box & 1No Head Unit only. Total price c £58.00

The charger automatically recognises and charges any battery type ergo its not a one trick pony plus the Panasonic cells can be used individually in my hand torches.

Of course the head unit could crap out on me but for £15 it s not a huge risk.

Vaude back / front rollers.

>Or did I pitch and miss when aiming for riding?<

Yes.

Inherited a Company one and used it for 6 months. Hated it…

The folding seats are next to useless due the shallow angle of the boot. I kept a blanket over the back seats, threw the frame in there and the wheels in the boot.

Of course you’ll get by but its one of the worst cars imaginable for any mountain biker tbh.

>Buchaille Etive Mor<

Um……… that’s a different level of weirdness.

>Some of the ” is there any decent riding in x…” threads on here wind me up if I’m honest. Fair enough to ask for a few pointers but I swear some people want it on a plate. Just open a bloody map.<

Ditto…………whilst having the cheek to state they down want any pushing.

Internet makes it all too easy these days, gotta earn your turns as they say in ski touring 😉

Fellow weirdo here…..and the more ambitious and challenging the better.

Pretty much all my riding is channeled into training for & planning the next big loop. If it’s sh1t riding I just shrug it off – I’ll still have had a good day in the hills.

I’ve got 2 Gammas but the battery box closure mechanism is pretty sh1t / prone to breakage and the output is woefully low by todays standards. In reality you can now pick up a couple of Chinese units for the same price / several times the power.

>NZ is more than 3 times the size with a smaller population, the mountains are MUCH bigger (Nevis is half the size of NZs thirtieth highest mountain) AND they have a good rugby team <

Yeah you need it – given the absence of right to roam 😉

Presumably you had to drive there? If so why put yourself through it?

You’ll never encounter that kind of attitude on the open hills so why not go there?

Clear from the last 3 posts that mtb is very different to each individual.

Motorsport is relatively off the scale – why even bring it into the discussion?

>As for needing to drive, look at the old photos of people riding out to the local tt with spare wheels. I seem to remember one of the current tt riders doesn’t drive, rides to events and still wins.<

Wouldn’t know – the OP posted about mountain biking.

As far as I’m concerned that’s something that takes place in mountains. For sure I do most of my riding in the Central Scotland bad/flatlands but that’s just training for days and weekends away in the big hills. And that sure is neither cheap nor accessible.

>Ok maybe not putting it away do people stop using there full sus’s when it really gets axle deep wet and muddy <

I live in Scotland, I have one bike and I ride no matter what the weather. End of discussion really as far as I’m concerned.

Mike

See my earlier remarks re fannying around housing estates 😉

Seriously though that’s very similar to a lot of the riding I do but I just regard that as training. Have to say I meet very few kids (small or big) on my exploits…

>I can’t think of a town or city with no half-decent off-road riding within a few miles of the outskirts. OK getting out of the city can be a problem, but I think riding 5-10 miles on tarmac to get to good trails is ok. <

Take your point but I don’t see your example as being particularly accessible (or desirable) given the traffic levels choking the roads nowadays. More importantly the general attitudes of motorists towards cyclists. Having said that, Falkirk near where I live now has a fantastic network of cycle paths but that’s an exception to the rule.

>When I was riding the my GT Outpost in tracksuit and hiking boots, we were riding proper trails in Swaledale.<

Not sure what your point is. The vast majority of the population live in towns and cities and so by definition mtb is only easily accessible if you are near trails and or have the means to drive to them.

>I’ve taken up running more recently as a reaction to the recurrent expense of road and mountain biking, in terms of maintenance and kit. The MTB is especially expensive to maintain because of wear and tear.<

This really and the getting there…

If you’re talking about getting hold of an old bike and fannying around a housing scheme on it then for sure that’s not expensive but its not mountain biking as practiced by most on here (Trail Centres, trips to the hills etc)

To imply that everyone on a low income is sitting on a big fat Sky package smoking their way through 20 a day and that it’s all a lifestyle choice is generalising just a little 😉

>i was in Evans yesterday, saw a stonking GT for £350.

if it only lasts 2 years it’s still much cheaper, and more fun than gym membership.

any ‘accessibility issues’ are an illusion.<

Depends on what social cross section you’re talking about surely?

I think your observations merely reinforce the OP’s points. It’s only accessible if you have £350 going buckshee to spend on a bike. And let’s face it, this forum is not exactly populated by lower income groups. A quick glance down most of the posts confirms this.

Depends on how its built up (specifically forks and wheels)but yes I did some ridiculously long mileages on mine and it was my only bike for 6 years.

@ joshvegas.

Stunning.

>I ordered some 3100mah panasonics with tabs on and put them in an old magicshine box (the one with the voltage display). Some dodgy soldering and scary short circuit moment later and i have a pack that just ran the X2 on high for 3 hours.<

That’s far more like it. Based on that the 3400Mah Panasonics should be on the money.

Understood Stumpy.

Probably near enough Mekon but you’ll need to sink another few bottles to find out exactly how 😉

Stumpy – I’m confused which light did you run on full power with the 4.4?

MarkLG has pretty much made the points I would have.

For sure the Fasttech 6600Mah is cheap – but there’s a reason for that 😉 Bottom line you haven’t a clue what you’re getting really…

The head unit on its own can be had for peanuts so I’m quite happy to take a punt on that whilst building a battery that I know will have the minimum output it needs…. and one that can be used to improve the life of my existing set up / be used in my single cell torches.

>The problem with trying to combine the batteries with the case are twofold:
1) Batteries aren’t from the same shop as the case
2) Royal Mail wont deliver the batteries (from the group buyer to individuals).<

Not seeing how the batteries & case from different sources are much of an issue as 18650 is standard /known size. The only issue for me is the length of the oversized Panasonic protected unit.

>Just to do the group buy on the battery box and order the cells individually from fasttech…sorted.<

As I said, little to be gained by faffing around with battery group buys anyway.

>would this be any good for the solarstorm x2?<

Not for me, I use these already on my other lights and they are struggling after 2.5hrs (riding time) Plus they only rated @ 4400Mah. Doubt that’s a genuine figure anyway. The big Panasonics should give 6400 Mah – good for 3hrs on high.

Like some of the others above I don’t really see the point in buying powerful lights only to faff around keeping them on low to prevent you from running out of juice.

I think Fasttech are the best / cheapest source for genuine Panasonic 3400’s protected. Seems there’s a lot of scamming / cloning / selling re-badged used cells in the world of Chinese batteries.

Also, you’d need to buy a fair amount I reckon to neutralise the on-cost / hassle of re posting them in the UK.

$16.98 shipped for 2.

>Over 90% of the reason we get punctures is purely down to riding styles,<

Really? And here was me thinking it was Hawthorne hedges…

First issue for me would be whether that box will take the longer protected Panasonics.

ygm Stevemorg2

Buying the battery holder and the separate Panasonics surely does away with any doubt as to the batteries performance? Plenty of info on the web attesting to the 3400’s performance.

Plus you also get the Pukka screw in connector for the Solar Fire light…

And four separate batteries which can be used in single cell torches…

Buying these units with cheapo no name batteries is a false economy – been there. I want something I can reliably run for 3 hrs and mostly on high.

Only thing I’m unclear on is whether to use the protected or non protected version of the Panasonics (also with an eye to torch use)

Anyone?