Ming the Merciless
There is no mercy
- Location
- Inside my skull
For sale at a cafe I visited today. £2 for rear, and £8 for front.
Battery lights vs. rechargeable.
- Thread starter simongt
- Start date
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For sale at a cafe I visited today. £2 for rear, and £8 for front.
roley poley
Veteran
- Location
- leeds
bottle dynamo to front with led bulb and two led rears with AAA re-chargeables clipped to rear suits me for the commute...
slowmotion
Quite dreadful
- Location
- lost somewhere
I would choose decent rechargeable batteries without a moment's hesitation. I bought four Eneloops about twelve years ago, together with a good charger and I've bought quite a few more ( both AA and AAA) since then to power the numerous battery gizmos at home. The original Eneloops are still going strong after many charges but they are starting to look a bit battered.
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classic33
Leg End Member
What's your thoughts/view on the charger pictured?
slowmotion
Quite dreadful
- Location
- lost somewhere
I've been very happy with it for more than a dozen years. It charges both AA and AAA. I think it's got a feature to recondition cells but I've never tried that. BTW, I have no idea what it cost's now but I think it was about twenty-something quid when I bought it, not cheap at the time. I think @ianrauk has one as well.
Not me dear chap. I have a 7dayShop charger. Which I've had for a good few years.
- Location
- London
I have that same charger - excellent - I virtually always charge at the lowest level - learned my lesson with my first foray into charging - used non low self discharge batteries and a one-hour fast charger - fried the batteries pretty quickly.
edit - I see @classic33 asked about it- thoroughly recommended - available under several brandings, I think 7 day shop have sold it as well.
One version will also charge very fast if you need to in extremis - maybe when on tour. And one has a USB output at the back as well.
mine cost around £20 - better money spent than on a slice of a built-in battery light which would have been dumped by now.
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Alex321
Guru
- Location
- South Wales
I suspect you are right - but in a way that shows the answer to this thread.
They won't be around for long because they just don't sell nearly as many as rechargeables with built in batteries.
TBH, I'm already not sure where I would get an equivalent to my current main front light using removable rechargeable batteries. Having a quick look, I can't find anything taking AA or AAA batteries with more than 250 lumens. I'd want a minimum of 1100 and preferably the 1600 my current light has.
There are more powerful lights with external battery packs, but those are still not the type of batteries you can get in most shops.
- Location
- London
for road riding you should be looking for LUX ratings.
This, though I'd buy without the charger.
Takes 4 AAs
https://www.bikester.co.uk/busch-mu...Q-i52cVb-pVY73opniRMqqjMG7Z6C01RoCuAIQAvD_BwE
I've ridden through nights with that.
I agree that it is more of a problem with front lights - that B&M light might not be around much longer - but there's no good reason why removable battery lights shouldn't continue to be made and developed.
Every time on an everyday transportation bike. It is fit and forget with no need to ever remove the lights at lockups, or plan ahead or worry about charge.
Chris S
Legendary Member
- Location
- Birmingham
With incandescent bulbs and Never Ready batteries?
fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
AA/AAA for critical safety, like commuting. Certainly back up with rechargeable built in if you like. That said, these lights are getting less and less 'available'.
Alex321
Guru
- Location
- South Wales
While they are undoubtedly better, very few manufacturers give them, and there is no standard distance to be able to readily compare them when they do.
If lux always had to be given and always measured at (say) 10m, then I agree it would be the right thing to use. Though we would also have to get used to knowing how much light that actually means.
That does look good. If it is still around when I need to replace my current light, I might well consider it, though I really have little idea how bright 80 lux at 10m is in terms of how much light it throws in the range I need to see.
I would need to get a light meter and measure the level of my current light (which I know to be adequate) at an appropriate distance.
There is certainly no technical reason, but the "good reason" is that people just aren't buying them. Manufacturers aren't going to sink more development costs into products where they don't see a market.
matticus
Guru
Ha! How naive.
I bet you almost felt guilty buying them that cheap!👍
(hope you spent a decent amount on food while you were there.)
Alex321
Guru
- Location
- South Wales
Other way around so far as I am concerned.
Yes, I always carry a "spare" light for safety.; But I see no reason why it is any safer to have the main regular use light be removable batteries, provided you do carry a spare light.
