Cree lights...to good to be true?

[HovR]

I'd check out the Keygos KE1, or the very similar Ultrafire C8. I've had mine for over a year and it's still working well. In fact, I've just bought another as they're so good, despite the original one still working fine.

You can buy them from the UK (although you may need to buy the mount seperately) or you can get them from China for about £20 with free P&P. Check out my review here if interested.

 

[lukesdad]

check out torchy the battery boy he knows what he s talking about

 

[musa]

they say max output is 1200lm or whatever tbh i use mine as a backup my main light is a hope vision 1

 

[cyberknight]

I have been using a magicshine for over 2 years now and i read the horror stories about them catching fire, sure you can get a dodgy one like you can get a lemon in anything you buy but the main issue was making sure you followed the charging and storage guidelines and touch wood i have never had a problem with it.
This is the 3rd winter i have used it and the only real issue i have seen is that the charge does not last quite as long , 2 days of commuting before its permanently blue rather than 3 but i still reckon thats good going .

 

[sddg7tfl]

I've got a cree headtorch (see my avatar) that i went to town on with a soldering iron.
Basically it was supposed to be 1200LM.

I cross referenced the current flowing through the led with official Cree PLC charts for the T6 and it was actually 250LM!!

With a bit of electronics fiddling i increased the drive voltage by about 0.23v, which increased the current flow to what
the Cree charts show as 1000LM.

I think i've set a good compromise as three rechargeable 2300ma AA's last 1.75hours and the unit in a 10c environment
runs at 70c. (Not quite needing water cooling but too hot to grab).

If it fails at the end of the winter, fine ... i've already had 60 hours of use from it.

 

[fossyant]

The cheap torches can suffer from vibration issues, but the bike lights are fine. The batteries are cheap, so don't expect them to last forever on the cheaper lights, but most folk have had at least a year out of them. I have a magicshine T6 (have better batteries), a cheap clone T6 and a cheap 3xT6 (my god that's bright) and haven't had any issues.

Watch the chargers - make sure you have a fused plug (safety). Charging batteries, ideally charge them in a tin box, or away from and combustable material. This is just a general precaution with lipo batteries as they have quite a "kick". I'd also recommend using additional tape around the batteries to waterproof them - getting water in will wreck the circuit board.

On top of this, if the batteries are crap, you can make your own pack where you can charge each battery on it's own - I'm currently doing a 'how to' - its easy. I'm building a pack for the 3xT6 as on full it pulls a significant battery drain, so having a good set of batteries is important.

PS you now realise cateye front lights are over priced for the power.

 

[Easytigers]

PS you now realise cateye front lights are over priced for the power.

Soooooo true! When I first bought a light, I was thinking that they were the bees knees...how wrong can you be???

 

[biggs682]

Soooo want to buy one but money is a bit tight at the moment! However, £20 seems like a real bargain for something that would make a big difference to my commute (60% unlit country roads)!
Can I convince the wife?????????????

just put your foot down and man up ....... and then ask her

 

[speccy1]

I bought one of these
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CREE-XM-L...isure_Cycling_Bike_Lights&hash=item4ac059d703
back at the end of September, been charging it every day for commuting (sometimes 24 miles, or 38 miles, it varies) in the pitch black, never let me down and is fully charged in about 2 hours. Can`t fault it in any way, and at that price if it does only last one winter I`ll be happy with it

 

[Davidc]

Another rider bought one of these while I was in an LBS today:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=86383

Using my licence to interfere, I supervised the fitting process and had a play with the light.

Neat, well-made, simple to charge, fit and operate.

Looked bright to me.

I want one.

I fitted one of those for a technically retarded neighbour. I was very impressed and agree with your comments.

Compared it to my Hope V1 (2010 model) and the top setting was brighter than the top setting on the Hope, which is too bright for normal road use anyway, so more than adequate. The beam pattern looks to be better than the Hope's too.

I don't need a new light at present, but if I did I'd look seriously at this Lezyne light and unless severely strapped for cash would rather pay a bit more and buy from a firm I've had good experience with rather than from China, for a product that looks as if it should last several years.

 

[DRHysted]

With regard to charging, if you use the 18650 batteries I'd advise picking up a smart charger like this

As you can see they are charged from a USB port, I keep one at work and one at home. They take longer than the charger that came with the torch, but the batteries seem to last longer (my commute is between 30 and 60 minutes depending on which route I take).

 

[fossyant]

Or buy an Xtar WP6 II charger - £25 and can charge upto 6 batteries - seem very good. Took about 4 hours to charge my new Senybor 3800mah 18650's, but the batteries and charger were nice and cool.

 

[Easytigers]

It's bought!!!!! Thanks for all the advice

 

[shouldbeinbed]

£26 for torch, mount, 2x18650 rechargeables & double charger, onto their 3rd winter of pretty much daily winter use and still going strong. probably not the lumen-ocity quoted but I am happy and confident at speed on unlit country roads and parkland.

from dealextreme