Author Topic: CREE XML T6 LED bicycle Light (Read 83861 times)

AndyK · « **Reply #25 on:** 03 June, 2012, 04:25:10 pm »

oops! Try it now.

mattc · « **Reply #26 on:** 03 June, 2012, 07:34:57 pm »

Quote from: AndyK on 03 June, 2012, 03:41:52 pm

The Blair Witch Lighting Project.

Wobbly John · « **Reply #27 on:** 03 June, 2012, 08:11:53 pm »

I've been waiting a couple of weeks for mine

...

...it will be delivered to work - and they're closed until Wednesday.

It will probably be raining until then, anyway.

Cunobelin · « **Reply #28 on:** 03 June, 2012, 08:45:23 pm »

Bright lights do not need to blind, I use a 2000 Lumen Magicshine and a 900 Lumen Diablo.

Here is an independent assessment:

Quote from: Wombat on 04 January, 2012, 08:05:31 am

I noted today that someone on a recumbent trike I see from time to time has a truly impressive lighting array. A f**k off big front light, and a helmet lamp of not inconsiderable power, too.

I'm thinking it was possibly Cunobelin of this parish, as it was turning right off the A32 travelling Northbound at around 0720 ish today.

Chapeau, Mr C, you are a very well lit person indeed (and no dazzle, either)! It quite put the high output headlight bulbs of my Ford Ka to shame...

Fab Foodie · « **Reply #29 on:** 04 June, 2012, 12:14:52 am »

Quote from: Tail End Charlie on 22 May, 2012, 09:47:18 am

I've bought a very similar one, it is very bright and lightweight. Quality seems pretty good. Haven't had it long enough yet to comment on longevity but so far so good. At that price it's worth a punt (I paid £37)

I paid £30 for mine and it was still a bargain! At £17 I might buy another.
I'm very pleased with mine so far, much of the time half power is sufficient. The flash mode is a bit strobe-like for my liking, but it's a huge amount of illumination for little dosh.

Dinamo · « **Reply #30 on:** 04 June, 2012, 12:51:15 am »

Quote from: Fab Foodie on 04 June, 2012, 12:14:52 am

Quote from: Tail End Charlie on 22 May, 2012, 09:47:18 am
I've bought a very similar one, it is very bright and lightweight. Quality seems pretty good. Haven't had it long enough yet to comment on longevity but so far so good. At that price it's worth a punt (I paid £37)
I paid £30 for mine and it was still a bargain! At £17 I might buy another.
I'm very pleased with mine so far, much of the time half power is sufficient. The flash mode is a bit strobe-like for my liking, but it's a huge amount of illumination for little dosh.

I bought one of these last winter on FabFoodies recommendation and have to say it is well worth the money, the full beam lasts approx. 3 hours !

EDIT : Recently bought a CREE Q5 240 Lumen on Ebay for under £6 !
Not as powerful, but a good light for city riding, takes 3 AAA's.

AndyK · « **Reply #31 on:** 04 June, 2012, 08:08:22 am »

Please note the £17 version comes without a UK plug for the charger and only one battery, which may explain the price. I got round this using a travel adapter plug.

Also the battery looks a bit 'cheap' (at least to my eyes). The top and bottom of the battery pack are capped with card inside the plastic casing so I have duct-taped the ends as a safeguard against water ingress (I'm hoping the card wasn't for 'breathing or cooling purposes) I used it in pouring rain yesterday and all stayed dry.
As I have only had it a couple of days I cannot report on battery longevity.

The light unit itself is very well made from aluminium with a glass 'lens' (it's flat and non-focusing so not really a lens).

It came without instructions but is easy to operate: press once for full power, twice for lower, again for lower still. Press and hold for flashing.

On the flashing setting it is far too strobe like so I won't be using that.

When connected the on/off button glows green all the time, this cannot be switched off, so I leave the battery disconnected when not required.

Other than that, yes, it is a hell of a LOT of light for £17.

Jules · « **Reply #32 on:** 04 June, 2012, 01:39:06 pm »

Still waiting for mine. Probably because we're in a month of Sundays

Russell · « **Reply #33 on:** 13 June, 2012, 11:57:38 am »

Colleague of mine has just bought something very similar (3 mode with international adapter and rear light) for £27 from Kong Hong Ebay and it is bright! However if switched on within 10ft of a DAB radio it stops the radio working. The signal drops in strength from 80 to 16. It probably would cause problems with other electrical equipment - GPS or wireless computers for instance - so buyer beware.

R

Wobbly John · « **Reply #34 on:** 13 June, 2012, 12:19:41 pm »

Mine arrived this morning, after 3 weeks waiting.

I intended doing a late evening ride with collegues from work today, with GPS so will see how they get on.

It's bound to interfere with my wireless Lidl speedo - even the cat flap makes it think it's going 30mph!

Mind you, it's useful to clock up a few more miles, when I get home, before the bike gets put back in the shed.

Jules · « **Reply #35 on:** 13 June, 2012, 09:03:45 pm »

Still waiting for mine

Wobbly John · « **Reply #36 on:** 14 June, 2012, 01:04:03 am »

Gawd they're bright. I see the arguement for not using them on the road!

Tewdric · « **Reply #37 on:** 14 June, 2012, 10:17:25 pm »

Got mine today - the cables are compatible with Magicshine, so you get a spare battery and a charger to leave at work. The bezels are also the same and I tried the Magicshine diffuser glass which works wonderfully with these, although this one has a tighter natural spot. I'll probably pair this one and a diffused magicshine and a two-into-one lead next winter, charging the battery when I get to work so I can have full spam both ways without worrying.

For 17 quid this is a no brainer!

Feline · « **Reply #38 on:** 14 June, 2012, 11:27:05 pm »

That seller is incredibly high volume but manages to piss off over 60 buyers per month which is a bit of a worry!
I'm tempted to get one for my son who seems to be going out much more often in the evenings now his A levels are nearly done and dusted. He's been riding down the A38 with a 'be seen' USB chargeable front light only $:-\$

AndyK · « **Reply #39 on:** 15 June, 2012, 07:24:53 am »

Quote from: Feline on 14 June, 2012, 11:27:05 pm

That seller is incredibly high volume but manages to piss off over 60 buyers per month which is a bit of a worry!

I read his negatives before ordering. Nearly all came from people who negged him before trying to resolve any problems, and he has offered refunds in every case.

Feline · « **Reply #40 on:** 15 June, 2012, 04:37:02 pm »

Quote from: AndyK on 15 June, 2012, 07:24:53 am

Quote from: Feline on 14 June, 2012, 11:27:05 pm
That seller is incredibly high volume but manages to piss off over 60 buyers per month which is a bit of a worry!

I read his negatives before ordering. Nearly all came from people who negged him before trying to resolve any problems, and he has offered refunds in every case.

He copies and pastes the same response to anyone who negs him with a complaint saying he would have sorted it out if he had known and will refund. However,you don't know what he really does about them do you

There are a lot of negs from buyers who never got the goods and got no satisfactory response from him.
He doesn't need to worry about getting negs so long as his feedback stays at 99%+ positive so has little incentive to sort out all the things that go wrong. Most ebayers look at 99% and never check the actual comments so high volume sellers can ignore a certain amount of unhappy customers. If I was going to buy from him I would use a credit card via Paypal and be ready to initiate a charge-back for non-delivery well within the 6 week cut off period.

AndyK · « **Reply #41 on:** 15 June, 2012, 06:37:34 pm »

I copy and paste the same feedback comment to all my sellers. There's nothing unusual in doing that. It is even less unusual among non-English speakers.

Feline · « **Reply #42 on:** 15 June, 2012, 06:39:29 pm »

Quote from: AndyK on 15 June, 2012, 06:37:34 pm

I copy and paste the same feedback comment to all my sellers. There's nothing unusual in doing that. It is even less unusual among non-English speakers.

We are talking about a seller here not a buyer, and he's responding to negative feedback. This is a slightly different kettle of kippers.

AndyK · « **Reply #43 on:** 15 June, 2012, 06:43:55 pm »

Quote from: Feline on 15 June, 2012, 06:39:29 pm

Quote from: AndyK on 15 June, 2012, 06:37:34 pm
I copy and paste the same feedback comment to all my sellers. There's nothing unusual in doing that. It is even less unusual among non-English speakers.

We are talking about a seller here not a buyer, and he's responding to negative feedback. This is a slightly different kettle of kippers.

Not if he doesn't speak English. There's only so much can be said with 80 characters. Besides, if they were lying about the refunds they'd have been shut down by now.

Biggsy · « **Reply #44 on:** 15 June, 2012, 08:31:18 pm »

Quote from: Feline on 15 June, 2012, 04:37:02 pm

He doesn't need to worry about getting negs so long as his feedback stays at 99%+ positive so has little incentive to sort out all the things that go wrong. Most ebayers look at 99% and never check the actual comments so high volume sellers can ignore a certain amount of unhappy customers.

There is incentive for sellers avoid all Negative Feedback and low Detailed Seller Ratings because these affect their positions in default search results. Their account is even suspended once a certain number of DSR 1 and 2 scores are received within a certain period. Also I think many buyers notice the number after the decimal point in the feedback.

Jules · « **Reply #45 on:** 15 June, 2012, 10:58:07 pm »

I'm still, still, Waiting

Bledlow · « **Reply #46 on:** 30 June, 2012, 07:14:36 pm »

Jules - any news?

I just ordered one for Mrs B, after she decided on the all night ride last night that her current lights (frigged by me from assorted bits) are bright enough for normal roads but not on muddy roads in woods with drifts of gravel & scattered flints, & she wants something brighter. It should also do for her MTB - if it arrives.

Bledlow · « **Reply #47 on:** 01 July, 2012, 03:45:01 pm »

Just looked up the Cateye lights I saw someone using on simon_b's Friday night ride to the Hayling Island ferry, & which looked rather bright: one on the bars & one each side of the forks. They lit up the road very well.

It turns out that the light output is actually pretty feeble compared to some of the other lights out there. They're Cateye EL-610RCs, now unavailable. Two 1 watt LEDs per lamp. Lumens not stated, but probably well under 200. A nice demonstration of how a well designed lamp can shed much more useful light than an ultra-bright flood, in proportion to its total output.

But the price/light on the road ratio still favours the cheap Chinese ultra-bright unfocused light.

Jules · « **Reply #48 on:** 02 July, 2012, 11:51:20 am »

Quote from: Bledlow on 30 June, 2012, 07:14:36 pm

Jules - any news?

I just ordered one for Mrs B, after she decided on the all night ride last night that her current lights (frigged by me from assorted bits) are bright enough for normal roads but not on muddy roads in woods with drifts of gravel & scattered flints, & she wants something brighter. It should also do for her MTB - if it arrives.

Apologies - must do less work and more reading YACF. Arrived about 10 days ago. Seem very bright but I've not had a charge to get out anywhere that does proper dark yet to try them out.

Bledlow · « **Reply #49 on:** 02 July, 2012, 11:54:42 am »

Ta. So, delivery time is erratic but they do turn up eventually, at least as far as our limited sample size can tell us.

~~Mine~~Mrs B's was supposedly despatched yesterday.