Light for on a bike and off, does this setup exist?

scandy · Mar 23, 2016

I've been trying to find a good light for my bike, i've been looking at some MTB specific lights, what ive looked at are in the 800-1500 lumen range, which seems good enough for me. this is a bike i use for bikepacking, mtb rides day and night, and some commuting. I think it would be handy (for bikepacking especially) to have a light that I could take off and use as a normal light. But i'm a total light noob and i dont know whats possible and what all i'd need for that kind of setup.

If its something i can use off the bike too, i'm willing to spend a bit more.
I want to get crafty with my metal work and make something super integrated into the stem or fork. My friend has a nice copper body light of some kind, which i think would be cool and would match the bike super well.
Most MTB specific lights i'm looking at use a separate battery you mount to the frame, or use a hub charging system. either of which i'm willing to do. but how would i go about setting it up to where i could plug in the battery or hub power source to use while on the bike. and have it charged and ready to go while off the bike, not connected to a power source.

Is this idea at least somewhat feasible? any thoughts on a good light to use that would give a good beam? what to use for a battery and how to connect it? as i said im a complete noob so please bear with me

iggs · Mar 23, 2016

Look at the exposure range of lights. They have both built in battery or hub Dynamo options

127.0.0.1 · Mar 25, 2016

use a twofish block that can mount regular flashlights then
your options are endless

Milw light · Mar 27, 2016

You could buy a Fenix bike mount & use a PD35Tac or same size body light. The light comes right off for use or so it isn't stolen. The 1000 lumins lights up a trail well.

Overclocker · Mar 27, 2016

scandy said:
I've been trying to find a good light for my bike, i've been looking at some MTB specific lights, what ive looked at are in the 800-1500 lumen range, which seems good enough for me. this is a bike i use for bikepacking, mtb rides day and night, and some commuting. I think it would be handy (for bikepacking especially) to have a light that I could take off and use as a normal light. But i'm a total light noob and i dont know whats possible and what all i'd need for that kind of setup.

If its something i can use off the bike too, i'm willing to spend a bit more.
I want to get crafty with my metal work and make something super integrated into the stem or fork. My friend has a nice copper body light of some kind, which i think would be cool and would match the bike super well.
Most MTB specific lights i'm looking at use a separate battery you mount to the frame, or use a hub charging system. either of which i'm willing to do. but how would i go about setting it up to where i could plug in the battery or hub power source to use while on the bike. and have it charged and ready to go while off the bike, not connected to a power source.

Is this idea at least somewhat feasible? any thoughts on a good light to use that would give a good beam? what to use for a battery and how to connect it? as i said im a complete noob so please bear with me

short answer: zebralight sc62w or perhaps sc63w (i can tell you when i get mine)

long answer: stay away from lights w/ timer-based stepdown, they drop down the lumens after a set amount of time. i prefer riding w/ continuous ~900 lumens

stay away from single-cell lights w/ a buck driver. they achieve max brightness only for the first 10mins. it's all downhill from there, the lumens that is

nice to have feature, thermal regulation so you don't have to worry about overheating

campingnut · Mar 27, 2016

127.0.0.1 said:
use a twofish block that can mount regular flashlights then
your options are endless

I commute on my bike a few days a week when the weather is nice and you only need 200-300 lumens to be well seen. I use a Surefire C2 or a Quark with the above block and it works well.

znomit · Mar 27, 2016

Welcome to CPF Scandy.
:welcome:

For bikepacking with a hub dynamo the best power setup is to charge a USB battery pack from the dynamo and then to charge/power your other devices from that. Have a switch that will switch between the hub powering that and your light, or use a light that will run while charging.

Klite is a good resource for details on this
http://www.klite.com.au

Strintguy · Mar 27, 2016

I use a Fenix bike mount and a Nailbender p60 xp-g2 neutral in 1x 18650 host Good throw, good runtime, great reliability

angerdan · Mar 27, 2016

scandy said:
...the 800-1500 lumen range...
...have it charged and ready to go while off the bike, not connected to a power source.
any thoughts on a good light to use that would give a good beam?
what to use for a battery and how to connect it?

What angle in degree exactly do you mean with "good beam"?
Try the Fenix BC30 (replacable 18650 cells) or BC30R (rechargable over USB).

Light for on a bike and off, does this setup exist?

scandy

Newly Enlightened

iggs

Newly Enlightened

127.0.0.1

Flashlight Enthusiast

Milw light

Newly Enlightened

Overclocker

Flashlight Enthusiast

campingnut

Enlightened

znomit

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Strintguy

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angerdan

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