need suggestion for a headlamp with specifics

LowTEC

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Although i have half a dozen of lithium powered flashlight sitting at home, but they were all from the XRE era.
Since i am out of loop for a few years, and I am now looking for a headlamp for road biking at night.

here are the info, I have the bike front light covered for long range thrower.
I am look for a headlamp to mount on my bike helmet, so weight might be a concern, 4xAA setup might be a little heavy, but not 100%sure.

I need a headlamp to see my surrounding as I ride decently fast even at night through wide range of lighting condition, be it pitch black pavement thru the woods, on the road with lots of street lights, fast sweepers in the dark, and many times in the mist too (Vancouver weather).

So I would need a light output with minimum CONSTANT 200+ lumens with a minimum of 3 hours run time at that level because I will be riding long distant, I don't want to change battery at the worst time although I will be carrying a spare battery for backup. Burst mode or turbo mode that can't sustain hours of continuous runtime is completely useless for me.

Preferably but not absolute a must, wide flood with no hotspot, color is not a serious factor but neutral white would be extra.

I have fair amount of eneloops, and 18650 wouldn't be problem, BUT 16340 and 14500 is out of question.

at last, $70 is the upper range I want to spend, i hope that is not too much to ask for, thanks guys
 
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MX421

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I like the Zebralights, maybe a H600. The Mark III can output about 312 Lm for 4.3 hrs according to the specs. I like them because you can take them out of the headband and use them as a regular light. Some like the frosted glass version (H600F) as it disperses the hotspot on the reflector. I prefer to put scotch tape over the lens to get the same effect. I haven't tried out the frosted lens but i can't get over that some lenses have cracked. It was a long time ago, but still.

Fenix has some pretty good headlamps as well, but they aren't as versatile as the Zebralights. Still they can do 400 lumens for a little over 3 hours.

Some other brands i see good recommendations are Nitecore, and even Armytek is you get lucky with one (they have quality issues from my experience). Good luck
 

C7N3M T&T

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I like the nitecore hc60! Over 7 hours of runtime on 210lms. Or 420lms for 2.5 hours for shorter rides! Nice wide flood beam.
It also comes in NW which will cut through the fog better!

All the best finding the best light for you!
 

PaladinNO

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If a bar mounted bike light would be of interest:

A little over your desired budget, but otherwise the Fenix BC30 fits all your criteria, included the bonus ones.
https://www.fenix-store.com/fenix-bc30-led-bike-light/

Two Cree XM-L2 neutral white LEDs.
2x 18650 batteries.

Turbo: 1200 Lumens (1 hour 50 min.)
High: 500 Lumens (5 hours)
Mid: 200 Lumens (11 hours)
Low: 100 Lumens (20 hours)
Flashing Mode: 200 Lumens
Maximum Distance: 170 meters (557 feet)


A little cheaper would be the Fenix BC21R.
https://www.fenix-store.com/fenix-bc21r-led-bike-light/

One Cree XM-L2 T6 neutral white LED.
1x 18650 battery (2300 mAh included).

Turbo: 880 Lumens for 1 hr. 20 min.
High: 380 Lumens for 4 hrs. 30 min.
Mid: 200 Lumens for 8 hrs. 30 min.
Low: 100 Lumens for 15 hrs. 50 min.
Flash: 380 Lumens and 100 Lumens
Maximum Beam Distance: 410 feet (125 meters)
 
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LowTEC

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thanks for suggestions guys. I like the idea of zebralight, but I am having trouble to find any canadian source that I can purchase from. I have also looked at the HC30, HC50, HC60, HC33, their feature looks awfully similar, and I can only see HC30 on amazon.ca with a escalated price. Thanks PaladinNO, BC21R is on my list next actually, but I am looking for a headlamp for helmet mount.
 

Keitho

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I recommend a Chinese brand available on Amazon to lots of fellow cyclists, "shenkey" on Amazon us and uk (not sure about Canada). I've used them, and my wife uses them every day for commuting. USB rechargeable, ~$20 USD, and comes with helmet and bar mount. I upgraded to Zebralights for color, CRI, lumen-hours:weight, and GAS, but not because I really NEEDED something more expensive for commuting and night MTB. Buy 2 or 3, and you're set for a couple to a few years, or until you fall in love with ZL...
 

bmengineer

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Skilhunt H03 is a great 18650 light that you can pick up in neutral white from China for under $25 with a coupon. If that interests you I can do a runtime test on mine to make sure it'd last your whole ride.
 

iamlucky13

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If you want 200 lumens for 3 hours, 18650 is arguably the way to go. A 2xAA light might just barely be enough with Eneloop Pro's. There's a handful of 4xAA lamps with a separate battery pack if you're concerned about balance (eg - Fenix HP15), but 18650 gets you similar total battery capacity for less weight.

Skilhunt is gaining a good reputation for a budget light. I don't have one myself, but I know there's lots of happy users out there.

You also should be able to find the Armytek Wizard or Elf C2 no problem in Canada. A few users have had quality control issues, but if you don't get bit with one of those, they're ruggedly built, and most of us who own an Armytek are happy with them. The beam is moderately wide, and quite smooth. Armytek's warm is what most users would describe as neutral.

bmengineer - good to see you wander over from Reddit. Welcome.
 

LowTEC

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Skilhunt seems like a good alternative of ZL, I just found out gearbest sells them but I have never dealt with them before. are the legit and reputable? or is there other site i should be looking at, for $25 bucks or less? I can use the price difference to get a decent charger ;)
 

bmengineer

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Skilhunt seems like a good alternative of ZL, I just found out gearbest sells them but I have never dealt with them before. are the legit and reputable? or is there other site i should be looking at, for $25 bucks or less? I can use the price difference to get a decent charger ;)
They are fairly legit, but they did have a recent password leak. I'd use PayPal just to be on the safe side. That's where the light is $25, you can find the coupon code on the page below.

https://www.reddit.com/r/flashlight/comments/7rbnz2
 

LowTEC

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thanks bmengineer, just placed my order via gearbest with the coupon code, finger crossed :)
 

gnappi

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NOT the HC-60!!! The headband is the worst POS out there. The top band keeps coming loose, and it won't adjust to fit my average size head without falling off. If they fixed that crap band it would be a great light.

I wish I had bought the Fenix HL55 the band looks well done
[h=1][/h]
 
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LowTEC

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Just a quick follow up, it took under 2 months for either my H03 headlight and Lii-500 charger from Gearbest to Canada, it was definitely a long wait but luckily I didn't get taxed on either item. They were both shipped by Netherland shipping which seems a little weird to me.

I have to thank you guys for the great suggestion, I just love the light, the beam pattern is perfect, the UI takes some getting used to as I like Thrunite's simplicity UI better.

overall I will order from Gearbest again in the future, dealextreme on the other hand still owe me 2 items over 9 weeks of wait.
 
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