avantgardener
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Nov 26, 2018
- Messages
- 4
Hi there!
I've been searching for the right flashlight to serve primarily as a bike light—and after a couple months' worth of searching for + buying + ultimately returning several flashlights for various unforeseen shortcomings, I decided I should just defer to the experts —> and see if you fine folk here might be able to help steer me in the right direction.
Ha, my series of flashlight-choice failures taught me that I wanted a light with a high-capacity battery than 18650—but, after breaking my handlebar mount, I realized that 26650 = just a bit too large —> so I've Goldilocks-ed my decision down to a 21700-style flashlight… which seems to me the perfect trade-off in terms of form factor + battery size. Here are the [ideal] flashlight characteristics I'm looking for (in order of importance):
1. BATTERY SIZE = 21700
2. OUTPUT = 700+ lumens after ~45 min. of use (in 40º-55ºF weather on a moving bike)
3. BEAM STYLE = more flood than throw (without too extreme a 'hotspot'—which I've found can be distracting while riding)
4. PRICE = < $70 5. COLOR TEMP = Prefer slightly cooler (~48-55K), but will go warmer for high CRI (Nichia 219C = quite lovely!)
I use my bicycle as my primary mode of transportation in a city with an unnerving number of bike + car accidents—ha, and I'm looking for a flashlight that will help me not-die… 😛 (It's also a city where I'm constantly at risk of having accessories stolen from my bike—and thus my preference for a standard flashlight vs. a dedicated bike light, since it's a lot more convenient to remove and throw into my bag for a quick run into a store).
The max lumen output is far less important to me than its step-down profile as it heats over time. It seems like a lot of the higher-output (but smaller form-factor) lights will dazzle your friends for all of a minute or two—before often dropping down to only ~15-20% (or less) of its initial output. I *did* quite like Zebralight's SC600Fd—except the battery capacity was just a smidge too small… and, once it got low, the light would dramatically step-down from moderate brightness to an almost imperceptible low level… which had the effect of suddenly throwing me into darkness, which was quite scary a few times when I was navigating through traffic and suddenly became virtually invisible.
Can you guys recommend any 21700 lights that have a step-down profile that might fit my needs? While I always keep a spare battery on me just to be safe, I regularly ride for upwards of an hour in the dark—so a light that could illuminate the road + make me easily noticeable to our reckless drivers for 60 minutes (meaning I wouldn't have to stop and battery swap) would be ideal.
One flashlight that *does* seem to fit the bill = Acebeam's EC65 —> however, it's a bit above the upper limit of my budget… And I wanted to see if there might not be another light out there at a lower price point I've overlooked…
Thank you so much for your help! 🙂
—Michael
I've been searching for the right flashlight to serve primarily as a bike light—and after a couple months' worth of searching for + buying + ultimately returning several flashlights for various unforeseen shortcomings, I decided I should just defer to the experts —> and see if you fine folk here might be able to help steer me in the right direction.
Ha, my series of flashlight-choice failures taught me that I wanted a light with a high-capacity battery than 18650—but, after breaking my handlebar mount, I realized that 26650 = just a bit too large —> so I've Goldilocks-ed my decision down to a 21700-style flashlight… which seems to me the perfect trade-off in terms of form factor + battery size. Here are the [ideal] flashlight characteristics I'm looking for (in order of importance):
1. BATTERY SIZE = 21700
2. OUTPUT = 700+ lumens after ~45 min. of use (in 40º-55ºF weather on a moving bike)
3. BEAM STYLE = more flood than throw (without too extreme a 'hotspot'—which I've found can be distracting while riding)
4. PRICE = < $70 5. COLOR TEMP = Prefer slightly cooler (~48-55K), but will go warmer for high CRI (Nichia 219C = quite lovely!)
I use my bicycle as my primary mode of transportation in a city with an unnerving number of bike + car accidents—ha, and I'm looking for a flashlight that will help me not-die… 😛 (It's also a city where I'm constantly at risk of having accessories stolen from my bike—and thus my preference for a standard flashlight vs. a dedicated bike light, since it's a lot more convenient to remove and throw into my bag for a quick run into a store).
The max lumen output is far less important to me than its step-down profile as it heats over time. It seems like a lot of the higher-output (but smaller form-factor) lights will dazzle your friends for all of a minute or two—before often dropping down to only ~15-20% (or less) of its initial output. I *did* quite like Zebralight's SC600Fd—except the battery capacity was just a smidge too small… and, once it got low, the light would dramatically step-down from moderate brightness to an almost imperceptible low level… which had the effect of suddenly throwing me into darkness, which was quite scary a few times when I was navigating through traffic and suddenly became virtually invisible.
Can you guys recommend any 21700 lights that have a step-down profile that might fit my needs? While I always keep a spare battery on me just to be safe, I regularly ride for upwards of an hour in the dark—so a light that could illuminate the road + make me easily noticeable to our reckless drivers for 60 minutes (meaning I wouldn't have to stop and battery swap) would be ideal.
One flashlight that *does* seem to fit the bill = Acebeam's EC65 —> however, it's a bit above the upper limit of my budget… And I wanted to see if there might not be another light out there at a lower price point I've overlooked…
Thank you so much for your help! 🙂
—Michael
