Since limited budget for bike stuff is a way of life, my thought process was to go inexpensive, and just replace if there is a problem.
At $20 per, the 1200 lumen Cree (Amazon) seemed like an interesting way to go. I had been biking and jogging with a Princeton Tech headlamp and two bar lights using 3x AAA batteries each - worked for a couple years, but the pile of dead cells was getting a bit overwhelming. I still use these during the day when a strobe is necessary.
To the Review:
Cree 1200 XML T6 Bicycle Headlight LED 1200 Lumens
The 1200 came with a remote battery pack, charger, and a head strap - can't really say the head strap would fit my head, even fully extended. The helmet strap was extra $$, so the head strap was repurposed to attach to the helmet with some hook&loop through the vents - piece of cake.
The beam on these are very tight, so I picked up the diffuser ($4.95) - this helped to throw a wide swath (redundant?) of light.
One of these on my helmet, no diffuser, and one on the handlebars with diffuser works out great. The lights have 3 settings (high, low, strobe). setting them on low was more than adequate.
These units have a remote battery, with 3' of cable. One of the battery units came with a case which had two hook&loop straps, and a belt ring. The other had a single hook&loop strap, no belt ring. not sure why the difference, but the double one had long enough straps to fit around the downtube in the waterbottle cage - the other didn't. It was hooked to a strap on the hydration pack where it couldn't flop around.
3X CREE XM-L T6 LED 3800Lm LED Headlight Headlamp and Bicycle Light
Just recently, a 3 LED model popped-up on Amazon for $40. If two of these lights running on low is enough, why would this be necessary? Gotta have a spare right? Same battery pack, longer wire on the battery, shorter one on the light than the 1200.
I have one ride on this light so far, and it is bright. It has 4 settings, low, medium, high, strobe. On low it is bright, on high it is like one of those filtered instagram pictures. The beam is much wider than the 1200. Suspect this is a result of the LED Array. After about 1:15 on low, I decided to try riding on the high setting. the battery lasted about 10 minutes before the light shut down for low battery. Temps were in the high 20s- will do some more experimenting to put together a timing chart.
Misc
Each unit came with two sizes of rubber rings for clamping the light to a bar, or mount. A head strap, which was too small, and a battery charger with "fully charged" indicator light (red/green).
batteries - two strap case: 225g, 1 strap case 190g
Size - the 3800 is slightly larger, but uses the same bezel and lens size. weighing in at 126g. The 1200 weighs 90g.
So far so good. I'll report back if any problems arise, and let you know the lights' runtimes.
For reference, there is an iPhone 4 in the picture.
At $20 per, the 1200 lumen Cree (Amazon) seemed like an interesting way to go. I had been biking and jogging with a Princeton Tech headlamp and two bar lights using 3x AAA batteries each - worked for a couple years, but the pile of dead cells was getting a bit overwhelming. I still use these during the day when a strobe is necessary.
To the Review:
Cree 1200 XML T6 Bicycle Headlight LED 1200 Lumens
The 1200 came with a remote battery pack, charger, and a head strap - can't really say the head strap would fit my head, even fully extended. The helmet strap was extra $$, so the head strap was repurposed to attach to the helmet with some hook&loop through the vents - piece of cake.
The beam on these are very tight, so I picked up the diffuser ($4.95) - this helped to throw a wide swath (redundant?) of light.
One of these on my helmet, no diffuser, and one on the handlebars with diffuser works out great. The lights have 3 settings (high, low, strobe). setting them on low was more than adequate.
These units have a remote battery, with 3' of cable. One of the battery units came with a case which had two hook&loop straps, and a belt ring. The other had a single hook&loop strap, no belt ring. not sure why the difference, but the double one had long enough straps to fit around the downtube in the waterbottle cage - the other didn't. It was hooked to a strap on the hydration pack where it couldn't flop around.
3X CREE XM-L T6 LED 3800Lm LED Headlight Headlamp and Bicycle Light
Just recently, a 3 LED model popped-up on Amazon for $40. If two of these lights running on low is enough, why would this be necessary? Gotta have a spare right? Same battery pack, longer wire on the battery, shorter one on the light than the 1200.
I have one ride on this light so far, and it is bright. It has 4 settings, low, medium, high, strobe. On low it is bright, on high it is like one of those filtered instagram pictures. The beam is much wider than the 1200. Suspect this is a result of the LED Array. After about 1:15 on low, I decided to try riding on the high setting. the battery lasted about 10 minutes before the light shut down for low battery. Temps were in the high 20s- will do some more experimenting to put together a timing chart.
Misc
Each unit came with two sizes of rubber rings for clamping the light to a bar, or mount. A head strap, which was too small, and a battery charger with "fully charged" indicator light (red/green).
batteries - two strap case: 225g, 1 strap case 190g
Size - the 3800 is slightly larger, but uses the same bezel and lens size. weighing in at 126g. The 1200 weighs 90g.
So far so good. I'll report back if any problems arise, and let you know the lights' runtimes.
For reference, there is an iPhone 4 in the picture.