Light - Fluxient 1000 Lumen 3x Cree XPE Q5

[Piemaster]

Well my light arrived today. The Fluxient 1000 Lumen 3x Cree XPE Q5 from ebay. Ordered on Tuesday, despatched Wednesday, delivered today (Friday).

Why?
The bike is equipped with a shimano dynamo and a B+M Lumotec IQ Cyo which is fine for city streets but not for the commute descent on an unlit fast (35-40mph) unclassified rough, potholed road. I've also been using a B+M Ixon IQ to supplement it (had the IQ for a while and was in regular use before switching to the dynamo light, overall a nice light with an excellent beam shape).
Despite the 2 lights and playing with the area of the road they both cover something throwing out a lot more light was needed, just for the 'back road' section of the commute, around 4 out of the 6 mile one-way journey.


This thread lead me to the Fluxient light. Some info on it and beam shots were available on the sellers blog site. Suitably impressed and not really wanting to wait for, perhaps, as long as 6 weeks for a Magicshine clone I ordered one.



Arrived well packed in a nice box. Quite heavy solid unit with a proper metal bracket, which looks as though it should accomodate just about any bar size. Bracket has a feature of a small thumbscrew so left-right angle can be adjusted and head unit removed easily for taking away with you if leaving the bike anywhere. Looks to be much better than the MS rubber ring solution.

Batteries are Li-ion and come with a small bag with all sorts of strapping so should be able to find a home on the bike just about anywhere.

Light has an illuminated button on the back that a press cycles through its High/med/low/flash operating modes.
Most important bit obviously is 'How bright is it?'

BRIGHT!
(the sellers blog site is probably a fair reflection of it)

Yet to be tested and used regularly but I'll revisit this review and add comments after I've had it for a bit and got a better feel for how it works in the real world, running times, reliability, etc.


edit:to fix wrong link, cheers HovR

 

[HovR]

Nice review, but your "Sellers Blog" link is leading me to the commuting lights thread.

Maybe you could post some photos of the light in use? From a cars perspective (head on), and from the bike riders perspective.

 

[Piemaster]

Thanks for pointing out the link. Photos to follow when I get the chance (and figure out how to keep camera at same settings)

 

[Piemaster]

I've put some shots of the light at its 3 settings here, along with one of it mounted on the bars and a couple of B&M lights for comparison.
B&M IQ fly photo isn't great as was having to pedal at the time (its the version with daytime running lights, so thats what you get when you stop).
I'd place the B&M Ixon IQ somewhere slightly less bright than the fluxient on medium power, but the area illuminated is different as it doesn't have a spot just an illuminated area. Perhaps difficult to tell that well from the photos.
Overall it should do what I bought it for on the dark country lanes, the lack of a strong spot area for picking out potholes well in advance was a problem and the dyno light will continue with duties when back under streetlights.

 

[paulw1969]

Well my light arrived today. The Fluxient 1000 Lumen 3x Cree XPE Q5 from ebay. Ordered on Tuesday, despatched Wednesday, delivered today (Friday).

Why?
The bike is equipped with a shimano dynamo and a B+M Lumotec IQ Cyo which is fine for city streets but not for the commute descent on an unlit fast (35-40mph) unclassified rough, potholed road. I've also been using a B+M Ixon IQ to supplement it (had the IQ for a while and was in regular use before switching to the dynamo light, overall a nice light with an excellent beam shape).
Despite the 2 lights and playing with the area of the road they both cover something throwing out a lot more light was needed, just for the 'back road' section of the commute, around 4 out of the 6 mile one-way journey.


This thread lead me to the Fluxient light. Some info on it and beam shots were available on the sellers blog site. Suitably impressed and not really wanting to wait for, perhaps, as long as 6 weeks for a Magicshine clone I ordered one.

View attachment 4766

Arrived well packed in a nice box. Quite heavy solid unit with a proper metal bracket, which looks as though it should accomodate just about any bar size. Bracket has a feature of a small thumbscrew so left-right angle can be adjusted and head unit removed easily for taking away with you if leaving the bike anywhere. Looks to be much better than the MS rubber ring solution.

Batteries are Li-ion and come with a small bag with all sorts of strapping so should be able to find a home on the bike just about anywhere.

Light has an illuminated button on the back that a press cycles through its High/med/low/flash operating modes.
Most important bit obviously is 'How bright is it?'

BRIGHT!
(the sellers blog site is probably a fair reflection of it)

Yet to be tested and used regularly but I'll revisit this review and add comments after I've had it for a bit and got a better feel for how it works in the real world, running times, reliability, etc.


edit:to fix wrong link, cheers HovR

Hi,

any more views on this light now that you have had a bit of time to put it through its paces? Particularly interested in how the fixings shape up and the battery life.
I'm looking at one of these for my commuting, might sound a bit of overkill for mainly lit roads but i would rather see the potholes in time to avoid them its either one of these or perhaps the T6 version.

Paul

 

[Piemaster]

Hi Paul
I've only actually had to use it for a couple of weeks commute since I bought it - been away stuck out in the North Sea most of the time, no internet and missing CC.
Overall I'm please with it. Bar clamp is pretty solid, and though it would probably fit bars 2" in diameter its been fine on some potholed backroads in vertical plane. Theres a thumbscrew for securing/adjusting it horizontally which has worked loose a couple of times, but as I've also been using it to remove the light from the bike, leaving main clamp in place, I think its as much about me trying to tighten up a thumbscrew with gloves on - edge of a coin in the slot for tighten works ok.
Not run the batteries flat yet having put them on charge halfway through the weeks commutes (3 hours). I am switching to the medium setting once back under streetlights. So around 2 hours on high, and 1 on lower.
I would have like a little more shape and throw to the beam (I 'dip' for oncoming traffic with a hand over the light). Lots of spread which is good but I'm still waiting for my perfect light - which would probably be something like 2xT6, with a B+M shape beam, one LED giving a dipped type illumination and a seperate button under a thumb to switch on the second LED for a longer throw.