"Torch" or "bike light" ?

[cyberknight]

I am in the market for a new bright light for my bike as my MS developed a frayed cable which i managed to fix but i am looking around and i am tempted by the xml torches running 2 batteries mainly by the cost and the fact i do not need a battery pack which would be less of a faff in the bike sheds.

The lights with a seperate battery do offer longer life but how do the 2 compare for beam pattern ?, or should i just man up and save my cash as my light works albeit it with a lot of tape and cable ties holding the repair tight ?

 

[mrmacmusic]

I am in the market for a new bright light for my bike as my MS developed a frayed cable which i managed to fix but i am looking around and i am tempted by the xml torches running 2 batteries mainly by the cost and the fact i do not need a battery pack which would be less of a faff in the bike sheds.

The lights with a seperate battery do offer longer life but how do the 2 compare for beam pattern ?, or should i just man up and save my cash as my light works albeit it with a lot of tape and cable ties holding the repair tight ?

Well, I've never had a MS, but also questioned whether to go down the torch or bike light route.... I ended up going down the bike light route and getting 2 MS clones via UK eBay seller (see this thread). I'm chuffed to bits, and don't think it can be beat for £27

 

[PpPete]

Torches are typically a fairly directional (or spot beam)
That said an XML-T6 running at close to its maximum (1000 lumens ?) is putting out so much light that even on the periphery it's not too bad.
A torch requiring two 18650 batteries in tandem then it's quite a long beast to keep pointing where you want it. Many mounts just slowly spin until the torch is pointing straight up or straight down. Even the ones that use only a single battery can take some fixing in place.

Shame Torchy doesn't seem to be replenishing his stock at present. He always does good beam shots.

 

[cyberknight]

Well, I've never had a MS, but also questioned whether to go down the torch or bike light route.... I ended up going down the bike light route and getting 2 MS clones via UK eBay seller (see this thread). I'm chuffed to bits, and don't think it can be beat for £27

Thats the kind of thing i am looking at, my MS has the modded mount using an electron bike light mount rather than the o rings, this will be its 3rd winter and afaik the battery is still going strong (got the sealed unit withthe charge led ) .The problem is i used to wrap the extra cable from the light head around the bars and after to many times it got a frayed wire close to the head that attaches to the battery connector .Opened the cable up , twisted the wire back together and sealed it with insulation tape, cable tied about 6 small ties to hold it tight and then more tape over the top of it .
It works , do you think my bodge job will last ? The cable is now about 5 times thicker than before and looks fugly .

 

[MrGrumpy]

Gave up with the MS clone, the build quality is questionable at best. Currently running 2 torches with XML T6 leds. Light output is fab even though these are not driven hard, like some others. The torches of course are a bit of lottery in terms of how hard they are driven but even if they output 500 lumens each that is plenty. The best thing about them is the amount of control with regard light output, each torch can be set to whatever be it max, min.low etc. Thus far this week, I have been using them with recovered 18650 laptop batteries, run time has been over 2 hrs ( my journey home and back). Very bright, however spotty, don`t seem to blind drivers as much as the bike light version, probably due to the smaller head. Not alot of periphery light but for road use I think they are superb. Great value and not alot to go wrong, i.e crappy cable connections and battery packs. My torches,mounts and charger were £35 all in. I might look for another torch driven harder too compare, they can be had for a tenner!