Or 18650 cells, if you've disassembled a knackered bike battery

Www.fasttech.com have loads of high power Cree torches. most of them use 18650's.

 

They also sell adapters to fit to bars, chargers, etc.

 

I have an ultra fire WF-502b that I use as a backup light. I cannot imagine you would need anything brighter. It cost less than £10 delivered.

The most sensible way with lights is to buy one that takes std rechargeables rather than a rechargeable pack. My Hopes take 4 X 2800's which are cheap as chips and 2 spare battery cages for a couple of quid. 3 hours on full power for each set.

The most sensible way on an e-bike is to run it off the main battery, job done.

The most sensible way on an e-bike is to run it off the main battery, job done.

 

I disagree. Lights are too safety-critical. If your main battery runs out of juice you're riding in the dark which is dangerous and illegal. I think you need some kind of backup, be it lights with separate batteries or a dynohub.

I disagree. Lights are too safety-critical. If your main battery runs out of juice you're riding in the dark which is dangerous and illegal. I think you need some kind of backup, be it lights with separate batteries or a dynohub.

Your main battery will recover enough once you shut down the motor to run the lights for ages.

My bike does still have its original battery lights for emergency use and my being to lazy to take them off.

If you are worried throw a couple of spare cheapies (red and white) in your pannier, short of a catastrophic failure (battery explosion, wiring harness melt down) they will not be used.

Your main battery will recover enough once you shut down the motor to run the lights for ages.

My bike does still have its original battery lights for emergency use and my being to lazy to take them off.

If you are worried throw a couple of spare cheapies (red and white) in your pannier, short of a catastrophic failure (battery explosion, wiring harness melt down) they will not be used.

That's pretty much what I do, run main lights from he battery and carry battery powered spares.

Those little lights that you get in Aldi are really good. They're surprisingly bright. The back one is bright enough on its own. I use the front one for when I'm on a lit cyclepath and other times when brightness isn't too important. My main light works direct from the battery with a switch, so it's a bit like running on side-lights and headlights.

 

While I think about it, I noticed something interesting when I was in Japan. All the vehicles switch to side-lights when they get below a certain speed. I think it's automatic. They have all sorts of creative devices to show when their side-lights are on, like mirrors and perspex rods.

Spotted a bit of 'light' reading earlier today. http://reviews.mtbr.com/2014-mtbr-bike-lights-shootout

Spotted a bit of 'light' reading earlier today. http://reviews.mtbr.com/2014-mtbr-bike-lights-shootout

 

I couldn't find the Banggood or Ebay ones in there anywhere!

 

The best one was 9 lumens per dollar. This one gives 173 lumens per dollar. Even allowing for a bit of Chinese exaggeration, it's still got to be ten times as much for the money.:

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/400554413825?limghlpsr=true&hlpv=2&ops=true&viphx=1&hlpht=true&lpid=108&device=c&adtype=pla&crdt=0&ff3=1&ff11=ICEP3.0.0-L&ff12=67&ff13=80&ff14=108&ff19=0

I couldn't find the Banggood or Ebay ones in there anywhere!

 

The best one was 9 lumens per dollar. This one gives 173 lumens per dollar. Even allowing for a bit of Chinese exaggeration, it's still got to be ten times as much for the money.:

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/400554413825?limghlpsr=true&hlpv=2&ops=true&viphx=1&hlpht=true&lpid=108&device=c&adtype=pla&crdt=0&ff3=1&ff11=ICEP3.0.0-L&ff12=67&ff13=80&ff14=108&ff19=0

Or there's even one with 7 XM-Ls. However I'm not so sure of the longevity of those lamps, but for that money is maybe not so much of an issue! Heatsinking is a concern as the lamp head would have to dissipate over 40 watts of heat at full chat for 4 LEDs.

 

However they are dangerous for use on road as even the one with 4 XM-Ls will be pumping out just under 4,000 lumens in the face of oncoming traffic. That is brighter than a car with main beams on.

 

Michael

Is the perceived glare dependent just on the emitter output, or does the large reflector of a car headlamp ramp it up?

Your main battery will recover enough once you shut down the motor to run the lights for ages.

 

Interesting. I wasn't aware of this effect. However, my second question would be, is it possible to patch something like this into a Panasonic hub-drive bike without invalidating the warranty? For me, anyway, I'm thinking that separate battery lights are still the way to go. For most other ebike owners though, I'm sure you're right - run them off the main battery.

 

And for a backup, I've always got my dynohub lights to fall back on - they're not that bad, I just have to keep my speed down.

Wired in 2 banggoods today front and rear with a small rocker switch so now work off battery, rear one has a red filter. With my 15a Battery not much chance of running out of power, have to admit front is very bright.

What do people think of these:

 

http://revolights.com/

The LED headlight I have runs off my battery pack, and is rated 12-60V (I think, from memory). After the BMS shuts off my battery, the direct drive hub motor will run the headlight, as long as I leave the power switch on - quite handy, although it does stop if the bike does (Duh!).

 

I've got a battery operated rear light too, but I haven't tried it yet. The small battery operated rear one last about 6 months of commuting for me.

 

On a slightly connected tangent, I've been thinking about how to keep power to my Nuvinci Dev Kit auto/electric shift system, after the BMS shuts off, so it has power long enough to change into underdrive. Separate the system with a Diode, then run a supercap setup, or another small battery, to keep it alive long enough. A similar system could be employed for the lights.

 

Can anyone else see my bike ending up as heavy as my car???

Is the perceived glare dependent just on the emitter output, or does the large reflector of a car headlamp ramp it up?

Generally speaking a larger reflector is better able to focus the emitted light into a narrow cone, so an identical light with a larger reflector has more throw. The luminous intensity (measured in lux) is greater in the hotspot. If you are caught in the hotspot then the light with the larger reflector will appear brighter. However conversely if you are off to the side then the light with the smaller reflector would appear brighter; the beam has more spill (light off to the side) and the hotspot is wider so you may still be caught in it. The Banggood appears to have a pretty decent sized reflector so I'd expect it to throw well.

 

Car headlights are a bit of a funny one as although they are large and well-controlled in the vertical plane they are designed to spread the light across horizontally. So if you are in an oncoming car I'm not sure which would appear brighter - a pair of car headlights on main beam or one of these lights.

 

Wired in 2 banggoods today front and rear with a small rocker switch so now work off battery, rear one has a red filter. With my 15a Battery not much chance of running out of power, have to admit front is very bright.

White LEDs through red filters unfortunately aren't very effective or efficient. A white LED is a very pure light and doesn't have a huge amount of emitted power in the red wavelengths. A far less powerful red LED would appear quite a bit brighter.

 

What do people think of these:

 

http://revolights.com/

I've had a good look at those in recent weeks - they do look good. They have just released their latest version the Skyline, which is less obtrusive on the bike. Unfortunately the maximum tyre width is 38mm (they are all 700C diameter) which might rule out quite a few ebikes. Also only the complete wheels (with the older version of Revolights) is available here so the Skyline version would have to be shipped from the US, would incur VAT and I haven't asked them about the shipping cost.

 

Michael

mfj197 said:

White LEDs through red filters unfortunately aren't very effective or efficient. A white LED is a very pure light and doesn't have a huge amount of emitted power in the red wavelengths. A far less powerful red LED would appear quite a bit brighter.

 

 

In the dark the rear one looks pretty good to me, not as good as strobing /flashing purpose made ones but still very noticeable.

In the dark the rear one looks pretty good to me, not as good as strobing /flashing purpose made ones but still very noticeable.

Indeed it should be plenty bright for what is needed. However the light is using 10W of power and a 1W red LED would be both brighter and a more pure red colour. But yes, you'll have ample light out the back to be seen by!

 

Michael

Thanks Michael I agree with you, just wanted a permanent fixed rear light with out worrying about batteries or separate charging.

I use a pair of rechargeable Electron Milli lights

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/accessories/lights/sets/product/review-electron-milli-light-set-11-45480/

I only ride in daylight and they last at least 11 hours in flashing mode so great for me.

Best of all I won them as part of a Paypal/Facebook competition so they were FREE:D

Have had a reply back from Revolights in the US. Shipping to the UK would be $60 which on top of the $199 asking price (plus UK VAT) makes for an expensive set of lights. They do seem to work well though.

 

Michael

Do you really need to spend that much when you can get a really bright one that runs off your battery for £4 from Banggood, and a really bright rear one from Aldi for £2.99. I can't believe that anybody would need more than that.

The revolights are for being seen, not for seeing. I agree, spending that sort of money just to see where you're going isn't necessary at all, but the revolights shout "bike" better than any bright light. Too spendy for me though - I think I'll be going down the homebrew route again!

 

Michael

but the revolights shout "bike" better than any bright light.

 

I think that's a bit of a problem though. If they think you're a bike, some drivers will treat you with the normal ignorance and disrespect. Since I've started using bright lights, I seem to get a lot more consideration from drivers.

 

Another good thing is when you ride on the paths through the sink estates and encounter gangs of youths. With a small light, they can see what you are, so you have to run the gauntlet and face the consequence of passing them. With these bright ones, they can't see what's coming. They can only see the bright light getting brighter, so they tend to cower out of the way. Maybe they think it's a drugs bust.

I think that's a bit of a problem though. If they think you're a bike, some drivers will treat you with the normal ignorance and disrespect. Since I've started using bright lights, I seem to get a lot more consideration from drivers.

I know what you mean, but I don't think that's the case here. Something like the revolights is so totally out of the ordinary that it forces its way through people's subconscious and makes them take notice. It's a bit like riding a recumbent - anecdotal evidence suggests they are actually safer in traffic because they are so different to what drivers normally encounter. Their mental autopilot is tracking along - "car, another car, person, car, bicycle, car, bicycle, car, ... WHAT IS THAT!?".

 

But yes, completely agree a decent set of lights front and rear is the first, and cheapest, step to remaining safe on the roads.

 

Michael

Do you really need to spend that much when you can get a really bright one that runs off your battery for £4 from Banggood, and a really bright rear one from Aldi for £2.99. I can't believe that anybody would need more than that.

 

You can always rely on Martin for the, er, gold-plated solution:

 

https://www.e-bikeshop.co.uk/Accessories/moon-x-power-2500-lumen-front-light