Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets - Two P3D Q'5 for my road bike

First off I'm new here so I'd like to say hello to everyone!

After doing some research I decided to buy two fenix P3D Q5's for my road bike, I will be riding it 5-6 days a week every morning for about an hour. Have been using two of the older L2D CE's that run on AA's (I've been using duracell 2650 mAh cells) in mine, however with the P3D I will be running two AW RCR123's and they should give me plenty runtime especially if I back them off into high mode when I get into areas that have a little lighting. Hopefully I will see a decent improvement over the L2D's, I will be disappointed if there isn't much difference!

Anyone else running this setup, if so how do you like it?


FYI if you purchase from fenix-store use discount code cpf8 for a 8% discount, I saved over $15!


Here are a couple great links/reviews for the P3D Q5:

http://www.cpfreviews.com/Fenix-P3DCE-Premium-Q5.php

http://www.cpfreviews.com/AW-Batteries-Chargers.php



Here is my setup:
Fenix P3D Q5 X2
http://www.lighthound.com/images/productsam/fenp3dq5bk.jpg

Ultrafire rapid charger (450 mAh per channel) X2
http://www.lighthound.com/images/products/ufchgmulti.jpg

RCR123 X4
http://www.lighthound.com/images/products/awrcr123s.jpg

Twofish Cyclopblock mount X2
http://www.lighthound.com/images/products/tfcylblk.jpg

I have the exact same setup but for the charger.

Note it only runs for about 70 minutes on Turbo! but you knew that from the reviews ;) 2 of em on Turbo is lots of light. 2 on Hi is still quite useable.

I find that the darker the road, the less handlebar light I can get away with. Counter-intuitive, but true. I am guessing it is because there is less light pollution and my eyes adjust to the darker road. On pitch-black country roads, i can turn them all the way down to Medium and still have enough light for 17-20mph. In town I run Hi or Turbo.

Enjoy, they are great lights.

I have the exact same setup but for the charger.

Note it only runs for about 70 minutes on Turbo! but you knew that from the reviews ;) 2 of em on Turbo is lots of light. 2 on Hi is still quite useable.

I find that the darker the road, the less handlebar light I can get away with. Counter-intuitive, but true. I am guessing it is because there is less light pollution and my eyes adjust to the darker road. On pitch-black country roads, i can turn them all the way down to Medium and still have enough light for 17-20mph. In town I run Hi or Turbo.

Enjoy, they are great lights.

Just came across your old thread, setup looks good! http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=362900


True the darker it is the more effective the lights are, in my neck of the woods it rains almost constantly during the winter months and to my eyes the rain/wet roads really seems to cut down the output from my lights (maybe it's just me)?

I climb a lot of hills during my rides and often reach 35-40mph so it's critical that I have lots of light to spot debris in front of me, I was using a (675 lumen) Light & Motion Arch Li-ion setup however after neumorous people honking & screaming it's to bright (and a State trooper) pulling me over telling me that he was blinded by it I decided to go with something that has a tad less output, however the L2D CE's just didn't quite cut it!

Guess I'm gonna have to ebay my Light & Motion setup, paid $550 + tax for it and will probably end up taking a $200 hit on a nearly new light! :( If anyone is interested in some comparison beamshots let me know, can snap some pics before I sell it.

I run the P3d on the helmet and the dinnotte 200 on the handlebar. I just haven't found the right setting yet on the P3d. Turbo sucks the life out of batteries pretty quickly, especially if you're not using the AWs. Strobe doesn't cast any decent light to improve your vision, yet is a fantastic attention grabber. And high mode, is well . . . not turbo.:p

.........
True the darker it is the more effective the lights are, in my neck of the woods it rains almost constantly during the winter months and to my eyes the rain/wet roads really seems to cut down the output from my lights (maybe it's just me)?

........

If anyone is interested in some comparison beamshots let me know, can snap some pics before I sell it.

Yes I have noticed the poor lighting in the wet as well. To my eye, the LED lights just get lost in the wet, while halogen is yellowish but provides better contrast & works well in the wet. No experience with HID....

my old halogen setup was around 600-750 lumen, equivalent to a HID, depending what graph you believe. never had any complaints though.

I would sure enjoy seeing a compasinon pic of the HID vs. the P3D's on Turbo;)

Cheers

I run the P3d on the helmet and the dinnotte 200 on the handlebar. I just haven't found the right setting yet on the P3d. Turbo sucks the life out of batteries pretty quickly, especially if you're not using the AWs. Strobe doesn't cast any decent light to improve your vision, yet is a fantastic attention grabber. And high mode, is well . . . not turbo.:p


the dinnotte 200, how many lumens does that produce?








Yes I have noticed the poor lighting in the wet as well. To my eye, the LED lights just get lost in the wet, while halogen is yellowish but provides better contrast & works well in the wet. No experience with HID....

my old halogen setup was around 600-750 lumen, equivalent to a HID, depending what graph you believe. never had any complaints though.

I would sure enjoy seeing a compasinon pic of the HID vs. the P3D's on Turbo;)

Cheers


Sure I can do a comparison for ya, will be a couple days though the light is @ my brothers house. Will try and get a couple outdoors and a couple indoors once I pick it up, (my camera skills stink) so don't expect anything special! :D Do your P3D's have the orange peel or smooth reflectors, OP really seems to smooth/even out the beam however it doesn't project light quite as far!

Here are a couple pics of my road bike & two P3D Q5's.

http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/8958/p1310056ha8.jpg

http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/7396/p1310051pw1.jpg

Wifes new LED setup (niterider trinewt) that I just purchased @ REI.

http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/1037/p1310063sw2.jpg

Here is a short vid of my PB superflash, IMO the best tail light out there!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbrgTqkc1ms








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Here are a couple pics of my road bike & two P3D Q5's.

.

tip for ya on mounting Fenix on the bike: strap it down by the bezel, the front couple inches of the light, instead of the body. Makes it easier to twist the Turbo mode on & off, and the light is still quite secure;)

tip for ya on mounting Fenix on the bike: strap it down by the bezel, the front couple inches of the light, instead of the body. Makes it easier to twist the Turbo mode on & off, and the light is still quite secure;)


Actually I tried doing that but it just didn't look right to me besides it's really not that tough adjusting them the way they are. Thanks for the suggestion though!

sure ting - i've found it works well for me when wearing big heavy winter gloves

I would sure enjoy seeing a compasinon pic of the HID vs. the P3D's on Turbo;)



Here ya go, the L2D's and the P3D have a fresh charge, the L&M HID has @ most 1/4 charge when the pics were taken! As you can see the L&M is a very bright bike light, pretty much drowns out the others (pics simply don't do it justice)!

Going on ebay here shortly! :cry:


L&M HID Left vs. Two 180 lumen fenix L2D Q5's + One 215 Lumen fenix P3D Q5 Right
http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/2360/p2030096rj8.jpg
L&M HID Left vs. 215 lumen fenix P3D Q5 Right
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/7585/p2030085sl0.jpg

http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/5527/p2030154dc2.jpg

yessh, that monster is a monster! hail the HID!
Thanks & good luck with the auction

yessh, that monster is a monster! hail the HID!
Thanks & good luck with the auction


Yeah it's quite bright, smokes fenix!