vol

For those of you who use flashlight as headlight, how do you fix it on the handlebar, if it doesn't come with its own bracket? I'm thinking of buying one because no bike lights below $30 are bright enough for some situations, but flashlights are cheaper relatively.

davidad

Two-fish lock block.

20_700c

Pic of the above-mentioned 2-fish thing

no1mad 

Twofish makes a couple- you just got to make sure you get one that will work with the diameter of your flashlight. You could also go with something less elegant- hose clamps or a section of old inner tube.

This is the mount that I got for my Trustfire. I was dubious of the design of the mount at first, but it has been rock solid. The light simply won't bounce out during normal operations- a crash may cause the light to pop out, but mine didn't when I took a tumble crossing over some railroad tracks a few weeks back ...

Rootman

A buddy of mine used tie wraps, sounds crude and ugly but it turned out pretty good. He put 3 or 4 tie wraps around the bars AND 4 other wraps under the bar (they run perpendicular to ones around the bar). He snugged the bar ones up and held the flashlight under the ones under the bar and used them to hold the flashlight. He was careful where he put the locking blocks and used black ties. Actually looks fairly decent.

caloso

2 zipties crossing diagonally works really well. For temporary placement, Livestrong bands (or their many imitations) work surprisingly well.

smasha

i've tried a few things, and keep coming back to that humble little block of rubber and two velcro straps, the twofish lock-block. NOT one of the cheap knock-offs on dx or fee-bay.

vol

Thanks for sharing. The twofish lock block looks great, but this kind of things always seems to be overpriced (they are not expensive, but not worth what they are charged for). I'd like to try the zip tie/tie wrappers, but in order for it to be easy to remove, I'll see if bungee cords will work.

smasha

@vol - i know where you're comin' from... i spent a lot of money (and time) trying to find something better than the twofish

that said, good luck! and if you come up with something better, we'd all like to know about it.

cehowardGS

Hold on, have you tried the twofish lock block CLONE???? :d

That is what I use, and it works nice on my 26650 lights.

Here is the real two fish lock block picture off amazon.

.


Here is the two fish lock block clone from dealextreme.com

Also, on the ones from dealextreme, I get 4 or more at a time, and put the price down to under around $1.78 each!!


Last night I had this boy in the CLONE and it is about the biggest I have used on the clone mount. The light is a double 18650, and it is BRIGHT!

cehowardGS

Just want to mention that the two fish you have in the picture above, if you mount a flashlight to it, the light would be sideways not forward. If you notice, that both of the U shape channels are in the same directions. All handlebars go east to west, and your light would have to be aimed east to west.. Just pointing that out to you. They do make the two fish lock block with the channels going criss cross which is the one you would used to mount a flashlight on a bicycle so the light could be aimed forward. The one above, and they do make a clone like that too, is for mounting a light on a gun barrel, and I used them for my helmet mounts..

I know, I got a big mouth.

dougmc

Dunno, I've found https://dx.com/p/universal-bicycle-mount-8274 to work just fine.

My only complaint is that it doesn't work well if the handlebars get too wide.

cehowardGS

I use that one too. I use that on my 18650 flashlights. On the fatter 26650 flashlights I use the two fish clone from DX or Ebay. For the price of just ONE twofish lock block, I can get FIVE of the clones. You do the math, or better yet, buy the real two fish lock block for $10 or more, and buy a clone for $1.80 to $2.50 and see for yourself..

smasha

here's what i don't like about DX's twofish clones... refer to the pictures, above...

the "real" twofish has two velcro straps that wrap around each other and compress the rubber. if the rubber spontaneously ceased to exist, you'd be left with two velcro straps holding on to each other.

the DX clones have two velcro straps that don't go through each other. in use, they pull the rubber apart.

i may be able to buy 5 of the clones for the price of one twofish, but my twofish will last 5x longer because the straps are compressing the rubber, not pulling it apart.

bicycleflyer

There are a couple of other ways besides the two-fish blocks too.

The cheapest and easiest is just interlock two hose clamps...cheap and secure

Fenix, a company that makes good flashlights also makes a handlebar mount.

This web page has a few other ideas.... https://nordicgroup.us/s78/flashlights.html

On that link above, scroll to the bottom of the page. There are some instructions on how to make a mount using conduit clamps. I have made and used these and they work well.

cehowardGS

We will agree to widely disagree on that point!

I am trying to understand what you are saying, but the straps on the clones fit tight around the light, and the bar. Also, if you are familiar with the way the cateye computers have a small rubber spacer in between the bar and the computer mount, I take a small piece of intertube and put that in between the bar and the mount. Result a rock solid mount that doesn't move over bumps and with the bigger and heavier 26650 lights.

Also, pricewise,the clone is way out in front. The real two fish lock block may be slightly better, but it sure is not 5 times better, and I really have to disagree that they will last 5 times more than a clone.. That is really putting some in some yeast!

Another point to support my opinion, I have 8 or 9 bikes. I outfit all my bikes with double lights up front. Five real twofish mounts would cost in excess of $50, where as 5 clones are under $10.

Either way you go, we have a good solid light weight mount in this design..

10 Wheels

Colored rubber bands work fine.





https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...ure2012022.jpg

smasha

i don't doubt that it fits tightly around the light and the bars... my observation is that the tighter you make it, the more the straps will "pull apart" the rubber block, as in a tearing force. with the twofish, the more you tighten the straps, the more the rubber block is compressed, so there's no risk of tearing it.

cehowardGS

I see what you are saying now. However, that has never happened with any of the clones I have. I dropped a light one time, but that was in a U shape mount. No issues with the two fish clones. Post of a picture your setup, see if I can see the difference.

Either way, clone or real thing, this is a super design because it mounts the light, with no screws and weighty objects. Also, the price of the clones are crazy. They have them on Ebay for $1.60 with free shipping. The first time one of these gives up on me, I will dumped. But, so far, all good things. Did you see the post where I said I mounted this biggee light!! ?

The clone holds that baby below nicely..

maxperkins

Just posted about the Fenix bracket on my blog today:

https://affordableluxuryblog.com/2012...ur-flashlight/

Might be more than some of us would be willing to pay, but it looks good and works well.

caloso

Cheaper and easier: zipties.

no motor?

I bought 3 twofish mounts for the price of 2 about 5 years ago, and I'm still using it. It now holds the backup light on my handlebars, and looks as good as it did when I got it.

cehowardGS

Here are my two fish CLONES, holding heavy metal!! 26650 lights, plus these are the big head 26650 lights which wiegh more. On my 18650 lights I don't even need the two fish clone, the cheap U type clamps do 18650 duty.

I like to see the type and size lights that the posters are using in their real two fish lock block mounts. I am quite sure they are not up on the level in weight and size as these. Now, I could be wrong.. BTW, that is a lot of lums I am pushing there too..(grin)

One has a triple led, and the other big head has a single. Yes, they are brighter than car lights (sneaky grin)

I use a thin 1 inch square piece of innertube between the bar and the mount, and the light and the velco straps. I found out that,
gives a tighter hold on the light and the bar. Hence no movement when I roll over bumps..


two fish clone mounts cost $1.78 each

black_box 

has anyone tried to re-purpose some of these minoura mounts?
this one has an M5 threaded hole in the end.
This one has a quick-release style mechanism.
They sell the clamps separately as well, in 2 different sizes.

1nterceptor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrfZh...ure=plpp_video