djetelina

Ok, PB has come out with their new Blaze 2 watt bike light in flat black. Been using a 1 watt Blaze (that I painted black) for the past 2 years. Have the itchy finger to visit my LBS and buy the 2W. Most of my riding is during the day using the strobe mode.

Has anybody bought the 2W and compared it to the older 1W??

ItsJustMe

SIXTY BUCKS? You've got to be kidding. $85 buys a Magicshine light, which is probably still twice as bright even in low mode, and with included rechargable batteries and charger, and a longer runtime too (with the MS on low, or the Blaze on high).

I'd go with a DX flashlight first.

I might pick one up if they were selling for $30 or so, it'd make a decent backup.

Goldrush

I just ordered a Blaze 2W. It looks like a great light and has gotten good reviews. The Magicshine may be brighter, but the Blaze will better suit my needs for mostly riding a few miles on neighborhood streets. I don't need the rechargeables and the extra $25 is a big deal to me.

Also, Planet Bike is one of the best companies going. I would bet on the Blaze being more reliable than many other products, and if not you can be sure Planet Bike will stand behind it.

Mike

ItsJustMe

I agree with the points about Planet Bike, and that perhaps a Magicshine is overkill for many situations. Still, $60 is too much for this light. At the absolute tops it should cost maybe $40. After all, for the same $60 you could get into a P7 flashlight with the same output as the Magicshine, plus chargers and batteries.

I have a couple of Superflashes and some other PB products, and they've been great. However, I bought a Planet Bike SuperSpot once, and it's the most useless light I've ever seen. It's not enough to see by regardless of conditions; I took it out the first morning, got about 1/4 mile, and had to come back and remount my older light. That's all the use I ever got out of that $35. It's not even a good flashlight. Honestly, I've got a button cell keychain light that would probably work about as well as that SuperSpot.

I'm sure the Blaze is better. As I said, I've heard enough good things that for $25 or so I might buy one as a backup.

bullschuck

Yeah, I have a SuperSpot. It's good for a small flashlight (although underpowered compared to a Fenix or something) but pretty useless on a bike. Sometimes I'll strap it to my helmet as a blinking "be seen" light, but that's about the most I'd use it for.
I'm interested in the 2W blaze, but it would be as a back up to my back up to a Magicshine or as another "be seen" light.

agarose2000

If the Magicshine is overkill for you, buy a "Terralux" or "Romisen" 2 x AA flashlight for $28 from a US vendor (google it), or get a Fenix L2D for $50 if a fast strobe is really important to you. All 3 lights, with a $5 velcro lockblock will destroy the Planet Bike Blaze and not blind all oncoming vehicles.

Totaled108

I went form the PB 1W to 2 LD20, even when only using one on 47L, its MUCH brighter then the 1W. So even if the 2W is twice as bright, the 180L (1 LD20 on turbo) is going to be WAY brighter. Also, a tactical light will outlast the plastic bodied PB lights. PB has great customer service, but if your light never breaks, who need CS.

Anyways, I buy lots of PB products, but you have to do TONS of research to get the most form your $. Also, mounts are SUPER easy to make for free (or next to it).

Spend some time looking through this forum and you can't go wrong.

Rechargeable batteries are you friend.

trackhub

I started this season off with a PB 1W. I love the light, and the company continues to impress me with their policies and level of customer service. You just don't see this much in America anymore.

I'm also interested in the 2W blaze. But, Itsjustme is right to point out that sixty dollars is getting into the "A little pricey" range. I'm waiting for some more reviews on the 2W to be published. They will probably be positive. Even Wired Magazine liked the 1W blaze.

I have some concerns about AA battery waste, so has anyone tried the rechargeable AAs from Duracell?

Never cared for: Any "headlight system" that involves dangling wires and enormous battery packs. Drives me nuts, it does.

agarose2000

Trackhub - you should seriously consider my suggestions from my prior post above regadring flashlights from Romisen, Terralux or the higher-end Fenix. With rechargeable 2xAA NiMh batteries, you will have an awesome setup that is bright enough to see the road with and not blindingly bright, and has ZERO wires. You can drop the whole setup into your pocket in one second with the velcro lockblock mount - the flashlight is less than 6 inches long and so light you barely notice it in there. As much as I like to support bike companies, the PB 1/2W blaze is a joke in all circumstances compared to these flashlights.

mike

I have heard good things about the Planet Bike Blaze, but I have to agree about using a good high-powered flashlight. You can get a very good 2W or even a 3W flashlight for about $20.00. Heck, for the price of a Planet Bike light or others like it, you can get two 2W flashlights and mount them on your handlebars or forks and look like an alian car coming down the road.

I do believe in supporting the folks that provide bike specific tools, equipment, and technology, but at some point you have to say "Uhh, no"

Kristen

I bought my 2W Planet Bike Blaze on ebay for $42 (still being offered there at that price). Works great for my purposes - I have been reading about the Magicshine but it would be overkill for me.

Goldrush

Okay, I received my Blaze 2W and also purchased a Terralux LightStar TLF-3C2AAEX flashlight. The Terralux is available from Battery Junction for $23.50 plus $6.95 for the mount. Since it's runtime is only 1 hour, I also purchased a charger with batteries for$21.95. The total with shipping was $62.25. The Blaze 2W was $56 total on ebay. It has a run time of 5 hours so I didn't feel the need for rechargables.

The Terralux is for sure a brighter light, but both of these lights serve my purposes equally well for neighborhood riding. I think anyone would be happy with either. Note the Terralux has no flash mode and on low setting it is not really useful. I don't understand the poster's comment about the Blaze blinding cars. To me that's a function of aiming. I aim a headlight more down to the road in front of me rather that at an oncoming car. I'm going to continue to use the Blaze for biking and the Terralux for dog walking.

Totaled108

How many lumen does the PB 1W and 2W put out, and are they regulated so the light doesn't slowly dim as the batteries die?

I haven't touched my 1W in over a month. Next to the Fenix LD20 at 9 lumen (low), they look the same, but the fenix has more spill. Bumping the flashlight to 47lumen (medium) and the 1W is out shined by quite a bit, 94 lumen high and turbo (180 lumen), and the 1W doesn't really even register.

The reason I ask about the dimming with the draining battery is, the batteries in the 1W are the original, and have a few hours on the. So the test I was doing might have been testing against nearly dead batteries. That in itself is my problem with using it.

The 2W, is $42-$60, is IT regulated? The fenix is, so it stays at its setting output till the batteries can't put out that power, then dims to low setting in a way that you know to change the batteries, but can still us it on low, a while (I'm going to test how long this time on low will work, before total light lose). The Fenix is $60 everywhere, and if you look hard enough, you might be able to get one cheaper.

I'm not sure how the roads are around your neighborhood, how well lit they are, pot holed and debris. Mine get very little light at night and have a fair amount of hazards in the road. Mostly wide cracks, man hole covers with high lips, the odd branch and bolts/screws every once in a while.

Here are pix of the different mountings of these lights..... Forgive me, I never take pictures, so these may, I'm mean will be, sub par pix.
I like the light to go where I look, but found that mounting above your field of vision (how I mounted the 1W), is horrible if you ride in the rain, fog or any other weather with stuff falling from the sky.









Happy Turkey day!!! (or tofurky in my case)

trackhub

Thanks to LED technology, flashlights, as well as bicycling headlights, have come a long way in a relatively short amount of time. I bought a Mag light 4 D cell flashlight back in the late 70's. I haven't bought a flashlight since, but these new LED models look pretty darn sharp.

Nerd time: These lights look an awful lot like....Light Sabers!! "Fulfill your destiny!!" I'm going to the dark side. They get all the babes.

Totaled, that is a very relevant question, regarding whether or not the PB Blaze series is regulated or not, and how many Lumens output they have. My 1W PB still has noticable, usable light, even when the batteries are down to 1v. out, as measured with a Triplett 9025 DVM. As a general rule, I change the batteries when they run down to 1v. I have no complaints about battery life. Certainly better then the Cateye light I was using. That was very dim, when the batteries ran down to this point.

agarose2000

Mentioned it before, but the Terralux , Romisen have the EXACT same brightness, spill diameter, and battery life as the Fenix, and cost half as much. ($28 vs $58). The Terralux has a nice, rugged feel to it as well.

The Terralux/Romisen don't have strobe effects and are also slightly larger than the Fenix, but I'd definitely recommend these lights if you don't want to drop $50+ on a single flashlight/bike light. I think the Terralux also comes with 2 x AA batteries as well (although you'll need rechargeables for sure with it.)

Totaled108

From their website, the runtime is less then half that of the Fenix LD20. It also lacks the lower modes, which I use all the time, as high and turbo are only needed on the bike at night, and I use the torch at home and in confined spaces. Making 9-47 lumens perfect, the turbo is blinding if I'm in a small white room or looking closely at something, much less glare and more run time (71 hrs).