Originally Posted by RoadTired

Ya - found out the - expected - hard way about lack of light. We came in a little after dark Sunday and my 80 lumen headlamp was pretty scary. I didn't see the manhole cover-dent in time and jarred me pretty good. Didn't intend on being out after dark, but had the headlamp just in case.

I'm wary of the ulta-cheap imported deals for lack of consistent quality, so am still leaning towards Shiningbeam just because of the folks reputation here. He's got one XML - T6 @ 400 lumens.

cehoward - I've read your thread recently - and thanks for posting the great info. I started looking at the 26650 lights but am not finding as much comparative info and the price seems to be higher than the more common 18650, or is that just me?

What are the brand / model of the lights you are using so successfully? An opinion is worth a million advertisements.

Is the XML - T6 more efficient or is the real benefit of handling higher power?

I'm thinking that at 20+ ft/sec max, [flat out, downhill, tailwind :-) ] I don't need car headlights to see animals and potholes in plenty of time, so a 400 lumen floody and 400 lumen more focused would be plenty. I'm having trouble adjusting to the idea I can trust a $40 1500 lumen torch... all that power in such a cheap package.. but then I'm pretty old school.

addendum: looking for 2 hr run times at 400 lumen (ballpark), and still plan on carrying an extra battery.