rumrunn6

just got this for Son's bike cuz sometimes he'll take a bike for the day & wide up at a neighborhood party & ride home well after midnight. might be a decent backup to throw in my bag too. it takes two AA batteries. there are 3 brightness settings & 1 flashing setting. approx $25 on Amazon. quality seems really good & easy to open & install the batts. clamp is clever & strong. it's got a neat adjustment system whereby a pin in the end of the strap (similar to the pin in watch straps) which can be moved to different grooves in the clamp depending on how much slack you need. interesting that the head on the mount swivels to allow access to that adjustment feature. seems bright enough to see by even judging it on my couch in the living room this morning well after sunrise. high setting purports to to be 255 lumen. slides off to be a decent flashlight

canklecat

Yup, great value in a AA powered light. Had one for about a year and a half. It mostly stays on my errand bike. Sometimes I'll take it as a backup on my other bikes. It's ideal for the MUP because of the tighter spot beam and small lens hood that minimizes overspill -- it's less likely to blind oncoming cyclists or pedestrians.

And I really like the Serfas mount. Very strong, versatile, doesn't demand as much finger strength as some rubber band mounts. On days when arthritis pain affects my hands I find it difficult to manage the stout rubber band on my Light & Motion headlight, but the Serfas uses a clever camming clamp with good mechanical advantage. I've mounted the Serfas SL-255 on my suspension forks, rigid forks, head tubes, and occasionally even the handlebar.

I wish they'd make a 500 lumen version with four AA batteries, somewhat broader beam and a slightly more prominent lens hood to minimize overspill. There are times I'd rather not mess with carrying a USB battery to recharge my L&M. Sometimes it's quicker and easier to swap AA batteries, which can be bought almost anywhere. And I use NiMH rechargeables most of the time.

rumrunn6

gotta try those other mounting options sometime. I noticed it had a fairly well focused beam compared to my Magicshine. & yeah since it's such a nice unit, a bigger version would probably sell too. wonder if anyone makes such an animal with a separate battery pack that you have in your pocket to keep it warm w enough wire to access your mounting locations. like with my magicshine, I put the battery in my trunk bag. the OEM battery used to ride in an empty water bottle with bubble wrap inside & plastic wrap over the top as insulators. the new replacement battery is too big for that option. question for ya - how does this light do in the rain?

canklecat

No problems in the rain, been caught out several times. The gasket seals the two halves and nothing leaks around the on/off switch.

It doesn't get cold enough often enough here for winter battery use to be an issue. Lithium AA batteries do well in the cold but are expensive. At that point it's probably more cost effective to get a rechargeable light that uses Lithium ion batteries.

I've used the SL-255 with alkalines and NiMH AA batteries. Like most devices on alkalines the SL-255 gradually dims over a long period before exhausting the batteries. Plenty of warning to change batteries when I notice the high setting is as dim as the lowest setting. With NiMH rechargeables it dims more quickly and will go out rather suddenly, but the dimming period is noticeable enough to notify me it's time for fresh batteries.