Lights W/ User Replaceable Batteries
 

Hey everyone:

I'm looking to buy another set of front and rear lights for my bike. The features I'm looking for are:
- User-replaceable batteries for both lights
- USB-rechargeable
- Lights can be detached from the mount when leaving the bike unattended for a while
- Handlebar and seat post mounts

I don't need lights that are so powerful that they will blind oncoming cyclists. 400-500 lumens should be plenty powerful enough.

Are there any particular brands or models that you all would suggest? I have sifted through some of the stuff on Amazon and haven't yet found anything with user-replaceable batteries. I would like to buy a set that is going to last me many years of riding.

Thanks!

Fenix.

I suspect you do not want to be removing the batteries to charge them. Thus, I suspect you want Li Ion batteries, but you did not specify.

Thus, I do not think you would be interested in what I use for taillights. I use AAA powered Planet Bike Superflash or Superflash 65 lights. And I use NiMH rechargeable AAA batteries. When touring I bring a USB powered NiMH AAA and AA charger. That meets your stated criteria, but I am removing the batteries from the light to charge them once a week.

Headlights, there are AAA powered lights too, thus you can run them on NiMH AAA batteries. But I have not bought one for over a decade, so I am not going to suggest one that probably is no longer made..

For home use I use an Accupower IQ328 AA/AAA charger, but I use a lot of AA and AAA batteries, so I invested in a top notch charger and this one is not USB powered.

Serfas lights . I have owned a couple of them with 450 lumens for about 10 years. I replaced one of the batteries. recharging is done via usb

.https://www.serfas.com/product-categ...lights/page/2/

I use Fenix BC26R lights with 21700 or 18650 replaceable batteries and also a Lumintop B01 with 21700 or 18650 replaceable batteries. Lumintop B01 wins hands down in comparison, way better light beam, does not blind the upcoming traffic, does not shut off randomly like Fenix, takes all kind of 21700 batteries, Fenix does not. Lumintop has a warmer yellowing LED -more pleasant to my eyes .Batteries seem to last about the same. It also costs 1/2 to 1/3 the price of Fenix. My first Fenix died, the company send me another one, but It shuts of randomly on downhills when the bike hits some rough surface like the first one I had. It is pretty dangerous to decent in the dark all of a sudden. I always use Fenix with another light as a backup. Fenix also refuses to charge the battery when plugged it with USB sometimes.

https://fenix-store.com/collections/...46923818893608
https://lumintop.com/product/b01/

Like with cars, you'll only blind oncoming traffic if your headlight isn't aimed properly.

My quite powerful (able to blind if I aim it at people's eyes) Busch + Müller IXON IQ Premium comes with rechargeable batteries inside, but will also accept 4 regular AA batteries. Meets all your criteria except it's not USB rechargeable. The light comes with its own dedicated charger that plugs into the light. I wouldn't want to drive at night without it.

For headlight, look at Fenix.

I like the BC30 V2.0, which uses two 18650 batteries. The batteries have to be removed (quick and easy) for charging. Batteries are available that have their own USB ports for charging, or you can buy a charger that can handle 18650 batteries.

Other options from Fenix include the BC26R (single 21700 battery) and the BC21R V3.0 (single 18650 battery). Those lights have USB ports for charging, but the batteries are still user-replaceable.

For all of these, you can remove the light while leaving the mount on the handlebars.

I am not aware of any current-production taillights that are designed around user-replaceable Li-Ion batteries. I use a Magicshine Seemee 200 V2.0, which has a built-in Lithium polymer battery; not designed to be user-replaceable.

my $0.02
 

I also had a Fenix BC30 V2 with replaceable batteries. The light blinds other road users, the beam does not reach far enough, although it is very wide but also shuts off when a bike hits bumps on descends (dangerous). It is also heavy and bulky, although has decent runtimes. If you go with that light make sure you have an additional light as a back up, because of the shutting down of the light over bumps and leaving you completely in the dark. It also has a remote that is useless in cold temperatures, because they use a tiny battery in it. When the temp is 40 deg. F. or below the remote refuses to operate.

P.S. I lost the light while riding on the trail during day time, once the trail got rough it just came off the mounting bracket because of the vibrations and I did not see it till later when I needed to use the light :(

I have read several accounts online of people having that problem, and I agree, I would find that unacceptable.

I have never experienced that with my BC30 V2.0.

There's the Lupine Rotlicht Max. USB rechargeable - ✓ User replaceable lithium-polymer battery - ✓

https://www.lupinenorthamerica.com/p...t-accessories/



Note: you will pay dearly for the USB charging over Tourist in MSN's remove-and-charge AA or AAA taillights.

Thank you for pointing that out. I think it's great that they build that in such a way that a deceased battery is not "end of life" for the product.

What I would really like to see is a self-contained taillight that used, say, a 16340 battery that could be swapped easily and quickly. So, something where one could carry a spare battery for extended run time.

I don't have high hopes of something like that becoming available, as I think it would appeal only to a relatively small audience. People who want greater capacity already have other options such as external battery packs and/or dynamo setups.

Some of you make things way harder than it has to be. USB charging? Why? But, if you must, why also "removable cells". The combination does not exist. Yah, someone will find the $$$ exception. As if ... ... Taillights don't need high capacity batteries. My taillight runs for weeks on two AAA. It's not even worth getting rechargeable AAA's. As said by someone else you can blind oncoming traffic even with the iconic B&M shaped beam headlights if you are careless about the mounting. Since when do we care so much about other people. Do they care about you? I run dual MagicShine 808's (4x18650 x2 packs on toptube) on the bars, aimed before every ride at the hubcaps of any car parked across the street. I have a Cygolite 1200 (on 1/2 power) mounted on my helmet. I also aim that at the hubcaps of a medium distant car before taking off.

Beyond that I don't/can't worry about who my lights might offend. I suggest others take a similar approach. Why? Because, almost without exception, the shaped beam headlights were developed in places where the general lighting infrastructure is excellent. In the USA, not so much! You might also (like I do) have Macular Degeneration, or Cataracts and need much more light at night than a 150L shaped beam headlight can deliver. As long as you put the most of your light power below the eyepoint of the average motorist you should not be causing them undue distress. It's way more likely that the 6000L HID lowbeams on an oncoming lifted pick-up truck causes more visual distress than your nothing special 500+ lumen headlight. FWIW.

Thanks! I was issued a Fenix flashlight at one of my jobs years ago. I was really impressed with the quality.

Thanks! So you hit the nail on the head with the first part of your response. I want to be able to charge using a USB but also be able to replace the battery myself once it gets old and hold a charge anymore.

Thanks! The issues you experienced with Fenix is good information to know too. I have had cheaper flashlights that shut off randomly too. So I understand how annoying that is.

Thank you to everyone for your responses! I now have a pretty good list of different lights to check out. Cheers!

As far as taillights....
 

I ride long brevets and I have been very happy with Cygolite Hotshot taillights. I have 3 of them, 50, 100 and 150 for 4 bikes I have. The light does not have a replaceable battery, but it is very reliable and very customizable as far as light patterns and very inexpensive(you can carry the second one, if afraid the battery would run out). I use very low steady light for night riding that seem to last for weeks and does not annoy riders with flashing or too bright lights in rear . During the day I use random very slow flash pattern that also lasts for weeks. On my long distance bike I have two mounted on the seat stays (just in case battery would die on the one), but I never ran out of battery on the first one in one ride.

In my opinion the Hotshot is a much better light than The Supeflash taillight with replaceable batteries that I had prior. Cost of batteries starts to add up after a while and the light leaked water inside, had to be mounted upside-down for the water to drain in rain. The on/off switch also would wear out quickly.


https://cygolite.com/product/hotshot-pro-200c-usb/
https://www.planetbike.com/superflash-bike-tail-light/

It will take years before the cells in a 4x18650 battery pack wear out. I bought some new battery packs this year for my MagicShine 808 lightheads, but the old ones still aren't dead enough to throw away, so I keep them around for household use. The lightheads have been going for as long as I can remember. USB by design, is limited to 5V x 2.5W power output. This is only sufficient to charge the smallest of 'be seen' headlights, and thus USB is mainly used to charge taillights and small ancillary devices that use the tiny internal Li-ion batteries.

USB has been capable of much higher currents for years after the introduction of faster charging smartphones. The limiting factors are your charger, your cable, and if your light is capable of accepting that current. Modern chargers with some smarts to them negotiate with the device to set a charging current.

I've been using some rechargeable flashlights with the open Anduril 2.0 user interface. If you slow down the strobe party mode as far as it goes, you'll have a nice daytime running light, and Anduril also has a night bike mode (constant light, but blips about 20% brighter once a second). This is in addition to just regular rampable flashlight modes...The ~2000 lumen turbo max (1700-1800 lumen IRL) Sofirn SC31T Pro is often on sale, charges via a built-in USB C port, has more of a spot than a floody output, plus the 18650 battery is replaceable/can be charged in a separate smart charger if desired. (not included)

I also have an itty-bitty Wurkkos ts10 for daytime running light plus emergency night use (floody), and a Wurkkos ts21 (also floody, but 3400 lumen can overcome that!)

I was going to recommend Fenix as well. I have one. It's 800 lumen. It's rechargeable without taking the battery out. And/or you can take the battery out to charge it in a base charger. Best thing is you can bring more than one battery on long rides.

That Lumintop light looks really good. Amazon is selling it for $40 but that price may not last, as it's listed as a Black Friday price.

https://www.merlincycles.com/en-us/m...et-157670.html
This is in the lumen range you're looking for. I've got their Meteor Storm and was surprised to see that it had easily replaceable lithium batteries, this seems to indicate the same, can't speak for the taillights.

I don't see where it says replaceable on that page.

I got a Lumintop B01 on Amazon a couple weeks ago and on the fourth evening’s commute it started malfunctioning. It turned off while I was riding and the switch was misbehaving so I sent it back for a refund. It gets good reviews and I like the beam pattern so I ordered another one from Lumintop’s AliExpress store for 25 bucks and ordered 2 Samsung batteries from some battery store dot come for $13. My Amazon light was the earlier edition with the silver button and I think the one that is just now leaving China is the newer model with the blue button. We’ll see. Replaceable/swappable batteries is pretty cool.

Friendly beam pattern.
Replaceable/Swapppable battery.
USB C charging

Was basing it on this one
https://www.merlincycles.com/en-us/m...ht-157535.html
which lists "Quick release rechargeable lithium ion battery (3.7V 1400 mAh)"
the pairs list a lot less specifications than the single lights. My two Meteor Storms have a spot in the back that you insert a quarter in and turn half a turn to remove a rear plate and both batteries pop out. If it wasn't for the LBS clearancing a bunch of Cygolite Ranger 1400s I'd be shopping for the Moons, really like that the ones I have have a very visual battery life indicator.

Note to electronics makers: who carries change these days? I want a rear plate I can remove by waving my contactless payment card over. :roflmao2:

The corner of your phone has the right curve to it, just tap it on the ground a few times till you chip off some of the excess thickness, just like knapping flint. It'll give you that nice, wireless effect. :p