I haven't received the L2D's yet. I guess I didn't make that clear. When I receive them I will do a direct comparison.

So far I have been impressed with the Ultrafire's for $20 shipped. :thumb: Had they arrived in a decent time frame I would have been happy with those. But since they didn't come, I got anxious and just ordered a pair of Fenix L2D's to try since I got the 180 lumen version at a good price. The Ultrafires don't give a lumen rating which makes me think they may not be as good. But they Fenix's are going to have to be quite a bit better for me to keep them for the much higher price (2.5X).

I've toyed around with mounting the flashlights on my bike. I installed a Minoura SwingGrip extender bar yesterday (longer and more versatile than the one varuscelli had in his write up -- I actually bought that one first and returned it because it was too short for my application). Positioning is OK with the bar, but the cables coming off the handlebars may get in the way when I have them mounted down low.

I do a complete write up with photos after the Fenix's arrive and I get the time. Probably in a week or so.

I see, so the other HL hadn't arrived yet. Thanks for the update and I look forward to your review when you get around to it in a week or so. :thumb:

Mail just arrived, and a pair of Fenix L2D Premium Q5's with it. Something tells me my review will come sooner than a week. :beer:

Woohoo, nice gift at the end of the week. :D

The cheap DX/Kai lights tend to be more erratic in build quality - sometimes you get a really nice light, sometimes you get a real dud where the switch flakes on you, or the circuit blows out. The waterproofing tends to be not as solid, either.

The Fenix lights are more consistent in their build quality, with good customer service and fancy features like multiple modes, etc. Then again, they're more than $50, too. For myself, with a bike application, my sweet spot lies somewhere in between. On a bike, I don't want all the fancy modes, but if I can find a well-made light for about half the price, then I can get two of them. :D

I think it's great that everyone here loves trying out cheaper lights and reviewing them for all of us - thanks!

However, I've been more than happy with the $50 I spent on my Fenix L2D. I was riding pretty fast last night, and in reading this post, I was reminded at the peace of mind I've had knowing that the Fenix lamps are rock-solid, stable, and extremely well built. I'd gladly pay $30+ for a uber-reliable light source than save $30 and find myself wondering if my light would go on a fast night ride.

Those ultrafires do look pretty sweet, though!

Do you know this from first hand experience, a couple user reviews on the web, just guessing because of the low price, or ???

I'd rather buy all the crap and test it myself and resell what I don't want and not have to wonder at all. :)

I've done my testing and will be creating a posting a new thread soon (either tonight or tomorrow).

Combination of the above. Plenty of experiences to go around with us over at Candlepowerforums. Whenever anyone brings up a bargain at KD/DX inevitably one (or both) of two things comes up.

1) It took a hella long time to get to them. ;)

2) It's a great light for the money

It's not that they're universally suckage for lighting. Just the CPF guys are a tough crowd and there's usually something just a little off with the lights. The runtime is shorter than average, there's funny artifacts in the beam, the o-rings don't hold up past a brief dunking, whatever. Switches are sometimes temperamental (often repaired by disassembly and tinkering, but some just end up unrecoverable). Yeah, everybody has their share of problems, but some lights tend to be more hit n' miss than some of the others.

I mean, take me. I'm hard on my lights for work (building surveys). They don't last long in my kit when they let me down for one reason or another. Those differences tend to stick in your mind when you still carry an Inova for years when the Maglite LED gets tossed out after just a couple of months.

That's the same criteria I put on picking a bike light - considering the context is my wife's the commuter and I'm not gonna give her a light that I won't trust to work day in and day out in all weather conditions. I'm sure quality's getting better, but my past experiences haven't been good enough to sell me on putting them on her bike. Same reason I haven't put the Coleman on her bike, because it's yet to pass muster for me. (although it's getting there, and she'll probably still carry the Inova as backup)

But it's different strokes for different folks. If the $15 light means you can strap 3 on the bike, then more power to you! :thumb: More light, and plenty of backup in case one goes glitchy on you. :) I can't convince my wife to clutter her ride with more than a couple of lights, so I gotta kick it up a notch. ;) Same reason I pick two $30 lights with pretty good reliability over one $70 Fenix.

Go with what works for you.

If/when you create the thread with your review, please link it here. Looking forward to it. :thumb:

Yeamac's review is here:
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=446019

Thanks, I'll check it out. :)

My HL and TL search is over (for now). I went to a "Perf. Bike" store yesterday and picked up a Cat Eye HL-EL510 headlight and NightRider 5.0 TL for < $40 total (after the "457" 15% off coupon). Installing them on my bike was relatively simple, but note that NightRider comes w/ no instructions whatsoever. I'll report back when I do some dusk/night bike riding.

Look man, your already willing to pay up to $50 for a light, why not another $40 for a truly bright light? Then you would not be later wishing for a brighter light. You can find that easily with this http://www.cygolite.com/products/hal...over_Xtra.html Just do a web search for best price.

Or this for about $15 dollars less then the above but not as bright: http://www.cygolite.com/products/hal...over_NiMH.html

I've got that light. The Fenix L2D blows it away. I haven't used the Cygo since.

Somewhat related query: it seems apparent that bike-specific lights are not nearly as bright or inexpensive as flashlights....but WHY?? (also how does one convert from lumens to candlepower, when comparing lights?)

Just want to say, Thanks so much for sharing this info. I bought 2 of these along with 8 batteries/charger and its working great.


For a while, I had 2 Fenix L2D setup on my swingbar (Minoura) for my night commuting. Although it did a pretty good job, I wanted a bit more light - especially at higher speed (20-30mph).

So I bought 2 more lights - this time UltraFire to supplement the Fenix. They were bit disappointing as I didn't find them too bright and didn't mix well with Fenix as it had a similar light pattern, which just made the white spot - whiter. I also didn't like managing 4 light and all that batteries.

So I bought 2 of those SSC lights. Holy crap - now one of this light is replacing the entire setup. The way I have it now is - 1 primary SSC, 2nd (spare or in casebattery runs out on 1st) and 1 fenix mounted on my helmet.

This thing lights up the road and for the first time last night - I see cars waiting for me as they come out of side road or they come up very slow behind me. I think they had a hard time figuring out what was in front of them - maybe they thought is was a motor cycle that was going slow (due to breakdown?). I don't care why, because it works, not only as a front light, but also as a "be seen" light at 12:00am.

I thought I wasn't going to like having non-common battery - but its no different than having a AA battery. You just have to buy them in advance and have enough spare on your bag. In actuality, I think I'll like the lithium battery more as they hold better charge and have longer lifespan than Nimh.

You are absolutely right - they've been out of stock for quite a while (5 and 8 mode version). I just bought 2 mode version, which is perfect for cycling as you only want high or low, depending on your ambient light condition. I'm getting 2 more to replace the fenix on my helmet and a spare.

The lights are much larger than Fenix, so keep that in mind. Instead of Fishblock, I had to use a larger mount. The cost of 2 light and charger/batteries were about equal to 2 fenix lights (last year) without the batteries/charger.

I have a PB super spot back ordered. Should get here soon, I hope. I am also looking for 1 or 2 ultrafire/fenix flashlights. I plan on mounting 1 on the helmet and 1 on the bike if the super spot isn't enough.

Would any of you guys that have compared these and now would like to sell one, be interested in selling it to me? This would allow me to skip the shipping delay of buying new.

Drop me a PM.

I use this. http://cgi.ebay.com/New-200-Lumens-C...QQcmdZViewItem

I just picked up the Cat Eye HL-EL135 for $19.19 on sale at my LBS. Super bright and has a constant as well as flashing mode.

Any pics or reviews? Anybody else have one? 200 lumens with that kind of run time? Wow! Is there a catch?

I just noticed an $18 shipping fee? Still a darn cheap light in spite of that if it performs as advertised.

Don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, but the Cateyes are a waste of money. If you can only spend <$50, get the Fenix or similar LED flashlight. I have a Dinotte that I am very happy with, but it is >$100. Once I got a better light I sold the Cateye on ebay, and wouldn't recommend them.

After reading this thread, perusing several others, and spending loads of time reading through various P7 reviews on DX, I decided to go with the 8-mode P7 recced here (primarily due to the extra strobe modes and voltage regulation), as well as a set of blue protected Trustfires, the white safe charger, and a cheap bike mount. Crossing my fingers and awaiting their arrival. Also ordered a Superflash for the taillight. Considered building one from a cheaper DX flashlight + the red plastic cover for a cheap tailight, as that could easily have exceeded the Superflash's brightness, but I figured that's something I can look into later, and that the Superflash would do the job for the rear. What I really want is the ability to see well in front of me, and after perusing the P7 reviews, it seems these are the best lights available for under $100 dollars. Sweet!

There's nothing amazing about this. It's just a regular LED flashlight modified to run off a battery pack. Not worth the money in my opinion. Just buy a couple of $20 Cree flashlights from DealExtreme and switch out rechargable batteries as needed. How much time does it really take to pop a couple of new batteries into your flashlights? Do it during your waterbreaks. Double the light, $14 cheaper after factoring in shipping (free from DealExtreme).

The Cat Eyes may seem "pretty bright", but are actually many times dimmer than these flashlights.

The Fenix flashlights have generally gotten rave reviews on these forums. I bought a couple because of this and couldn't be happier. This light that you say is nothing special is supposedly brighter with longer run times than the Fenix.

So who can tell me if this is really better than the Fenix L2D's?

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.14909

runs of 2 aa's. is very cheep(get 5 :) ) and puts out about 150+ lumens. i use one of these(well its an older one modded to make this same light) and it gives me more light than i have ever needed.

i would recommended the scc p7 also, but soon cree is going to put out a four die kile the p7 emitter that will KILL the p7 in turms of brightness and efficiency, you will be able to get the same 400 ish lumen's out of the cree at 1 amp that you get at 2.8 amps with the p7, so i am holding out for them.

I just placed an order. 230 lumens possible no matter what the run time for $24 is hard to pass up.

Where on that web site is the bike mount? I can't find it. I'm also interested in a sub-$50 light. I don't see a bike mount for the flashlite type lights.

Do the universal bicycle mounts linked above fit oversized handlebars?

You are absolutely right - they've been out of stock for quite a while (5 and 8 mode version). I just bought 2 mode version, which is perfect for cycling as you only want high or low, depending on your ambient light condition. I'm getting 2 more to replace the fenix on my helmet and a spare.

Is the two mode version voltage regulated? I was going to get the 8 mode because it supposedly is.

I think I would like one of these for my bike. I may add on a fenix light because it would also be handy to have a helmet light/ light that is not so bright so that I may use it off the bike. the fenix also has some handy attachments (or what I think may be a handy diffuser cone).

I have never thought of batteries beyond AA, AAA, C, D, 9V, and rechargeable. Could someone help me out? I prefer rechargeable; it is worth the hassle to me. I can't decide between the lithium rechargeable , the rechargeable 18650's or the un- rechargable 18560's. Other than saving on cost of buying more batteries by going with rechargeable, I don't know the difference with lithium.

thanks