Does anyone have any recommendations of LED flashlights for use as a headlight? My riding is 90% city streets/10% off-street paths, so I mostly need a "be seen" light. I have a Cateye EL530 headlight that I liked, but it quit working after being dropped. Am wondering if an LED flashlight might be a less expensive and (possibly) more durable option. Thanks!

For mostly as a "be seen" light, I actually like the Planet Bike Beamer5 (or 1W Blaze) But if you're looking at flashlights, then I'd say either the Inova Bolt 2AA or possibly the Coleman MAX 2AA. The Bolt has riden on my wife's commute daily for a couple of years and I use one for work so I know it'll take the punishment. The Coleman's a bit brighter and cheaper, but it's a newer light so I'm not sure on it's durability yet.

I had previously posted some thoughts on flashlights as headlights in this thread... here. It might give you an idea of what kind of lights you may want to consider. Hope that helps!

Type fenix in the search and limit it to this forum. You will find all you could ever possibly want to know regarding flashlights as bicycle lights.

I just picked up an Ultrafire WF502 and the R2 drop in for my wife and I. They are very bright, more of a thrower and less spill than the Ultrafire C2 Q5 it's replacing, but it seems to be enough spill for commuting/riding at night. The hotspot is very intense with the Cree R2 It should be in the 150Lumen range I'm guessing (4.2V from the 18650), which is pretty good for $30 IMO. Cheaper than paying for the Fenix name when you're getting the same thing. Also check out candlepowerforums.com for more info.

Thanks for this information. A friend and I are looking for flashlights for night riding. We ride rural areas so we aren't drowned out by ambient light.

What batteries/chargers work with this?

As part of your research, you could check the pages on my site as linked in the signature line of my post, and you can also look at this thread:

Dual Fenix L2D 100 Premium Headlight Setup (Photos)

And there are quite a few other threads in this forum about using flashlights as bike headlights, as dekindy indicated. You won't have to search very hard to find a lot on the topic.

In another thread, I decided to look for a front blinky to complement my rear blinky. Initially looking at something like the PB Blaze (1/2 w or 1w), I've sorta begun looking at the Fenix L2dQ5 with a lockblock mount.

I have been unable to find any info about the strobe effect and longeviety of the L2DQ5. I'm primarily interested in being seen, but thought it might be nice to have some light in case I were to run later than planned and get back after dark. Normally, I only ride in the daytime.

Would the L2DQ5 and lockblock be overkill for my needs (@$70)?

Just to clarify this, are you asking how long it will run in strobe mode (strobe mode run time)?

This flashlight is getting very good reviews as a bicycle light. Make sure you order a couple of batteries and a charger as well if you get this one. 600 to 700 Lumen on hight so it's very bright. Extended run times on lower power modes and has strobe and SOS modes as well.
https://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.12060

Yes. I didn't make that clear did I? How long will it run in strobe mode and what is the strobe pattern? I didn't find anything on Youtube showing the strobe pattern.

I anticipate 99% of my usage will be in strobe mode for daylight use.

Thanks. Looks attractive, but I prefer to stick with AA batteries.

Interesting question on strobe run time. If I see something on that in my own collection of info I'll post it back here, but at a quick glance I'm not seeing an associated run time. I do believe that the strobe is at the same intensity as turbo mode (brightest setting of the light) and the pattern is just a steady and rapid blinking pattern (maybe 5 blinks per second or something close to that).

Fenix L2D Q5. End of story.

It will give you results as good as any AA flashlight can is my guess no matter what mode you choose.

Purchase the eight mode P7 if you are buying it for the strobe. It has two strobe rates. A fast one (3 Hz) and a slow one (1 Hz).

single mode: UltraFire Cree C3 Flashlight with 2xAA $18.98 + free shipping

Multi mode: UltraFire Cree C3 5-Mode Flashlight 2xAA $20.29 + free shipping

But this gets away from the AA batteries which I'd rather not do.

Interesting. Reading the reviews, I notice both suffer from complaints about heat after 10 minutes of use. Is that true of the L2DQ5 too?

A plus is that I can get the Lockblock with free shipping from Fenix too. Still, $70 is a bit pricey for this option when I could get the 1w Blaze for ~$40 or so shipped. Is the L2DQ5 $30 better for my application?

Please refer to this thread for that question. The Blaze will be somewhat (but not that much more) brighter than the Blackburn I photographed. The Fenix would be a bit brighter than the Coleman in Turbo Mode. Probably about the same when in "high"

Hope that helps!

It's a great light as many in this forum will attest to. Another little expense though will be necessary. You're going to need a charger. There are some good deals on those with batteries included though if that helps at all.

If you are primarily doing daytime riding and it's a be seen light, this may not be the best option. On the other hand if there's any chance you'll be doing any night riding at all (get an L2D and you'll want to) get the Fenix.

Many of us get a 2nd one after we see how cool they are!

And some actually pick up a third one...

But those must be the real fanatics.

underkill

you need tk11's from fenix
tk11's

Thanks all for the input. Actually, I believe I'm already covered on the little extra expense. I already have a LaCrosse BC900 charger which is one reason I wanted to stay with an AA battery device. I assume NiMH batteries do good in these type of lights?

Edit: I had to cut short my ride tonight because of a lack of light. I recently began riding with a group and we typically finish around 8pm. Ran a bit late tonight and would have been pushing 9pm getting home, but I cut it short due to the lack of a headlight. Time to pull the trigger.

Heheh. Yeah... a r e a l fanatic!

That almost looked like my helmet yesterday when I got surprised by a pop-up thunderstorm. When the lightning closed to 1/2 mile away, I knew I couldn't outrun the storm, so I took refuge on the porch of a church and had to have someone rescue me.

Alrighty. Just pulled the trigger on the L2DQ5... and got the 3 lockblock pack... just in case.