Using flashlight as headlight
 

Last fall I was using a Knog Frog light (20 lumens), more to be seen than to see, on the front of my bike. I rarely rode after dark and, except on a couple of occassions when I miscalculated my round trip time on the highway, rode with the benefit of street lights once the sun set.

That will likely change this spring as early sunsets would cut into longer rides after work, so I'm looking for a decent headlight on a budget. On Amazon, I found several mounts for affixing various size flashlights to a handlebar. I already have a Coleman 144 lumen compact flashlight that gives me good light out to about 75-100 yards and runs about 6 hours on three AAA batteries. I also have a MiniMag light with the 3 LED retrofit kit which I'm guessing provides about 30 lumens and runs for 20+ hours on two AA batteries.

Who else uses a flashlight mounted to the handlebar as a headlight? Any recommendations for a sturdy mount that is adjustable (can be aimed), fits a range of flashlight barrel diameters, is reasonably quick release, and holds the light quite steady? I considered fabricating one myself, but saw that Amazon has several models of holder for $6 - $18 so I figured why reinvent the wheel.

First off, a bunch of people here use flashlights mounted to bars or helmets. Secondly, have you used that Coleman much on the bike at all? I had a RWB model of Coleman that used 3xAAA and it didn't hold up well to the road vibrations.

As to what type of mount, I'll let the flashoholics comment...

Haven't used it at all on the bike. I have it for work. It is a Coleman Max which is one of the same line as the Max RWB. It has an aluminum body and is supposedly impact and water resistant according to ANSI FL1 standards. How did you have your light mounted and in what way and under what conditions did it fail?

I'll amend the original question to include: Does anyone have a recommendation for a mount that has the qualities listed above and reduces the effects of road vibration on the light?

It would also be easy to wrap a layer or two of silicone anti-vibration tape (like is sold for wrapping tool handles) around the barrel of the light before putting it in the mount.

If vibration is a concern I'd mount the light to your helmet. My helmet mount light doesn't see nearly the road buzz the bar mounted ones do. As an added bonus, it "automatically" turns in whatever direction I look. There are lots of different options for the task (I tend to prefer the Two Fish style mounts) depending upon the model of helmet you wear.

Never used a proper mount for it. I've used rubber bands to mount it to my helmet, but I never could get the aim right. Then I mounted it to the bars using two hose clamps- not QR, but secure. It started flickering/dimming in short order, which was the batteries losing contact within the holder. Had to pry the little springs out a bit to ensure constant contact.

Rode in the rain a couple of times, but I really wasn't using the light as it wasn't dark enough to warrant it. The next time I went to change batteries, I noticed a little corrosion in the body of the light, so I removed it from the bars and cleaned everything using alcohol and a q-tip. Decided leaving the light on the bars all of the time wasn't a good idea, so started using an old inner tube to mount to the bar. It moved around a bit too much for my tastes, so I took it off... and I can't remember where I put it.

I do remember attempting to ride a MUP with the Coleman on my helmet and a cheap Zefal light on the bar once. It wasn't enough light for me. More power to ya if you have any better luck than I did.

I do a lot of real late night riding and needed something I could recharge and snap on and off quickly. I bought a couple of these and threw the legs away and modified the base to attack to the bike. The swivel mount makes aiming easy. I don’t know how good they are but have been using them for two years now and they seem to be a good be seen light as well as a good light to see by. I have helmet light also I like riding always with back up light.

http://inlinethumb59.webshots.com/48...600x600Q85.jpg

http://inlinethumb56.webshots.com/45...600x600Q85.jpg

First, i listen to advice, and take that into consideration. Then, since I have a small outlay in cash, I experiment. :) Talking about flashlights and their holders..

I am using this holder..These are $4.00 flashlights.. Moving up to $20 and $30 flashlights, and will give this mount a try..In other words, I will be riding some bumpy roads and see what happens. So far, I have rode bumpy roads with these, and they hold tight and work fine. Also, I can moved them up or down, and they stay that way. So, when my $20 and $30 flashlights get here, I will try this mount, another cheap one, if they even look like they will fail, I will get some thing better. In the meantime, these mounts cost about $2.50. ;)


http://www.cehoward.net/compflash08.jpg

This cheap setup throws a nice beam, with and appropiate flood. The mounts haven't failed..Will try them on the slight larger flashlights when they arrived..

BTW, another poster on another website posted this pic of flashlight I be mounting on my bike. I be mounting a PAIR of these.. ;)

http://likestuff.globat.com/Flashlig...OnCarpet_S.jpg

I am running pairs of Coast LED flashlights on both our bikes. Used only on the local MUP with some roads in daylight hours. We need the high-intensity flashlights to deal with deer on the MUP and joggers who do not wear blinkies or reflective clothing. You might want to look at Fenix mounts. Big and klunky but are durable and can be aimed up or down and right or left. I am also trying BioLogic FlashMount on my bike. So far no problems. Check the specs for what size (diameter) lights they can handle.

E. Ogre

My wife and I are using a trio of Solarforce L2 hosts, with Cree XM-L emitters and single 18650 lithium ion rechargeable batteries. The advertised lumens are 1000 for each light but actual is probably less.

We run two on the front of the bikes and have one on a helmet mount. On high, they put out an insane amount of light and provide more than enough light for our evening and night time rides. On medium, I've had rides of around 90 minutes with no dimming of the lights.

We ended up going with a five mode emitter as it has a nice strobe feature. I especially like the strobe for lighting up inattentive drivers, it really gets their attention.

Semper Fi

I use one for a daytime strobe.
18650 battery with 3 modes.
3.5 hours bright run time.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=237352

Why pay anything?
 

I have never paid for a flashlight mount. The ones I use are free and can be found at any good bike shop. I attach the second Fenix to the handle bars via this method as well. Rain, freezing rain, sun and rough roads, I even dropped the helmet a few times by mistake right onto the flashlight.
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c2...8/PA260339.jpg

This was my first from 3 years ago, I'm using road bike size inner tubes now, as they are small and thus look more sleek.

All you need are scissors and this video...
No need to adjust the volume, there is no sound, but then again, no sound is needed if you watch closely enough.:thumb:

I use a rubber strip mount like the video above. I made a few different sizes until I found the dimensions that work best on my bike. The flashlight does move it's aim sometimes when I hit a bump, but it's easy to wiggle it back to the correct direction.

I first tried using the flashlight as a helmet light. It was very nice to be able to point it into a turn. But I didn't like having to keep my head steady so the light wouldn't drift all over. Now I always mount it on the bars.

That's why I work with two, one on the helmet, one on the bars. The inner tube method doesn't move from how every I adjust it. I like to make it tight so when I go off road (with no suspension) and the light stays pointing where I intended it to point, straight on.

The beauty of the inner tube method is, it's free, it stays securely attached on all terrain, no worries if you leave the tube on the bike when parked, it's FREE (take flashlight), and easy removal of flashlight. One that many may not notice, it's subtle but protects the light, the bar on the bike and eliminates noise from the flashlight hitting the bar on rough terrain. It's the fact the tube is fully wrapped around the handle bar, isolating the flashlight from the handle bars. This prevents the light from moving at all, as said before, on any road condition.

This is EXACTLY what I am going to do, and what I was talking about. I am going to be running a pair of them L2 type Chinese copies, running off single 18650 cells.. Never thought about running one on my helmet. I was going to mount one of the smaller jobs on my helmet. Getting attention and seeing is what is all about in bicycling on the street. From what I have been reading, on the MUP too..

I run a 3 mode flashlight that is powered by an 18650 battery. I love the strobe and run it all day long. If out at night, I switch modes and am fine. I usually carry an extra battery as well.

I consider the Solarforce a bit large for helmet light. I recommend the Uniquefire 2100 or Yezl (something) or Shiningbeam S-Mini (XP-G version will have a bit more throw than XM-L version). These lights are all under 5" in length and 1" diameter and they have a straight body, ie no large head. Solarforce is a good choice for lights; they are better quality than the Junkfire (as I call them) random lights on the HongKong web sites.

I got into night riding last year. Tried a few different things and talked to a few people. My solution was using 4 Minoura LH-50 Besso's mounted on my fork, and electrical pipe clamps, 4 Rayovac 2AA LED indestructible flashlights and 2 Nebo redlines. All mounted on the fork. The Rayovacs are great spots with white color and some flood while the Nebos are great for flood but have a blue color. It's a crazy setup and I don't run all at the same time generally. The setup really lets you know where potholes are, lights up everything in front of you but don't blind people because they are mounted low. I occasionally use a light on the handlebar, but not too often.

parallel nylon mount for $2.06 + free shipping. perpendicular nylon mount for $2.39 + free shipping. both mounts are of the same quality of the twofish lockblock and bikeblock mounts but much cheaper. these items ship from china so it may take several weeks for them to arrive. i have several of either mount on my bike and use them for everything. two of them hold my u-lock onto the top tube and seat post, while two more on the handlebars hold two flashlights. another is used on my helmet and one more for holding my bikeglow battery compartment on the seatpost. i've even used the mounts to hold my tire against the rim as i'm remounting it.

Thanks for that tip, I am on it!! ;)

Please post pics when your goodies eventually show up and give us a first-hand run-down on how you like the lights! :thumb:

To tell the truth ONE of them came yesterday!! The Keygos Ke-1. Oh boy.. :D That dam thing lite up the whole street!! :D I made sure I aim it down so the beam is hitting about 30 yards out in front.. No upward stuff..

Now, I got a Nikon D5100, with kit lens and a 70-300 Tamron. Two Manfrotto tripods with Bogen 3047 head an CAN'T TAKE A PICTURE to save my life!!!.. :cry:

Will try to hook something up tonight. But, let me tell ya, the Keygos Ke-1 is bad, super bad. And I will be running it in PAIRS.. ;)

LOL If you're impressed they must be pretty cool!

The camera's great, but the lens isn't really ideal for beam shots. Its a DX format sensor which will multiply the lens focal length by about 1.5 and give you a 105-450 equivalent. Great for shooting races but too much of s telephoto to capture whats right in front of the bike unless you shoot from waaaaay back down the street.

But just some iPhone shots would be fun!:D

Hehe...5100 crop frame sensor+70-300=beamshots from a quarter-mile away.

The KE-1 seems to be a pretty popular budget light, duals should be excellent to light things up. What did you end up using to attach them?

KEYGOS KE-1 cheap and bright
 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/KEYGOS-KE-1-...ht_4969wt_1139

I got 2 of the keygos being that I bought 2 of these ^^ They were crazy bright!! :thumb: I ran both on low unless riding in streetlights then I'd bump up to medium. They both have run for 2 hours for me switching intermittently from low to medium. I've never ridden at night longer than that with these lights so I have no idea of their depletion time/mode. Unfortunately one day after a long and tiring ride I lost one somehow, :twitchy: but it was kinda ok because one light is plenty. Two of these things is almost, dare I say overkill. I gave the handlebar mount to my brother who was running some cheap $10 pos thing. He happened to have a tactical led flashlight that has wide/narrow focus capability of unknown lumen that fit perfectly. He was always skeptical of using his flashlight for a bike light but now uses the tactical light exclusively. We both win I guess. :D