So I did a couple test runs with good batteries after using the onboard charger. Last night I rode home and it took 29 minutes for the first little blue indicator light to go out. When I shut the light off, it was 55 minutes and I still had two little blue lights going. I didn't charge it, and today I'll see how much longer it goes when I ride to work.

Problem with rechargeable batteries that a lot of companies do not put in the instructions which I've could never figure out why they don't, but when you first buy a product that is rechargeable you have to charge it for 24 hours regardless if after 4 or so hours the charger light indicates fully charged. Then you have to run the batteries to complete discharge and a full recharge 3 times in a row, after that the batteries will be fully useable anyway you see fit. I have read that at least once a year you should still fully discharge the battery then fully recharge. Phillips told me that over the phone, but it's no where in their instructions, and I have bought rechargeable batteries for other stuff and they don't mentioned that either, nor did my L & M Vis 180 or my Cygolite ExpiliOn 350! I don't know if Phillips was accurate about that or not, but I did what they said and I get a full 2 hours on high and 8 on low exactly as their specs say it will run for.

If I were you I would try running the batteries to exhaustion, and fully recharge for 24 hours, then repeat that 3 times and see what happens, it won't hurt to try it. I did mention in an earlier post that my first light came with a bad battery and all I could get was about an hour of run time, Phillips replaced the entire light with new bats and since then it runs as their specs say.

If your light is still under warranty and you can get near 2 hours then contact Phillips for a warranty adjustment. Then when you get the new light do the recharge stuff I outlined.

Why would they send me a new light when I just need some good batteries?

The SafeRide 80 is one of my favorites for on-road riding.

See my review here:
http://www.gravelbike.com/?p=1449

I really would like to get the Philips light, but the thing switching in to low power setting after 1 hour means that for me, runtime is 1 hour. There are times on my ride when I absolutely need all the light I can get - I'm coming down pretty steep hills where I'll be doing 30 MPH at the bottom unless I ride brakes, and they're gravel roads where massive arrays of potholes can just spring up overnight.

I was really just about to pull the trigger just now, but I think I'm going to go get something else.

If you are under warranty, simply e-mail them or call them and tell them something is wrong with your light but your not sure what, but ever since it was new it never would stay lit on high for more than 55 minutes (or whatever minutes it is), but the specs say 2 hours. They'll do one of two things, either send you a new set of bats or entirely new light with new bats, they sent me an entirely new light. They will of course want the old light or bats returned after they send you the new stuff.

Don't tell them you suspect the bats, act like you don't know anything and let them decide to make whatever decision they want.

Look at the Lezyne Mega drive. Constant output, max setting 1100 lumen. Not shaped though.

I am really looking for a shaped beam. If I want unshaped, I'll just go with one of the newer 2 beam lights. The Mega Drive is out in my books because it's one piece, so I can't just swap batteries if they die. A 1.3 hour runtime is pretty poor too.

I was looking at the MJ-880 and similar lights yesterday, but it really seems to me that at that intensity, I really don't want an unshaped beam. But the lights with shaped beams all have issues (to me) like the light deciding that I would rather have 30 minutes more run time than a bright light. *I* will damned well decide when I will turn the light down - if the light wants to start flashing the power level at me telling me I'm running low, and *I* will decide whether to drop to lower power, that's fine.

Light and Motion Seca?

The other major thing with the SafeRide is that they were using NiMH batteries. I would assume they're re-working it to use Li batteries, which should roughly double the run time.

Incorrect, Amazon says that but their wrong, Saferide uses Li Ion batteries, it says so on their website, it says so on my box, and it says so on the batteries.

And the run time is not 1.3 hours it's 2 hours on high and 8 on low, trust me, unless you suffer from severe night blindness your not going to use high often at all. If you do run on high after 2 hours it auto switches to low and will run for 2 more hours, so you won't be left in the dark.

The mega drive has an easily swappable battery, that is one of the reasons I bought one. The sealed back opens. You have to charge the batter in the light though.

The 1.3 hours is for 1000 (true) lumen.

Weird, since all the reviewers say NiMH and they show what are clearly NiMH batteries. Your comment here is the ONLY one I've seen anywhere that says that the Philips Saferide uses Li Ion batteries. I've found numerous posts from people who own them that say specifically that they have NiMH cells.

I do see on their website that it says "Battery: 4 AA Li-ion batteries" - but there's no such thing as an AA Li-Ion battery. There is a 14550 cell that's the same size as AA but LiIon chemistry provides a 3.7 volt per cell voltage. You could certainly not remove a 14550 and put in a regular AA cell which are 1.2 to 1.5 volts per cell. LiIon in there would put the pack voltage at about 14.8 volts which would require pretty sophisticated charge circuitry to charge from a 5v USB plug.

The MTBR review says "Uses standard ‘AA’ batteries sot it’s easy to replace and carry spares"

Honestly I'm more inclined to think that the Philips page is wrong. It just doesn't make any sense that they would be LiIon cells.

I'm seeing reference to a "generation 2" light - are there two versions? How do I know what version I'm getting?

On my route I have 4 miles of gravel road including descents where I frequently hit 30 MPH. It's tree covered and pitch black, animals frequently bound out in front of me so I actually like to have a little light spilling up into the surrounding bushes, and there are whole minefields of potholes covering half a lane for dozens of feet
that can just spring up overnight. I like to have a WHOLE LOT of light and when I want it, it's because I need it. I don't care if kicking to high will result in me only having 5 minutes of runtime left, because on my way home when I really need it, I'll be home in 5 minutes.

I already asked this but it's buried in a wall o text so:
Are there two versions of the Philips Saferide 80? What are the differences? How do I know which I'm getting?

AFAIK, case color. and whether it's for Dynamo Power , or Batteries.

& (site link above) , 40,60 or 80, lux. you say you got a Philips Saferide 80? , I Suppose its 80 LUX

Maybe they mean they are ok with lithium AAs (1.7v). Not all AA gadgets are happy with them.

Could be. I found two different unboxings and also the detail photos submitted by customers on Amazon's site, and every one of them very clearly shows NiMH cells, NOT lithium.

However, Li-ion generally means rechargeable. Lithium primaries are generally just Li, not Li-Ion.

I just popped open my SafeRide 80, and it contained four Philips-branded NiMH 2450 mAh AA batteries.

That's weird, I don't recall what the first set of batteries that were in the one I sent back, but I popped my open earlier due to this discussion and their Li-Ions rated the same 2450 mah! Maybe the low cost one in Amazon does use NiMh's and the more expensive doesn't? Either that or Phillips is having different sources build to different specs, or perhaps Phillips decided to use a cheaper costing battery because mine is 2 years old? but they never changed their website read this: http://www.mea.philips.com/c/bicycle...specifications. But regardless the NiMh is rated for the same 2 hour/8 hour run time.

Mine came directly from their US (PR) agent, but I'd be curious to see what other folks' units came equipped with.

Me too!

Read your box and see what batteries they say they are.

My came with 2450 mAh AA batteries.

They make rechargeable lithium AA batteries? The only one's I've seen are 3.7 volts.

Will regular lithium's work in the light? How long would it run?

Again, if they really are LiIon cells, they're 3.7 volts each, not 1.2 volts. It would be odd for some to be equipped with cells that put out 3 times the voltage. Can you post a photo of the cells?

Are they rechargeables or just lithium primary cells.

Here's a shot of the ones that came in mine.

Fyi, I ran across this, I think what you're looking for is the New for fall, 2013 - "Ixon IQ Premium without (AA) batteries and charger, 80 lux, Part # B&M1922QM, Price: $ 106.00 " -
http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/b&m.asp

It's supposed to have a similar beam pattern to the "Schmidt Edelux II prototype" light here -
http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/headlights.asp

It's B&M's latest LED and beam pattern combination for their dynamo lights, which all have cutoffs like you're looking for.

That still uses NiMH batteries or I would have bought it already. I was thinking about the Ixon IQ Speed Premium, which uses an external battery pack, but for some unfathomable reason, B&M STILL uses NiMH batteries even with a proprietary external pack. They need to get out of the 1990s.

I did wind up picking up a Philips Saferide earlier this week. I used it for one day and returned it. The NiMH batteries degrade badly at low temps - it is rated 2 hours on high, I was riding at -19C and I got 20 minutes on high. Just not going to cut it. I've decided that LiIon is a must.

FWIW, this thread provides a lot of good reasons why I chose to buy a Light & Motion Taz 1000. It has a self-contained lithium rechargeable battery with long run times. Although it costs twice as much as the SafeRide, you get what you pay for. The L&M Taz is brighter, lighter in weight, has longer run times, is easy to install and remove, and can be easily charged from your computer or a plug with adaptor. Like the SafeRide, it has a shaped beam that is not supposed to get in the eyes of car drivers if properly mounted. This will my fourth L&M light, and if it performs like the other ones, it will be trouble free and long-lasting. I've previously owned a Stella 300 and still own an Urban 500 and Vis 360. All of them have been great lights. The Urban 500 had some firmware problems after I first bought it, but L&M fixed the problems and sent me a free taillight for my troubles.

I think the whole AA vs proprietary Lithium issue is clearly a matter of personal preference. With AA batteries, the run times are shorter. But you are only limited by how many spare batteries you can carry in your pack. I find it comforting to know that if I forget to charge my lights and batteries at work, I can open up a drawer and get some fresh alkalines and have enough power to get me home on a dark night. My USB rechargeable lithium powered lights are great, but only as long as I remember to charge them.

From what I can see of that light, it does not have a shaped beam, or at least, not very shaped. The beam shots that I see in reviews show that it's possibly the least shaped beam I can imagine - it has a huge flood of light over the horizon when in flood mode, and the "shaped" isn't "shaped" it's just a spot.

If you can look straight into the light and see the LED element looking right back at you, it's not a shaped beam.

Not really with the Philips. Even in the comfort of my house, it took me probably 15 minutes to get the cover back on - the screw requires an allen key which is super easy to drop and lose on the road, and fiddly enough that I'd have to take my gloves off to do it. The screw really wanted to cross thread - I had to wiggle it all over to get it to go in properly - it took probably 20 tries. The battery holder also would require me to take my gloves off, and by the time I got done screwing with this thing, I doubt I could even move my fingers anymore. Also the case is aluminum which sucks the heat right out of the batteries, ensuring the shortest possible run time.

Also, it's not really that the run times with NiMH are short, it's that NiMH is a bad chemistry to use in the cold - it degrades badly, much faster than LiIon does.

I'll admit the cold would be an issue. Where I live, the coldest it gets is the mid-20's and that's only a few times a year and always in the morning when light is only an issue the first 20 or 30 minutes of the ride.