Thanks for all your amazing responses

Heard good vibes about fenix and Busch and Muller

I do like my fenix PD35 flashlight quite a bit. Don't use it for biking but for backpacking and regular use. Never tried their bike lights.

I will stick to Light & Motion for bike lights though. I worked at an LBS for a season and that was their high end biking brand of lights. THey are based out of California and known for superb customer service. A guy had his Urban series light break and they replaced it with a brand new one no questions asked and it got to him fast. I like dealing with US-based companies when I can when they are known for good customer service. Just in case anything does go wrong. The LBS said they use them because in all cases - quick and fast customer service. The company got their start with diving lights if I remember correctly, so they are highly waterproof. I do love that both their rear and front lights offer a pulse mode - which is better to me than crazy flashing lights. YMMV.

Very good discussion thus far. Can anyone using fasttech battery + cree provide a photo of their wiring setup? And how do you guys know the battery needs charging?

I ended up getting a knock off brand from ebay and it works great!

When the light goes dim?

General jerkiness aside, I'm somewhat aware of the run time of my batteries...I usually have run them down to where the light goes dim on purpose to get that data...and I charge my batteries after each ride. I've not found any advantage to trying to squeeze out the maximum capacity of the battery by running the light more than one day before recharging.

I just use the factory connectors. Nothing really to show. I use double sided velcro to keep it in place on the bike.