LIGHTS MEGATHREAD - all questions on riding lights asked and answered here!!!

[fjohn860]

Getting darker now so thread bump.

I have a set of gemini lights (800 and 1100 lumen) and the 2 cell battery pack has lost a fair bit of it's capacity. I can no longer make the 1 hour commute on full power for the 800 lumen unit.

I would have thought these things would have dropped a fair bit in price but alas no dice. Still looking at $100+ for a battery pack. Cheapest I can find is glowworm packs which are apparently the same connector but they are sold out on MTB direct. Found another for $120 plus post, I'm thinking it might be better to just get a new unit all together. My cateye 800 seems to have outlasted both battery packs and still going strong, I could be swayed to just get a 4 cell pack.

Anyone got a suggestion? Happy to gamble aliexpress or otherwise, but my previous attempts have bee abysmal and I have a 6 cell pack that barely lasted an hour new I bought ages ago.

I use these for a couple of hours riding at the You Yangs.

All my Aliexpress MTB purchases reviewed.

Now that more people seem to be getting on the gravel/roadie train on here, this was an interesting video I found today:

www.rotorburn.com

 

[rockmoose]

Getting darker now so thread bump.

I have a set of gemini lights (800 and 1100 lumen) and the 2 cell battery pack has lost a fair bit of it's capacity. I can no longer make the 1 hour commute on full power for the 800 lumen unit.

I would have thought these things would have dropped a fair bit in price but alas no dice. Still looking at $100+ for a battery pack. Cheapest I can find is glowworm packs which are apparently the same connector but they are sold out on MTB direct. Found another for $120 plus post, I'm thinking it might be better to just get a new unit all together. My cateye 800 seems to have outlasted both battery packs and still going strong, I could be swayed to just get a 4 cell pack.

Anyone got a suggestion? Happy to gamble aliexpress or otherwise, but my previous attempts have bee abysmal and I have a 6 cell pack that barely lasted an hour new I bought ages ago.

Pull the battery pack apart and replace the cells. You'll probably be paying 15-20 bucks a battery nowadays.

 

[rowdyflat]

I have found Cateye to be awesome quality .
The batteries used to be fantastic still using one 12 years old charged 100s of times but of course it only lasts 1 commute home.
Another repacked NiCad separate pack nearly 20 years old , all connectors are fine with new Cheap LED lights works perfectly.
Recently bought a KNOG headlight 1100 lumens is too bright when riding towards cars and have the clever taillight straight into a USB.

 

[rowdyflat]

Would eventually like to see a range of headlights that use either 36 or 48 v straight from a ebike battery.

 

[Ackland]

Would eventually like to see a range of headlights that use either 36 or 48 v straight from a ebike battery.

A quick hambo will lead you to the solutions you seek

 

[dirtdad]

Getting darker now so thread bump.

I have a set of gemini lights (800 and 1100 lumen) and the 2 cell battery pack has lost a fair bit of it's capacity. I can no longer make the 1 hour commute on full power for the 800 lumen unit.

I would have thought these things would have dropped a fair bit in price but alas no dice. Still looking at $100+ for a battery pack. Cheapest I can find is glowworm packs which are apparently the same connector but they are sold out on MTB direct. Found another for $120 plus post, I'm thinking it might be better to just get a new unit all together. My cateye 800 seems to have outlasted both battery packs and still going strong, I could be swayed to just get a 4 cell pack.

Anyone got a suggestion? Happy to gamble aliexpress or otherwise, but my previous attempts have bee abysmal and I have a 6 cell pack that barely lasted an hour new I bought ages ago.

Can also get something like this to help build your own pack.

2x 7.2V 7.4V Battery Holder Case for 18650 LiIon 2S1P w/PCM inside Output:6-8.4V | eBay

2 n Pcs holder, with 2S1P protection circuit module inside;. Connected to different plug, applicable for different devices. No need special welding machine, installed and work;. Can be slots for recharging the batteries;.

www.ebay.com.au

Just buy some good quality 18650 cells to put with it.

Or even just look for hobby batteries in 2s size (7.4v nominal)
Eg. https://hobbyking.com/en_us/zippy-compact-5000mah-2s1p-40c.html
But these won’t have protection circuits built in. And connectors are probably different.

 

[Dales Cannon]

A quick hambo will lead you to the solutions you seek

Superseded. You have to jabubu now

 

[ozzybmx]

Superseded. You have to jabubu now

Offer experience and seek guidance

 

[Cardy George]

Getting darker now so thread bump.

I have a set of gemini lights (800 and 1100 lumen) and the 2 cell battery pack has lost a fair bit of it's capacity. I can no longer make the 1 hour commute on full power for the 800 lumen unit.

I would have thought these things would have dropped a fair bit in price but alas no dice. Still looking at $100+ for a battery pack. Cheapest I can find is glowworm packs which are apparently the same connector but they are sold out on MTB direct. Found another for $120 plus post, I'm thinking it might be better to just get a new unit all together. My cateye 800 seems to have outlasted both battery packs and still going strong, I could be swayed to just get a 4 cell pack.

Anyone got a suggestion? Happy to gamble aliexpress or otherwise, but my previous attempts have bee abysmal and I have a 6 cell pack that barely lasted an hour new I bought ages ago.

Careful. Gloworms are on to their second generation and use USB-C now. Based on the Gen 1 version I absolutely recommend them, but they cost a fucking bomb compared to when I bought mine.