 Poster: A snowHead
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I've been asked to review a bike light and I know a few people on here do ride. I have not been paid to do this, just asked for a riders review so I hope the boffins don't mind me putting this here.
SingFire SF-607 2 x Cree XM-L T6 2000lm Cool White 4-Mode Bicycle Flashlight
http://dx.com/p/singfire-sf-607-2-x-cree-xm-l-t6-2000lm-cool-white-4-mode-bicycle-flashlight-black-4-x-18650-230382#.Uxa39D-Sxvk?utm_source=bike&utm_medium=review&utm_campaign=homer
At first when the box landed on my desk I was surprised by the weight of it, very little indeed and a quick check with some digital scales in the office revealed a weight of 300g for what would eventually be strapped to the bike. The product page is possibly misleading as it states 94gs however this doesn't include the battery pack.
Unpacking the parts revealed no instructions on use but it's as simple as it can be, a nice big easy to find button on the back of the light which switches between the four modes, full , medium and low beam as well as a flashing strobe. A simple rubber band (2 included) fixes the unit to your bars and a Velcro strap secures the battery pack and in my case held a lot of excess cabling. A unit so small does not (in my opinion) need a metre of cable as the battery pack was small enough to be strapped to the stem of my road bike for the first test.
One quibble I had immediately was the charger as it was supplied with a flat pin plug unsuitable for the UK and no adaptor was included which as far as I know is against the law. I have manage to charge my battery but I'm not going to go into how, you'll have to use your imagination...
Once on the bike it's very easy to use as one button does it all and switching between modes was very simple on the go.
As yet I haven't had a problem with the light overheating and several times during the test rides I've checked the machined casing and the neat little fins keep it remained cold throughout, that said Its been mainly used on a road bike and not on full beam.
Run time is stated at three hours on maximum but I've yet to hit that on a test ride and as yet the light hasn't indicated that it is anywhere near empty.
Reliability so far hasn't been an issue however I've yet to ride with it in the rain, time will tell.
Verdict:- Small and lightweight unit which is very simple to use. Nice and bright with no real problems other than the charger but at £26 delivered I'm sure you can find a way around it. 8/10
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I used one like this all last winter. They are available all over Ebay and can't be beaten for the price and can be bought with UK plug.
Obviously the optics are pretty basic but with so much light being thrown out the effect is good as a general floodlight. The battery supplied is not great and I upgraded to the more recent rubber sealed battery which seems much better. Hard to see how Exposure et al can compete as each iteration of these gets more powerful at throwaway prices. On the MTB I have one of these on the bars and a previously purchased Exposure Diablo (£175, how expensive does that seem?) on my helmet for a perfect setup.
On the road bike one of these is sufficient, not even on full power, even in a bunch ride.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Diablo torches are brilliant aren't they, I've got one too to compliment my pair of Lumicycle 3's.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Reads like a reasonable review. Certainly there are diminishing returns in the more expensive stuff, although more money can always get you better stuff, if you're careful.
My Magicshine lights had a separate battery pack like that, but they were stolen - I had fixed them securely to the bike, so the scumbag hacked my frame around taking them off. I subsequently recovered the bike but not the lights.
Hence I needed easily removable lights, so I switched to Exposure with the Diablo, which was about £125 for the latest version I think. I have the Exposure rear light thing also. Both used on the road to give me better leverage against the aggressive drivers around here. The Exposure lights probably aren't as bright as the Magicshine but they're good enough.
Maybe one day they'll build lights into my stem or bars, so I don't have to take them off.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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philwig, I'm not a reviewer just a rider so its not writers talk, if thats a way of putting it.
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