Click to view our Accessibility Statement or contact us with accessibility-related questions
Showing 1 of 13 conversations about:
A community member
Nov 20, 2018
bookmark_border
I have to leave this comment on every bike light but I feel I am doing a service to riders so here it goes again. These bike lights which don't have removable batteries are only commuter lights. They are probably great for going from work to home or visiting friends however longer routes are out of the question as you can't depend on it to last you whole night. And no, lowest mode even though can push for some hours is nowhere near bright for long distance cycling.
More to the point after couple of years once battery starts dying you have no other choice but replace perfectly good functioning light. Nitecore does seem to make this light easy to disassemble but I wouldn't count on it.
My advice is get something like Fenix BC21R, which runs on 18650 battery. This allows you to swap the battery on the fly and provides similar performance to this one. Also, you can get a lot of information about other bike lights on bikelightdatabase.com (am not affiliated, just found it useful).
A community member
Feb 10, 2019
bookmark_border
DabeYou are most welcome. I've been using Fenix for more than a year now and I have nothing but praise for it. Some people complained about weak rubber mount, but I had not issues with it and eventually I made my own mount which sits beneath my phone mount. With my setup, I always have one spare fully charged battery in my saddle bag as I don't like nasty surprises when I am far away from home.
A community member
Feb 11, 2019
bookmark_border
ebc4Probably a misunderstanding, I didn't have to make my own mount. The one you get with it is perfectly fine and it never failed. Mount was fine at least for my use case, which is road bike cycling. The mount I made was simply to make my handlebars more organized as I dislike having things on them. So I moved my light to a different position. Stock mount is really similar to one with light here on sale with exception that this is screw mounted while Fenix has a rubber mount.
Also, I am not a fanboy, this is my first and only Fenix light, and I am completely okay with people buying something else. My advice is primarily focused on getting light with replaceable battery, nothing else. People have different tastes and different requiremens and I don't expect anyone to follow my route. In my first comment I provided link to bike light database which I wholeheartedly recommend people visit in order to find a light to their liking. To me it's just absurd to pay 100$ for a light that has expiration date built-in and limits maximum number of hours of cycling during night. The reason why I recommended Fenix light is that it's my only light in this higher price range and build quality and the only one I have extensive experience with. I did not wish to give recommendation for devices I have no experience with.
(Edited)
A community member
Apr 9, 2019
bookmark_border
sockpuppyMy point is that you can't reliably know how much charge you have left as battery deteriorates over time. Having a replaceable battery is a benefit no matter how you look at it. Lithium Ion batteries like sitting in the middle of charge for storage purposes, anything else degrades their life and performance. Once battery fails, and it's a question of when not if, you have to throw away high quality bike light for no other reason than them building planned obsolescence in the product. And I am not going to go deeper into just how much better 18650 is than cells used in this light are. From thermal dissipation, performance, over and under-voltage protections, etc.
Two hours might be enough for you and your location, but for mine it's not, especially in the winter when it gets dark before 5pm. People living further away from equator have even less daylight, so longer battery life is always more convenient if for no other reason then to charge it fewer times.
Oh, and dynamo adds far more weight and price than just picking up the right bike light and one extra battery.
(Edited)
matt.sandy
2
Aug 1, 2019
bookmark_border
I use USB lights on 350+mile rides. Might not be as long as yours, but they take me a while. I pretty much always have a USB battery pack with me, so the lights get charged during the day and I usually can find a spot to charge my battery pack if need be. Also, 180 lumens is plenty fine during middle of the night riding in the middle of nowhere since yours eyes adjust and you aren't competing with city lights. 17 hours...that gives you 5 hours of riding with lights for 3 days before needing a charge.
A community member
Aug 2, 2019
bookmark_border
matt.sandyBattery pack is pretty much the same thing I was suggesting but with few downsides. Light itself has to support charging and running at the same time, which not all of them do and battery packs are usually heavier than a single battery. But if that works for you, great. Although you'll still be replacing whole light once battery dies which is inevitable.
Drop Refurbished
Like-new products you can trustDrop Rewards
Get $5 for every 500 points you earn! Learn more
Drop Keyboard Club
Become a member and expand your keycap collectionCollaborate With Us
For Brands & DesignersFollow Drop