L2DCE in-store source or similar light suggestion?

[DanKMTB@gmail.com]

Any ideas where can I find one of these in store, so I can test it and
return it up the street if it doesn't cut the mustard for me?

All this talk of lights lately, combined with days getting shorter and
shorter, have me thinking it's about half past time for me to get some
decent lighting. I want something reasonably cheap, preferably around
(or better yet less than!) $50. I want something small & light. I
want something I can easily and quickly move from bike to bike.

I am thinking one of the new AA powered Cree LCD flashlights would be
perfect. If the L2DCE had an adjustable beam like the Mag lights do,
I'd likely just order one online. However, I'm very skeptical about a
beam I can't focus, hence the desire to pick one up locally.

[Victor Kan]

On Sep 26, 3:36 pm, "DanK...@gmail.com" <DanK...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I am thinking one of the new AA powered Cree LCD flashlights would be
> perfect. If the L2DCE had an adjustable beam like the Mag lights do,

If you've got a minimag 2xAA flashlight, you might try this:

http://www.lighthound.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=2560
http://batteryjunction.com/tle-5k2.html

I don't know how good it actually is and it's not a CREE, but the
related SSC LED.

[Phil]

DanKMTB@gmail.com wrote:
> Any ideas where can I find one of these in store, so I can test it and
> return it up the street if it doesn't cut the mustard for me?
>
> All this talk of lights lately, combined with days getting shorter and
> shorter, have me thinking it's about half past time for me to get some
> decent lighting. I want something reasonably cheap, preferably around
> (or better yet less than!) $50. I want something small & light. I
> want something I can easily and quickly move from bike to bike.
>
> I am thinking one of the new AA powered Cree LCD flashlights would be
> perfect. If the L2DCE had an adjustable beam like the Mag lights do,
> I'd likely just order one online. However, I'm very skeptical about a
> beam I can't focus, hence the desire to pick one up locally.

Too new to be seen in stores. fenix-store.com has great customer service
and you can sell it on eBay if you're handy with it. No connection of
course.

BTW, LEDs are a little hard to focus, so you'll need to scour the
candlepowerforums forums for long-throw lights.

MiniMagLED 2xAA might work for you, but it doesn't focus like the incan
version of it.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=171438

http://pswsales.stores.yahoo.net/ma2ledmimagb.html

But the MiniMag is quite a bit dimmer than the L2D.
--
Phil

[SMS]

DanKMTB@gmail.com wrote:
> Any ideas where can I find one of these in store, so I can test it and
> return it up the street if it doesn't cut the mustard for me?

Where do you live? I bought mine direct from Elite, and he met me
locally at the post office. He said that he's sold a lot of them to
local cyclists (this is in the Silicon Valley area). He was a good guy,
and if I'd asked to try out a test unit for a few minutes prior to
purchase he probably would have consented.

<snip>

> I am thinking one of the new AA powered Cree LCD flashlights would be
> perfect. If the L2DCE had an adjustable beam like the Mag lights do,
> I'd likely just order one online. However, I'm very skeptical about a
> beam I can't focus, hence the desire to pick one up locally.

I had that concern as well. I'd have preferred an adjustable beam. But
it's actually very difficult to do this with an LED. I have a
Streamlight Strion which is a very powerful non-LED flashlight with an
adjustable beam, but it only runs about 90 minutes, and uses a Li-Ion
battery (which makes it light and compact, but extra batteries are kind
of expensive as there are no after-market packs like there are for
digital cameras).

I really like the L2DCE. It's an almost ideal beam for cycling, similar
to what the SolidLight 1203D puts out. It's comparable to the new
DiNotte products at about 1/3 to 1/2 the cost. You don't have the
compromise beam of many low-power bicycle lights that don't illuminate
peripherally.

Also, I don't think that the MagLight LED flashlights have adjustable
brightness. With the L2DCE you can run it at medium brightness and it's
still better than most battery powered or dynamo powered headlights.

Note that the L2DCE is very small diameter. You need a spacer to use
with the various flashlight brackets on the market. The flashlight
brackets seem to be all designed for the AA size MagLight.

[russellseaton1@yahoo.com]

On Sep 26, 2:36 pm, "DanK...@gmail.com" <DanK...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Any ideas where can I find one of these in store, so I can test it and
> return it up the street if it doesn't cut the mustard for me?
>
> All this talk of lights lately, combined with days getting shorter and
> shorter, have me thinking it's about half past time for me to get some
> decent lighting. I want something reasonably cheap, preferably around
> (or better yet less than!) $50. I want something small & light. I
> want something I can easily and quickly move from bike to bike.
>
> I am thinking one of the new AA powered Cree LCD flashlights would be
> perfect. If the L2DCE had an adjustable beam like the Mag lights do,
> I'd likely just order one online. However, I'm very skeptical about a
> beam I can't focus, hence the desire to pick one up locally.

I used my Fenix L2DCE 2AA powered flashlight on a night ride
recently. CREE LED. It casts a very wide flood beam. Puts out
plenty of light for its tiny size. You could use it as your only
light. Better to have two of them though. Its powerful, but not that
powerful of a light. The wide flood beam does mean a lot of the light
is wasted. The light would be much better for bicycling with a much
more focused beam. But the wide beam is probably good for a
flashlight's normal handheld use. I used the Two Fish block sold by
the Fenix Store to mount the light to the top of the handlebars. This
mount would also work as a helmet light too.

[DanKMTB@gmail.com]

On Sep 26, 6:14 pm, Victor Kan <victor....@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Sep 26, 3:36 pm, "DanK...@gmail.com" <DanK...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > I am thinking one of the new AA powered Cree LCD flashlights would be
> > perfect. If the L2DCE had an adjustable beam like the Mag lights do,
>
> If you've got a minimag 2xAA flashlight, you might try this:
>
> http://www.lighthound.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=2560http://batteryjunction.com/tle-5k2.html
>
> I don't know how good it actually is and it's not a CREE, but the
> related SSC LED.

Not a bad backup if it comes to that, but I've been doing a bit of
reading that says that light with the mod still isn't all that bright,
especially in comparison to something like the L2DCE. If I go with
the L2DCE, I may go with this setup in addition for off-road. Thanks
for the links!

[DanKMTB@gmail.com]

On Sep 27, 8:06 pm, "Phil" <n...@try.to> wrote:
> DanK...@gmail.com wrote:
> > Any ideas where can I find one of these in store, so I can test it and
> > return it up the street if it doesn't cut the mustard for me?
>
> > All this talk of lights lately, combined with days getting shorter and
> > shorter, have me thinking it's about half past time for me to get some
> > decent lighting. I want something reasonably cheap, preferably around
> > (or better yet less than!) $50. I want something small & light. I
> > want something I can easily and quickly move from bike to bike.
>
> > I am thinking one of the new AA powered Cree LCD flashlights would be
> > perfect. If the L2DCE had an adjustable beam like the Mag lights do,
> > I'd likely just order one online. However, I'm very skeptical about a
> > beam I can't focus, hence the desire to pick one up locally.
>
> Too new to be seen in stores. fenix-store.com has great customer service
> and you can sell it on eBay if you're handy with it. No connection of
> course.

I considered that as well. I might just have to bight the bullet.
I'll have to check and see what they're going for on ebay, so I know
what type of hit I'll take if I don't like it.


> BTW, LEDs are a little hard to focus, so you'll need to scour the
> candlepowerforums forums for long-throw lights.

I've been doing a bit of poking around over there. I'm sure I'm not
done yet :) I didn't realize that LEDs do not focus as well, that's
handy info.


> MiniMagLED 2xAA might work for you, but it doesn't focus like the incan
> version of it.
>
> http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=171438
>
> http://pswsales.stores.yahoo.net/ma2ledmimagb.html
>
> But the MiniMag is quite a bit dimmer than the L2D.

I looked into this when I first found CPF, but just don't think it
will be bright enough. Maybe for the woods, where I'm going slow and
need more of a flood beam, but not on the roads where I want to cruise
@ 20mph without over-running my light.

[DanKMTB@gmail.com]

On Sep 27, 10:31 pm, SMS <scharf.ste...@geemail.com> wrote:
> DanK...@gmail.com wrote:
> > Any ideas where can I find one of these in store, so I can test it and
> > return it up the street if it doesn't cut the mustard for me?
>
> Where do you live? I bought mine direct from Elite, and he met me
> locally at the post office. He said that he's sold a lot of them to
> local cyclists (this is in the Silicon Valley area). He was a good guy,
> and if I'd asked to try out a test unit for a few minutes prior to
> purchase he probably would have consented.
>
> <snip>
>
> > I am thinking one of the new AA powered Cree LCD flashlights would be
> > perfect. If the L2DCE had an adjustable beam like the Mag lights do,
> > I'd likely just order one online. However, I'm very skeptical about a
> > beam I can't focus, hence the desire to pick one up locally.
>
> I had that concern as well. I'd have preferred an adjustable beam. But
> it's actually very difficult to do this with an LED. I have a
> Streamlight Strion which is a very powerful non-LED flashlight with an
> adjustable beam, but it only runs about 90 minutes, and uses a Li-Ion
> battery (which makes it light and compact, but extra batteries are kind
> of expensive as there are no after-market packs like there are for
> digital cameras).

I'm really trying to avoid batteries that I can't buy at the store.
Rides & plans change sometimes, and its' nice to be able to get your
lights back with a $5 stop at CVS.


> I really like the L2DCE. It's an almost ideal beam for cycling, similar
> to what the SolidLight 1203D puts out. It's comparable to the new
> DiNotte products at about 1/3 to 1/2 the cost. You don't have the
> compromise beam of many low-power bicycle lights that don't illuminate
> peripherally.

The peripheral is my concern. I have a bit of faith in the L2DCE on
road, but when I'm in the woods going slow I'm concerned it won't have
a wide enough beam for me to choose my lines. Have you used it off
road at all, or just on road riding?


> Also, I don't think that the MagLight LED flashlights have adjustable
> brightness. With the L2DCE you can run it at medium brightness and it's
> still better than most battery powered or dynamo powered headlights.

Another good point.
> Note that the L2DCE is very small diameter. You need a spacer to use
> with the various flashlight brackets on the market. The flashlight
> brackets seem to be all designed for the AA size MagLight.

I gathered that, but it's no big deal. I'll make a spacer if I need
one. Thanks a bunch for the info, it's good to hear from someone who
uses this as a bicycle light. How long have you had it? How fast can
you ride on a pitch dark night using it on the road? Any off road
use? Handle-bar mounted, I assume? Ever try it on the helmet?

[SMS]

DanKMTB@gmail.com wrote:

> The peripheral is my concern. I have a bit of faith in the L2DCE on
> road, but when I'm in the woods going slow I'm concerned it won't have
> a wide enough beam for me to choose my lines. Have you used it off
> road at all, or just on road riding?

I've only used it on the road. The beam is brightest in the center, but
the peripheral illumination is good. I found myself thinking that a
slightly narrower beam would have been fine on the road.

See "http://blog.so-net.ne.jp/taddy/2007-03-01"

>> Note that the L2DCE is very small diameter. You need a spacer to use
>> with the various flashlight brackets on the market. The flashlight
>> brackets seem to be all designed for the AA size MagLight.
>
> I gathered that, but it's no big deal. I'll make a spacer if I need
> one. Thanks a bunch for the info, it's good to hear from someone who
> uses this as a bicycle light. How long have you had it? How fast can
> you ride on a pitch dark night using it on the road? Any off road
> use? Handle-bar mounted, I assume? Ever try it on the helmet?

I've had it two weeks. Never off-road. I'd say I'd feel confident that
I'm not outrunning it at 20mph in areas with no other lighting.

See "http://nordicgroup.us/s78/flashlights.html"

"http://nordicgroup.us/s78/images/flashl4.jpg" is it mounted on the
handlebars with a piece of industrial black rubber hose as the spacer,
so I can use the handlebar clamp.

[Victor Kan]

On Sep 28, 8:42 am, "DanK...@gmail.com" <DanK...@gmail.com> wrote:
....
> The peripheral is my concern. I have a bit of faith in the L2DCE on
> road, but when I'm in the woods going slow I'm concerned it won't have
> a wide enough beam for me to choose my lines. Have you used it off
> road at all, or just on road riding?

One thing to consider with the L2DCE is which reflector you have. The
one I mistakenly ordered was the smooth reflector, but I actually
wanted the textured reflector. Fortunately for me, my retailer
(lighthound as I linked to in a previous post) is letting me exchange
for the textured reflector. Hopefully I'll get the light back next
week.

With the smooth reflector, the side spill is still pretty wide and
near the front of the bike, it's pretty bright. Far out though, the
spill is minimally visible and the spot is all you really see. So I'm
thinking this might be wide enough for what you want for lower speed
off-road. The smooth reflector is more likely to have a "ringy" beam
with the bright spot surrounded by a dim ring, then brighter ring.
I've found that dim ring a distraction that I need to fill in with my
helmet light. I expect the textured reflector to significantly reduce
that ring problem at the expense of some distance vision, and suspect
it'd be what you'd want off-road too.

> ... How long have you had it? How fast can
> you ride on a pitch dark night using it on the road? Any off road
> use? Handle-bar mounted, I assume? Ever try it on the helmet?

I'm not Steve, but I've used the light for maybe four or five night
road rides in both totally unlit areas (though we've had a lot of
moonshine) and brightly street lit areas. In unlit areas, running in
Turbo mode (the mode I've been running all the time) offers plenty of
light and I don't need my helmet light at all (other than to fill in
as mentioned before).

In brightly lit areas that have dark patches between the street lamps,
the L2DCE is still overwhelmed (could also be the light color
difference as much as the brightness difference) and going from lit
areas to dark patches is still iffy unless I also have my helmet light
on.

I've only used the L2DCE handlebar mounted with a Twofish Cyclop Block
or whatever it's called. I've had trouble with other, heavier
flashlights holding a tilt setting with that Twofish thing, but the
L2DCE is very light and I've had no problems with the light holding
its position.

[Victor Kan]

On Oct 2, 3:53 pm, "russellseat...@yahoo.com"
<russellseat...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> I used my Fenix L2DCE 2AA powered flashlight on a night ride
> recently. CREE LED. It casts a very wide flood beam.

Is the one you have the textured/orange-peel reflector, or the
smooth? I'm looking forward to getting my light back this week with
the reflector changed to the textured to get a bit more of a flood. I
didn't like the dark ring around the spot with the smooth reflector.

> ... The light would be much better for bicycling with a much
> more focused beam. But the wide beam is probably good for a
> flashlight's normal handheld use.

I'm now trying a $30 Task Force LED flashlight from Lowe's Home
Improvement for bike lighting. It's got a CREE XLamp in it and takes
2xC cells, though I'm using 2xAA with C cell adapters

That thing is a very tight beam and throws *very* far. It's the
first, single LED light I've tried that punches through the shadows on
roads that have bright street lighting with trees and distance between
lamps causing very dark patches that are hard to see.

It does a better job than my old, 10W halogen NiteRider HeadTrip on
those same dark patches.

I don't know what the runtimes are yet having used it only on a short
trip, but I would guess ~90 minutes with 2650mAh AA cells given
another CandlePowerForums user's measurement of 1.2A draw.

Look for the thread titled "OMG - NEW Lowes Task Force 3W "CREE" 2C
150+ lumens" at www.candlepowerforums.com for discussion of that
light.

[SMS]

Victor Kan wrote:
> On Oct 2, 3:53 pm, "russellseat...@yahoo.com"
> <russellseat...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>> I used my Fenix L2DCE 2AA powered flashlight on a night ride
>> recently. CREE LED. It casts a very wide flood beam.
>
> Is the one you have the textured/orange-peel reflector, or the
> smooth? I'm looking forward to getting my light back this week with
> the reflector changed to the textured to get a bit more of a flood. I
> didn't like the dark ring around the spot with the smooth reflector.

Wow, I thought the smooth reflector was already plenty of flood, and
thought that a bit more spot might be nice. It's a fine line between
wasting light with too much flood, and having enough of a flood for
peripheral illumination. The Fenix I have is just about ideal in terms
of the beam pattern, with very little "wasted" light.

[SMS]

Victor Kan wrote:

> That thing is a very tight beam and throws *very* far. It's the
> first, single LED light I've tried that punches through the shadows on
> roads that have bright street lighting with trees and distance between
> lamps causing very dark patches that are hard to see.

The Lowe's near me still has the old Luxeon 3W version of this
flashlight. From what I've read, the Cree version is _much_ better, so I
didn't get the Luxeon version (which clearly says Luxeon on the
package). Apparently the UPC code and the model number are the same on
the Cree and Luxeon versions.

It's interesting that we've come so full circle in bicycle lights, that
a "flashlight on the handlebars" is now one of the best bicycle lights
available in terms of the beam.

I also saw a Coast flashlight at Lowe' with an unspecified 3W LED, and
an adjustable spot to flood lens.

[russellseaton1@yahoo.com]

On Oct 2, 4:12 pm, Victor Kan <victor....@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Oct 2, 3:53 pm, "russellseat...@yahoo.com"
>
> <russellseat...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> > I used my Fenix L2DCE 2AA powered flashlight on a night ride
> > recently. CREE LED. It casts a very wide flood beam.
>
> Is the one you have the textured/orange-peel reflector, or the
> smooth? I'm looking forward to getting my light back this week with
> the reflector changed to the textured to get a bit more of a flood. I
> didn't like the dark ring around the spot with the smooth reflector.

Don't know. I ordered it from the Fenix Store and it is what they
sent. I can look if that will be able to tell me. Or is the orange
peel reflector very, very subltle?


>
> > ... The light would be much better for bicycling with a much
> > more focused beam. But the wide beam is probably good for a
> > flashlight's normal handheld use.
>
> I'm now trying a $30 Task Force LED flashlight from Lowe's Home
> Improvement for bike lighting. It's got a CREE XLamp in it and takes
> 2xC cells, though I'm using 2xAA with C cell adapters
>
> That thing is a very tight beam and throws *very* far. It's the
> first, single LED light I've tried that punches through the shadows on
> roads that have bright street lighting with trees and distance between
> lamps causing very dark patches that are hard to see.

I will definitely look into this. I like the long narrow beam. But
2C is not as small and neat as the Fenix.


>
> It does a better job than my old, 10W halogen NiteRider HeadTrip on
> those same dark patches.
>
> I don't know what the runtimes are yet having used it only on a short
> trip, but I would guess ~90 minutes with 2650mAh AA cells given
> another CandlePowerForums user's measurement of 1.2A draw.
>
> Look for the thread titled "OMG - NEW Lowes Task Force 3W "CREE" 2C
> 150+ lumens" atwww.candlepowerforums.comfor discussion of that
> light.

[Victor Kan]

On Oct 4, 1:20 pm, "russellseat...@yahoo.com"
<russellseat...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> On Oct 2, 4:12 pm, Victor Kan <victor....@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Is the one you have the textured/orange-peel reflector, or the
> > smooth?
>
> Don't know. I ordered it from the Fenix Store and it is what they
> sent. I can look if that will be able to tell me. Or is the orange
> peel reflector very, very subltle?

I think Fenix Store sells it only with the orange peel reflector,
though I could be wrong.

The smooth reflector looks kinda like what you'd see in a Maglite,
while the orange peel is more dull looking and visibly dimpled (very
tiny dimples though).

> > I'm now trying a $30 Task Force LED flashlight from Lowe's Home
> > Improvement for bike lighting. It's got a CREE XLamp in it and takes
> > 2xC cells, though I'm using 2xAA with C cell adapters
....
> I will definitely look into this. I like the long narrow beam. But
> 2C is not as small and neat as the Fenix.

Yeah, the 2xC light is nice to hold in the hand, but definitely bulky
on the handlebars vs. the Fenix.

One update I've got on the Task Force light as a bike light is that on
some bumpy roads, it flickered a bit. I suspect the switch isn't
quite as solid as it could or should be--something in there actually
rattles more than the batteries do. I might need to exchange it if I
find another Lowe's store with stock, give them a shake and they don't
rattle at all.