Lights

Its a good concept but in truth the just don't work as well as expected

The fleas are shit!
Bad Points
-Mounting system is crap and slips as the silicon gripper falls off
-Not even a bit waterproof both my front an rear broke in the rain
-Battery life is pitiful!
-Expensive for what they are

Trust me avoid them!

I'm not rating those Fleas very highly amongst its contemporaries. I think the reviews were a bit mixed.

I wouldn't buy them, but some seem to be happy with them. I just think there's better to be had.

Ed the Smart Polaris half watt is pretty much the same in terms of brightness, but has a clip which has less room between the light and clip so is great for clipping on to my Pac. I can only recommend the one shaped like that, don't know about the version which is shaped more like the Cherry Bomb.

Must admit I don't use my Cherry Bomb so much now as don't want the bracket on my bike and it isn't safe to clip onto things. Also it turns on really easily in my bag.

I love the Cherry Bomb, but the mount on the light itself are pretty weak to clip securely on bags though.

Lost one due to that, pretty annoying.

The fleas are shit!
Bad Points
-Mounting system is crap and slips as the silicon gripper falls off
-Not even a bit waterproof both my front an rear broke in the rain
-Battery life is pitiful!
-Expensive for what they are

Good points
-Relatively powerful
-Rechargeable

Trust me avoid them!

They do come with a full lifetime warranty though. Agreed the velcro mounting system isn't mega secure, but I guess there's limited alternatives without using a dedicated clamp.

I got my set last year and they've held up fine. The battery life on the front isn't great but find me another rechargable light on the market that size that puts out 40 lumens on full charge.

The fleas are shit!
Bad Points
-Mounting system is crap and slips as the silicon gripper falls off
-Not even a bit waterproof both my front an rear broke in the rain
-Battery life is pitiful!
-Expensive for what they are

Good points
-Relatively powerful
-Rechargeable

Trust me avoid them!

Agree with the rubber strip coming off instantly but no slipping here. I've had no problems in the wet either. Give Blackburn a call/email they have a lifetime warrenty so should be able to sort you out.

I've been a busy bee, and added quite a few more lights to the list.

If anyone spots any deals out there for front lights good quality, let us know, looking at a Hope 1 so prepared to spend around £75

http://www.highonbikes.com/sigma-karma-pro-road-mtb-front-bike-light.html

Bracket can be a tad shit but great for the money.

Ive just bought a set of ayups and they cost me £184......

This is a lot of dough, but when i use them for about 8 months of the year to ride for pleasure after work, it makes them good value for money.........IMHO, of course!

They are quality items and amazingly bright for such small things..........

Ive just bought a set of ayups and they cost me £184......

This is a lot of dough, but when i use them for about 8 months of the year to ride for pleasure after work, it makes them good value for money.........IMHO, of course!

They are quality items and amazingly bright for such small things..........

How is the sealing? I really like the look of these, but will use them in shitty weather A LOT.

They are waterproof to 5 metres.... And have a 5 year g'tee against everything else including crash damage apparently..... Email them off their website.... They are really quick to respond.
I got mine in 2 days and they are quality.

My brother has had his ay-ups for 5 years (ish) with no problems what so ever.

That's always good to hear :0)

I've had to fly them under the wifes radar....

Cheers guys, I'll patch something together from the big box of Sigma halogen parts I have and start saving. Should have two function Li-ion batteries and two complete 10w light units.

I dont want to put the Sigma stuff down. Its coped with some nasty conditions, for 1000's of kms. But once a few parts failed, it just could'nt survive my electrical reparation skills.

Ay-Ups sponsor an event over here, they were selling kits cheap with no shipping charges.

I had no cash :-(

tuesday night ride club 2 weeks ago I used the 300 lumen L&M stella at circa £260. This week I used an ultrafire WF502B which is about £15 and infinitly better...

linky http://bestofferbuy.com/UltraFire-WF-502B-Cree-XPE-WCR5-320-Lumen-LED-Flashlight-with-Clip-(1*18650/2*16340)-p-58055.html?currency=GBP&utm_source=gbase&utm_medium=cse&utm_campaign=gbase

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gabe
The fleas are shit!
Bad Points
-Mounting system is crap and slips as the silicon gripper falls off
-Not even a bit waterproof both my front an rear broke in the rain
-Battery life is pitiful!
-Expensive for what they are

Good points
-Relatively powerful
-Rechargeable

Trust me avoid them!
Agree with the rubber strip coming off instantly but no slipping here. I've had no problems in the wet either. Give Blackburn a call/email they have a lifetime warrenty so should be able to sort you out.

Yeah had no real slipping problem here - bought mine from Chain and after the rear failed a year later they replaced it gratis within a week. Yeah battery life's not great but I just recharge on USB at work.

I'd also like to resurrect Balki's technique of sticking a flashy front light on the bag strap - can anyone reccomend anything other than the cateye?

i sold one of my torches yesterday to benjam for the tnrc ride out. 290 lumen front light purchased for little more than 25quid (including special rechargeables and shipping).

so, owning a hope vision 1 and still thinking this is a well solid light for the money plus the glass lens makes for a very good beam pattern to see things on the road, but for blinky light city riding, where the beam pattern is not so important as blink frequency and brightness, i love those cheapo alloy torches like the just sold UltratFire WF-5028 or my favourite the UltraFire U4-MCU with a CREE Q5 led at around 15 to 20quid.

they usually need an unusual size batteries and that makes you buy yet another charger for them as well, but the U4-MCU can be used with 3 AAA's as well. win!

find good prices and very quick 1 to 2 day delivery from uk shop www.lumenjunkies.co.uk
unfortunately the überburner torch with 900lumen seems out of stock a long time already, but then again, i am not looking for fighter jets and bombers in london's night sky ...

...yet.

i am not affiliated with the shop, i just feel, forumengers should know about the good prices for lottsa lumen over there.

Those cheapo Cateye ones are the only ones I can think of off the top of my head.
Obviously the rear Flea has one.

See here:
http://www.lfgss.com/thread13473.html

Apparently the rear Mars has a clip.

And these:
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_530583_langId_-1_categoryId_165636

Just got a Hope Vision 1 from Evans (tried Cavendish/ Fitrovia Cycles but only Cateyes in stock at the moment, new lights coming in next week), they're £71 on the website, but £65 with my LCC card 10% discount. They'll also do price match

Though there are lots cheaper, the Hope really is worth all of its money, IMO.

yes, i think ^that, too.

i received the following response from ryan at lumenjunkies.co.uk when i pointed him to this thread:

"Hi Reeen

Thanks for leaving good feedback on the forum, I would love to offer a
discount but unfortunately due to the dollar exchange rate being so
poor its proving quite tricky to maintain the current prices before
even any discount. Im always happy to combine postage though, so if a
few of you get together you can all order separately and let me know
which address you want it sent to and Ill refund everybody the
postage.

Thanks
Ryan"

hope it helps someone.

on a side note concerning rear lights. i have had bad experience with these cateye ones, the slim one line rear light they have. as it is bright and has a good formfactor, i felt the 30 or so pounds i paid in the shop where not refected in build quality and shatter/waterproofness. i saw some noname chinese copies for a 5er and thought that comes closer to their value.

i liked the look of balki's mars but when it comes to brightness, i never saw one single light beat the BLT Fantom X9 yet.

i liked the look of balki's mars but when it comes to brightness, i never saw one single light beat the BLT Fantom X9 yet.

DiNotte, my friend. Bathes everything around it in a red glow. Outrageously bright (and scattery).

i have yet to witness the power. the new upcoming exposure rear light seems promising in that regard, too.