CREE XM-L LED front light

***BEWARE***

I bought these after reading this review. Yes brightness is fantastic but they are not worth the risk.
We could have lost our house last night when the battery was charging in our kitchen.

Firstly one cell 'popped' and the unit fell off the worktop behind our rubbish bins. It burst into flame, then a second cell expoloded with a loud bang, sending black debris over the kitchen. One piece was stuck to the ceiling.

'Luckily' this explosion put the fire out but red hot parts were still around and we were able to deal with them.

Yes bright, but do you want your house lit up?

I purchased higher powered version, supposed to be over 5000 lumens for about 30 pounds from eBay. I ride it side by side with a exposure light which is about 2000 lumens. The cree is a little brighter but not much and runs for about 2 hrs with extended battery I bought. Amazing value for money and surprisingly well built I think. Can't fault it really.

I went for the C&B Seen version which seems to have better quality connectors and better quality cells in the battery pack, 5 hours on full beam for every full charge so far. I didn't think the Magic Shine version was worth £80 but then again I did not want to chance an ebay version direct from China in case of a failure or one of the battery charger horror story's I have heard. £40 is about right and the build quality seems better than an original Magicshine of a friends that burned out. I will be shelling out for the new mount rather than making something Heath Robinson to replace the silicone ring mount. http://www.candb-seen.co.uk/accessories/cables-o-rings-and-helmet.html

Beam pattern is a tad brute force as others have said but handily I have some polished stainless steel off cuts to fabricate a cowl from.

i feel like such a curmudgeon, continually getting irate about being blinded by other lights in and around town.

i guess it's a combination of changing light design a bit or doing whatever they do in germany or something, or possibly hoping that the douchebag with the helmet light shining in my face might listen when i shout at him to turn his light the fuck away from my eyeballs.

cross this article with the railway path one and you've got a regular angst mash-up angry cyclist on cyclist party.

The dazzle problem is made worse when people have them on their helmets on the road. They are right in your eyeline, made worse when they look at you along an offroad path to ensure you don't run into each other.

it absolutely kills what little night vision you have, leaving the night even blacker than it was before.

I've had one of these and a Cree Solarstorm over the winter, and they're amazing. If you're looking to try night-riding, as a way of extending your training in the dark months, or want a cheap back-up for commuting, then this option makes a whole lot of sense. I think that two Cree XM-L lights makes for a good set-up - most of my night-time rides end-up on the muddy trails around the Fosse Way, rather than staying to the roads.
I totally agree with the comments about dazzling other road users, so some common courtesy is necessary, especially on dark & narrow country lanes, when the brightness seems more extreme.

I've had mine a few months and it's been very good. I keep it on the low setting on the road and angle it down (as is sensible with any light). I've used the bright beam off road and it's excellent.

As a few others have said, the battery warning is inconsistent.

I used mine over 2 days (about an hour and a half of usage, but it had been charged 2 weeks earlier) and the indicator light went from green to flashing red to off within 10 seconds.

All of the above reflects (sorry) our club experience of about a dozen of these over the last few years. Only one OOTB failure, and the seller sent a whole new one next day so the buyer was quids in with a spare battery.

Otherwise trouble-free, and means a lot of folks are riding at night when otherwise they simply would not have been able to afford to.

My *only* caveat with these is that because the battery notification is not consistent (some don't have it at all, others change colour, others have indicator LED's, others dim first) and the batteries themselves frequently have a low-voltage cutout, they can turn off without warning. Had this happen twice before I twigged to actual vs. indicated runtime, going too close to the 2hr-ish max on full beam. This could be a bit hairy if you were descending in pitch darkness at the end of a ride with no others around you. Like I said, it's not an issue for me now because I don't run them flat anymore, just be aware of the possibly abrupt cut-off. Given the lucky dip that is exact feature delivered, it might pay to do your own run-flat test to find out what happens, when.

The far majority of users I come across have one or more, pointed horizontally. Its getting pretty dangerous.

More so when you have people sitting in your wheel with one and you cannot see traffic behind you either.

Is this light like this one:-

http://forums.mtbr.com/lights-night-riding/exploding-battery-pack-cree-x...

Rather have a bike light that at least reaches UK standards and not have to charge it in a metal box whilst watching it.

I bought one of these about a year ago, on Ebay, for 18 quid inc p&p. I was so gobsmacked at the price, I've bought four more. Ok, it's cheap, but I've had no problems with rain or vibration at all.

Last year, I did an off road 24 hour ride with two of these lights up front, and three batteries, set to normal mode, were enough to see me through about 8 hours of darkness. No problems at all. I have one pointing well down, to avoid dazzle, and another pointing straight ahead for when there's no cars about, which I can switch on and off as required, rather than faffing about trying to constantly adjust just the one light.

I've come from an era where we all had to thump our Eveready lights into action, and even if I had had a crytstal ball back then, I would never have believed how stonkingly good modern lights are. And for no more than the price of a few ales, too. Certainly no more need to piss on the carbide.

I've been using two of these for a few months now, 4 days a week for the commute home, on a mix of city streets, (somewhat) lit cycle paths, and unlit roads.

Have got a wide-angle lens fitted to one of them, the other one has the original lens (spot). Most of the time I'm only using the wide-angle one on the low setting, pointing down a bit, when I get into darker areas I'll switch on the spot light, pointing ahead. Only switching them to high when on completely unlit roads.

Never had any problems with the batteries even in heavy rain. Yes, the cables are quite long, but IMHO that's actually a plus - I never liked the batteries dangling from the top tube, so I've routed the cables along the top tube using some velcro straps, ending in a y-cable to connect both of them to a single battery, which is fitted to the top of the seat stays below the saddle. Much neater that way.

I always keep the other battery at hand as a spare in case one runs out of power, but have never had to change them in mid-commute so far (2 hours one way).

Will definitely buy two more of them for the n+1 bike.

Edited to add: using this y-cable for £2 w/ free worldwide shipping:
http://www.fasttech.com/product/1087000-54mm-male-to-dual-female-adapter...

ditto to all of the above. Had an exposure and went out on the mtb with a friend who had just purchased one of these... within a week Id sold the exposure and got myself 2 of the above, 1 for the bars and 1 for the lid. Use the bar mounted 1 on the road bike too..job done!

ditto to all of the above. Had an exposure and went out on the mtb with a friend who had just purchased one of these... within a week Id sold the exposure and got myself 2 of the above, 1 for the bars and 1 for the lid. Use the bar mounted 1 on the road bike too..job done!

Can't fault mine at all, I find the fresnel diffuser I've added has improved its throw of light for dark countryside lanes and unlit parkland and seems not to be blinding passing aircraft anymore.
I have put the battery and yards of cable into a small gadget bag, it has a belt loop so attaches easily to the frame and has the little rubberised headphone cable hole to keep it all tidy and plenty watertight. £3 from the supermarket.
My only gripe is the fairly weak joining between the lights body and plastic bar mounting, I've re-sited it slightly and threadlocked the screw in place & it seems a bit more reliable now. The O rings both seem on the big side but switching them for a zip tie fixes that.

Lad at work has two of these for off-road in the dark; one on handlebars, one on helmet, and he reckons it's like turning night into day.

Just bought this one myself, which is even cheaper.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/400599100961?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=...

I've been using one of these since last summer.

I use it as well as a less powerful led light and only switch it on when I get out into the sticks where there's no street lighting and fewer cars.

I usually get about 2-3 hours on full power.

I use one of these for commuting, generally on the lower output. Full power is great for off-road, and the flash mode is guaranteed to give someone a seizure.
I use an old water bottle to house the battery and the excess cable, keeps it watertight on even the grim days.

awesome light, far better than any of the stupid main branded ones which cost £100s for something similar.

Ive had mine for nearly 2 years and its waterproof if you place it properly.
Battery is fine and tbh i cannot fault it.

I might buy a brighter light thats easier to charge but im not prepared to pay over £100 for one.

I have rapid these.The older one is a year old and used every day in the mornings & evenings. Battery life is great but the LED battery warning light goes to red too soon. It will last another hour plus on red before it flashes red, even then it goes on for ages.
The projected light is dangerous to other road users. Turn it to dim mode to avoid being unpopular tilt it down. I don't suppose for a minute it would be legal on the road in some countries (Germany). Great for off road use.
For the money I really don't think you can beat it.
You could buy five of these for the cost of a similar Hope light.

I have a cree head torch for fishing and it takes a battering in the cold north east nights and still works brilliantly so if the bike one is half as good then i will get one.

I've got the big brother version of this, the 3xXM-L, Really powerful, but the battery life get shorter the more I used it, I didn't think about the battery cover being waterproof... The downward triangle shape enable me to put my hand underneath the light and not touching the light, felt really comfortable there. I love the dimming the lights when you don't need that much light, like at dawn or dusk, just hold down the button for a few secs and then it'll dims, same for brighting up.

I have the 5 bulb version of this for the MTB, it's like a captured sun. Riding side by side with my son we've had a fair few people say they thought it was a car coming.

I've had one of these for the past few months, used 5x per week for commuting and it's been great!

The downside I find is that there is a lot of cable between the light and the battery and have to bunch it up and cable tie it to stop it getting in the way.

My flash setting is an epilepsy-inducing type strobe that I avoid, but I do agree even the brighter setting is definitely no worse than cars on full beam coming towards you. I normally switch it down down to the lower setting if cars are about.