Ebay Rechargeable Headlights- Do They Work?



Darktone

Member
Jul 1, 2015
98
8
0
I seen a few reviews on YouTube and they look good for the price. Anyone have real world experience here?
 
I'm not that big a fan on re-chargeable things due to bad experiences of them breaking down in the past. I haven't seen these re-chargeable lights but if they are low in price then it can't hurt to give them a go I suppose.
 
Hogwash, rechargeable batteries are the only way to go.

There is a wide variety of items available on Ebay. Some is absolute junk, but there are good values. It is difficult to differentiate between quality products and cheap knockoffs.

I have have good experience with CREE based lights that use standard lithiuim cell based battery packs. They are plenty bright and a charge on the pack lasts over 2 hours on full brightness. The solarstorm lights I bought are about $25 dollars for a complete kit shipped, which is far less expensive than brand name products you will find in a bike shop.
 
I don't exactly what you mean by ebay lights but we have rechargeable light Cygo lite. Recharge via USB port on computer but I also have some adapters from other cameras that work charging the lights which is actually faster than the USB ports. Been some really good lights. We use them all the time while riding in traffic on early evening rides. I don't think I would use anything other than rechargeable anymore.

This video was made in 2012 when we did a mountain climb up Glendora Mtn Rd (GMR). My wife's set was about $90 front and back set. Worked just as well as some of the others on the ride with $300 sets. Hard to capture any light in the video but at you can see my wife's light coming up around a turn.


Wife's light in the video at 5:30..............A little after that we descend, near the end some of our friends have lights on their helmets. All their lights are less expensive lights with rechargeable batteries. Not sure what brand etc but they were pretty bright and worked well.

Heck the rechargeable lights? After this ride I went out and bought myself a set just like my wife's. Bought in 2012 and still going strong today. No problems here! B)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwLoG8lhAlw



Like I said, bought in 2012 and still using them today. Heck it isn't even dark in this picture and you can see the light pretty well. While descending in traffic,we use the strobe function (2 strobe settings/ 3 steady light settings). Work great and dependable!


DSCN0229_zps1mm5lkxb.jpg
 
If the batteries are replaceable (they should be) part of the longevity will depend on the quality of the battery - I found with my rechargeable lights that take lithium AA's that Duracell lasts longer per charge by about 20 minutes of light on Hi power than the Rayovac I used before. They decline over a season and I have to replace them with new ones eventually.
 
MotownBikeBoy said:
If the batteries are replaceable (they should be) part of the longevity will depend on the quality of the battery - I found with my rechargeable lights that take lithium AA's that Duracell lasts longer per charge by about 20 minutes of light on Hi power than the Rayovac I used before. They decline over a season and I have to replace them with new ones eventually.
I've tried both Duracell and shop brand batteries on re-chargeable things and I've found the shop brands last a little while longer than the well known ones.

Kind of ironic really.
 
Some of the E-Bay lights sold are generic that are the same lights as the Magicshine and the Gemini but without the name and a $35 price tag instead of a $135 price tag. But these type of lights use exaggerated claims of 2400 lumens or more are actually closer to 800 to 1,000 which still is a lot of light. The other issue which I've heard about on forums including the Candlewatt forum is that some of the batteries have a tendency to get too hot during charge, so hot some have been noted to catch fire so people charge them in steel cans!

There a lot of good quality lights on the market like the Cygolite, Niterider, Phillips, etc that you can get that won't set you back a small fortune but will be more than bright enough and the quality is high plus you don't need a steel can.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BobCochran
@Mr. Beanz, I really like your video. You are an amazing rider and so are all those in your group.

Like Froze mentions -- I've been using "brand name" lights from Cygolite. They work great. I have enough circuit making skill that I could homebrew my own bike lights, and they would definitely use rechargeable lithium polymer batteries and Cree LEDs that are attached to heat sinks. With that said...paying $60-$130 for a good rechargeable name brand headlight has a lot of merit to it because I can just charge the thing up and get out there and ride.

I have great experiences so far with my Cygolite lights. The things are powerful, they charge fast, I don't have to treat them like they are as fragile as eggshell, and they get respect from other motorists. I'm seen.

Thanks a ton

Bob
 
BobCochran said:
@Mr. Beanz, I really like your video. You are an amazing rider and so are all those in your group.

Like Froze mentions -- I've been using "brand name" lights from Cygolite. They work great. I have enough circuit making skill that I could homebrew my own bike lights, and they would definitely use rechargeable lithium polymer batteries and Cree LEDs that are attached to heat sinks. With that said...paying $60-$130 for a good rechargeable name brand headlight has a lot of merit to it because I can just charge the thing up and get out there and ride.

I have great experiences so far with my Cygolite lights. The things are powerful, they charge fast, I don't have to treat them like they are as fragile as eggshell, and they get respect from other motorists. I'm seen.

Thanks a ton

Bob
Those lights do sound pretty good.

I might have to have a look at some of them. Although I'm happy with my light set-up I am always on the lookout for more lights.
 
Like others have pointed out, it all depends on the individual seller's reputation on eBay and what specific products they're selling. Plenty of rechargeable LED headlights work like a charm, and then plenty of them are piles of **** that are broken long before you ever charge them up for the first time. If the seller has a good reputation on the site, then chances are high that you'll get a decent product at worst. Sometimes, you'll get a high-quality name brand product that's heavily discounted, and that's always the preferable situation. :p
 
I forgot to say that my general experience with a lot of purchases on Ebay -- is that the products do work just fine. I've only had one bad experience in over 100 buys. A second time, it turned out that the U. S. Post Office was at fault and not the Ebay seller. (That particular seller gave me the benefit of the doubt and shipped me a replacement item. When the original item was delivered by the Post Office weeks later, I returned it to the seller.)
 
I buy a lot of stuff from ebay but never lights. The lights I bought we're from a bike shop in fact in my old town and I just went for the ones that looked good and were cheap. As I say they broke a lot and that experience sort of soiled my view of re-chargable lights, but I will have to check the ones you said out and see how they are. Maybe they can change my thinking haha.
 
I have 2 Cygolites, a Expilion 450? (which is now the Metro), and a Mitycross 480, plus I have a Phillips Saferide 80. The Expilion and the Mitycross are both 4 tor 5 years old and both still holds a charge for as long as the factory said they would new, the Expilion doesn't get used as much as the others. The Phillips is 3 years old with 4 AA Li Ion batteries and those too are still running at the factory spec time limits.

Some of the cheap chargeables have batteries that won't last as long due to excessive heat in the charging mode and inferior cells, you find this same thing with tools, the cheap tools use crappy batteries the good ones don't. Even if you have good batteries you should (this is according to Phillips) first charge the battery before using the first time for 24 hours regardless if the charge indicator says fully charge just after 2 or so hours, then use the light till it's dead and then fully recharge but this time you don't need to wait 24 hours, do that procedure from dead to fully charge 3 times after that it doesn't matter how you charge it. Also never store batteries in a place where the temps will reach over 90 degrees or drop below freezing, and never charge the batteries if they're hot either due to weather or due to use, wait for the bats to get to room temp then recharge. I have a Phillips toothbrush and that battery is self contained are now 9 years old and still lasts 7 days of brushing just as it did when it was new. My first rechargeable drill was a Mikita and those Nickel Cad bats would last about 7 years but I stored those in places I shouldn't have. I have newer NiMh rechargeable drill now that is 2 years old and still going strong. So rechargeable battery technology is good technology, it's just the cheap ones give them a bad rap or if people exposed the batteries to harsh temps or attempted to recharge while the battery was warm due to use. My new drill and my weedwhacker rechargers are now more advance and won't even begin charging the bats until the internal temp of the battery drops to a certain point. I love rechargeable stuff because they work and work good.
 
Before I buy anything, I always try to take a look at reviews online, because it shows what other people think of the product that you're looking to buy. I think that rechargeable devices are definitely the way to go, because it means that you are able to just cycle without having to worry about your lights going out, which of course has to be a good thing. I cannot give you my thoughts on the exact product that you're thinking about buying, as you haven't said what that is, however I wouldn't worry about it just because it is rechargeable.
 
I got the light yesterday. Advertised as 6,000 lumen with 3,led's. I only had a chance to charge it for about two hours. Took it on my ride at dusk and I used it for about 30 minutes of my ride and it worked great! Very bright and a nice path of light. It's smaller than I thought it would be. For $25 I give this a thumbs up.
 
I use the cheapo £15 eBay 4 CREE led ones, bought one and then another as a spare. Still going ok after a year!!
 
I used my light on high tonight for 90 minutes and it worked great. I am impressed. I might buy another for a spare.