Lights with re-chargeable batteries that cannot be swapped suck IMO

[reohn2]

FWIW,I think the OP has a case for replacement after 10months,I feel confident Lezyne will replace it.
I note other posters mentioning lights with removable batteries but the cost of some of these lights are frankly ridiculous for what is really a torch with a bike fitting.
Last year around this time I bought two of the cheap lights off Ebay for £20 ish,similar to some on this page:- http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from= ... cling.html they're also available from here too:- http://www.candb-seen.co.uk/category-cycling.html
I bought mine from a UK company which had a guarantee one wouldn't work after few weeks(headlight unit) and they replaced it FOC
After a bit of a faff with hoods to stop dazzle and stray light I bought a diffuser lens for both lights at a further cost of £3 for C&B Seen,which turned the spot light into a cigar shaped beam,great for even the darkest road or track.
These lights are brilliant at any price TBH,and last around 2+hours on full beam which is BRIGHT there's a less bright setting that last 4 hours and a flashing function(which I don't use).Battery packs are available.
I also have a Cateye HL530 which I find adequate for all but the darkest roads(but nowhere near as bright as the others mentioned),it runs off four AA's which of course can be rechargeables,the good thing about that is spare batteries can be carried and weigh very little.

NOTE:-I heard of some of the batteries supplied setting on fire when being charged I haven't had a problem,and in light of Samsung's latest upsets with their new phone it seems that can be the case with expensive batteries too.I light(sorry)of these revelations I charge my up sat on a baking tray plugged into an outside socket,so far so good.

EDIT Found the company on Ebay I bought the lights from:- http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CREE-XM-L-T6- ... SwiLdWAATd
Another similar light from the same company:- http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CREE-XM-L-T6- ... =undefined
I have no conection with this company jus t a staisfied customer

[drossall]

The Electron Terra 1 is the light I mentioned that developed a problem with the battery connection. It's a good light, but not as bright as the Hope Vision One, and it takes a non-standard battery pack that hangs on the frame. I still use mine, but the Hope is significantly better.

[freiston]

Personally, I agree with the opinion expressed in the topic title.

My battery lights run on AA or AAA eneloops and I have avoided any other type of battery light so that I can carry spares and buy disposable replacements. On my folder, I still run a Cateye HL500 that I bought mid 1990s, but with AA eneloops in C Cell converters and with an LED converter bulb (it would have been cheaper and possibly better to have replaced the lamp but I couldn't bring myself to retire it). Life could be easier if I could find suitable back lights that ran off AAs instead of AAAs because everything else I use and take on the bike takes AAs.

For a while I used a front light that ran off a battery pack but the pack used loose 18650 cells that went into a charger separately.

[Gattonero]

As part of my Christmas last year my wife bought me a “LEZYNE HECTRO DRIVE 300XL”.

I don’t use my bike much between Christmas and April and then I don’t need lights until October time really.

So I had this new light and never used it much, charge it a few times and used it around the house as a torch but never even had it on my bike.

Anyway started to needs lights a few weeks ago for my commute home and the Lezyne won’t hold a charge. Then found out the internal battery could not be replaced and I found that very frustrating.

What’s the point of a bike light with a LCD bulb that should last 30 years being junk as soon as the battery packs in. Seems to be very backward thinking when we need to have goods that people can keep re-using as much as possible to save on the earth’s resources.

Anyway I went out and bought the Niterider Mako 150 which can handle normal re-chargeable batteries so that should suit me fine for a good few years

Not sure what I should do with the Lezyne though apart from bin it.

Hope your lights fair better. DD

Lezyne lights are nicely made, but the battery inside tends to be small compared to the overall volume.
If fails, you can actually open the light and find an equivalent part from Maplin.

But before that, keep in mind that those lights are more for the city commuter, which will ride an average of 1/2hr each way, then recharge the light on the USB port of the computer.

You can keep an powerbank with you, they're really cheap nowadays, and will also charge your phone should you need to. So yes, one more item but the same power source is shared between more devices.
I.e., while camping I've all the electronics (mobile phone, gps, front light, rear light) with rechargeable USB batteries, so with one medium powerbank I can charge all of them when it needs to.

[freiston]

Surfing the internet, I came across this article today that is kind of on-topic and some might find interesting: 25 years of bike lighting improvement, but why doesn’t Tesco allow kids to change their batteries now?

[JohnW]

I've been through this one - and after some years of suffering and pondering I found my solution...........that's my solution - for me - I'm not suggesting what other cyclists should do. I've been accused enough times of being smug and arrogant on these threads!

If you know the Yorkshire Dales at all, you'll know Fleet Moss, and you'll have an idea of the scene when coming down from the top, 50+ miles from home, on a wet Tuesday night in November, and your light goes phudtt - i.e. the battery runs empty. No matter how bright, strong, expensive your light is, if it dies then you're in trouble - there aren't any socket outlets or USB ports up there!

It happened to a friend, not me, but I rode in front of him all the way to Skipton from where he caught the train. Off-licenses and filling stations sell AA batteries, but that's no use if your batteries are internal, unique and only rechargeable with a gadget.

After some agonising and experimenting I now use 'Hope Vision 1' front lights. They take four AA batteries and they give the strongest light of any replaceable battery lights that I've found. For me, the batteries fully charged last about two and a half to three hours on full power and they give really good light. I now use two of them when I ride in the dark. They are not cheap (but Evans have an offer at the moment). The current 'Hope 1's have three settings and a flashing, and I ride with one on flashing (for identification) and the other on the appropriate setting for the conditions. Where appropriate I use both on full power. The batteries fit into a plastic cassette, and I have spare cassettes and take a fully charged spare cassette with me for each light. I've not been caught out yet, but if ever I am I can surely find somewhere to buy some spare batteries - quite often filling stations are 24-hr opening.

The weakness of the Hope lights is the fitting bracket - I find them fiddly, space-consuming in the saddlebag and clumsy. A cycling colleague who is a long-distance-in-the-dark man (two LELs and three PBPs) went through this process before me and I copied him - I can use an 'Exposure Light' bracket, with a little 'Exposure Light' triangular bit and a set-screw from a Shimano SPD pedal cleat and assemble a far superior, permanent and unobtrusive fitting for the handlebars. You'll need to apply yourself in the first place, and whilst a bit expensive worth every penny for me and perfectly easy and convenient once in position.

I don't ride off-roads but I do ride some lonely, isolated and badly surfaced lanes and towpaths and I find two 'Hope Vision 1' lights quite sufficient - and still cheaper than some of the single integral battery rechargeable lights.

[hamster]

Simple case of Sale of Goods Act. Product is of unmerchantable quality. Return to the retailer for a refund. End of discussion.

[nirakaro]

The Sale of Goods Act was superseded last year by the Consumer Rights Act. It seems that if you've had the item for more than six months, the onus is now on you to prove that the goods were faulty when you bought them. Hard to imagine how you'd do that...

[roubaixtuesday]

Anyone tried these people for battery replacements?

http://www.mtbbatteries.co.uk/mountain- ... placement/

[Gattonero]

I've been through this one - and after some years of suffering and pondering I found my solution...........that's my solution - for me - I'm not suggesting what other cyclists should do. I've been accused enough times of being smug and arrogant on these threads!

If you know the Yorkshire Dales at all, you'll know Fleet Moss, and you'll have an idea of the scene when coming down from the top, 50+ miles from home, on a wet Tuesday night in November, and your light goes phudtt - i.e. the battery runs empty. No matter how bright, strong, expensive your light is, if it dies then you're in trouble - there aren't any socket outlets or USB ports up there!...

My opinion is that I won't rely on other sources in such conditions. If a light fails on rechargeable batteries, you may as well be unlucky to not find a place to buy AA batteries.
The same way you bring money and search for a store to buy AA batteries, you can just bring a small powerbank. Cost and weight and bulk are very, very little. A pack of batteries is £3-5 and is disposable, a powerbank is £10-15 and can be used hundreds of times. Money weights less, 5 grams vs. 100-150gr of a medium powerbank, but you need to find a store! Plus the powerbank allows you to recharge your phone, too.

Last year I've ridden trough the Dales, Buxton to east, and I made sure to have my lights well charged before leaving home. Had I left my light not charged, I would have blamed myself, not the light.

[Gattonero]

As part of my Christmas last year my wife bought me a “LEZYNE HECTRO DRIVE 300XL”.
...

So I had this new light and never used it much, charge it a few times and used it around the house as a torch but never even had it on my bike.

Anyway started to needs lights a few weeks ago for my commute home and the Lezyne won’t hold a charge. Then found out the internal battery could not be replaced and I found that very frustrating.
...

Back to the OP.
How long does the Lezyne lasts, do you need to use full power? How long is your journey?
It all seems that you have a light way too small for your needs.

[jamesbradbury]

Life could be easier if I could find suitable back lights that ran off AAs instead of AAAs because everything else I use and take on the bike takes AAs.

Both the B&M Linetec lights and the Blackburn Local 10/20/30 take AA batteries and both are good rear lights from dusk onwards. Neither are super bright in daylight, but at least they don't dazzle those following.

I'm a trendy consumer. Just look at my Nexus 5X using hovercraft full of eels.

[Gattonero]

For the sake of truth, as it seems we're comparing orange to apples here.

A pair of Duracell AA batteries would deliver an average of 3600mAh.
The Lezyne Hecto drive has one rechargeable battery that is around 650mAh.

Like said, that light may well be undersized for the user. It's more a city commuter light, than a long-distance runner.

For the same size and weight, non-rechargeable batteries deliver more punch and last longer. But they are disposable.
If in need of high brightness, on the short journey one could use disposable batteries, but it's not good for the environment nor for the wallet.
If we're talking of lights bright enough to see the road ahead of you, in complete darkness and at speed, you want at least 4-500 lumens and that would be insane with AA batteries.

Long live dynohubs

[freiston]

Life could be easier if I could find suitable back lights that ran off AAs instead of AAAs because everything else I use and take on the bike takes AAs.

Both the B&M Linetec lights and the Blackburn Local 10/20/30 take AA batteries and both are good rear lights from dusk onwards. Neither are super bright in daylight, but at least they don't dazzle those following.

Flushed down the thunderbox : my Nexus 5X using hovercraft full of eels.

Hi James, I've replied by IM so as not to go too off topic.

[freiston]

Anyone tried these people for battery replacements?

http://www.mtbbatteries.co.uk/mountain- ... placement/

I haven't but a colleague from work swears by them. After some serious issues with a Chinese lamp & battery pack, he went to them for a battery pack replacement. He made personal visits as he is local and built up quite a rapport with them and now uses them for all of his bike lighting/power requirements. I'm not sure of the lights' suitability for road use (but that doesn't factor for some people).