Wooly undies (&lamp set) in Aldi - must be autumn

[simonineaston]

That was it! For some reason, I can never recall that brand name. Thanks for the reminder

[james01]

Bought the lamp set as a supplementary headlight for wife's electric bike. We did a 12 mile ride on dark lanes the other night. The headlight is very impressive, noticeably brighter than the B&M Cyo 80 lux dynamo on my bike. After 90 minutes on full power the gauge showed 3 bars out of four remaining.
Unimpressed with the back light. The brake light seems to light up randomly if riding over a rough road. It's a shame there isn't an option to switch off the brake-light function because the basic light is fine.

[Sweep]

found them... snazzy lamp now transferable wine bottle corks always useful.
IMG_2856.jpeg

how are you getting on with the front light Simon?

I've done a couple of bits of night riding with mine.

Will report back when more riding.

In brief, general impressions positive.

I have seen them on sale on the bay for about £15.

Maybe from folks who picked them up for a fiver.

[simonineaston]

My cunning plan to make the lamp readily movable between rides has not gone well, in that the Twofish doesn't have sufficient grip to counter the weight of the lamp. The consequence is that the lamp rotates around the 'bar. And of course the sharp beam cutoff I was so pleased about in the first place makes it impossible to simply undersling the lamp, as so doing means the asymmetrical beam pattern flips the wrong way up. So, back to using the supplied slide-in mount...
As for the brightness & the beam, it's first rate!

[mattheus]

My cunning plan to make the lamp readily movable between rides has not gone well, in that the Twofish doesn't have sufficient grip to counter the weight of the lamp. The consequence is that the lamp rotates around the 'bar.

Probably because you haven't balanced your lamp position?
This is bringing back happy memories! I mainly used these strap/block things with "torch"-shaped lights. These could be easily slid along their length:
I remember using Tippex to mark the C-of-G so they didn't suffer from droop.

(Only took 2xAA so not tooo heavy , which helped. ( also have a 1xAA backup torch - absoltutely NO balanve trouble with that one!)

e.g. https://www.amazon.co.uk/fenix-Outdoor- ... B0891SWRDT

[Sweep]

My cunning plan to make the lamp readily movable between rides has not gone well, in that the Twofish doesn't have sufficient grip to counter the weight of the lamp. The consequence is that the lamp rotates around the 'bar. And of course the sharp beam cutoff I was so pleased about in the first place makes it impossible to simply undersling the lamp, as so doing means the asymmetrical beam pattern flips the wrong way up. So, back to using the supplied slide-in mount...
As for the brightness & the beam, it's first rate!

ah I did wonder about that mount at the time Simon (am wary of any mount that smacks of rubberbandery) but didn't say in case it sounded negative.

I'd look around for the actual mount - as I said easily available due to widespread use.
B&M
Lidl lights from the past - at least one of the USB ones and one of the 4xAA ones
Smart lights and derivatives of old.

You could maybe find one paired with a very cheap or even free secondhand light.

or very cheap on the bay - many of the lights they were used with are probably not much used by many these days.

The type of plastic used/build quality may vary somewhat but all essentially the same.

[simonineaston]

Yes, under certain conditions the Twofish are great. I spent many years using a pair of Tesco Magnalite-a-likes fitted with early Cree LEDs, balanced & underslung from the ‘bars, which was a good, cheap setup. The torches need to be manually dipped as their lenses have no beam cutoff at all, but that was readily achieved by simply tugging at the torch.
Still got both the torches and the Twofishes and all still fully functional!

photo of torches...

[rjb]

My Tesco aa led torch is still giving good service. Some rechargeable's are a tight fit suggesting that they may have swelled slightly with age. I recently tried a li-ion 3.7v battery in mine (from a discarded vape I found), using a bolt to achieve the required length. It's noticibly brighter.

Oops we've been here before.
viewtopic.php?t=72523#p629540
The link in this thread shows how I modified a cat eye bracket to hold the torch.

[Sweep]

Some rechargeable's are a tight fit suggesting that they may have swelled slightly with age.

some AA rechargeables are I think a tiny tad (but an important tad) bigger than traditional alkaline cells from day 1. I have issues with some of mine. But not eneloops.

[mattheus]

Some rechargeable's are a tight fit suggesting that they may have swelled slightly with age.

some AA rechargeables are I think a tiny tad (but an important tad) bigger than traditional alkaline cells from day 1. I have issues with some of mine. But not eneloops.

Sadly they are all different (out of the packet). Main reasons:
- the spec gives a range of allowed sizes, and
- the easiest way to boost capacity is to put more stuff into a bigger can.

[Sweep]

Brief report on experience so far with the Aldi light.

Beam is powerful enough for dark dark northern lanes.

I think it's 20 lux more than my deceased lidl USB light and the Lidl AA light I still use.

Not all of this light goes in the right place I think, not being Stvo and I have the idea so far that it chucks some light rather higher than needed**.

But this can be corrected by lowering the mount. And you can also swivel the light on its mount out of the path of oncoming cars.

In short I would say it's excellent - well worth it - especially for a fiver

When I have more time and an opportunity I will compare the beam pattern to my StVO B&M AA light and Lidl AA light - both of which I can also use on darkened lanes/for all night rides.

** First time out riding slowly round a winding narrow northern lane I found a car approaching similarly slowly. As I approached them to pass I had a word with the driver/passenger and asked if the light was dazzling them. Yes they said, but if you need it you need it they said as they wished me a happy ride Nice drivers in these northern parts. Anyways I told them it was new and I was testing it and would drop it in future.

<edited once to remove barmy repetition>

[simonineaston]

cheers, sweep.
So good to hear of a pleasant interaction between cyclists & drivers, too! My twitter feed is jam-packed full of horror stories on same subject, so much so I’m on verge of deleting my account. What's the point of spending so much time ‘doom-scrolling’ and feeling down about it?!
EDIT: Have just deleted the X app from my devices…

[Sweep]

cheers, sweep.
So good to hear of a pleasant interaction between cyclists & drivers, too! My twitter feed is jam-packed full of horror stories on same subject, so much so I’m on verge of deleting my account. What's the point of spending so much time ‘doom-scrolling’ and feeling down about it?!

no probs simon. on side issue of tw**tter yep I would delete - my impression is that it's a feed for the contemporary fashion of folks being serially offended. And seeming to delight in it. Folks in offline world generally nicer.

By the by folks when I do get down to the light beam comparison (may be some time) please don't expect pics or technical details - am not techie on lights or bikes - just know what works (for me).