After reading hundreds of post on here and finally knowing what I was looking for, I decided to take the plunge and order some lights.
I searched all of the sites mentioned on here and finally found one that had what I was looking for in XM-L2 U2/U3 lights.
I picked up one of these UltraFire LZZ-U3 2 x CREE XM-L2 U3 4-Mode 1800lm White Bike Light / Headlamp - Black (4 x 18650) - Free Shipping - DealExtreme
and one of these Buy Cree XM-L2 U2 864lm 3-Mode White Bicycle Light Headlamp - Grey + Silver (4 x 18650)
hoping they would be what they claimed. I was also aware that the batteries would be less than stellar, but I'd deal with that when the time came.
I placed my order on 02/09/14 and waited. On 03/06/14 they finally arrived, and I immediately tore them apart so I could see what they really had inside.
As for the batteries, only the single emitter had a weatherproof connection, the Gemini clone didn't.
The single clicky switch on the Gemini clone worked nice, providing three modes starting from low-mid-high then a soft return to low. Holding the switch down while the lights were on, would turn them off. Holding the switch down while the lights were off, would turn on the strobe mode.
The single emitter light only had two modes plush strobe, low-high-strobe-off.
I haven't tested the run time yet or even how well they light up the trails, but I'll post back when I do.
I searched all of the sites mentioned on here and finally found one that had what I was looking for in XM-L2 U2/U3 lights.
I picked up one of these UltraFire LZZ-U3 2 x CREE XM-L2 U3 4-Mode 1800lm White Bike Light / Headlamp - Black (4 x 18650) - Free Shipping - DealExtreme
and one of these Buy Cree XM-L2 U2 864lm 3-Mode White Bicycle Light Headlamp - Grey + Silver (4 x 18650)
hoping they would be what they claimed. I was also aware that the batteries would be less than stellar, but I'd deal with that when the time came.
I placed my order on 02/09/14 and waited. On 03/06/14 they finally arrived, and I immediately tore them apart so I could see what they really had inside.
As for the batteries, only the single emitter had a weatherproof connection, the Gemini clone didn't.
The single clicky switch on the Gemini clone worked nice, providing three modes starting from low-mid-high then a soft return to low. Holding the switch down while the lights were on, would turn them off. Holding the switch down while the lights were off, would turn on the strobe mode.
The single emitter light only had two modes plush strobe, low-high-strobe-off.
I haven't tested the run time yet or even how well they light up the trails, but I'll post back when I do.