# D/X - Nitefire Hero2 3 x XM-L U2 Triple, 2100 Lumen



## Cat-man-do (May 16, 2004)

Just thought I'd mention these since I've not seen them anywhere else yet.
Similar to the Solarstorm X-2 it has the same basic features as the X-2's ( XM-L U2's, voltage leds, three modes ( L-M-H plus press to hold strobe )..thermal management..etc. )

Also of interest is that the *internal circuitry is listed as 6A.* :eekster:
I'm going to assume that the XM-L's are run in parallel and that each sees 2A when on high. If true this could make a very bright light! They also list the battery as 4400mAh which is more than most D/X batteries. Still not enough IMO to get decent run time but better than most crap batteries.

If I was in the market for a new light I would roll the dice on one of these ( hopefully before they sell out )  I'd love to see one of these reviewed. :thumbsup:

(**edit...sorry, link provided a couple posts below. )


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## -Archie- (Aug 25, 2013)

What's about a link?


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## HakanC (May 12, 2007)

Cat-man-do said:


> If I was in the market for a new light I would roll the dice on one of these ( hopefully before they sell out )  I'd love to see one of these reviewed. :thumbsup:


I have one on order, I ordered it based on the reasons You list above, but mostly because of the beamshot










-Archie- said:


> What's about a link?


NITEFIRE HERO2 3 x Cree XM-L U2 2100lm 4-Mode Cool White Bicycle Light - Black (4 x 18650) - Free Shipping - DealExtreme

/Håkan
SWEDEN


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## fightnut (Jul 5, 2007)

I like a few things about this light, but that housing/shape is just too weird for me.


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## Cat-man-do (May 16, 2004)

HakanC said:


> I have one on order, I ordered it based on the reasons You list above, but mostly because of the beamshot
> View attachment 828603
> 
> 
> ...


Hakan, thanks for showing that beam shot photo. Don't know how i missed seeing that. Very interesting because the hot spot looks very intense and slightly oblong. That should really give a nice spread once it starts going outward down the trail.

Sorry, I forgot to post the link but at least Hakan came through with the link.. :thumbsup:

If I can get my hands on one of these I'll do a review.

Fight, yeah it does look a little strange but not near as strange as the one that looks like a giant upsidedown pyramid ( or that other Trustfire 5-up that is an absolute monster. :lol: )

The real question is, "will the lamp hit the stem when mounted to the bars". (?). To use on my MTB I might have to use an extension because I have a feeling that my riser bars might cause a problem.

Another good question: "Is this the first Chinese triple to actually output ~ 2000 lumen"? If it is ( and it does ) you definitely are going to need either a second battery or a good 6-cell to get decent run time.


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## HakanC (May 12, 2007)

Cat-man-do said:


> Very interesting because the hot spot looks very intense and slightly oblong. That should really give a nice spread once it starts going outward down the trail.


Yeah
I started looking for a new light with a oval/oblong beam for a couple of months.
First I found this light







(See the reflector for the lower LED)
But the light sold out before I could get my act together and order one
LW-JD10 - DealExtreme
But I found the light, with better beamshots, at Fasttech
$39.68 LW-JD10 -FastTech

But the beamshots prevented me from ordering the light








It is much too round!

That is why I quickly ordered the Hero2, now I only have to wait for it to arrive.

(Sorry for the long rant)


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## Lichitisky (Feb 25, 2013)

Kir should take a look at this one (Catman's). Would go great with the 2 cases he ordered gtom Aliexpress.


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## ljracer (Nov 6, 2009)

Subscribing to this thread. This is definitely in my short list. 

I need lots of light on the bars. 

The quad xml t6 i have could be better. This looks like a nice alternative.


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## MK96 (Nov 5, 2012)

Subscribing too


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## Cat-man-do (May 16, 2004)

ljracer said:


> Subscribing to this thread. This is definitely in my short list.
> 
> I need lots of light on the bars.
> 
> The quad xml t6 i have could be better. This looks like a nice alternative.


I'll be comparing the Hero 2 to the quad XM-L. Still waiting for the H2 to arrive.


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## HakanC (May 12, 2007)

I received my light some time a go, in real life the beam is round, not (slightly) oblong as in the photo in #3
I have not used it on my bike yet, but when using it in my backyard it is a strong focused light beam.

/Håkan
SWEDEN


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## whokilledJR (Sep 24, 2012)

Makes sense, the beamshot is probably too close to the wall for it to focus hence the oblong shape, when in reality when focused it's a typical oval shape. I'd be interested in the internals and pill design for heat distribution. It can be driven as hard as it wants, but the lumens and efficiency will drop dramatically if it isn't well designed.


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## varider (Nov 29, 2012)

Hakan, how bright is it compared to the solarstorm X2?


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## HakanC (May 12, 2007)

(Sorry for my late reply)

I can't say, because I don't have a Solarstorm X2

But compared to my Magicshine MJ-808E it is MUCH brighter and with a tighter beam.
Brightness is around +130% greater according to my Lux-meter


/Håkan
SWEDEN


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## whokilledJR (Sep 24, 2012)

What would be really great to know is how well it performs relatively to turn on to say 30 seconds, at 5 mins, 10 mins, 15mins. Would give us some kind of indication as to how well it manages heat and if the driver is efficient/regulates performance.


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## varider (Nov 29, 2012)

Thanks Hakan.

I have to say it's sort of a disappointment to me personally that this light has a tighter beam than the 808E. I know this will get fans of the super-spot all excited, but not me. I was really hoping this light would give the new glowworm triple a run for it's money, but now I highly doubt it. 

On the plus side it's going to make you look like something out of Star Trek if you mount this on your helmet.


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## Cat-man-do (May 16, 2004)

whokilledJR said:


> What would be really great to know is how well it performs relatively to turn on to say 30 seconds, at 5 mins, 10 mins, 15mins. Would give us some kind of indication as to how well it manages heat and if the driver is efficient/regulates performance.


patience my friend; I'll be doing a thermal test as soon as mine arrives. If these are anything like the SSX2's don't expect great heat sinking. Still even with heat losses they should still be bright. ...How bright? That is the golden question.


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## ljracer (Nov 6, 2009)

Cat-man-do said:


> patience my friend; I'll be doing a thermal test as soon as mine arrives. If these are anything like the SSX2's don't expect great heat sinking. Still even with heat losses they should still be bright. ...How bright? That is the golden question.


You get that light yet? Is there an xml2 version of this one yet? Im getting impatient .

Maybe I just grab two of the SSX2 xml2's and run them off a 6 pack of 18650s.


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## Cat-man-do (May 16, 2004)

*Nitefire Hero2 triple XM-L U2 : It's here*

Finally arrived. I planned to do a night ride with the H2 this weekend. Tonight I did some shine-arounds while at work. I'll not comment too much till I get more of a look and do my review but as expected the H2 is very much like the SSX2 only brighter.

I will say that no way does the SSX2 or the Nitefire H2 ( NFH2) have a beam pattern like the MJ-808E. The 808E has a much narrower beam pattern. Apples to oranges.


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## Cat-man-do (May 16, 2004)

Didn't get a chance to try it last weekend due to bad weather. Sadly this weekend might be the same but crossing my fingers. Saturday might be a go. I want to give this lamp another try on the helmet. I did another shine around tonight and this time not as much stuff floating around in the air. The Hero2 will throw pretty far but the light pattern is very dispersed when aimed for distance. Hard to know how this will translate while on a trail. Will I be able to clearly define objects/terrain at distance or will the light be too faded out to give details? I won't have that answer till I get a chance to try it on some really open terrain.


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## bhocewar (Mar 15, 2009)

Here is an updated version of tha Solar Storm x3 or whatever its name is
Super 5000 Lumens 3xCREE XM L L2 LED Bicycle Bike Cycling Head HeadLamp Lamp HeadLight 6400mAh Battery light Black-in Bicycle Light from Sports & Entertainment on Aliexpress.com
Looks slightly less of a medieval cutting device


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## the mayor (Nov 18, 2004)

Interested to see how these compare to the 3x round clones.


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## Cat-man-do (May 16, 2004)

the mayor said:


> Interested to see how these compare to the 3x round clones.


I'll comment about that later when I come home.


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## Cat-man-do (May 16, 2004)

the mayor said:


> Interested to see how these compare to the 3x round clones.


Just doing a quick comparison inside my home I noticed that the NF Hero2 is obviously brighter...BUT....I think is due to the fact that the H2's driver is pumping out more amps. A lot to be said for the basic 3X ( tri ) clones. I notice that when I switch the tri-clone from single led to two leds ( or all three ) that the beam pattern becomes wider. Must be something about the tri-reflector configuration that shoots a little more light to the sides. That said I'm thinking of buying one of the "stepless" Tri-clones just so I can see how they compare. Yep, time to order a couple Christmas toys before it gets too late. 

The over-all beam pattern of the tri-clone is pretty good, nice mix of flood and throw. Good beam pattern coming off the bars. After shining the H2 around tonight I'm still not sure how I want to use it. Only way I'm going to get that answer is on a bike. Sadly weather is not looking good for tomorrow night. Suppose to be windy. Not a good idea to be goofing around in the woods with high winds blowing around. I wouldn't want to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and have a *tree fall on me. ( Hey, it happens )...of course trees can fall at any time but nothing more scarier that being back in the woods during high winds and hearing the creaking of all the trees as you're riding down the trail. ( * also, doesn't have to be the whole tree, a good size limb can kill you just as well. )


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## Cat-man-do (May 16, 2004)

Continued comment from last post:

I finally had to take the Hero2 out for a trial run on the paved trails behind where I live. I chose to compare it to my Gloworm X2 (v3) with both lamps mounted on the bars. After giving it a good look-see it seems my initial observation has been confirmed. The Nitefire Hero2 ( or H2 for short ) with it's three mini reflectors has a very forward throwing beam pattern. Though it has some side spill overall it is found lacking in this area IMO. While you get a very bright area in front of the bike that reaches quite a distance, every time I made a turn I would find myself not having enough light to see through the turns. Now if you use a helmet lamp in combo than this of course is not so much an issue. The Gloworm on the other hand is about as bright as the H2 but otherwise has a much more evenly distributed beam pattern with more light out to the sides. This makes the GW a much more desirable bar mounted system. (*Note, Gloworm X2 used with one spot and one flood optic )

The next test will be using the H2 as a helmet lamp. Admittedly I probably won't like using it this way as I am heavily biased toward lamps that offer more of a "tight" spot pattern. The H2 just has a beam pattern that is not really a flood and not really a spot. Finding the best way to use it is turning out to be harder than expected. 

I'm crossing my fingers hoping that it will be more useful on the helmet. It should provide a nice wide spot when navigating curvy terrain that is more closer to the bike. Still when used on the helmet it will probably lack the ability to detail the stuff farther out (*which is the way I usually prefer ). As others have pointed out this is not always an issue when riding single track with shorter lines of sight. When used in combo with another lamp on the bars the H2 ( helmet mounted ) might still be able to highlight those far ( >200ft ) obstacles in the trail but I'll have to wait till the next ride to know for certain. In a couple weeks I have some days off from work so if the conditions allow I hope to get some trail time in and some better answers.

Set-up for the next ride will be as follows; SSX2 clone on the bars with the H2 on the helmet. I figure the brighter / wider spot of the H2 when used on the helmet will compensate for the equally limiting beam pattern of the SSX2 on the bars. If the H2 is going to impress me I'm not going to give it the advantage of working with the Gloworm to help it out. That just wouldn't be right.


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## the mayor (Nov 18, 2004)

Hey Cat...
Did you ever get a chance to compare the H2 against the original 3x clone in the real world?
And did you ever get the stepless 3x?


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## Cat-man-do (May 16, 2004)

the mayor said:


> Hey Cat...
> Did you ever get a chance to compare the H2 against the original 3x clone in the real world?
> And did you ever get the stepless 3x?


Yes, I did...the H2 is brighter than the typical tri-clone. The Tri-clone on the other hand has a beam pattern more conducive to bar use ( because it's a wider beam pattern ). No, I never did order the stepless but I am still considering it. I figure the stepless Tri will have a better beam pattern than a typical tri-clone because all the LED operate full time on all modes.

If everything goes right I'll be taking the H2 out tonight for it's first test as a helmet lamp. Not sure what conditions the trails will be in since the last snow ( last Tuesday ) so if it's a mud-fest I'll likely have to bail. I'll be using the SSX2 on the bars. Since both lamps really don't have a great close-in perimeter spill radius I figured having the brighter H2 on the helmet will help compensate once I start moving my head around. When I head back I'll likely switch positions and note which made the more sense.


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## Cat-man-do (May 16, 2004)

*Nitefire Hero2 plus Solarstorm X2 ( clone ) night ride*



Cat-man-do said:


> Yes, I did...the H2 is brighter than the typical tri-clone. The Tri-clone on the other hand has a beam pattern more conducive to bar use ( because it's a wider beam pattern ). No, I never did order the stepless but I am still considering it. I figure the stepless Tri will have a better beam pattern than a typical tri-clone because all the LED operate full time on all modes.
> 
> If everything goes right I'll be taking the H2 out tonight for it's first test as a helmet lamp. Not sure what conditions the trails will be in since the last snow ( last Tuesday ) so if it's a mud-fest I'll likely have to bail. I'll be using the SSX2 on the bars. Since both lamps really don't have a great close-in perimeter spill radius I figured having the brighter H2 on the helmet will help compensate once I start moving my head around. When I head back I'll likely switch positions and note which made the more sense.


Continued from my last post ( above ):

Despite over-sleeping again I took the H2 and SSX2 out for a night ride on some local trails. While setting up the H2 for the helmet I really thought I might notice the extra weight but once I got out on the trails I really didn't think about it one bit ( which was good ).

The trails that I rode were mostly damp and slightly muddy in some spots. This made riding a bit more tedious than usual and since I haven't ridden in a while I figured to keep the ride short (~1hr ). Temperature was an unseasonal 54°F. Luckily I didn't see too much mud. The trails I rode were twisty, moist, rooty and leafy. With that in mind the "reflectivity" factor of the trail surface was very low. At least the leaf cover was mostly broken up and so it was not too hard to follow the trail as it weaved it's way among the trees.

The H2 ( on helmet ) and SSX2 combo worked very well together. As expected the wider beam pattern of the H2 ( wide spot ) kept me seeing everything no matter how leafy or twisty the trail got. The SSX2 on the bars worked amazingly well. I really thought I was going to miss my Gloworm X2 but that just didn't happen. Matter of fact if anything, the SSX2 impressed me as to how well the cheap SSX2 ( clone ) was working. After doing some comparisons ( H2 vs. SSX2 ) I finally decided that it would of been better if the SSX2 had been on the helmet. All things considered both ways worked fine but the X2 has a bit brighter more focused intensity in it's hot spot although the H2 ( when in high mode ) is brighter over-all.

Ever since I took the front off the X2 it seems to be brighter. Perhaps I just got the emitters more centered which resulted in the beam pattern being more intense  ...whatever. Hey, if it worked with the X2 I figure I might give it a shot with the H2 triple as well and see what happens. If I'm lucky I might get a more intense spot pattern. If so that might add to it's usefulness as a helmet lamp.

Ended up having a great time. Heck, it was so warm I had to remove my jacket/gloves so I could vent some heat. If it doesn't rain tomorrow I might go out again for another night spin.


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## the mayor (Nov 18, 2004)

Thanks for the update.
I love the SSx2 on the helmet...nice strong spot and a nice upgrade from the Hi-Max U2 single ( which is a great light)
Looking for more light from the bars...where I have the original round 3x clone.
Still a great light....but I always want more...


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## Cat-man-do (May 16, 2004)

the mayor said:


> Thanks for the update.
> I love the SSx2 on the helmet...nice strong spot and a nice upgrade from the Hi-Max U2 single ( which is a great light)
> Looking for more light from the bars...where I have the original round 3x clone.
> Still a great light....but I always want more...


If you have one of the original tri-clones, coupled with the SSX2 on the helmet I would think that a very nice combo.

I took a look at the front of the Hero2 and noticed that the reflectors are sitting a least a couple mm off the emitter. Looks like they are using small white plastic washers to sit the reflectors on. This helps explain the soft area in the center spot which personally I don't like. Not that it's that big of an issue but my bet is that if can get the emitter closer to the lip of the reflector that the hot spot will be a little more intense. I should be able to accomplish that by replacing the washer with a flatter insulating washer ( what is typically used in torches ) and using a fatter washer near the glass outer lens to keep things from moving once I replace the outer lens.

Real problem is the bolts on the front. I don't know where they found these but these are the smallest allen bolts I've ever seen. Assuming these are metric, the smallest wrench I have at the moment is 1.5mm and THAT is damn small if I do say so. These must be 1mm. I have a bad feeling that I'm going to have a hard time finding one so small. Perhaps a hobby store? Probably a good place to start and while I'm there I might pick up a magnifying lens head set so I can see what the hell I'm doing. :lol:


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## Cat-man-do (May 16, 2004)

*Hero 2 : update*

Over the last couple weeks I've been using the H2 on the helmet. I have to admit I'm starting to like the wider beam pattern off the helmet but I could still wish for the beam pattern to be a bit more focused. Like I mentioned before this lamp is not very heavy and is no more noticeable than any of my other ( 1 and 2 emitter ) set-ups when used on the helmet.

I still haven't found a hex wrench small enough to take the front off. Looks like it might be a 1mm. Smallest I have is 1.5mm.

I have encountered one small problem with this light; the switch is starting to have problems. Sometimes when I press the mode button nothing will happen. Eventually it changes mode but _sometimes_ I have to press the button a couple times to get to the next mode. Not a big problem at the moment but if it gets to the point where it won't switch modes it will no longer be a useable choice. ( number of rides used, about 6 )


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## MK96 (Nov 5, 2012)

I have the same switch problem on my SS X2. Not a big problem, if you get successfully through the off mode to the next so you are not alone in the dark  I wonder if this is a switch problem or a uC problem ...


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## Cat-man-do (May 16, 2004)

MK96 said:


> I have the same switch problem on my SS X2. Not a big problem, if you get successfully through the off mode to the next so you are not alone in the dark  I wonder if this is a switch problem or a uC problem ...


It could be some kind of problem with the driver. If there's a digital circuit involved it could be a detection error. Not a big problem yet. Out of every 9 mode changes it might miss one or two.

Could be carbon build up inside the switch. If so it might get worse over time.


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## MK96 (Nov 5, 2012)

If carbon is the problem, contact cleaner might help. Just need this 1mm allen to look into it.


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