# User Review; Raveman CR-700 ( CAt review ) 2019



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

Just got the CR-700 in yesterday afternoon. Too cold right now to take it for a ride but I do have a few preliminary observations worth sharing. Brightness of the lamp on high is just a tad under what the CR-900 puts out. Some of the reviews I've read on the CR-700 say that the lamp runs 90 minutes on high. Hmmm, not what the official literature says so I'm hoping for at least 1.5hrs. The good part is that the next output level down is just slightly less than high and almost hard to tell the difference. Good chance I'll be using that second level to help extend run time. 

Sadly, what I read about using the CR-700 with external USB battery turned out to be worse than what I read in the review. With the USB battery plugged in ( even when CR-700 fully charged ) the lamp drops down instantly to the third level ( not the second ) . Judging the beam intensity from inside my home I'd say the third level is about 300 lumen. I tried using my newest home ( line voltage ) USB charger, my Trustfire cell holder USB charger and my Raveman PR1200 as USB charger and all worked but gave the same mediocre output regardless of what USB battery banked was used. I suppose I can live with that but I doubt I'll be using that feature now since I can always bring one of my other Raveman's along if I need a back-up for a longer ride. 

On the upside the lamp on high is very bright and the two little red side lights are a nice feature. Crossing my fingers and hoping the CR-700 doesn't have the same cold weather issue as the CR-900.

Figures, once again the bad weather moves in just as I get something new for my bike I want to test. Warms up a little by Saturday but I have a family gathering to attend Saturday. Sunday back up to near 60°F but ......good chance of rain.


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## MRMOLE (May 31, 2011)

Cat-man-do said:


> Sadly, what I read about using the CR-700 with external USB battery turned out to be worse than what I read in the review. With the USB battery plugged in ( even when CR-700 fully charged ) the lamp drops down instantly to the third level ( not the second ) . Judging the beam intensity from inside my home I'd say the third level is about 300 lumen. I tried using my newest home ( line voltage ) USB charger, my Trustfire cell holder USB charger and my Raveman PR1200 as USB charger and all worked but gave the same mediocre output regardless of what USB battery banked was used. I suppose I can live with that but I doubt I'll be using that feature now since I can always bring one of my other Raveman's along if I need a back-up for a longer ride.
> .


That is a bit disappointing. It would be interesting to find out why they set it to function that way. The only light I have with the charge while it runs feature is my Gloworm CX but hadn't tried it out till today. Using my PR900 as remote battery the CX functioned normally in all modes (Hmmm). Hope to see a road test soon.
Mole


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

MRMOLE said:


> *That is a bit disappointing.* It would be interesting to find out why they set it to function that way. The only light I have with the charge while it runs feature is my Gloworm CX but hadn't tried it out till today. Using my PR900 as remote battery the CX functioned normally in all modes (Hmmm). Hope to see a road test soon.
> Mole


To say the least...*sigh*. At least I was somewhat warned by the road.cc review but this is what the road.cc review said about the charging feature...



> ...An audax- or touring-friendly feature is that you can charge the CR700 while it's running - but there's a catch. When charging, only the mid, low and eco modes are available, not the two flashing ones. The High mode is only available once it's almost fully charged. Still, points for trying..


This lead me to believe that if the lamp was fully charged that I might get full power at least a while while the aux. battery was being used. Looks like I have to write both Raveman and road.cc to let them know that their aux. battery function doesn't live up to expectations. _There is a possibility though that you might need a USB source with a higher current output than what any of the stuff that I have on hand has. I may need a dedicated USB battery bank with 3A or more output to get the intended result. _When I first plug the battery in the lamp does drop only one level for a second and then drops immediately into the third...bummer.

I'd hate to rush out to buy a battery bank supplying 3A only to have it do the same thing. Nope, all this is not what I expected. Knowing what I know now I'd of probably just bought another CR-900 as the digital run time read out is a more useful feature


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## MRMOLE (May 31, 2011)

I have to admit there's been many times Ravemen has had me wondering "what were they thinking". They have had so many nice features that are incorporated into them in such a poor way that ends up limiting the usefulness of said nice features. Only being able to charge while operating in the lower modes is a prime example along with not being able to switch between the cutoff and combo beam from the remote on the PR series lights. Also assuming the new PR800's charge on the fly feature will have similar operating limitations and the fact that they designed it off the smaller PR600 the increased battery capacity and longer runtimes + OLED display of the older PR900 looks to be a better light/value. I've also always wondered why Ravemen designed their lights with easily changeable optics yet don't offer any options and are unwilling to even sell replacements of the standard ones. Revemen lights are all good performers and reliable solid values but if Ravemen would fix some or all of these things they could have a much better lineup (IMO).
Mole


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

*CR-700; First test ride*

Well I guess I got lucky tonight. The weather stayed dry just long enough to get a cold road ride in. Like I said before I'm not one of those people who like to ride in cold weather. With temps in the upper 30's°F I made sure I had enough clothes on to get a decent ride in. Actually got a fairly long ride in all things considered.

The CR-700 performed pretty much as expected and no cold weather issues. I also took along the CR-900 so I could compare the two. With both mounted on the bars I went off for one of my local MUP / local road rides. First thing I noticed is that the CR-700 seems to have a slightly different beam tint. I suppose this is not surprising to some as the CR900 I have was also different in tint than the CR-500 I own. That said the CR-700 is just ever so slightly on the green-ish side. Not a major issue as I see it but I have to admit I like the more slightly orange-ish ( warmer ) tint of the CR-900 as I find that more to my liking. No problems using the CR-700 though. Once I start using it I pretty much forget about the slightly greener tint as it's really not all that noticeable once you start riding ( at least on my initial ride ).

Since I was using both lamps on and off I had an unexpected surprise; the CR-900 I have was working flawlessly..._no intermittent mode changes ! ( like I was getting last year )_ Wow! I don't know what to say about that but boy am I happy. I suppose it's possible that somehow condensation might have gotten inside the lamp and played with the electronics. Perhaps over the winter months it dried out and now is fine. This means I will of course have to retest asap.

Summing up; I pretty much prefer the beam tint and brightness of the CR-900. Not to mention I really like the digital read out and programmability of the 900. Nothing bad to say about the CR-700 yet but since this is a user review I will continue to use it. I'm glad to say though that it did pass it's first cold weather test. :thumbsup:


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

*CR-700; First photo shot*

Did a quicky ride after getting home tonight. Ya know, I think I'm getting used to riding in the cold. Seems wearing a lite coat makes a big difference. That said I'll likely not ride in anything colder than 35°F

Sorry it took so long to take a photo but I wanted the roads to be completely dry. This is the lamp on high. Not bad if I do say so. Beam tint doesn't bother me at all now.

On a side note I bought a small DC to DC ( USB ) step-down converter that is suppose to be able to output 3A. First I have to cannibalize one of my bike battery extension cords so I can connect to one of my bike batteries ( 8.4 volts ) In practice I will likely use a "Y" connector so I can use my other light at the same time. I have no idea if this is really going to prevent the CR-700 from powering down more than one level but even if it doesn't work like I hope it's small enough to be worth carrying along if on a longer ride. ( will let me charge my phone too if need be with any 8.4 volt battery I own. )


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

*CR-700; medium mode*

Thought I'd throw a photo of the medium mode out there since I have since only shown the high mode. I have to admit though this photo doesn't properly represent what my eyes were seeing. To put this another way the photo looks brighter than what my eyes were seeing. The new Galaxy S9 phone I have seems to be over compensating when in low light. Not that I couldn't see all the way to the bridge in the photo but it certainly didn't look as bright as the photo seems to indicate. Otherwise the spread of the beam pattern is spot on and very evenly dispersed. Photo taken on the local MUP behind where I live.

So nice to ride when temps are at least in the 50's(F):thumbsup:


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

*CR-700- edited updated photo*

Seems my camera has very good low light capabilities so I had to make some adjustments to the exposure. I adjusted the exposure on the original photo and this is a bit more like what I was seeing. ( below ) ( medium mode )


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

Took another quick ride after work with temps near 50°F tonight. God it feels good to ride a bike after waiting so long for the winter to pass. :thumbsup: Had everything going tonight, wheel lights, and multiple flashers. Did have one major disappointment just before leaving. My Gemini Iris, the lamp I use on the back of my helmet decided to give up the ghost. Sad too, I really liked the Iris. Worked perfect on back of my helmet. Oh well, guess that means I'm in the market for a better rear helmet light. Gonna be hard to beat the small size and large output of the Iris though. Not to mention that the Iris slid easily onto the back of my helmet without much trouble at all. At least I had a half decent cheap Chinese one as back-up so all was not lost. 

Anyway, sorry but I digressed a bit there. The CR-700 continues to work like a champ. Tonight as I was riding down a minor hill the 700 helped me see a few deer that were just about to step out on me. Was only doing about 16mph at the time so I had enough light and enough time to make adjustments to my speed. The wide beam also helped me to see the three other deer standing just a short distance off the road. 

On a side note I intend to re-do the photo of the main high beam on the CR-700. Since I now know the S9's photos need to be adjusted I need to put up a more representative photo. Hope to do this by the weekend. Last but not least I need to test the DC to DC voltage converter I bought to see how well it works with the CR-700 as backup voltage source. Not holding my breath though in hoping it works better than my other USB voltage sources but I might get lucky.


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

*CR-700; Upgraded photos*

Had a chance to take a nice ride after work tonight. This time I took photos of both the high and med setting. Not a big difference but running high does make better for seeing things to the sides. That said I find that most times I'm good just running medium.

Pleasant surprise tonight as my Gemini Iris which I thought was dead just started working again. Took it on my ride tonight and it worked the whole ride so I guess I now have my favorite helmet light back.

Below are the altered photos I took using my Samsung S9. What I mean by that is that the S9 seems to make my night photos look brighter than they actually are. The softwear on the camera allows the user to alter the exposure after taking the photo. I scaled both back the same amount so this should be a better example than my previous photos. First photo is high mode, second is medium mode.


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

*Update; Full power when charging via USB*

Took some time but I think I figured out why the CR-700 wouldn't appear to run on high with an external charger. Like was said by others, the lamp must first be fully charged. However if you unplug from the charger ( after the indicator turns green ) and then plug in another USB charger the indicator on the lamp again turns red, indicating that it is once again in charging mode. The key is the indicator. I tested earlier while the indicator was still red. That was why mine dropped to third level immediately. Once the indicator turns green again you can once more have full power.

The down side is that if you are using the lamp without the external charger at the beginning of the ride you won't be able to get full power on the lamp once the lamp's internal battery is no longer at full power status. If you plug in the USB battery bank after the lamp has been running a while you only get the third level until the lamp is once again fully charged and that may take a while.

I'm about to go test the CR-700 with battery bank. If it holds steady on full power I'll let you know by editing the post. One last down-side to running an external battery; "You lose the use of the remote". Hey, only one USB port, what can I say. That said if you are planning a good three hour night ride and want full power you need to plug in the external battery from the start.


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

*update from last post*

Continued from last post;

With the CR-700 using the remote battery ( Trustfire 4-cell holder with USB output ) The lamp ran on high for maybe 15 minutes using the external battery and then switched to the red indicator which of course gave me the dreaded third level. 

While this is disappointing to say the least it may be because of the output limitations of the Trustfire cell holder's USB circuit. If you have a USB battery bank capable of providing a 3A output perhaps it would of stayed on high longer. However I'm not going to buy a 3A output USB battery bank just to find out.  My gut is telling me it might not make a difference but if someone else has a 3A USB battery bank and one of these lights please feel free to chime in.


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## MRMOLE (May 31, 2011)

*Pr1600?*








Right click image to expand

Saw this on Ravemen's site this morning, looks interesting! Specs. say it has the chargeable while in operation feature, bar mount now also fits 35mm bars + the extra output.
Mole


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

MRMOLE said:


> View attachment 1252102
> 
> Right click image to expand
> 
> ...


Yes, Bob from Raveman told me about the PR-1600 a couple days ago. Still I haven't seen what it looks like but I'll assume it looks much like the 1200. I looked on the website just a day ago or so and I didn't see it mentioned....Anyway, I only know that Bob said an external USB power source will run it at 800 lumen. Looks good on paper ( so to speak ) but I'm very skeptical as to how well the external battery circuit is going to work seeing the problem I'm having with the CR-700.

The upgrade to the PR-1200 to *1600 ( *lumen ) should work rather well as long as it has sufficient battery power. When they start to sell I'll see if I can get one for review. However, not knowing how well the external charging circuit will work I'd rather not have to pay for it. If I were more certain it would operate as claimed I'd just go ahead and buy it.

I have a friend at work that is a real computer nerd. I know he has a very large USB power bank that he uses to power his portable electronics. Likely it's capable of a 3A output. I'm going to see if he will loan it to me for a night. I'm pretty sure he would know the spec's of his battery bank and whether or not it can supply a 3A output.

This morning I was checking out battery banks online. I seen one rated for 3A that looked pretty small and relatively inexpensive. I might buy it but right now I'm trying to outfit my new bike with other needed stuff so my funds are a little low at the moment.


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## MRMOLE (May 31, 2011)

Cat-man-do said:


> Yes, Bob from Raveman told me about the PR-1600 a couple days ago. Still I haven't seen what it looks like but I'll assume it looks much like the 1200. I looked on the website just a day ago or so and I didn't see it mentioned....Anyway, I only know that Bob said an external USB power source will run it at 800 lumen. Looks good on paper ( so to speak ) but I'm very skeptical as to how well the external battery circuit is going to work seeing the problem I'm having with the CR-700.
> 
> The upgrade to the PR-1200 to *1600 ( *lumen ) should work rather well as long as it has sufficient battery power. When they start to sell I'll see if I can get one for review. However, not knowing how well the external charging circuit will work I'd rather not have to pay for it. If I were more certain it would operate as claimed I'd just go ahead and buy it.
> 
> ...











Would appreciate if you could keep us informed with any information you get on this light. Looks just like the PR1200 as far as I can tell but that wireless remote is new to the Ravemen line. Hope they send you a test light.
Mole


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

MRMOLE said:


> View attachment 1252284
> 
> 
> Would appreciate if you could keep us informed with any information you get on this light. Looks just like the PR1200 as far as I can tell but that wireless remote is new to the Ravemen line. Hope they send you a test light.
> Mole


I see the PR-1600 on the Raveman website but no mention of price. The wireless remote is interesting. Seems it has two buttons, one to turn on/off the lamp the other for changing modes. Other than that the function is almost exactly like the PR-1200.

I'm a little disappointed that there is no 600 lumen mode on the PR-1600. Goes from 800 and next mode down is 400 lumen. My CR-900 mid-mode is 450 lumen. It gets the job done on the road but 550-600 works better. At least the CR-900 has that programmable mode so if I want ~600 I can have it. Just wish it would save the setting.


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## MRMOLE (May 31, 2011)

Cat-man-do said:


> I see the PR-1600 on the Raveman website but no mention of price. The wireless remote is interesting. Seems it has two buttons, one to turn on/off the lamp the other for changing modes. Other than that the function is almost exactly like the PR-1200.
> 
> I'm a little disappointed that there is no 600 lumen mode on the PR-1600. Goes from 800 and next mode down is 400 lumen. My CR-900 mid-mode is 450 lumen. It gets the job done on the road but 550-600 works better. At least the CR-900 has that programmable mode so if I want ~600 I can have it. Just wish it would save the setting.


Retail price will be important as it will probably position the PR1600 in direct competition with the Gloworm CX. Whether the PR1600's extra output, wireless remote, OLED display and cutoff beam or the CX's programmable presets, beam altering optional optics, field changeable larger battery capacity/longer runtimes and ability to run from a power bank @ full output will determine which light is the winner for you.
Mole


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

MRMOLE said:


> Retail price will be important as it will probably position the PR1600 in direct competition with the Gloworm CX. Whether the PR1600's extra output, wireless remote, OLED display and cutoff beam or the CX's programmable presets, beam altering optional optics, field changeable larger battery capacity/longer runtimes and ability to run from a power bank @ full output will determine which light is the winner for you.
> Mole


...and to think, I was offered to test the Gloworm CX for free and turned it down. ( I remember telling them to give it to someone else who I thought worthy...maybe you, I don't remember now ) :madman: 

The Gloworm CX is certainly an excellent product from what you're saying. With one elliptical optic and one spot it should make for an excellent beam pattern. Add to that a switchable battery and programmable modes....wishing now that I had accepted the offer. That said if either Raveman or Gloworm makes me another offer I'm not going to turn it down this time.


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## MRMOLE (May 31, 2011)

Cat-man-do said:


> ...and to think, I was offered to test the Gloworm CX for free and turned it down. ( I remember telling them to give it to someone else who I thought worthy...maybe you, I don't remember now ) :madman:
> 
> The Gloworm CX is certainly an excellent product from what you're saying. With one elliptical optic and one spot it should make for an excellent beam pattern. Add to that a switchable battery and programmable modes....wishing now that I had accepted the offer. That said if either Raveman or Gloworm makes me another offer I'm not going to turn it down this time.


I did pay for mine but pretty sure it was on one of their sales. Newest version basically a self-contained Alpha so very long throw for its lumen output (xpg3's) plus low current draw. Ability to run while charging from a power bank feature almost a waste with this light since it runs over 2.5 hrs in max. setting on a single charge. $145 price very fair for what you get.
Mole


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

*Back to the CR-700*

Since getting my new road ebike I decided to try using the CR-700 more and since I spent good money for it I figured, "Why not make it earn it's keep". Now an interesting thing happened when I started using the 700 again. I began to appreciate more how the beam tint and beam pattern of the 700 seem to extend more ( at close to the same output levels ) when compared to the CR-900. Not sure but it's possible it's just my eyes playing tricks on me. 

Been using it pretty much everyday since getting the new bike. Anyway if it turns out my eyes aren't playing tricks on me, my theory is that the slightly different beam tint seems to penetrate and carry further down the road although I'm baffled as to the why. That said I think this makes the CR-700 the best Bang for the Buck model of all the Raveman's. However the CR-900 is still brighter and so has ( or should have ) the longer throw on high. Plus it has a battery with higher capacity when compared to the one inside the CR-700. Matter of fact I brought this issue up to Bob at Raveman by telling him it would be real nice if the next version of the 700 have a better / higher capacity battery ( of at least 3000mAh ). Sadly he didn't say they were going to do that but if they did it might take a couple years before they did. ( *Shrug* )

I have to admit, I'm worried about Raveman. I say that because they have good to great products but are dragging their feet ( so to speak ) when it comes to upgrades. I'd hate to see them fall to the wayside because of slow upgrades. Nice that they are upgrading the PR series but I'd like to see either an upgrade on the CR-900, the CR-700 or both.  Word up...give "Us" some 20-21700 cells in one or both of these bad boys.


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## MRMOLE (May 31, 2011)

Cat-man-do said:


> I have to admit, I'm worried about Raveman. I say that because they have good to great products but are dragging their feet ( so to speak ) when it comes to upgrades. I'd hate to see them fall to the wayside because of slow upgrades. Nice that they are upgrading the PR series but I'd like to see either an upgrade on the CR-900, the CR-700 or both. Word up...give "Us" some 20-21700 cells in one or both of these bad boys.


I'm not sure if I'm really worried about Ravemen but they have always had me scratching my head wondering "what where they thinking". Almost all the initial reviews of their PR series lights (which were hyped as an automotive style high/low beam) mentioned the fact that switching from hi (hybred/both emitters) to low (cutoff beam optic only) was not accessible with the remote which has never been addressed. The fact that they design their lights with easily changeable optics but refuse to sell any of their different optics separately (how cool would a very light weight PR900 with a spot optic be as a helmet light compared to what's currently available as competition). Never understood the use of smaller than average capacity batteries either. Material cost, weight, and retooling to fit the larger 21700 cells I could understand but other than a minimal increase in material cost why not run higher capacity batteries in the units that use 18650's? Would be nice if they were a little more responsive to user input but they continue to sell very good products which could easily be made better IMO. At least they did improve the PR series mounts to accommodate 35mm bars (super important for a commuter style light?).
Mole


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

MRMOLE said:


> ....Almost all the initial reviews of their PR series lights (which were hyped as an automotive style high/low beam) mentioned the fact that switching from hi (hybred/both emitters) to low (cutoff beam optic only) was not accessible with the remote which has never been addressed.


True...However, you can switch from one to two emitters with the PR series if you press and hold the remote. While I wish there was the option to just press and have both emitters on at the same time without holding the button, that would have to require a second button ( unless they included an option to give the user the option to reprogram the "press hold function of the remote", to "press-hold-2 sec" and then that activate the one or two emitter function without the need to keep holding the button.

Matter of fact I use my Gemini Duo for high beam by just press / holding the Duo's wireless remote button ( just like how the Raveman's are set to operate. Now the reason I do that is because one; It has that function, two.. I usually only need a high beam for seconds when on the road and thirdly because it also helps conserve battery.

Now if you press and hold the remote on the PR-1200 it does indeed supply a nice amount of light. That said it isn't near as bright as my Duo. The PR-1600 is suppose to be much brighter on boost. Quite possibly it could remove my need to use two lamps on the bars when riding road. Once again though trying to mount the bigger lamp might be a problem unless I use some type of bar extension. ( GoPro mount would be nice if included as well )

The PR1600 I believe is going to use better batteries. My biggest pet peeve with the 1600 is that there is no 600 lumen mode when using just a single emitter. I just don't understand why they would have the lamp go from 800 lumen and then directly to 400 lumen. While 400 is not bad 600 lumen for me is the sweet spot. At 600 lumen ( with the right batteries ) the PR-1600 could conceivably run for over two hours and allow excellent low beam visibility.


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## MRMOLE (May 31, 2011)

Cat-man-do said:


> True...However, you can switch from one to two emitters with the PR series if you press and hold the remote. While I wish there was the option to just press and have both emitters on at the same time without holding the button, that would have to require a second button ( unless they included an option to give the user the option to reprogram the "press hold function of the remote", to "press-hold-2 sec" and then that activate the one or two emitter function without the need to keep holding the button.


Personally if they switched the press and hold function to quickly dim and only operate the cutoff side of the light it would be far more useful for me. My PR900 only makes a little over 800 lumens so not unusual to run the light on full power if the pace is faster.



> The PR1600 I believe is going to use better batteries. My biggest pet peeve with the 1600 is that there is no 600 lumen mode when using just a single emitter. I just don't understand why they would have the lamp go from 800 lumen and then directly to 400 lumen. While 400 is not bad 600 lumen for me is the sweet spot. At 600 lumen ( with the right batteries ) the PR-1600 could conceivably run for over two hours and allow excellent low beam visibility


I keep looking but still have seen nothing new about the larger PR1600. I agree that more than 400 lumens (maX cutoff output on my PR900) would be an improvement largely because of the beam width. Would be interesting to see how the 1600 compares overall with my latest edition Gloworm CX but still haven't seen any way to order it yet.
Mole


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

One other thing that no one has ever mentioned before is that it would be great if the Raveman products included a set of "Off-set shims" for the mounts. Many handlebars are tapered. If using a lamp with just a regular conical beam pattern this is not an issue but with lamps that provide a cut-off beam pattern it means the projection of the cut-off is not going to be level if you have tapered handlebars. Both of my flat bar road set-ups have tapered handle bars. In order to get the cut-off perfectly horizontal I had to make my own shims which is time consuming and a pita if you happen to lose the shim. ( I realize of course that many might think this a trifle nit-pick but hey...I'm a perfectionist. What can I say.  )

Thankfully none of the handlebars I have "sweep-back" or I would of had a terrible time being able to aim the light perfectly straight ahead.


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

I finally did a 22 miler using the CR-700. Most of the time I was using the second mode but since it was a longer ride I used the third mode some of the time as well. Actually I was surprised how well I could see using the third mode. Finally got the red indicator during the last half hour of ride but never ran out of juice


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

Had to go back to using the CR-700 after the CR-900 I own had a problem when the mico-USB port started not to work. (One of the metal pieces in the port must of broke off which unfortunately means I can no longer charge the lamp ).

Did a 13 miler last night with the CR-700. Amazingly the lamp never went out of the green ( voltage indicator ). I did use the second mode most of the time but on the faster downhills I always run high....then of course I power down to the third level when climbing or if riding on a road that has street lights. When I charged the lamp today it only charged for a half hour before reaching a full charge. Not bad, not bad at all.

Looking forward though to getting a new CR-900. However, since I've had a problem with a micro USB port failing I'm going to make a recommendation...see below



> *When using any bike light that uses a micro-USB port to charge and / or operate a wired remote control, I'm going to highly recommend buying a Micro-USB extender. I just ordered a couple myself. This way I can just keep the extender plugged into the micro-USB port and not worry about wearing out the port in the lamp. Smallest I could find ( on Amazon ) was 1 ft. This means I'll have to wrap the extra wire around the bars or lamp when I use the remote but I can deal with that. This way if the port on the extender breaks it just cost chump change to get a new one. Way better than ditching a $78 lamp. *


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## MRMOLE (May 31, 2011)

Cat-man-do said:


> When using any bike light that uses a micro-USB port to charge and / or operate a wired remote control, I'm going to highly recommend buying a Micro-USB extender. I just ordered a couple myself. This way I can just keep the extender plugged into the micro-USB port and not worry about wearing out the port in the lamp. Smallest I could find ( on Amazon ) was 1 ft. This means I'll have to wrap the extra wire around the bars or lamp when I use the remote but I can deal with that. This way if the port on the extender breaks it just cost chump change to get a new one. Way better than ditching a $78 lamp.


Thanks Cat! That's a valuable tip for those who put a lot of mileage on their lights. I haven't ordered my extensions yet but most certainly will when I figure out how many I want. I wonder if we'll be able to run an external power bank and the remote at the same time when using the dual head splitter cable design on lights like your CR700 or my Gloworm CX?
Mole


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

MRMOLE said:


> Thanks Cat! That's a valuable tip for those who put a lot of mileage on their lights. I haven't ordered my extensions yet but most certainly will when I figure out how many I want. *I wonder if we'll be able to run an external power bank and the remote at the same time when using the dual head splitter cable design on lights like your CR700 or my Gloworm CX?*
> Mole


I wouldn't bet on it. If you're charging the lamp with a battery bank ( 5 volts ), I don't think pulsing the remote would do anything ( unless somehow the the two port connections are in series ( which I don't think they would be ).

Hey, I wonder if Action LED might be interested in selling something like a "mini-micro-USB extensions" ( ~ 1.5"-4" long ). If the CX has a mico-USB charging port having something like that on hand could really help keep the port in the lamp from wearing out too fast.


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

*@MRM*....Just got the 1 ft. micro-USB extensions in today! ( Wow! Amazon was really fast on that one ) Wouldn't you know, I just so happened to find a smaller ( 6" ) version while on Amazon today. 

Okay, the skinny on the how the extension ( the 1 ft. version ) worked; Seems to work fine....HOWEVER....one big negative; The female port on the ones I have seem to be very shallow. When I plug in the remote the two ends do not come together flush... Still works but no telling what will happen if it rains. I might have to wrap electrical tape around it to keep out moisture but that's not something I want to do. I'm going to order one of the 6" versions and hope that the female side is deeper. I have a feeling it is ( judging by the photos ) and the 6" is a different brand so I'm hoping for the best.


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## MRMOLE (May 31, 2011)

Cat-man-do said:


> *@MRM*....Just got the 1 ft. micro-USB extensions in today! ( Wow! Amazon was really fast on that one ) Wouldn't you know, I just so happened to find a smaller ( 6" ) version while on Amazon today.
> 
> Okay, the skinny on the how the extension ( the 1 ft. version ) worked; Seems to work fine....HOWEVER....one big negative; The female port on the ones I have seem to be very shallow. When I plug in the remote the two ends do not come together flush... Still works but no telling what will happen if it rains. I might have to wrap electrical tape around it to keep out moisture but that's not something I want to do. I'm going to order one of the 6" versions and hope that the female side is deeper. I have a feeling it is ( judging by the photos ) and the 6" is a different brand so I'm hoping for the best.


Hey Cat,
Thanks for the updates! This is a great idea but trying to imagine how it will work in real life I'm worried (at least for my Gloworm CX) that a standadrd exit cable setup may make the usb port we're trying to protect more vulnerable in a impact situation. I'd like to try to find something with a low profile side exit male connector (pictured below) like comes standard with the CX accessories or maybe have one made custom. If I find something I'll post a picture and purchase info.
Mole


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

*Micro-USB update*

Using the one foot micro-USB extension with the CR-700 wired remote the other night I just happened to get caught in an unexpected downpour. As I mentioned before the female port on the extension doesn't quite take all of the male part of the remote wire. Well, didn't seem to be a problem and no I did not wrap any electrical tape around it. Maybe it wasn't a problem because I had the female port on the extension hanging downward....can't say for sure because it didn't even cross my mind till the next day.

Adding to the six inch version I linked to in my last post tonight I happened to find something even shorter ( see link ). Not sure I'd want this type because I actually like having a little extra cable. Having some extra cable allows more mounting options for the remote. I will however order one of the six inch ones just to see if it allows for a flush connection.

Been having fun using the the CR-700 this week. The more I use the third mode the more surprised I am that I can see quite well, particularly when in complete darkness. Should have the new CR-900 sometime this week.


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