# User Review: Xeccon Spiker 1211; Racer's delight(?)



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

About a month ago I was perusing the Xeccon website
( Mtbrevolution ) and noticed a new lamp apparently designed for helmet use and specifically with “Racing” in mind. Supposedly it was offering a more wider beam pattern than Xeccon’s other popular helmet lamp, the S-12, which is a super thrower. Intrigued by this I decided to contact Leonard from Mtbrevolution to ask about the lamp. Being a connoisseur of bike lights in general I’m always on the look-out for more refinement when it comes to helmet lighting. The Spiker 1211 was peaking my interest and since Leonard and I have a friendly relationship and I’ve reviewed the Xeccon S-12 about a year ago, I was offered the chance to review the new Spiker 1211 ( * although that was not my intention when I contacted him ). Yes this means I get it for free. That said I hope to be as objective as possible and Leonard knows that I will talk about the good, the bad and the ugly…IF, it needs to be told. That said, let me begin….

When the lamp arrived the first thing I noticed about it was the compact design. Very, very nice looking single emitter lamp. One of the reasons it caught my attention was because it was advertised as using the Cree XM-L2 U2 emitter and because it was suppose to be designed for the racers ( who according to Leonard wanted a lamp with a wider beam pattern for the helmet ). Like it’s big brother the S-12 it has the classic outer shell ( with venting ) covering an inner shell. Completely metal, no plastic. It is however a bit more artistically designed than it’s big brother the S-12. As expected the reflector is faceted ( OP ) to bring about a more wider beam pattern. When doing initial walk-arounds with the lamp it became quite obvious to me that this lamp wasn’t going to be breaking any new ground. It was pretty bright, and sure enough it was quite wide ( but not super wide ). Now all I needed to do was compare it to a couple other lamps that I have to see if the 1211 was indeed going to bring anything new to the table. 

With my mtb bike still in the shop at the first of the week I did a walk-through on a trail to compare it to another semi-popular lamp, the Magicshine 808e. The 808e., another single emitter lamp ( XM-L U2 ) is noted for having a nice mix of throw and spill. In previous reviews I noted the 808e for being quite useful into the 150 ft. range. As such it makes for a very nice helmet lamp and doesn’t have quite as narrow a beam pattern as the Xeccon S-12 ( which has considerably more throw than the 808e ). 

The first thing that surprised me was that the 1211 has almost the same throw as the MS. While it doesn’t have quite as an intense center spot as the 808e that was pretty much expected considering the design. I can’t say the 1211 is better than the 808e by beam pattern ( or tint ) but the 1211 does bring something different to the table…the wider center area is quite useful especially when in full power mode and when used on wider trails, open areas and wide turns with multiple lines. 

Tonight I did my first demo ride with the Spiker 1211. My initial impressions are well…mixed. I’m not super impressed but I’m not disappointed either. Trying to judge the effectiveness of the 1211’s beam pattern is not easy. While on my ride I found it more useful on more reflective terrain / surfaces. Regardless it was working very well on damp / dark surfaces as well, just not as much throw in those conditions ( as it is with almost every other type of LED lamp as well ). 

When I returned to my car I brought out my Solarstorm X2 so I could compare it to the 1211. The SSX2 is a duel emitter lamp so I expected it to be quite brighter. Surprisingly, the X2 was only slightly brighter ( over-all ) but because of the spread of the beam pattern it turned out to be not quite as useful as the 1211. This was unexpected. A big factor that played into this was the fact that the SSX2 has a LOT of *feedback glare ( close to the face ) when used on the helmet ( *due to the wide beam ). Athough not noticeable when on the bars, on the helmet the close proximity of the beam to the face/eyes and the fact that it lit up a lot of airborne particulate matter made a very big difference in how well I could see. The 1211 on the other hand didn’t have near the amount of feedback glare as the X2 ( although it had some as expected ) and because it’s beam pattern was not quite as wide as the SSX2 ( at distance ) I found I could actually see better with the 1211, once again I found this somewhat surprising. 

So much for my initial impressions for now. I’ll have more to say once I get a couple more rides under my belt with the lamp. I’ll also have more to say about the how the lamp operates, it's fine points and it's faults. 

Photos below.... Xeccon Spiker 1211 vs. Magicshine 808e


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## indebt (Nov 8, 2009)

First thing,,,,,, thanx Cat-man-do for taking the time to do this review!! Very interesting looking lamp head, I do like it's smaller profile which of coarse is also a contributor to it's wider spread of light along with the OP reflector. For my taste this may be better as by the sounds of it,, it has a more diversified beam pattern. I've made no secret how I feel about single emitter lamp heads using reflectors, that been said this one may sway my opinion.

Looking forward to your impressions on the UI. Cheers!!


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

The UI is pretty much like the UI on the S-12; four modes High-low-flash-off ( in that order ). Unlike the S-12 I find the lower mode on the Spiker 1211 a bit more usable. I could wish for a bit more light when using low but it does work well enough at slower speeds. Now if this lamp had a mid-mode ( with hidden flash ) or a stepless mode adjustment feature ( so to dial in the desired intensity of the low ) it would be oh-so-much nicer.

Like it's predecessor ( the S-12 ) the Spiker 1211 has a very nimble and positive feel when changing modes. At first glance you might think having "flash" and "off" in the main menu a pita. Actually though, it's not really a big deal. Once you get the hang of it you can "rapidfire" through the modes so quickly that you never have to look at flash or off unless you want to. When in low you just memorize the number three ( for three clicks ). Three quick clicks ( bing, bing, bing ) and you are in high. If you do it fast enough you don't even see the other modes. 

Also while it might seem counter intuitive to have the off mode included in the main menu, personally I find it comes in handy when you want to turn the lamp off fast and use only the bar lamp. With standard "press and hold off" features you would have to have your hand on your head for a number of seconds and sometimes that doesn't work so well when you are moving.  The 1211 does in fact include a "press and hold off " feature if one would rather go that route. However it will take longer to turn off doing it that way.


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## indebt (Nov 8, 2009)

Do you know the price of 1211 yet? Battery options? Not sure how much extra cost there would be incorporating an adjustment feature on the UI like the Xera/X-1, but it would be a welcome one. Possibly product is targeted for a lower price point, thus keeping things simple?


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## indebt (Nov 8, 2009)

Didn't realize the 1211 was already on their website. I see it comes with a 5200mAh Samsung battery which is very good!! Couldn't find a price though. Cheers!!


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

indebt said:


> Do you know the price of 1211 yet? Battery options? Not sure how much extra cost there would be incorporating an adjustment feature on the UI like the Xera/X-1, but it would be a welcome one. Possibly product is targeted for a lower price point, thus keeping things simple?


There a couple different options on price. Standard set-up with a 4-cell Samsung 5200mah battery is ~ $85 ( USD ). ..or you may go with the two-cell for $10 less. I should also mention that since they also sell Panasonic batteries you can likely "special order" what you want. Likely you can also just buy the lamp head although I don't know how much that is.

Since the question of "Batteries" has come up I'm going to say that I really like the Xeccon batteries. They use the best brand name cells, are packaged to resist water very well and the included bags are very usable / durable. Since they offer batteries using different brands you may request a different battery ( while will of course change the price depending on what you want. Shipping is usually less than a week ( business days ).


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## indebt (Nov 8, 2009)

Wow!! just $85 complete, that's a very well priced product and I guess would explain the simple UI. Do you have the X-1? I remember you having one of Glo-Worm's products. If so I was wondering how you would compare the two beam patterns as one is optic Vs reflector?


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

indebt said:


> Wow!! just $85 complete, that's a very well priced product and I guess would explain the simple UI. Do you have the X-1? I remember you having one of Glo-Worm's products. If so I was wondering how you would compare the two beam patterns as one is optic Vs reflector?


Nope, wish I had an X-1. Likely I would love the beam pattern since I could use an optic that would best suit my needs. Yep, an X-1 would be nice However...I've tried using my Gloworm X2 on the helmet before and while I love remote control for the bars I don't find it as useful a feature for helmet use. Add to that the GW's all require "push and hold" to turn off and that would be even harder to do with a small remote switch mounted to a helmet with the bike bouncing all over the place.

Got to go, time to hit the road for my next night ride. Perhaps more feedback when I get home.


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## indebt (Nov 8, 2009)

Enjoy your ride!!Cheers!!


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

Some interesting observations while on my ride tonight. First, I decided to ride an area that I haven't ridden in more than 7 years. Basically originally used as an equestrian area that I gave up riding years ago because at the time the area got very little in the way of trail maintenance. Fast forward to today; About a month ago while chatting it up on the local I.M.B.A. affiliate website I found out that my "old haunt" had been "revitalized" and was even being used in the local "100" event. Since many of the new and revitalized trails were being listed on OSM ( cycle ) I got brave tonight and thought I'd do some exploring of my old haunt by using my phone's Locus app. Wow! I ended up finding some really nice, gnarly and very technical single track. This really made for an interesting ride since for the most part I really didn't know what to except as I rounded every twist or turn.

That said this meant that the Spiker 1211 was going to get a real "acid test". As it started getting darker I ended up taking a trail that was to be a real hoot. Oddly though I noticed that the Spiker for some reason wasn't providing the intensity at distance that I was expecting. This had me very perplexed as it seemed to me as though the lamp was no where near as bright as it had appeared the night before. The further I went the more I was wishing I had the S-12 in my bag. In a nut shell I just wasn't able to see as far as I needed to see and that was a complete flip-flop from what I experienced the previous night. 

Right before getting back to the car I took the helmet off my head and looked at the lamp. To my surprise I could see that the lens on the 1211 had "fogged up' significantly and that some kind of substance was also on the lens. This got me thinking. I did "wash" the front of the lamp with soap and water before leaving my home. Quite possibly the front of the lamp was not on tight enough to keep the moisture ( vapor ) from condensing on the glass lens. When I got back to the car I took the front of the lamp off and noticed that both sides of the lens seems to have some kind of flim on it. Even when I used glass cleaner it was really hard to get off. I did though manage to get it off. In retrospect, if the lens was getting fogged up while riding this would help explain the loss of intensity in the beam pattern. With the lens once again clear of film and moisture I reassembled and was pleased to find that now the lamp seemed even brighter than it was the previous night. I was so pleased by this that I wanted to go back out so to see if there would be a big difference. Sadly, only one thing stopped me from doing this; Just before getting back to my car another car arrived and was parked in a dark secluded spot ( not far from my car ) and doing only God knows what. I get antsy with strange people hanging around and just sitting in a car. With that in mind I decided just to leave rather than go back out and take the chance of having my car broken into. 

After I got home I took the front off the 1211 and decided to do a closer inspection. I once again cleaned the front lens ( front and back ) and then applied some anti-fogging spray to it. I also buffed the reflector and lighted buffed the emitter dome. I also noticed that the O-ring on the inside of the front piece is really not all that big. Since I might have fiddled with the front before taking my ride tonight that might explain some things. For the next ride I'll make sure that the front is nice and tight and watch to see if vapor condensing on the lens continues to be a problem. 

One last observation. After figuring out the fogging of the lens issue I had compared the 1211 to my trusty XM-L2 torch that I generally use for a helmet lamp. To my utter surprise the Spiker 1211 was brighter! Okay, I'm impressed BUT I need to know that it won't fog up again and lose 25% of it's throw. If the powers that be are with me tomorrow ( and it doesn't rain ) I plan to do another epic night ride. ( note to self, quick out tomorrow to buy some more TYR anit-fog cleaner...I'm almost out. )


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

As I'm getting ready ( presently ) to go out to give the Spiker 1211 a chance to redeem itself I've decided that in order to do that properly I really need to duplicate the same conditions as last night. ( *Sigh* ). I'd much rather ride somewhere else but it order to KNOW if the lamp is working better I need to ride the same trails, particularly the trail that I first began to notice that I was having some problems seeing. That trail was really knarly with lots of dark, dark dirt. When I say dark I'm talking black. BLACK, black. Vegetation was everywhere. High grass, lots of dodging of trees, rocks and roots. A real fun-house when riding at night. When rounding turns or while dodging trees I had very little time to evaluate what was coming up next. Every turn was a virtual "blind turn" with only seconds to respond. Lines of sight on that trail were very short. Luckily last night the MO was very much with my JO as I was constantly wheelieing over or dodging something. The Spiker 1211 should have handled this kind of trail without problem. If it hadn't of been for my Gloworm X2 on the bars I'd of been in deep do-do. Hopefully tonight the 1211 will redeem itself...BUT... to be on the safe side I will take a back up helmet lamp along in case I start getting the same problem. 

Well, time for episode II, "The Spiker fights back"...coming to a forum thread near you...


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

*Episode II : The Spiker fights back*

....and fight back it did. *Redemption has been had. *...That doesn't mean though that it is the Holy Grail of bike lamps. I'm simply saying that it performed as expected. That's the thing about helmet lamps, there is no perfect helmet lamp. If you use too many emitters you get too wide a beam and that can actually be *detrimental to seeing what's ahead of you ( *in a given environment ). Single emitter lamps are best in my opinion but you can only get so much lumen output out of a single emitter. If you design the lamp with a decent beam width you end up losing intensity. This dampens your ability to see things well at distance. If you focus the beam too tightly you gain visual clarity at distance but the trade off is you then have to deal with a bright spot that dances around ( back/forth up/down ) when riding twisty trails. This can at times be disorienting...and so it goes.

Tonight when I approached the trail that gave me the most problems on the previous night, I stopped for a moment to catch my breath. Up until then the Spiker had been working fine and I didn't expect any problems. With my Gloworm set on medium and the Spiker 1211 on high I started the descent on the trail that I am going to now call "The Funhouse trail". Very quickly it was apparent that I could see better than the previous night. As such I wasn't missing the good lines or missing the obstacles....and many obstacles there were...namely, Logs, log pyramids, big roots, rocks, close trees, black,black mud pits, streams, sharp turns and finally, the dreaded horsey land mines... ( throughout the whole trail... ). I was in my element. Mo and Jo were hanging with me again and since I knew what to except from the previous night's ride I was a one-man-trail-cleaning machine and smiling ear to ear.  :smilewinkgrin:

Things went well. I was seeing better and picking lines better...still...I could of wished for more distance clarity. ( *think Oliver Twist saying, "Please sir, could I have more power"? )  Finally at about the half way point I just had to know what my other helmet lamp would do in the environment I was riding. I had to have something to compare to so I stopped, took the 1211 off the helmet and put my Xeccon S-12 to work.

Just before I turned the S-12 on I took a big breath of air fully expecting to be blown away by the better throw of the S-12. When I turned the S-12 on the first thing I made note of was that there was no big, "Oh My God this is So much Better" reaction. Nope , didn't happen. Yes, I could see better at distance but like I said before no fireworks were going off. Once again I started to ride. I don't think I rode more than 5 minutes before I realized that the S-12 was not working well in the environment I was in. Yes, I could see the turns more more clearly from a distance but when making all the sharp turns on the rugged terrain the spot of the S-12 would dance all over the place. Didn't take me long to decide to switch back.

Anyway, I stopped and switched back to the Spiker 1211. When I got back on my bike I forgot to switch my Gloworm X2 ( on the bars ) back to the medium level ( about 800 lumen ) that I had been using. Instead it was on the low level which is set to about 300 lumen. As I started to ride I didn't catch this right away and because of that I suddenly realized that NOW I was seeing things at distance a lot better! That was when it dawned on me that my bar light was on low, "OH Hell" I thought, "Why didn't I figure this out sooner"! In retrospect it all makes sense now. The Gloworm with it's brighter and wider output was ruining my distance vision and causing me to not see into the distance as well. Once I realized this I continued the ride with the GW in the 300lm range and the Spiker 1211 on full power. I was seeing everything better now, particularly upcoming turns. Not to mention I was riding faster. Believe me, it made a world of difference and I don't know why I didn't figure it out sooner.

When riding trails that are very confined with short lines of sight you don't need a vast amount of light coming off the bars. Too much light ends up reflecting back which in turn hurts your distance vision. I now know that on terrain like this ( when using the Spiker ) I need the helmet lamp set on high. Conversely, the bar lamp should only be bright enough to see what's immediately within the first 30 to 40ft. Once the terrain changes and the trail straightens and becomes more open, full power off the bars can once again be used if needed.

All in all, it was an interesting ride. Can't wait to try the Spiker out now on trails that are more faster and with less turns. Sadly, back to work Monday.


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

*My usual knarly night ride*

Took the Spiker 1211 last night on my usual ride. Really not much to say about the ride except the 1211 performed as expected and did pretty good.

The terrain on this ride is generally hilly and straight. Still on the downhills the 1211 did a good job of illuminating the multiple lines, ruts, rocks of various sizes and in some cases the very narrow only through line.

One thing I did notice last night while using the 1211; It seems to work better once my eyes are fully acclimated to complete darkness. This is likely due to the wider beam not being as intense as the more "hot spot" oriented helmet lights.

Another thing I noticed last night while using the 1211 is the "*atmospheric close-in feedback glare" that I made mention of on a couple of my other rides. While not a major issue with the 1211 the idea occurred to me that I might be able to lessen the glare from the lamp by mounting the lamp higher on the helmet. I usually mount a dedicated bike lamp as close to the front of the helmet as possible. I do this for two reasons; first, I like the look and second because it helps if the lamp doesn't get caught on low hanging branches. On my next ride I'll mount the lamp higher to see how this effects the feedback glare.

Tonight I'll be doing another ride if the weather cooperates. This time on more groomed, swoopy, passive trails with generally shorter lines of sight. Been a while since I rode this area so for the most part this will be a good test of seeing "the unexpected" as I round every turn. Speeds will likely be higher on this ride as the trails are very much "roller coaster" in fashion. The only other thing I have to worry about at this point is my Mojo...I'm a little tired from last night due from some unexpected portaging and from the rugged trails. *sigh* ...man, I think I might be getting too old for this.


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## indebt (Nov 8, 2009)

NO!!! your not getting to old Cat-man-do,,, you still sound like a kid talking about his first ride on his new bike Christmas morning,, you have many more years ahead!! LOL!!

My overall take on your description and experience with the 1211 is that it is a reflector lamp head with optic type performance. This one is on my short list for buddy's looking for a good helmet light at a smoking price point. Would you say the 1211 at it's highest setting would be close in visible output to the 800 lumen setting on your X-2??


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

indebt said:


> NO!!! your not getting to old Cat-man-do,,, you still sound like a kid talking about his first ride on his new bike Christmas morning,, you have many more years ahead!! LOL!!
> 
> My overall take on your description and experience with the 1211 is that it is a reflector lamp head with optic type performance. This one is on my short list for buddy's looking for a good helmet light at a smoking price point. Would you say the 1211 at it's highest setting would be close in visible output to the 800 lumen setting on your X-2??


Well, I'm old enough where my mind likes to make commitments that my body doesn't like to keep.  ...and that sometimes can be a problem.

I have done static ( still ) comparisons but truthfully it isn't a fair comparison as the GW X2 has duel emitters. The 1211 has almost the same reach as the Gloworm X2 but not the intensity or beam width. I think the advantage of using something like the 1211 is it's ability to work well within it's usable range which is roughly 0-100 ft.
It will of course reach farther but then the dispersal pattern of the lamp comes into play which limits how well you can see detail. Last night once I hit the road the lamp appears to have much farther reach so once again terrain makes a big difference.

Last night while making my way back I was coming down a rough hill in stealth mode ( minimal light used with house lights near by in the distance ) The 1211 was in low mode / GW on lowest mode. As I got down to the bottom I suddenly realized I really needed more light. At that point it was kind'a too late to try to reach up on the helmet. I had to cut diagonally across the trail to wheelie over a rut. That put the output of the GW into the brush with only the output of the 1211 ( on low ) to negotiate a very hard downhill turn to the left while still hopscotching over golf-ball type rocks and smaller ruts. The 1211 pulled it off without a hitch.

Sadly, looks like tonight's ride is off. A line of storms came through and look to be far reaching enough to halt any destination I might have in mind. I might be able to get something south of where I live but that depends on whether or not the area I want escapes the reach of the storms. Sadly that will take probably a couple hours to develop before I can get a better idea of the direction of the storm tracks.

Riding at night when storms are in the area can be scary. Not just because of lightning but because sudden winds can cause trees to fall. I've been back in the woods at night before and was close enough to hear a tree suddenly crack ( sounds like lightning ) and then fall somewhere very near to where I was. It was enough to make me clean the shorts when I got home that night. Interestingly last night while doing a portage I had to climb over a VERY BIG tree that had fallen over a spot that I usually walk through. Last thing you want to happen at night is to have one of those suckers fall on you. Gives me the willies just to think about it.


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

I did a quick ride last night on my local trail so I could give the 1211 another try using the lamp this time mounted higher on the helmet. Seems my theory about having less ( close-in ) feedback glare is true when mounted higher on the helmet. I guess that means I'll likely be using the higher mounting system from now on. It might look a little more funky but I've always been one to favor function over form.

I really do like the beam pattern of the spiker 1211. I just wish the output on high was twice as bright but ehhh...it is what it is. It would be interesting though to see what two of these on the helmet would look like. They are light enough. Two would be doable. :thumbsup:


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## spankone (Aug 31, 2011)

Cat-man-do said:


> Like it's predecessor ( the S-12 ) the Spiker 1211 has a very nimble and positive feel when changing modes. At first glance you might think having "flash" and "off" in the main menu a pita. Actually though, it's not really a big deal. Once you get the hang of it you can "rapidfire" through the modes so quickly that you never have to look at flash or off unless you want to. When in low you just memorize the number three ( for three clicks ). Three quick clicks ( bing, bing, bing ) and you are in high. If you do it fast enough you don't even see the other modes.


for me that's a deal killer. I dont want my light turning off whilst I'm change modes in the heat of the moment.

here is my buddies review

Review of Xeccon Spiker 1211 front bicycle light - YouTube


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## ononecarbon456 (Jul 13, 2012)

What a detailed write up. The 1211 is my go to helmet light. I run the MS MJ-872 on low on the bars for near view spread. Here's my review of the 1211 Review of Xeccon Spiker 1211 front bicycle light - YouTube

Joel


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

spankone said:


> for me that's a deal killer. I dont want my light turning off whilst I'm change modes in the heat of the moment.


This is why I commented on this aspect of lamp. I used to feel the same way about such lamps. After getting used to the lamp and the nimble/positive feel of the switch I actually prefer this kind of set-up, albeit provided it is on a helmet lamp. The reason I say that is because usually my bar light is always on and is the last lamp I turn off. That being the case the off mode in the helmet UI really isn't a big threat. Regardless, even if the helmet lamp was the only lamp I was using I don't think it would be a major issue. ( for most people )

The positive trade off on this kind of arrangement is that turning off the helmet lamp is butt simple, no press and hold necessary. Since I don't always run the helmet lamp when riding it is the lamp most likely to be turned on / off when riding. For that matter I change modes on the helmet set-up more than my bar lamp. If it was that big of a problem I definitely wouldn't be willing to use it. It does however take getting used to although for me the learning curve was maybe a couple minutes.

Food for thought; If you use a typically MS lamp in mid-mode and want to go to high; you have to cycle through two modes. The 808 mode button while not as nimble as the 1211 works fine and takes about a second. On the other hand with the 1211 you have to cycle through one extra mode. If you're in low mode and want to go to high; three rapidfire clicks and you're there. Takes about the same amount of time once you get used to it.

This is not to say that I've never gotten the wrong mode while riding. Changing modes on your helmet lamp while riding a mountain bike over rough terrain is not always easy to do regardless of what UI your lamp has. That said I only need a second to change the mode. So far it's not been a big problem. When in low, three quick clicks for high, two for off. To date I can't remember turning the lamp off without wanting to.


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## Zatoichi (Oct 25, 2014)

*Xeccon Spiker 1211*

After a lot of research, I recently purchased the Xeccon Spiker 1211. The light that I bought came with the Samsung 5200mAh 4 cell Li-ion battery.

For my helmet, I wanted a small light with an all metal construction and easy mounting options. I also wanted an external battery since the batteries are easier to replace and can be carried in a pocket or pack. The all metal construction is important for heat management and to help cool the LED. This is one of the key factors to keep the light output as high as possible. Other requirements were a light and battery that are water resistant and some type of battery gage.

At first, I questioned the use of an o-ring mounting and I did not like the helmet strap setup. But I thought it might be possible to mount the light to a helmet and not use strap. This would require a helmet like the Giro Hex or Cannondale Ryker. Both of these helmets have a vent and crosspiece on the forward center of the helmet. I found that I could mount the Spiker 1211 to the crosspiece with just the small o-ring provided. With this setup, the light is low on the helmet and less likely to be caught by a low hanging branch or vine. The light is also easily adjusted while on the trail.









I can confirm Cat-man-do's observations about perceived light output and beam pattern. I typically ride tight, turning single tracks and this light in conjunction with a Xeccon Sogn 900 Wireless mounted to my handlebar works perfectly. The Spiker 1211 is aimed at the point where light from the Sogn 900 starts to fall off. Also, a 2 light setup is safer. Redundancy is key when you can easily take a spill and lose a light in the turmoil.

The run time on high, when using the Spiker 1211 with the 5200mAh battery, exceeds 4 hours. Since my night rides typically don't last longer than 3 hours, I run both the Sogn 900 and Spiker 1211 on high. This creates the perfect light pattern for my style of riding. The green, blue, red, flashing red battery gages are helpful. Although I've never drained the batteries below the blue level.

These lights and replacement batteries can easily be purchased here in the US from a few different online sources. The lights are more expensive than some of the other Chinese manufactured lights. But the quality is very high and the units are solid. Since I like to keep backups and replacements on hand, I decided to purchase a second Spiker 1211 instead of just purchasing a backup battery.

I also want to say that Leonard at mtbrevolution.com has been very helpful. He was able to answer all my questions in a timely manner.


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## C.M.S (Aug 28, 2009)

I might have to get my hands on one of those by springtime .
As always great review !! 

As of now I like a wide beam off the helmet as the spot beam (808) wasn't working for me . I'm thinking it's because it's winter and everything is dead , and once springtime n summertime comes and everything is green and thick I may want a light like the 1211

I'm sure that didn't make any sence but that's my thoughts and I'm sticking to it .


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

C.M.S said:


> I might have to get my hands on one of those by springtime .
> As always great review !!
> 
> As of now I like a wide beam off the helmet as the spot beam (808) wasn't working for me . I'm thinking it's because it's winter and everything is dead , and once springtime n summertime comes and everything is green and thick I may want a light like the 1211
> ...


It makes sense to me because in the winter so much trail side foliage and tall grass is dead that having a wider/brighter beam pattern off the helmet can be much more useful. That's why I'm using the XT40 right now. With the wider/brighter beam I can see stuff much sooner. In the spring/summer tall grass and trail side brush tend to block and reflect excess light. This is why during the warmer seasons the super wide lamps aren't always as useful.

The 1211 is a good lamp for people who want something light-weight and small on their helmet. If you regularly ride single track with lots of turns and short lines of sight the 1211 can work for you. Hopefully, single emitter lamps like the 1211 will continue to evolve and provide more raw output once more powerful emitters are incorporated into their design. More powerful emitters are available but so far no one has chosen to work with them due to their size and potential optical limitations. Eventually it will happen though. A single emitter helmet lamp outputting 1800-2000+ lumen with *_semi-wide beam pattern_ ( *like the 1211 ) is on my wish list.


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## Wombat (Jan 25, 2004)

Reviving an old thread, but thought it good to keep various comments together.

I got this light earlier in the week from Mtb Revolution. I purchased the Samsung 2600 mAh 2 cell battery pack rather than the $4 more expensive 4 cell version as I prefer to run the battery on my helmet. It cost me A$95 (about US$75).

I've only been on 1 ride so far and found its beam uncomfortably wide for a helmet light. I usually ride with either a Yinding, Magicshine 856 or Gemini Duo on the bars and a Gloworm X1 on my helmet. I find these complement each other, with the X1’s tighter beam throwing well while which ever of the other lights I’m using have a good spread.

I did the ride with the Yinding on the bars and had trouble seeing what benefit the Spiker provided, other than having it point in line with my helmet. It’s beam was probably wider than the Yinding’s, but this wasn’t needed.

It’s a neat light: it’s light weight at about 60 grams, I like the square connections, which also fit Magicshine connectors and the helmet mount seems stable and easy to use and sits lower than most other mounts. The battery is fully sealed, and has a green textured cover on it. I don’t use the provided neoprene battery cover and instead have a velcro strap (an old pump strap) to attached it to the helmet. It’s also about ½ the price of the Gloworm. 

But the X1 has so far been the perfect helmet light for me: slightly lighter, it comes with different optics, has customisable modes (I haven’t varied the modes or the optics as the default ones are very good) and as I said above it throws very well.

For my uses the Spiker is probably better on the bars.

I’ll have a look for alternative reflectors or optics to see if I can narrow the beam.

Why did I buy it if I like the X1 so much: mainly because I wanted to try something different, plus I needed another 2 cell battery as my last started going haywire on the charger so it was time to toss it out.

Tim


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

Wombat said:


> Reviving an old thread, but thought it good to keep various comments together.....
> 
> ....the ( Gloworm ) X1 has so far been the perfect helmet light for me: slightly lighter, it comes with different optics, has customisable modes (I haven't varied the modes or the optics as the default ones are very good) and as I said above it throws very well.
> 
> ...


The 1211 has a lot of limitations. For the size beam pattern it provided there just wasn't enough intensity from the single emitter to see very far. Actually I think the 1211 would of been more successful if they had chosen a different design and copied the reflector dimensions of the ( OP ) P-60 drop-in reflectors and built a simple/small two emitter lamp similar to the Solarstorm X2 but with better thermal design.

Hard to beat the Gloworm lamps. The people who design them not only know what works but what people who are serious about night riding want in a bike lamp.

As for myself, when I want something lightweight on the helmet with a decent output/beam pattern, a simple 18650 torch with a good quality P-60 drop-in can work amazingly well if you have it matched with the correct reflector.


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