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Bright Bike Lights SG-T2200 Review

Reviewed by: Essex Herts MTB - August 2012

Here we look at the www.brightbikelights.com SG-T2200. It uses 2 of the XM-L LED U2 LEDs & pumps out a claimed 2200 lumens. It costs £116. How does it perform?

The Specs

• Light source: 2xCREE XM-L U2 LEDs
• Luminosity: 2200 lumens
• LED Lifespan: 50,000 hours
• Battery pack: 6*18650 cells  8.4V/6.6AH
• Charging Time: 4 hours
• Run time: 3 hours at full power
• Size: L50 x W45 x H40 mm
• Bar and helmet mount
• Weight: light unit 105 grams   Battery pack 330 grams 
• Manufactured by: Sanguan Technology
• Twelve months warranty

Build and usability

• The light is well packaged and boxed.
• It's easy to put together and the connectors feel solid and sturdy.
• The head unit is light and seems well made. The unit feels robust and durable and withstood a few encounters with low hanging branches.
• There is enough cable length to allow the light to be mounted almost anywhere.
• The clamp system offers infinite up down adjustment. It's easy to move but tight enough to stay in place.
• Top tube battery mount is well thought out and easy to use. It stayed in place throughout testing without using he-man strength to Velcro it up
• The 4 different light levels are easy to cycle through in a gloved hand.
• Battery monitoring via the power setting switch is a great touch.
• The unit charged a bit quicker than advertised in 3.5 hours.
• We did not fully test battery life at all power settings, but managed 3 * 1 hour rides on full power from one charge.

• The light does feel warm when stationary. The small fins and tiny size of the head may well contribute to this. It doesn't seem to affect performance.
• Fitting the helmet mount can be tricky. The Velcro is very ridiculously grabby and will eat the helmet liner and pads when fitting. There is a nack to this I'm sure but in the end I changed the velcro for something more friendly to helmet pads. It's a standard magishine mount and so not an issue isolated to this light.
• The option to run a shorter cable when mounted on the bar mounting would be good addition.

Beam quality and output

• The lamp uses the U2 variation of the Cree XM-L LED which is more efficient and powerful than the T6 which most other lights use
• There are 4 well defined and distinctive beam settings. The second brightest is still more than you need.
• The light is whitish with a bit of yellow. Good for picking up roots and goop and easy on the eyes.
• The beam has a punchy strong center with good throw as well as a broad flood.
• The transition from the spot to the flood is very smooth and even. There are no rings or banding.
• There is enough flood to use this light on its own. We have always previously felt the need for both flood and spot but this does a good enough job to run the light solo if you have to.
• This light output is as much as you need and its one of the brightest lights we've ever seen. We've no idea if its 2000 lumens but its certainly a lot more than other lights advertised as 600-1000. The quality of the beam pattern is the real plus with this unit, and the importance of that shouldn't be underestimated.

• We always ignore the claimed lumens when looking at lights these days. The best comparative light test done each year is here and as you can see claimed lumens do not consistently match lux output across the bike light industry.
• The strobe setting is insane. If it was half the speed it might have been useful for getting to and from the trailhead. The only thing you can use it for is a party! Techno techno big box little box!

Test Info

• Tested on - 6 inch bike, hardtail
• Tested when - Winter
• Tester riding style - loose and sketchy and partial to smacking head into branches
• Level of care for kit - not a lot, switched off and left muddy and wet
• Other similar products ridden - Hope, Exposure, Ay Up, Light & Motion.