Overview
We purchased the Seca 2000 Race about 5 years ago, and it has been our go to light for night mountain biking and dark roads on our road bike. With the recent release of the Seca2200 Enduro, Race, and 1800 Race lights we wanted to give the new model a try to see what changes and improvements were made to the light.
The Seca 2200 race and enduro lights were created to be a super powerful, handle a variety of outdoor activities, we even used it to mow our lawn at night. We can attest that with the Seca 2200 we could ride downhill just about as fast as we could in the daylight. It provided ample amounts of illumination, with well diffused light as well as avoided hot spots that other lights have suffered from.
Build Quality
The build of the Seca is well designed, it provides a hard plastic outer shell with cooling fins. The mount is made of a high density rubber with a small tab for connecting on the bottom of the light. The tab for adjusting the bike lights rubber strap is very small and we were worried about damaging it, but it has held up strong on both light we have used for years. One issue we did have with the tab is that the screw to attach it to the light and adjust the light angle seems to always work it self loose. A little lock tight on the screw solved the problem.
The light is certified FL-1 which is a standard for basic flashlight performance. This means that a voluntary rating of the light output, beam intensity, working distance, impact and water resistance was completed for marketing purposes.
The Seca has 4 CREE LED lights with a lens designed to spread the light high and powerful as well as low and dispensed. Starting at the front wheel, it leads high up into the trees, for a full field of view without a distinct hot spot.
There is a single button on top of the light to control all of the lighting functions. High, Medium, Low and Strobe. The light can also be set up for race mode to switch between high and low output, bypassing the medium and strobe.
Battery
There are two batteries offered for the Seca, the Race and the Enduro. The Race battery is lighter (6.74 oz or 191 grams) and contains 3 cells and a clip for attachment to bike or belt. Optionally, a Velcro loop can be used to attach the race light to a bike, but it’s still only attached with the clip which caused some issues with the battery moving around and required adjustment during riding, and cable interference.
The Enduro battery is much heaver at 11.85 oz or 335.94 grams. It contains 6 cells and a much more secure strap for attaching to a bike. Most of the time we just tossed the battery into our backpack and the weight was unnoticeable. But when attached to the bike the enduro battery it just seemed extremely bulky. You can see in the image below where the light is hanging from the frame, cable management and adjustment keeps you busy during the ride.
The race battery last a little over 2 hours on high, which was more than enough for our evening rides. We typically used the light on a lower mode from climbing or street rides which extended the use of the light easily into 4 hours, rather than just leaving it on high the entire ride.
The enduro battery can last over 4 hours on high, and we never reached the end of it’s life in all the time we used it. Just remembering to top it up from time to time. This brings up one of the frustrations with the light. There are no battery indicators to know where the battery is in a charge or drain cycle. We disliked always having to top off the light knowing that we “might” have enough light to finish a ride.
After 5 years, our battery is still going strong. As mentioned before we had the Race 3 cell battery. And we tested the Enduro 6 cell battery. Our 3 cell battery would last longer that we choose to ride. Typically, after a 2 hour ride our light was still working after using it on high.
Weight
The Seca 2200 weighs in at 5.11oz or 144.9 grams. This is slightly heaver than the Seca 2000 which weighs in at 4.62oz or 130.9 grams. This is slightly noticeable when mounted atop the helmet and moving around with the weight always wanting to pull the helmet around.
Charging
The race battery takes about 4 hours to charge when nearly dead, while the enduro battery can take far longer. Typically more than 6 hours, so you need to remember to plug your light in the morning to prepare for a ride that night. The charger does include a light to indicate the charge on the battery. Red when charging, green when completely charged.
One downside to the Seca light is that it uses a non-standard plug, so you will not be using a micro-usb to charge your light like some other popular lights on the market.
The light wire to battery plug is still a great water tight connection. We rode many times in the rain and snow with the light and didn’t experience any issues.
Beam
Below is the throw of the beam. The images are not meant to show the actual brightness (although as you can see by the light bleed, it’s very bright indoors and close to a wall) but the actual difference between the three modes, High, Medium and Low. The wall is about 3 feet away from the light, and in the first image you can see the full 2200 lumans bleeding all over the place and completely washing out the center of the photo. We found that in some cases on the trail it was almost too much light when pointed directly at the trail on light colored dirt it seemed to wash out the trail shadows making it difficult to judge the trail.
The low setting at 550 lumans is still plenty of light for climbing in the dark.
Real World Use
We used the Seca 2200 in many different conditions from blistering 90 degree temperatures to snow and rain and never once had an issue with the light, buttons or battery. With Light and Motions background with waterproof lights this is a light you can count on for any situation. We used the light for dawn patrols in the snowy backcountry of Utah, on road bike rides, and our favorite night mountain bike rides.
Below are some of our favorite photos of us using the Seca 2200.
Why ride your bike at night?
Everyone has their own reasons for riding their bike in the dark. Sometimes we just run out of daylight, some of us work odd hours, and some of us like the adventure. There is one thing for sure that we found, is that the most amazing scenery can be found when hitting the trail at dawn or dusk.
Conclusion
We were not paid for our endorsement of this light, we really do love it. It has become our go to light for outdoor fun. We found the Seca 2200 to be one of the best top end high powered light on the market. The amount of light it can output is amazing. There are a few downsides as mentioned above like not knowing the battery left in the light, also the light get’s extremely hot, and that touchy subject, the price ($470 retail). It is an investment, and it will buy you time (which is a valuable commodity, and very hard to purchase).
We couldn’t be happier and would consider the Light and Motion a best in class light and highly recommended for all outdoor activities.
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