Anyone have a Lupine SL X?

[Thumper33]

I'm looking for a commuting light with some good output, but also safe in traffic. Some of my commute is unlit trail and some is a bike path where I'll pass others, so I'm trying to find the best of both worlds.

The Lupine SL X seems like a good fit and I've heard really good things about Lupine. One thing I definitely don't want though is a daytime running light. I'm hoping that I can just turn the light off when I don't want it on right?

I have already ordered a outbound evo downhill setup before I realized that even on low it would be blinding people. Then I ordered their commuter version. Then I realized that I really wanted a light that I can switch between high and low beam, so I found this one.

Should I keep the outbound hangover as a helmet light or will it be annoying that they're different color lights? It sounds like the lupine is a colder light, and outbound is warmer. Personally I'm not a fan of cold light, but I would think I'd want them to be similar colors either way.

Any input is appreciated.

 

[Paulquattro]

I have one and its great
you can just switch it off via the wireless remote so no need to run it in the day
Its well made, bright and I've never been flashed or annoyed any other road users
All in all if you can stomach the price you wont be sorry its a cracking light .

Ps. I have the battery version as didn't want to take anything off the main battery power wise.
Its also bright enough and a good spread of light for off road use.

 

[SwampNut]

I have an SL SF, and it's pretty good. I'm not sure it's worth the high cost, but it's not a bad choice. I think I paid triple the price of other lights to gain a 20-30% improvement. Mine is wired the normal way; the bike automatically powers the light when it comes on, which means DRL is on. Why would you NOT want that? On the road it's certainly safer, and on the trail my ride companions and even a stranger have noted how visible I am, in a good way. You can tell your bike to now power the light up at start, and then you can select the DRL/light or not.

The battery penalty on the bike is basically imperceptible in DRL mode. In the higher modes you'll lose a couple miles of range.

Both the Lupine and the hangover have an annoying green tinge but they look fine together. Those are the two I have. Can't say they are exact, nor have I noticed the difference. Honestly having two different colors would likely show the trail changes much better.

 

[Thumper33]

the bike automatically powers the light when it comes on, which means DRL is on. Why would you NOT want that? On the road it's certainly safer, and on the trail my ride companions and even a stranger have noted how visible I am, in a good way.

I don't ride on the street much if at all, so I don't see the need during the day. I guess I just don't like the possibility of shining people in the face with the light when I don't need it to see. Motorcycles with brights on during the day is a big pet-peave of mine so maybe that's why I don't like DRLs.

 

[SwampNut]

I have verified that the DRL is not offensive on the trail, and one of my riding friends made an unsolicited comment that it was so much easier to know where I was if I fell behind. It doesn't project at all. You put your hand a few feet in front of it, and it doesn't shine at all. Oh, maybe you're not aware, the DRL is its own little ring of dimmer LEDs, not the driving light LEDs. Also while in DRL you can press the beam switch to flash a car, other bike, whatever with the high. It only shines for half a second.

I run my motorcycle on low during the day. The study proving it was safer to run high beams was done in the 70s with the shitty incandescent sealed beams we had then. I believe that high beams today make things worse. I have had three close calls in the last 15-ish years when running high beam, none with low.

Anyway, I think you'll be please with the DRL feature, and the light all around. It was pretty easy to install on my bike, though it had to go to the motor. My bike has a cable manager inside the tube with the battery. The Shimano motor just has screw terminals for the wires. I did have to use a computer and Shimano interface to do always-on, by default it's a menu item to turn on the headlight on Shimano.

 

[Thumper33]

Good info Thanks for taking the time to share. I appreciate that. I'm still trying to squeeze that trigger. For the same price, I could get both the Evo and the Detour from Outbound. Honestly the biggest thing that has me leaning toward the Lupine is the high/low switch on the handlebars. I don't want to reach for the light to change from bright to dim every time I see someone on the trail.

 

[SwampNut]

Maybe go with the SF model I got?

 

[Bndit]

I have SL F hardwired and I`ve been really happy with it. I thought that I don`t need X and this one is smaller so went with this. Woks great with helmet light and it`s so great not to worry about batteries. And with high quality product you get high quality customer service. I crashed two weeks ago and because I have done the wiring little bit too neat and tidy, the wires ripped out from the lamp. I send it to Lupine and they repaired it same day when they got it and sent it also back at the same day and it cost me only postage to them. Nice.

 

[Sander23]

Good info Thanks for taking the time to share. I appreciate that. I'm still trying to squeeze that trigger. For the same price, I could get both the Evo and the Detour from Outbound. Honestly the biggest thing that has me leaning toward the Lupine is the high/low switch on the handlebars. I don't want to reach for the light to change from bright to dim every time I see someone on the trail.

I had my eye on that light to. In the end I found it to expensive and I went for the supernova m99 mini pro hardwired into my bosch.
It's great for commuting and it has a low high power function and is alot cheaper