Are expensive bike lights a rip off?

[Rob Rides EMTB]

I agree about the on/off operation with the Exposure. Solving a problem that doesn’t exist?

Easy: long press on, long press off.
Not as easy: Anything that’s not the above. And flash whilst turning off just to confuse you

Also the exposure has 10 modes and 3 brightness settings within those 10 modes, so 30(!) different light intensities.

it was by far the most fiddly to operate and the amount of settings / modes on it are just over the top for me.

It also has a proprietary charger instead of the ubiquitous USB-C which is a bit annoying!

I’d take a super simple, bright, easy to operate light, no more than 3 settings. Dim, not quite as dim, bright AF.

I also tried out the reflex mode and it’s a bit pointless, only giving full brightness when it thinks I need it instead of when I actually want it.

Do people that like 10 settings and 3 sub settings also have 30 settings on car headlights?! /facetious

 

[Growmac]

I agree about the on/off operation with the Exposure. Solving a problem that doesn’t exist?

I would suggest that you only think the problem doesn't exist as you've not had a lamp that didn't have the "unnecessary" feature. I do a lot of mountaineering, and until Petzl introduced their (far more fiddly) system it was routine to have to take a battery out before putting a heaedtorch in your bag. If you forgot, it would inevitably be flat when you wanted to use it - stuff in bags is good at long presses! It's both infuriating and inconvenient to have to put batteries back in when it's, by definition, dark! I'm a strong supporter or Exposure's approach.

As for modes. I quite like the options.

Reflex works well on the Mk13 MaaxD, it's seamless and enables it to go very, very bright on rough downhills. My mate had a MaaxD Sync, and there Reflex was a total pain. I don't know what was different but it didn't work. I think it's something they have perfected?

The modes gives you the option to put the lamp in the mode that suits you and then forget it. An example: last night we were riding at Longleat, which is all twisty single track in the woods. 2.5 hour ride with the headlamp on continuously as you need to see round corners, so I had my headlamp in mode 5, giving 6 hours of burn at low power, with 2 hours at high for fast descents, meaning I could safely leave it on all ride.

For rides where it's not all twisty I only bother with a headlamp for fast descents, so I'll put it in the mode when I get only 1 or 3 hours, giving maximum illumination. Simple once you know how, and very convenient.

Sorry to defend so much, I have no connection with Exposure, but they work really well in practice.

 

[Rob Rides EMTB]

I would suggest that you only think the problem doesn't exist as you've not had a lamp that didn't have the "unnecessary" feature. I do a lot of mountaineering, and until Petzl introduced their (far more fiddly) system it was routine to have to take a battery out before putting a heaedtorch in your bag. If you forgot, it would inevitably be flat when you wanted to use it - stuff in bags is good at long presses! It's both infuriating and inconvenient to have to put batteries back in when it's, by definition, dark! I'm a strong supporter or Exposure's approach.

As for modes. I quite like the options.

Reflex works well on the Mk13 MaaxD, it's seamless and enables it to go very, very bright on rough downhills. My mate had a MaaxD Sync, and there Reflex was a total pain. I don't know what was different but it didn't work. I think it's something they have perfected?

The modes gives you the option to put the lamp in the mode that suits you and then forget it. An example: last night we were riding at Longleat, which is all twisty single track in the woods. 2.5 hour ride with the headlamp on continuously as you need to see round corners, so I had my headlamp in mode 5, giving 6 hours of burn at low power, with 2 hours at high for fast descents, meaning I could safely leave it on all ride.

For rides where it's not all twisty I only bother with a headlamp for fast descents, so I'll put it in the mode when I get only 1 or 3 hours, giving maximum illumination. Simple once you know how, and very convenient.

Sorry to defend so much, I have no connection with Exposure, but they work really well in practice.

Very valid and fair points.

I guess I never carry the light in a bag or need crazy long run times. Personally prefer ease of use and simplicity over multiple features but I appreciate that there are use cases for some people

 

[Growmac]

As for modes. I quite like the options.

To put it another way, it's actually quite simple.

Like Reflex adjusting the intensity for you to maximise brightness? Choose 3, 6 or 12 hours burn time at max.

Prefer to switch yourself, and like to have three choices (L, M, H)? Choose 2, 3 or 4 hours burn time at max.

Prefer to only have two options (L, H)? Choose 2, 3 or 4 hours burn time at max.

Commuting? You can have 10 hours burn and manual switching.

In reality there's only going to be one or two modes that interest you, and it's set and forget. I like Reflex, and chose 3 or 6 hours depending on how long a ride I'm going on. Job done.

 

[Growmac]

Wow, looking back on my post from yesterday, that was a really long way of saying:

Rob, put the light in mode 4 and you’re done.

 

[Mteam]

A quick bit of feedback on the light I bought (see post #169) after a ride last night.

For £25 I think its pretty decent - I mounted it on the bars (suspect it would be too heavy for helmet), the bar mount it comes with is designed for 31.8mm bars, but mine are 35mm, it fits fine with a bit of fiddling around, and once the mount is on there's no need to remove it as the light itself clips on and off the mount. Its stable over rocky stuff, no movement.

The light it provides is pretty good, it has a nice wide throw and is pretty bright on max brightness. It has 4 leds, two of which are used as spotlights and two are used as floodlights. Both sets of leds can have their brightness adjusted individually.

The controls to switch the light on and adjust brightness are a bit fiddly, there are two buttons, one for the spots , one for the flood, but they're both pretty flush to the light body so are quite hard to feel with thick gloves. Press once to turn on, then repeated presses cycle through the 3 brightness settings , or double press to enable flashing mode. There's an led display that show how much run time (in hours and minutes) is left at the current brightness settings - I have no idea how accurate this is, but on a two hour night ride, where I switched the lights to max brightness on the descents and mid brightness on the climbs, it started out saying there was 2 hours of max brightness run time left, and by the end it was saying approx 1 hour left.

Charging is via USB C connection, and it can also act as a USB power bank. Its all self contained so no messing with seperate battery packs and wires.

All in all I think its a pretty decent light for 25 quid - I cant compare it to those branded lights up above as I havent used those, but I'm sure it wont be as good, but for £25 its decent (more than decent really) . Its better than the halfords advanced 1600 that I have been using - for what I want at least.

 

[Growmac]

All in all I think its a pretty decent light for 25 quid.

They've seen your decent review, the price has already gone up to £33

 

[VWsurfbum]

Here you go, see what Exposure looks like on the trails.

 

[RustyMTB]

What's Danbers, Surfy? Danbury? Where I see all the Pilgrim & Cardy schtick?

 

[VWsurfbum]

Yup, it is where I reside.
Cardy is local or was not seen for a while, Pilgrim luckily we don't see too often anymore.

 

[Doomanic]

Cardy smashed himself up recently which may be why you haven't seen him for a while.

 

[VWsurfbum]

yep he did a good number on himself, I think he was trying to end it all having to live with Kara and Pilgrim. I know i'd be trying to end it all.

 

[RustyMTB]

I now feel I've accidentally intruded on private grief.

 

[emtbPhil]

I use a £60 1000lumen bar light connected directly to the bosch as my main out and about light, but bought an Exposure joystick 1300lumen for my helmet

The exposure light is like turning on the sun, it has a ton of different settings so you can choose between battery life and all out power depending on the trail/downhill. It's so light I can't even feel it on the helmet. It has touch controls so I can dim it by just tapping it while riding it. And although I've only had it for a few months the build quality feels like it will last longer than my bike

£160 is a lot for a light but it's allowed me to still hit the hard stuff when it's dark at 4pm, I think it's money well worth spending for something that will last years. A mate has an amazon cheap light and it's as the video, like a torch shining on one spot

 

[Doomanic]

Nowt wrong with Kara.

 

[Growmac]

Here you go, see what Exposure looks like on the trails.

How come you have it pointing so low? Aren't you over-illuminating the ground near you and losing out on a load of distance throw.

 

[Peaky Rider]

Nowt wrong with Kara.

Especially if there's no sound.

 

[VWsurfbum]

How come you have it pointing so low? Aren't you over-illuminating the ground near you and losing out on a load of distance throw.

It does look like that from the video, I guess it could go up more but then risk dazzling the drivers and there's plenty of light on the trails.

 

[Growmac]

It does look like that from the video, I guess it could go up more but then risk dazzling the drivers and there's plenty of light on the trails.

Yeah, I can only use mine on low on the road, but it's worth it for trails. If I was doing a lot of road work I'd use a secondary light so I could dip it.

 

[Howz]

Just had one of these delivered, not tried it yet, it was on offer at £39.95, but that deal seems to have gone.

Product not found!

www.chilli-tech.com

 

[apac]

Nowt wrong with Kara.

Who the fuk is Kara? Can you keep your personal conversations........ personal? I thought this thread was about lights, not social relationships and cleeky bum chum friends.

btw, the Exposure MaxX D mk13 Is pants. I was very underwhelmed by the light throw considering the price paid. The only redeeming feature the exposure light had was its robust build quality. There was also no distinguishing between the so called 4k lumens on the reflex setting and the 2.5k setting. I also have the new Diablo helmet light. The helmet mount solution is excellent but you can feel the weight of the torch on the helmet. But most dissapointing is the battery life on the full 1800 lumens setting. As soon as you switch it on the battery runs down really quick. The wide angle beam and throw however is excellent , but ultimately let down by short run time. The next setting down only gives you 50% of the light at full chat. Stupid design.

 

[Zimmerframe]

Who the fuk is Kara?

I believe the song your looking for is "Who the f.. is Alice" - not Kara.

 

[Doomanic]

Who the fuk is Kara?

Tom Cardy's partner. If you'd read post 193 you might know why I posted what I did.

 

[Doomanic]

I thought this thread was about lights

You're absolutely right, it is, so here's a relevant post;

@Gibspark rocking a Magicshine 6500 at FoD tonight.

He had to lead because it drowned out my 2000L light and I was just riding in shadow...

 

[apac]

Tom Cardy's partner. If you'd read post 193 you might know why I posted what I did.

Still don't get it.... but never mind.. I didn't realise you all rode in the woods with celebrities.

Has anyone orderEd the Olight 3500 deal? Only 3 orders per person!

 

[Doomanic]

20% off at Magicshine with the code MAGIC20 at the moment. It’s a Black Friday deal so not sure how long it’ll last.

 

[#lazy]

If I was a gambling man I’d put money on….Saturday

As for all the setting’s on the exposure lights I think it’s a plus as I can tailor the lights for the ride time and not have battery angst ! I’ve also managed to learn how turn them on/off quite quickly so that’s no issue
IMO worth every penny !

 

[Doomanic]

Only 3 orders per person!

So that’s 3 for me, 3 for the wife and 3 for the sprog. I expect my mother wants 3 as well…

 

[pampmyride]

Update on the Sofirn Q8 pro light. It has the show-off/headline 12000 lumens or so, but only for a pointless 1-2 minutes. However one notch down from that - it's really good & slightly brighter but a much better spread than the Hope R8+ on max. The one press button allows ramp up or down to dim for road work etc. It only has 4 batteries & faded towards the end of my near 2 hour (feckin freezing) ride to a level just a bit brighter than the Hope's low setting. I need to work on the mount I'd cobbled together, but it is the first genuinely useful proper light I've found, at a budget price, from a Chinese firm.

The Hope wiring fault was repaired free of charge in a week or so by Hope - good service for a 5 year old light.

Crappy pic follows...

 

[Waynemarlow]

I know we all would like a zillion lumens and would love to show how much brighter it is at night with our lights than during a cloudy day where we wouldn't even consider using a light, but seriously guys these lights you are promoting are really heavy weights, literally from all the battery power on board.

Can I ask the question ? Your eyesight will and does get acclimatised to the dimmer 2000 lumen lights, do we really need all the additional weight and cost to actually enjoy riding at night, particularly as it would seem most of you are having to run at lower settings to even get two hours of riding, carrying all the extra weight that will give you two minutes of max power.