MTB lights

[MarkJS]

300bhp/ton said:

MarkJS said:

MC Bodge said:

MarkJS said:

bagusbagus said:

Lol.. Had a look, they look EXACTLY like the st lights you can get directly from china yourself for 8-10x cheaper, they have probably requested a better QC and equipped them with better cells (Hopefully) and are now flogging them like some kind of miracle -Hi-Tech Gear!
btw They will provide actually decent enough light and performance (not Perfect, but ok enough)

You are essentially paying around £100 for about £15 worth of stuff..
If you fall for that crap... That's on you!

Utter nonsense. I did 21 miles last night (with 2400 ft of climbing so some big, fast drops in the mix) almost completely off-road with a 5 year old Maxx-D on the bar and a Joystick helmet light. The light/performance they gave is generally unbeatable in my opinion. Around 60% battery power left when I arrived home and they were only charged before a previous short 8 mile ride the week before.

They are out in all weather & temperatures through mud and snow and simply don't fail. The Maxx-D could be made from £50 worth of components, but I very much doubt it and what they do for me is worth every penny that I paid...

I fail to see the nonsense.

Why? The post I responded to was from someone who’d “had a look” and in their opinion, the UK components “looked” the same as what you can get from the Far East ‘at a fraction of the price’.

Hardly a proper comparison or a real world user experience of either product.

Hence, nonsense.

I too fail to see the nonesense. You’ve just described the stuff you have did a good job. But nothing else.

And you aren’t honestly trying to suggest the “U.K. components” are actually built in the U.K. are you?

I haven't suggested (nor am I suggesting) anything of the kind. I simply gave my opinion on the product/s based on using the product/s week in/week out for the past 4 or 5 years versus the (seemingly baseless) opinion of some people who say they are over-priced rubbish.

It's actually quite funny.

[woots787]

Exposure are open about it on their website, casings uk made, pcb are chinese. They are a touch fancier than ebay lights with sensors for react and display etc but I find it hard to swallow five to ten times the cost for a less spotty beam and not having to change modes myself for the descents/climbs. My ebay special has just stopped accepting charge so I need to make this decision soon and I'm torn between the fact that I've never met an unhappy exposure owner and the fact I could buy five of the lights recommended above for a maxx d on offer.

[woots787]

https://exposurelights.com/made-in-the-uk

[MC Bodge]

MarkJS said:

I haven't suggested (nor am I suggesting) anything of the kind. I simply gave my opinion on the product/s based on using the product/s week in/week out for the past 4 or 5 years versus the (seemingly baseless) opinion of some people who say they are over-priced rubbish.

It's actually quite funny.

Is it funny?

I could have posted similar good things about my cheap Solar Storm X2 and DX(?) bike lights. Mine have been used for commuting and off road riding for multi-hour rides throughout winter. The DX type one and battery has lasted over 10 years.

I don't think that the more expensive ones are rubbish, just that they don't necessarily have greater utility, especially considering the substantial cost difference.

If you think that your lights are good value, fine.

[stuarthat]

Have been using the above light since 07 now use it as a backup light lasts around 2 and half hours .
Main light is same style but more lumens about four times brighter but bout the battery separate as in the picture if on full power lasts 45 mins but on normal beam 2 hours easy ,good enough for tearing around .always have a backup light why wouldn’t you ?

[gp1699]

bagusbagus said:

AGAIN I'm warning everyone - STOP Spending Hundreds on lights with some fancy names from UK - They are OVERPRICED scam ( overpriced by 5-15x usually)

It's not really- the more you spend the better you get.
It all depends on exact models you are getting!

If you want QUALITY good lights which are well made , stick to CONVOY or BLF a6 models and that's really it!
Get good cells and you are set for rather cheap.

You can build a set which will be the brightest thing you have ever seen for under $30, anything over that is just a scam!

Also Don't fall for the fake lumens...
RESEARCH ! RESEARCH ! RESEARCH!

So you would recommend these for an 3 hour ride in the woods, over the moors and hitting the single track as fast as you would in the day?

do they have a low power warning? what's the run time? how long can you run it on 1600 lumens?

I wouldn't want the light to go onto a lower power setting half way down a 5 min down...

[bagusbagus]

gp1699 said:

So you would recommend these for an 3 hour ride in the woods, over the moors and hitting the single track as fast as you would in the day?

do they have a low power warning? what's the run time? how long can you run it on 1600 lumens?

I wouldn't want the light to go onto a lower power setting half way down a 5 min down...

Pasting the runtimes:

---

The Atrolux S1 (see link above) is simply a relabelled BLF-A6 and it has documented lumen numbers, which I transcribe into the table below. I got busy and measured current draw using a bench supply and obtained the numbers I give below.

Mode 1 0.4 lumens (moonlight) 3.4 mA 500 hours (20 days)
Mode 2 8 lumens (low) 14.5 mA 133 hours (5 days)
Mode 3 51 lumens (medium 1) 134 mA 14 hours
Mode 4 149 lumens (medium 2) 430 mA 4.5 hours
Mode 5 344 lumens (high 1) 600 mA 3.3 hours
Mode 6 672 lumens (high 2) 1.07 A 1.8 hours
Mode 7 1109 lumens (turbo) 2.48 A 48 minutes
Run times of course depend on what battery you use. The times above based on a 2000 mAh battery. (you can get 3400 mAh batteries, so this is quite conservative). Note that I have not measured these times, I have measured the current draw and calculated the times.

---

Those are From I believe some standard 2000mah, I use high-discharge Samsung q30 which are 3000mah and can output more power at the turbo setting, so 1.5x those runtimes..
A LOT depends on the cells you are using, so get decent stuff such as the q30


over the moors and hitting the single track as fast as you would in the day?- yes..You can do that with a less-durable flashlights as well,lol.
I have used it to hunt fish (you blind them with the flashlight at night and than shoot them), so submersion is fine as well.
Comes with few extra new seals as well in the kit- the blf a6.

the convoy lights, from what I have heard are cheaper and even better quality, however they do not have the bike mode and not as high peak-output, but still you can ride as fast as you want from something as ''little'' as even 500lumens ,so I wouldn't bother if the convoy fits your needs since its 2x cheaper and still has around 900-1000 real lumens.

Edited by bagusbagus on Wednesday 7th November 12:56

[Toltec]

bagusbagus said:

I will save you days of research:
BLF A6 ( 1600 REAL Lumens in turbo with good high discharge battery such as q30 ),
has a special Bike mode as well ( constant light+strobe all together)
Excellent quality. around £20

+ Samsung q30 18650 cells ( around £4 each - buy from UK from a good store!)
+ liitokala lii cell charger ( search around its around $2-$3 from china, very good quality)


Seems like someone has got them even in UK now so don't have to wait a month from china
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BLF-A6-XPL-1600LM-EDC-R...


Best light you can get for this price or up to £100 ( try to find something similar under the UK branded stuff - you won't be able to )
indestructible and the light amount is insane + runtimes are sick as well!
Have mine for over a year and I researched this for days as needed something actually decent.


Btw, don't fall for the ebay fake Chinese lumens where they say they got 1000 or 5000 lumens and cost $5 - they got around 100lumens in reality if you are lucky good example: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1000LM-ZOOM-Q5-LED-1Mod... those lights have around 50-100lumens in reality.

I'm a bit dubious that you would get 1600 Lm out of a single LED torch, maybe peak in some kind of pulse mode, but not continuous.

[anonymous-user]

I used to buy Chinese Cree’s, they’re ok but the third one in four years had a ste battery life. So. Invested in a ‘waste of money UK’ brand and it’s brighter, has a better beam and the runtime is great. I can also buy spares and it’s made with decent brackets etc. If I was skint I’d make do but don’t tell me the quality of the battery, chargers and mounting kit are comparable with a £20 Cree and £250 ‘brand’

Buy cheap, buy twice.

[gp1699]

yonex said:

I used to buy Chinese Cree’s, they’re ok but the third one in four years had a ste battery life. So. Invested in a ‘waste of money UK’ brand and it’s brighter, has a better beam and the runtime is great. I can also buy spares and it’s made with decent brackets etc. If I was skint I’d make do but don’t tell me the quality of the battery, chargers and mounting kit are comparable with a £20 Cree and £250 ‘brand’

Buy cheap, buy twice.

I agree and went for a couple of Hope r4+... The build quality is excellent, it has a power reserve gauge and 1500 measured lumens constant.

It also has a low power warning and it won't just go off on you, which is a must when you're offloading.

Plus its a rip off UK brand with excellent customer service incase anything does go wrong with them.


I don't think I could live with these specs, also found that turbo mode only lasts for 45 seconds before switching back to a lower power mode.
Mode 5 344 lumens (high 1) 600 mA 3.3 hours
Mode 6 672 lumens (high 2) 1.07 A 1.8 hours
Mode 7 1109 lumens (turbo) 2.48 A 48 minutes

eta

For commuting or a quick canal path / bridal way the BLF A6 I think would be a good choice, however its not for mountain biking.

Edited by gp1699 on Thursday 8th November 10:13

[Toltec]

yonex said:

I used to buy Chinese Cree’s, they’re ok but the third one in four years had a ste battery life. So. Invested in a ‘waste of money UK’ brand and it’s brighter, has a better beam and the runtime is great. I can also buy spares and it’s made with decent brackets etc. If I was skint I’d make do but don’t tell me the quality of the battery, chargers and mounting kit are comparable with a £20 Cree and £250 ‘brand’

Buy cheap, buy twice.

If it is a quarter of the price to start with...

Beam pattern is a good point though, it is poor on many of the cheaper lights. One of these would make a cheap backup light or as something to get you going as starter kit without having fork out too much until you know what you are looking for. I have a long time riding mate that has Exposure lights now so I've got an old set of magicshines off him, they will only run at full for twenty minutes at a time, they likely got a bit hot, but on a medium setting they run for a couple of hours, then over an hour on low after that, this is with the larger battery pack. The current ones are reasonably cheap so I think they would be pretty good starting kit.

[woots787]

So a slightly rubbish day and 30% off at millets was enough for me to order an exposure maxx d. Two hundred and sixty nine pounds on a bicycle light, I can mumble about residual value and reliability all I like that isn't really justifiable. Anyway I did a lap of cannock last night, double clicked the button and set off in mode one. It has a lovely wide flood, no noticeable gaps or bright spots. The reflex mode that adjusts lumens to speed, inclination and vibration wasn't noticeable except I always had enough light and it seemed to easily last the advertised three hours. The led display of hours and minutes left was reassuring and seemed accurate, although I only used 60% so don't yet know if it dims down for the last quarter. I can't claim its worth ten times the lights linked above but it is fairly faultless ignoring the price, especially watching mates fumble with their lights and start the strobe mode as you hit the descents! I'll try it somewhere more technical soon.

[MC Bodge]

woots787 said:

So a slightly rubbish day and 30% off at millets was enough for me to order an exposure maxx d. Two hundred and sixty nine pounds on a bicycle light, I can mumble about residual value and reliability all I like that isn't really justifiable. Anyway I did a lap of cannock last night, double clicked the button and set off in mode one. It has a lovely wide flood, no noticeable gaps or bright spots. The reflex mode that adjusts lumens to speed, inclination and vibration wasn't noticeable except I always had enough light and it seemed to easily last the advertised three hours. The led display of hours and minutes left was reassuring and seemed accurate, although I only used 60% so don't yet know if it dims down for the last quarter. I can't claim its worth ten times the lights linked above but it is fairly faultless ignoring the price, especially watching mates fumble with their lights and start the strobe mode as you hit the descents! I'll try it somewhere more technical soon.

Very good.

Although to be honest, if you use something like a Solarstorm x2 (with a decent battery in your bag) mounted to your helmet, there's no fumbling (low/med/high. Strobe requires holding the button down) and the light always goes where you are looking anyway, even when off the bike bar mounting the main light is over-rated in my opinion, although I know that others disagree. It does me for rocky Peak District and wooded singletrack descents

[woots787]

A friend has an x2, its got a great throw and fairly tight beam so makes sense as a helmet light. For me I struggle with a stronger helmet light to judge bumps without the shadow you get from a bar mounted light. Although I've been told I'd be quicker if I stopped thinking about it and just got off the brakes instead!

[MC Bodge]

woots787 said:

A friend has an x2, its got a great throw and fairly tight beam so makes sense as a helmet light. For me I struggle with a stronger helmet light to judge bumps without the shadow you get from a bar mounted light. Although I've been told I'd be quicker if I stopped thinking about it and just got off the brakes instead!

It's not about the light

[nickfrog]

yonex said:

I used to buy Chinese Cree’s, they’re ok but the third one in four years had a ste battery life. So. Invested in a ‘waste of money UK’ brand and it’s brighter, has a better beam and the runtime is great. I can also buy spares and it’s made with decent brackets etc. If I was skint I’d make do but don’t tell me the quality of the battery, chargers and mounting kit are comparable with a £20 Cree and £250 ‘brand’

Buy cheap, buy twice.

Exactly. I find the UK or US branded stuff very affordable and far better functionnaly. I quite like Blackburn in particular with their lifetime warranty and GoPro mounts. The lights will be much more stable on your average gnarly dh where typically the cheapo stuff doesn't make it to the bottom. I use Ribble branded small lights for the helmet 2x300lumens at £10 each give me a reliable 2.5hours. Again these are very well sealed and dedicated cycling lights that will outlive the cheapo stuff without braking the proverbial bank. Neither brands seem to do much marketing that I have ever come across.

[Ilovejapcrap]

I have a nitecore br35


Look it up on YouTube

[MC Bodge]

This is an example of people losing sight of the actual purpose.

You do not need self levelling, auto dimming, unobtanium coated lights of 1,000,0000 lumens to ride an mtb at night.

Yes, you can buy expensive ones and some of the cheap ones come with poor batteries, but all you need is enough light from the LED /reflector, a switch, a decent battery, a robust housing and a decent bracket arrangement.

Mount it on your helmet and it is far more effective than on the handlebar. Use it a couple of times and you won't notice the "lack of shadows" that some seem to be concerned about. I ride boulder fields and rock strewn tracks with a helmet light -the sun isn't mounted on the handlebar either

The main thing is to be a good, relaxed, smooth rider. If you are not, even Wembley stadium floodlights won't help you.

[njwc]

bagusbagus said:

I will save you days of research:
BLF A6 ( 1600 REAL Lumens in turbo with good high discharge battery such as q30 ),
has a special Bike mode as well ( constant light+strobe all together)
Excellent quality. around £20

So, assuming I find a decent quality example of this or the Astrolux S1 (I've seen comments on the BLF forum and other places about variable build quality), can you recommend a decent handlebar mount for it ? I've had no luck finding anything suitable that appears well made

[PH5121]

I've been considering buying some new lights for my MTB so I can get out on an evening. I've noticed that Halfords offer a 1600 lumen font light for £50.

Any opinions as the if this is likely to be any good? It is from their own brand Bike Hut range

https://www.halfords.com/cycling/bike-lights/bike-...

Edited by PH5121 on Monday 12th November 16:52