£160 for lights- Hope LED, Lumicycle or other?

Brighty

Cheers fozzy, very usefull info mate.

Still torn though, the single lamp ay up kit costs £116 delivered, and i can get the hope for £139, so not a huge amount in it cost wise. I personaly think the hope looks a bit sexier, plus it's got an on/off switch and 3 power levels, it's also apparently a bit brighter than the ay ups. But it looks like the batteries are better on the ay ups, and they can be removed from the bars easier.

As ever i'm confused and dithering, i'm sure i'll be happy whichever way i go, and they're sure to be better/lighter than my electron 10w/5w.

Cheers

Brighty

dirtbiker100

don't tell anyone but me and a mate were driving back from a bmx street session tonight and i'd taken my hope LED to check some stuff out and we tried it out as a car headlight... 60mph and relatively confident about seeing enough of the road to follow it... shhh.

Fuzzyboy

I know what you mean Brighty, I was the same .. I think whatever you go for would be good enough. Good luck!

forgotrafe

FuzzyBoy,

Can you let us know if you do get hit for import & vat? That could make a big difference to the cost of the AyUps.

Rafe

Fuzzyboy

Sure.

I don't think I did as the invoice and paprework were inside the original TNT packaging.. meaning they hadn't been tampered with or looked at. I don't know how all that stuff works, but I would have assumed customs would need to see this stuff??

forgotrafe

Customs wouldn't necessarily need to inspect the internals, just if they decide to look at the import documentation and deem it eligible for VAT then TNT have to pay the VAT there and then. They then pass this onto you + a small admin charge. At least that's my experience.

I'm sure a lot of stuff to individuals gets through without it. I've certainly had stuff either way.

Fingers crossed you're lucky. Otherwise you'll just have to pay a bit more for your lovely lights

Rafe

Underscore

I just got my AyUps today. Since they are predominantly for commuting - either on the road on my hybrid or on well knwon (to me) twintrack on the MTB - I've gone for the intermediate beam with the 3hr battery; that way it can become a helmet light if I choose to add another light with a constant current battery in the future.

Since it was so light, it was sent by Australia Post rather than TNT. It was all correctly marked up with a customs declaration but there was no duty or VAT to pay on delivery - though, from previous experience, some carriers invoice after delivery so I'll wait for a few weeks before being completely confident that the the total cost has been £99.50, all in.

Initial impressions are very good - they are even smaller than I expected and they seem bright even in a well lit office. They also seem beautifully made. There are a few very impressed people in the office today! I've put on of the bar-mounts on my hybrid ready for the ride home and they make my twin 10W halogens look seriously bulky.

I'm really looking forward to my ride home tonight...

_

plumby

seeing as i started this post, i thought id post a conclusion of sorts. i ended up buying Hope HIDs and they are awesome! Went round brechfa forest last night with them for the first time and i was so impressed.

cant compare with anything, but they more than do the job for me.

MarvintheAndroid

If it helps, Brighty, the Ay-Ups use the latest lithium polymer batteries. They last 2-3 times longer and are MUCH lighter than Li-Ion equivalents - so the small Ay-Up battery (think matchbox size) is 3 hrs and the large battery (smaller than a fag packet) is 6 hours.

And I'm really sorry to disagree with you, but there is NO WAY that the Hope lights are sexier than the Ay-Ups. Not in the flesh, anyway.



Marv