Ayup lights or USE Exposure Maxx for road use?

primalcarl

Does anyone use the USE Exposure Maxx for road use? I know few people have them yet, but are they enough on their own or should I consider something like the Ayup Roadie kit?

ukdavvy

I had an Original Joystick for off road use

To be honest I sent it back
Quality control was awful
Run times were poor and it switched itself off frequently
A pal with an Enduro had much the same probs

It was a shame as it was a good bit of kit

The beam wasnt great for off road but in conjunction with a modest bar light was OK

I swapped it for a Cateye LED which is superb off road but dodgy on

I am about to take up road riding
I love getting out at night
Id really like to think the Maxx is an improvement

If its the same it will be adequate
If its as good as he mags say it will be great

The beam is OK but on road would be fine I reckon
(I personally wouldnt use it as sole light off road)

I just hope they have upped the quality

David

aracer

The Maxx is twice as bright as the original. I upgraded an original Joystick with the same LED as in the Maxx, and the difference is huge - it went from a light I wasn't impressed with for use helmet mounted off-road along with a handlebar main light to one which was perfect for that and also good on its own mounted to the bars on-road (would even be useable on its own off-road, but I'm spoilt by my triple LED main light). It does sound like they've fixed reliability problems too (which I have to admit I've had issues with with mine - I think it's the battery contacts, which they've totally changed).

doyler78

Have the ayups roadie kit for my commute. They are bright and very light and just look stunning (if lights can look stunning). Well worth every penny. It you have the money get the regular kit as the helmet mounted light is useful for being able to see your gearing, cycle computer, etc.

Haven't used the exposure max so can't compare.

maddog 2

just fitted a Hope LED on my commuter.....

very nice kit. Same kind of money as the 2-LED Exposure (£200) I think

nferrar

I use an Enduro Maxx bar mount + Joystick Maxx head mount for MTBing and the Joystick bar mounted alone on the road bike, works great. The Joystick is powerful enough even off-road on it's own for average type trails, I wouldn't go fast on a technical downhill with it though...

I think the reliability issues of the previous generation (with loose battery connectors) has been resolved but might still be too early to tell.

What model were you looking at (Enduro, Race or Joystick)?

Down the Road

Nite Flux Photon 4 enduro. Gets my vote now.

primalcarl

For me really it would be the Exposure Joystick Maxx vs Ayup Roadie.

It's a bonus the Exposure is UK made, but at the moment the availability isn't great and they're more expensive than the Ayups

richardjallen

I'm tempted by the Ayup now. I like the integrated battery of the Exposure but then the Ayup is 6 hours burn time instead of 3.

doyler78

richardjallen wrote:

I'm tempted by the Ayup now. I like the integrated battery of the Exposure but then the Ayup is 6 hours burn time instead of 3.

I got 6 3/4 hours out of my battery in a little test I done. At last a company who is happy to understate rather than exaggerate. The battery is really light a very small when you think of the bottle cage jobies out there. Fits under the stem (or at least mine anyway. Really isn't that much trouble taking it on off as it is merely attached with a velcro strap. Looks a little insecure when you first try it however you quickly realise it isn't going anywhere.

primalcarl

Tonight I finally decided and ordered the Ayup. Cheaper and more powerful than the Exposure Joystick, great battery time and very light. Looks pretty neat too. I like the idea of two beams too so you can set them up as you prefer. Lots of colour options too!

doyler78

primalcarl wrote:

Tonight I finally decided and ordered the Ayup. Cheaper and more powerful than the Exposure Joystick, great battery time and very light. Looks pretty neat too. I like the idea of two beams too so you can set them up as you prefer. Lots of colour options too!

I don't think anyone has mentioned that you may get hit with VAT, Customs and Handling charges on your delivery and this could add up to £40 on the roadie kit so you need to consider that also when considering cost.

I got mine 2 weeks ago now and haven't yet received a bill for these although I have heard that it can take up to a month to receive so I am still expecting one but hoping not too.

Highly recommend them as you will have noted but I just think you should go in with your eyes open.

daniel_b

Ayup have been working with TNT and customs over here to determine exactly what the charges are, and so they can place these charges nice and clearly on the website, and i think attempt to change it so you pay it with your orignal order.

Andrew tells me he hopes to have this sorted by the end of the week.

Fingers crossed, as I want to order a set or 3 as well!

Dan

andylav

You could potentially be hit with three charges - or none at all, depending on what you order and how it gets to you.

Any of the 'kits' are now being sent by TNT so as orders are not split into separate packages, as happended in the past with Australian Air Mail.

On orders under £170, you will be charged import VAT at 17.5% and a customs clearance fee to TNT, which from others' experiences seems to be in the region of £12. You should not be charged import duty, which is a separate charge, as it is 4% of the purchase cost but is not applied if the amount is less than £7-£8 (can't remember exactly). The charges will come in the form of an invoice from TNT after delivery.

For any thing over £170, you will pay VAT at 17.5%, import duty at 4% and the TNT fee (not sure if that remains constant, or is percentage based as well).

However, if your order is small (made up by selecting individual components) and weighs less than 500 grammes (e.g. one light set, battery, charger, mount) it will be sent by Australian Air Mail package (shipping costs £9, instead of £16 when TNT is used).

Then seems to be really hit or miss as to whether the Royal Mail charge you an upfront clearance fee of £8 and the import VAT at 17.5% before handing the items over, or deliver and charge you nothing at all (may be down to how on the ball the staff are in your local sorting office).

The lights themselves are works of art and I'm hughly impressed with mine (though I did adapt a more compact, quick release mounting mechanism so that there would be no hardware left on the bike when the light unit was removed). Andrew is a fantastic bloke - excellent communications throughtout my transaction - and if he is going to the bother of investigating and advertising UK Government applied taxes on his website, it can only be good in the long run as potential buyers will at least be fully informed of all costs and can then make direct comparisons between other companies offerings, both in terms of real cost and performance

doyler78

andylav & daniel bI have to agree Andrew is very helpful and my conversations via email with him certainly show that he is keen to iron out any ambiguities however I think they really need to be looking at finding a UK distributor for their product if they are to see any sort of mass market take up as there are a number of people I know who will not even consider buying from Australia because they feel that the costs of resolving any defects could be very high. This isn't helped by the fact that it isn't unknown for products purchased overseas which are sent back for repair to be get hit with importation duties, et al again.

We live is a global market however international agreements do not currently exist for the protection of consumer rights when buying outside of the EU in our case. This makes people nervous and market penetration as a result more problematic.

Having a UK based distributor would allow for fast resolution of disputes and regulation under UK law of the purchase thus inspiring more confidence from the purchaser.

As for Andrew going to the bother of investigating UK Government applied taxes well when you put up a site saying UK shop then customers do expect to have a price that includes all the charges. It is in the interests of ayup to give transparent costs to customers therefore this line of inquiry is really not surprising is it?

I clearly do not have a problem with buying from ayup myself as I have bought mine already I continue to be very impressed with my purchase, as are others. Tonight I managed to do second best time of the year and that was in the pitch black for about 60% of the time (and a nice tail wind). Can't say more than that as an endorsement. It is precisely that I do love this product so much that I would actually like to see this company benefit from getting the sales they deserve however they are not going to get all the people they could by managing sales solely from Australia. Well that's my opinion anyway.

andylav

Doyler

Are you a road or off-road man ?

I live near Craigantlet and was wondering if you were dirt tracking or commuting tonight ?

I had hoped to be testing mine tonight on a regular Tuesday night road training run but I ended up on the turbo instead when the weather turned nasty after 5 (what a wimp !)

doyler78

Andy

I was commuting from work to home. Saintfiled Road to Drumaness - about 14.5 miles. The rain had more or less cleared. Only very light stuff for most of the ride home. Only started cycling a couple of years back and this is my first year trying night riding and must say really loving this. Try to do 3 or 4 days I week (more usually 3). Only have the one bike which is flat bar road bike (Spesh Sirrus Comp) so no off road stuff for me. My next priority is a road bike (with drops) but first I have to get my employers to introduce the cycle to work scheme.

You should just have through the rain jacket on and went for it (only thing is cleaning the damn thing after it - so maybe you were right after all).

What riding you do - all road or do you go off road as welll?

barry_kellett99

My god, fellow Co.Down men.

I commute Belfast to Drumaness with my AyUps, great jobs!

vtech1.5

I've got the enduro maxx recently and use it on/off road so far it's brilliant ! enough light for dark lanes and tracks and throws a big enough beam to be more visable to cars coming the other way with lights on,makes cars give you a bit more room as the're not sure your a cycle.
I Turn it down to low when in lit up areas as it's light enough and extends the burn time a lot great bar mount aswell .

andylav

Hi Doyler/Barry

Laughed at your comments about throwing a rain jacket on - you're right, I'm such a lightweight.

My biking history goes back to 1987 when I started as roadie with Belvoir Cycling Club. Club runs and small inter-club road races and time trials. Then joined Dave Kane Cycles a couple of years later and raced in open road competitions in the early 90's (no discernible success !), before moving across to cross country and then downhill mountain bike racing in the mid to late 90's.

Reverted back to primarily road stuff in the last few years, avoiding competition, but trying my hand at some of the challenge, charity and leisure events like the Wicklow 200, Tour of the Glens, Dromara Hilly, Coastal Challenge, Border Trek, etc.

All good fun, in a masochistic kind of way, and needs a good level of fitness but all of those years of training in all weathers no matter what means I don't really need to think twice about avoiding the cold and wet if I have a choice.

Nice to learn of at least a couple more guys from my part of the world on here - feels much more homely !

barry_kellett99

Well I have moved from Fermanagh Permanently to Co.Down now and I wasn't much into my cycling before I came here.
I am a mountain biker at heart, a bit of everything, but if your going by milage alone I am doing about 10 times or more on the road a week!

doyler78

Co Down on tour

Hardly ever see anyone on my commute except during the summer when you have all the club runs going full tilt therefore a bit of surprise to hear of someone else doing almost exactly the same commute as myself and with the same lights - Really are great lights aren't they. I don't think anyone that has never seen them appreciate is just how small, light weight, cool looking and bright these are and for the fantastic price that they are selling them for (trying to stay on topic)

Andy that's some history you have there and those are tough events from what I hear though with your background they would be familiar territory, although I doubt it gets any easier. Guess you have done enough rides in crap weather to do you a lifetime. I just tended to avoid anything nasty by taking the bus so riding in all weathers is all just new. I suppose after I have been soaked a few times I'll start to feel the same way

robbarker

I used one of the original USE Exposures on the Bryan Chapman audax a couple of years ago. It let in water in torrential rain and only worked intermittently after that.

As you can imagine, night riding from Menai Bridge to Dolgellau in the rain with your main light gone is far from ideal.

USE replaced the light under warranty but sent a note with the replacement that they wouldn't replace it a second time under the same circumstances.

I was far from impressed with either them or their product and wouldn't consider them again.

I'm now on a Solidlights LED and it's been superb.

Tom Butcher

As far as the AyUp lights go for road training what beam would you recommend - narrow or intermediate. I'm thinking of unlit lanes fast training speeds. Are the batteries easy to charge - it's a while since I've used rechargeables - are there any issues with possible overcharging or having to let them run down before recharging?

andylav

I went for the intermediate beam to get the best comprimise between spread and projection.

The battery charging is simplicity itself. Just connect the battery lead (battery doesn't have to be removed from neoprene holder) into the charger, plug the charger into the wall and when the red power light turns green, in around three hours or less, it's fully charged.

All sorts of gubbins in there to stop overcharging and damage from being left unattended so plug in, walk away and disconnect the next time you're passing when the light's green