Lights - Ay Up

mellex

Quick heads-up for all you Winter/night riders.

Just treated myself to a set of Ay-Up lights and it would seem that today is the last day of a promotional offer they have been running.

Might be worth a look...

http://www.ayuplights.co.uk/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/

Shaggie

Got mine last year and love them, have also got a set of BlackBurn X8's and they have not been on the bike since. AYUP's are so small light and powerful, great battery performance and good beam spread for trail use, just wish i could afford a new set for me lid too, oh I can now :roll: !

dirtbiker100

Got some yesterday. I was stunned how small they are.
Was thinking they'd be bigger so i got the black colour but now realising how small they are and seeing some gold ones, really wish i'd gone for some different colours. red and racing green would've been my choice.
The face of each light is the same size as a 10p piece for reference. they should put some pics on the website to show the scale/size of them.

fwb2006

The airbike SL2 @700 lumens for £125 look fantastic value

uk_mr_brownstone

fwb2006 wrote:

The airbike SL2 @700 lumens for £125 look fantastic value

You can get the same P7 LED in a 1 18650 battery torch from hong Kong for about £30 posted. not as long run-time due to being 1 battery not 3, possibly not quite as bright but for £40 you'll have the torch, batteries and charger on your doorstep.

fwb2006

Can you post an example Brownstone? I presume you mean from ebay but can't trck one down. Thanks.

supersonic

Something like this:

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.12623

They are not 900lumens, just over half that, but for the money nothing comes close. Use two and you'll be out firing a Hope Vision 4 led!

The Spiderman

fwb2006 wrote:

Can you post an example Brownstone? I presume you mean from ebay but can't trck one down. Thanks.

For a review of the P7 and what you need take a look at this:

http://www.mtbbritain.co.uk/mountain_bike_lights_review_led.html

I have one and it is the best bit of biking kit I have bought.

Northwind

I've turned into a torch fanboy But tbh, right now bike specific lights are now almost all a bad deal, they can still beat torches on performance but not by enough any more. A pair of P7 torches really does take you up to a point where you'll very rarely want more light, and outperforms most bike lights significantly, at what... 1/4th the cost, or half that sometimes. Plus, interchangable compact batteries are a gift, never worry about burn time again- just take spares. And they're smaller, simpler and lighter than most.

I can't see a future for half of these bike light companies tbh, there's far too many on the market, and now that market's shrinking, something's got to give. For most people there's just not enough reason to get one any more.

fwb2006

Thanks gents, are there any mountings/brackets you can get to er, mount them on your bars?

The Spiderman

fwb2006 wrote:

Thanks gents, are there any mountings/brackets you can get to er, mount them on your bars?

Twofish lockblocks work well:http://www.twofish.biz/bike.html

I have also used the clamp from a Blackburn X3 light with a zip tie around the torch which worked well.

Northwind

I made my own from a random commuter light clamp from Chain Reaction (£2, there's info on it in the gigantic tesco torch thread) and a stainless steel jubilee clip. It does look slightly rough but it's rock solid and works perfectly.

Or, if you want a permanent mount (and you don't, probably) you can just use 2 jubilee clips interlinked, one round the torch, one round the bar. But it's annoying to remove or to reposition, and very ugly.

mellex

Northwind wrote:

I can't see a future for half of these bike light companies tbh, there's far too many on the market, and now that market's shrinking, something's got to give. For most people there's just not enough reason to get one any more.

I do think it depends on what type of riding you do and just what your prepared to carry with you on those rides.

I have switched over from using Fenix torches because regardless of the reviews and comments on this forum, in my opinion, they were just a torch, not a light. Most of my night riding is done in remote areas with no ambient light and I need to see, rather than be seen.
If I went out for three hours I found that I was having to take eight spare AA batteries. With a burn time of around one and a half hours and two torches, it was becoming a hassle I could well do without.

Clearly I can't speak for other manufactures but so far my Ay-Up system is far and away superior, which of course it should be, considering the cost.

supersonic

These P7 SSCs use 1 x18650 cell, which are 3.7v and 2500mah (for the trustfire ones). Very light: you may have to change once a ride on full power, but even at lower power the run time is good.

And for 60 quid for two torches, 4 cells an charger, is a steal (1000 lumens).

cougie

I have the Fenix and the P7. As Mellex says - the Fenix is more of a focussed torch beam - but the P7 is completely different and much more of a flood beam.

I ride for 2hours plus of a night mainly unlit areas with trees both sides so it can be dark - all I need is a spare battery for the P7 and I have the fenix on high. The difference between Turbo and High wasnt that significant with the massive amount of light that the P7 threw out.

It would be interesting to compare the P7 directly against the Ay Ups - I reckon they would be similar outputs, but you pay extra with the AyUps for the extended battery life.

If thats what you need then go for it.

cougie

I have the Fenix and the P7. As Mellex says - the Fenix is more of a focussed torch beam - but the P7 is completely different and much more of a flood beam.

I ride for 2hours plus of a night mainly unlit areas with trees both sides so it can be dark - all I need is a spare battery for the P7 and I have the fenix on high. The difference between Turbo and High wasnt that significant with the massive amount of light that the P7 threw out.

It would be interesting to compare the P7 directly against the Ay Ups - I reckon they would be similar outputs, but you pay extra with the AyUps for the extended battery life.

If thats what you need then go for it.

uk_mr_brownstone

cougie wrote:

It would be interesting to compare the P7 directly against the Ay Ups - I reckon they would be similar outputs, but you pay extra with the AyUps for the extended battery life.

If thats what you need then go for it.

I use torches, have a couple of Q5, a p7 and a Fenix L2D (don't use them all). I've commented loads of times- the P7 torch provides ace flood. I'm sure that the AyUP set would whip a single p7 in 'real' bike use

Where bike specific lights should be better is offering the balance between flood light and spot light- and they'll have longer run times. Both of these can be overcome with torches, firstly by using multiple torches, and just carrying spare batteries. I can't imaging the weight is much different- the torch body prob weights a bit more, and you have a spare battery, but on dedicated lights the battery is bigger and heavier. The one thing torches can't compete with is the general 'simplicity' of chucking on your one super bike light, and plugging it in to charge when you get home. It's just whether you feel that that is worth twice as much money

supersonic

You can get P7s with different spreads, and aftermatket lenses - afterall, P7 is just the emiiter.

One of each, or two 'standard' P7 will take some beating. Weight is about 360g, bit more with spare batts.

1000 lumens for 60 quid or so is unbeatable, IF you don't mind a little bit of homework.

uk_mr_brownstone

Yeh, i'm basing my 'review' on this http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.12060 I assumed most of the dealextreme.com p7 torches came with similar lenses

you don't need to convince me I love the torch option! Excellent value for money which is my main criteria for everything

Where can you get different lenses to change something like the above torch to have a more useful spot? The Fenix L2D has a good combination of flood and spot, being more useful as a helmet spot imo, but a second p7 with a focussed beam would be great considering i've got all the batteries and chargers
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supersonic

I was looking at options for different lenses on Deal Extreme (for the P7s) just before Christmas, but havn't looked back since.

Northwind

mellex wrote:

I have switched over from using Fenix torches because regardless of the reviews and comments on this forum, in my opinion, they were just a torch, not a light. Most of my night riding is done in remote areas with no ambient light and I need to see, rather than be seen.
If I went out for three hours I found that I was having to take eight spare AA batteries. With a burn time of around one and a half hours and two torches, it was becoming a hassle I could well do without.
.

Yeah, when the competition was still just the Fenix lights, the bike specifics were still a much better option, but the torches have really moved on. Comparing a Fenix with the P7s really makes them look pretty bad, and as you say you're saddled with AAs as well instead of the 18650 cells that most of the high power torches are changing to, which give more power and better life (they're not much bigger than a single AA but output 3.7V, about the same as 3 AA rechargables)

I know a lot of people still recommend the Fenixes, but they really don't make much sense now I reckon, there's a lot of fanboyism involved. I don't think they were ever as good as a lot of people claim, and now they're pretty much obsolete. Then again, in 6 months I might be recommending P7s when something else awesome has replaced those

Oh, my night riding is rough XC and trail riding, at daytime speeds, except on the 30mph trail descent off the hills as I don't have quite enough throw for full speed (I suppose traditionally the problem of torches has been too much throw!) I've just carried on riding through winter as I would in summer which means sunset at the back of 3pm and not getting home til 6. But I've seen that a Joystick can't light the distant trail any better, and gives far less light up close, and they're considered excellent at £100+