New lights for winter

Wrath Rob

So I've got fed up with going through a set of lights a year for the last 3 years (one fell off and 2 have stopped working consistently). Given that I've spent over £130 on them and have nothing to show for it, I thought I'd get something decent. I was toying with the whole Magic Shine thing from Deal Extreme but given the various posts about having to modify them to make them reliable, possible quality issues etc. I thought I'd spend some more money and get a set of lights that (hopefully) will last me a few years.

So, this morning these arrived from Down Under (which explains why they're the wrong way up), an Ayup twin-shot with the extended battery.


Opening the swanky box this was inside, lights, battery, charger and mounting kit and instructions


Fitting was pretty straight forwards, 2 zip ties and some rubber strips. I was slightly flummoxed by the velcro strap to hold the battery back on, plus the instructions wanted to mount it under the stem, which would have been an issue for the Garmin. I ended up with it on the top tube.


Not ridden with them yet but its safe to say that they appear pretty bright. You can adjust the angle of them independently, to have 1 shining at the ground closer to the front wheel and one longer distance.


Back on the commute next week so will let you all know how they perform.

Wrath Rob

First ride home with them in the gloom and rain yesterday. It may have been my imagination but I'm sure that I got a bit more "respect" from other road users, like cars deciding not to pull out in front of me and a couple of peds not leaping out off of the pavement.

The first proper test will be some Richmond Park laps after dark.

the_fuggler

They look very good - how long did delivery take?

iPete

Very nice, I've certainly seen (but not scientfically proven) a difference in driver behaviour, notably with the addition of the District 3 on the back, it might be too bright to sit on my wheel

gilesjuk

Ayups are race proven and many people I know have used them for years. Sure, the use of cable ties on the mounts are seen as a disadvantage by some but they're cheap and plentiful.

I've sold my cheap chinese lights. They kept moving on the bars and the quality was very dubious. The charger mine shipped with smelt like it was going to explode at any second too.

Wrath Rob

The Fuggler wrote:

They look very good - how long did delivery take?

I ordered on a Thursday night and they were with me the following Friday. Not too shabby given that they were coming from Oz.

Wrath Rob

gilesjuk wrote:

I've sold my cheap chinese lights. They kept moving on the bars and the quality was very dubious. The charger mine shipped with smelt like it was going to explode at any second too.

Yeah, that's exactly why I decided to pay the extra as I want a set of lights to just work, not slip around on my bars, fail, need alteration to keep working or have the charger explode.

bartimaeus

So now you have some Ay-Ups you really need to be out trail riding in the dark... it would be a shame to 'waste' these lights just commuting. Come on over to the MTB forum!

the_fuggler

Thanks Rob - they do seem like a good option for winter.

roger_merriman

Wrath Rob wrote:

gilesjuk wrote:

I've sold my cheap chinese lights. They kept moving on the bars and the quality was very dubious. The charger mine shipped with smelt like it was going to explode at any second too.

Yeah, that's exactly why I decided to pay the extra as I want a set of lights to just work, not slip around on my bars, fail, need alteration to keep working or have the charger explode.

yup why I ended up with one of the fenix lights no where near as much light as the AyUp's about half? by the lumens.

but good solid mount and has lasted a few years now in all weathers might think about the AyUp for the MTB for riding around Esher Wood in the night which makes it a bit more fun.

Wrath Rob

Bartimaeus wrote:

So now you have some Ay-Ups you really need to be out trail riding in the dark... it would be a shame to 'waste' these lights just commuting. Come on over to the MTB forum!

Ha, I used to have a Cape Wrath MTB, hence the screen name. Not tried them on unlit roads/paths yet but I certainly think they'd do the job. Being able to angle the 2 lights independently is a huge positive too as you can have one lighting the path nearer your wheel but still have the throw for lighting the trail.

davmaggs

Wrath Rob wrote:

The Fuggler wrote:

They look very good - how long did delivery take?

I ordered on a Thursday night and they were with me the following Friday. Not too shabby given that they were coming from Oz.

Did you get hit for import duty?

Wrath Rob

Yeah, though only £15 on the total. I wasn't expecting to "get away with it" so it wasn't a big deal. DHL phoned on the Thursday to ask for and took payment, delivery was the next day.

Wrath Rob

Went through Richmond Park last night after laps and beer. JZed was with me with a reasonable light on his bike but the difference between the Ayup's and JZed's light was like night and day. I covered mine up to see how much darker it was with just his and couldn't believe how weak his light was (no offence) compared to the Ayup's. Next time I'll try and snap a picture to illustrate the difference.

On normal nights I think I'll just use the low power setting and save the high power for scaring the deer away once I'm in the park.

Gussio

I've been using Ayup lights for around 3 years. The battery shows no sign of deterioration, the lights themselves look as good as new, and they continue to delight. Don't use them on the commute (too expensive and I have a Fenix LD20 for the commuter) but they get regular outing in Richmond Park at night.

Top notch kit from a nice supplier.

meanredspider

Are they 400 lumen or 800? It says "One twin 400+ Lumen"

I've just bought the Light & Motion Stella 400 (2x 200 Lumen) which I'm very pleased with for my commute. The only concern I had about mounting them side-by-side is whether they get mistake for a car much further off (the old motorbike twin headlamp issue). I've decided to mount them over-and-under (which is actually easier as my Garmin would get in the way of one side.

Wrath Rob

Lumen is apparently quite difficult to measure, from my reading, and its much more about the beam pattern and spread. Some of the reviews I read on these were stating that they performed better than 600+ lumen systems, so I wouldn't go too much on the lumen count.

Re. the double lights, they are mounted about 1cm apart so the centre of each beam is about 2cm apart, and I doubt I'll get confused with a car a long way off.

meanredspider

Wrath Rob wrote:

Lumen is apparently quite difficult to measure, from my reading, and its much more about the beam pattern and spread. Some of the reviews I read on these were stating that they performed better than 600+ lumen systems, so I wouldn't go too much on the lumen count.

Re. the double lights, they are mounted about 1cm apart so the centre of each beam is about 2cm apart, and I doubt I'll get confused with a car a long way off.

Yup - just been looking at the L&M site and they do some good comparison pictures with a slider allowing comparison. They've also done lumen measurements on various light sets (theirs and others) showing how short some of their (selected!) competitors do - Magicshine coming up about 35% short of their claimed lumen output. Of course, I take this with a pinch of salt.

The L&M Stella 400 (and 600) have two different lamps - one diffuse and one spot. Yet to try them in anger but they seem good in the garden! Only gripe is that the lead is quite short and would make using them as lid lights would be difficult.

meanredspider

Well I'm impressed. Got an email today to say that they'd been dispatch from Australia this morning and just now DHL rang the doorbell and handed them over. They must have arrived by scramjet!

Ordered them on Wedneday last week BTW.

They look very good - will try fitting them later.

Wrath Rob

Fitting is a doddle as the included mount goes over where the stem mets the handlebars. Given that its almost certain that you won't have anything there already it should be easy. It just took me a couple of goes to work out how best to mount the battery

meanredspider

Wrath Rob wrote:

Fitting is a doddle as the included mount goes over where the stem mets the handlebars. Given that its almost certain that you won't have anything there already it should be easy. It just took me a couple of goes to work out how best to mount the battery

Well I had to remove my Garmin mount to put them on. The cross levers on the CX use up quite a fair bit of real estate on the bars. I'll have to do the same thing on my roadie - the shape of the carbon bars means that there's a small area of round cross-section.

One slighty odd thing I've noticed is that if I charge through the extension cable, the charger shows the battery as full - but not if I charge without the extension lead

the_fuggler

Just about to pull the trigger on a set of these. @Meanredspider - did you have to pay a customs charge?

meanredspider

The Fuggler wrote:

Just about to pull the trigger on a set of these. @Meanredspider - did you have to pay a customs charge?

No (unless you work for HMRC in which case, yes, I did) - they just arrived. I think it's a bit of a lottery.

the_fuggler

meanredspider wrote:

The Fuggler wrote:

Just about to pull the trigger on a set of these. @Meanredspider - did you have to pay a customs charge?

No (unless you work for HMRC in which case, yes, I did) - they just arrived. I think it's a bit of a lottery.

- your secret is safe with me...!

the_fuggler

Sorry - me again. Did you guys have to pay shipping charges for these? Another $45 does push the price up a bit...

itboffin

Be warned mounting a battery in a bag on the top tube can rub your paint work quite badly

the_fuggler

itboffin wrote:

Be warned mounting a battery in a bag on the top tube can rub your paint work quite badly

Cheers - will keep that in mind if I ever order the damn things...

munchertoo

I'm on my second season of ChinaShines. Daily use, and not a problem yet. Bar slippage was solved by wrapping a bit of old tube around the bar - end of problem. Now use them on me helmet with $2 extension cable. Got a spare battery back-up $20. Use it with a USE/Exposure Diablo. Power is about the same, but the Diablo had a bit more of a spot, the Chinas a good flood. Good enough to ride XC night at speed. The Chinas were $60 all-in!

itboffin

The Fuggler wrote:

itboffin wrote:

Be warned mounting a battery in a bag on the top tube can rub your paint work quite badly

Cheers - will keep that in mind if I ever order the damn things...

Add a 2nd bottle cage shove the batteries in an old bidon, waterproof ish and quick to setup.

munchertoo

My battery in a bag is TT mounted with the aid of some thin pipe lag glued to the inside of the battery bag; job done. No rub, and compresses nicely to stop any bang 'n' rattle.

meanredspider

Anybody with Ayups have any issues with the power connector on the lights? Mine seems very sensitive to movement and, once the lights have gone out, it takes the power button to restart them. I'll mail Ayup and see what they say