Lupine Bike Lights, anyone using them?

Long_Time_Lurker

Not so sure. Depends what you want them for - where is your commute?
You may not need that bright for commuting in the city. Then again, I don't think it is bright enough, it doesn't have a long burn time and is pretty expensive if you want it for off-road.

I'm a convert to Exposure lights. I know they are expensive, but you get what you pay for. For the same price you will get a brighter light and a better burn time in a single unit (no external battery pack).
If you go down the Magicshine route, you get even better vfm.

Head over to the MTB Buying sub-forum. There is a What light thread in there:
http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=20005&t=12660193
You may find some info.

passout

I use a Nightmare which I bought about 8 years ago - run time has depleted quite a bit but still reliable & very bright. Obviously the new models will be a little different. Used to use it for night riding off road in the Lake District - it's bright enough for that. Now I only use it for commuting. It's good overall, 99% reliable & very bright but their are now lots of others lights out there. My battery is bottle mounted - I'd go for something for compact and versatile next time. I'd also want flashing mode if buying new for commuting.

Hoopdriver

I've got a Lupine Betty and love it. I do a great deal of riding on dark country lanes and it s indispensable. They are extremely well made, utterly reliable, have great burn times, mount securely, have a great beam spread, nice colour of light and, the Betty at least, has three settings. It's top setting of 1850 lumens is plenty bright enough fr any occasion, and indeed too bright where there is traffic. I usually use the 600 or the 1100 lumen settings. And by the way Lupine's estimates of light output are pretty accurate, unlike a lot of inflated claims I've seen for other lights.

I really can't speak highly enough of them. They are expensive, sure, but they are also the Rolls Royce of bike lights.

DrLex

Lupine don't compare well on these reviews - disclaimer: site run by a fellow who sells lights, batteries & chargers, so make of that what you will.

Also, the Lupine Piko in this test over on road.cc looks poor in comparison to cheaper Hope & Exposure lights.

Hoopdriver

The Piko is, as I understand it, kind of a tiny specialty light - I am not sure what for.

It certainly is not in the same class as the Betty, or their commuter light the Wilma.

There is a neutral testing site that shows the various beam strengths - I will try to fnd and pst the link - and in ths neutral site the Lupine is visibly superior, by a good margin.

Hoopdriver

Bingo

I found the link with the images comparing various beams from various lights, among them the Lupine Betty

It's pretty bright

http://www.exacteditions.com/exact/brow ... /4594/2/30

supersonic

The Betty is fairly bright, but that link was 4 years ago - lights are brighter, more efficient and lighter now with better batteries. You can buy lights for £50 that are better than the old betty nowadays!

Hoopdriver

supersonic wrote:

The Betty is fairly bright, but that link was 4 years ago - lights are brighter, more efficient and lighter now with better batteries. You can buy lights for £50 that are better than the old betty nowadays!

Brighter, perhaps - they go to an utterly unnecessary and even dangerous 3000 lumens nowadays.

Better made? Me thinks not.

supersonic

Guess that is a choice the consumer has to make, some of the £50 torch/magicshines are well built.

Hoopdriver

I find you generally get what you pay for