expensive lights, why?

2

Comments

  • RandG
    RandG Posts: 779
    I do snigger at the snobbery of those who think cause they spend £200+ on lights that they aren't made in the far East :lol:

    Let me let you in to a wee secret EVERYTHING IS MADE IN THE FAR EAST :wink:
  • Bordersroadie
    Bordersroadie Posts: 1,052
    RandG wrote:
    I do snigger at the snobbery of those who think cause they spend £200+ on lights that they aren't made in the far East :lol:

    Let me let you in to a wee secret EVERYTHING IS MADE IN THE FAR EAST :wink:

    Extract from Exposure website:

    "About Exposure Lights

    Exposure Lights are designed and manufactured to exacting standards in the UK by Ultimate Sports Engineering Ltd, USE Ltd."

    Extract from Exposure brochure:

    "Exposure Lights are proudly made by Ultimate Sports Engineering in the south of England"

    If you're going to post in massive capital letters at least get your facts right! :oops:
  • dirtyginge
    dirtyginge Posts: 67
    I have run the cheaper far east lights ( fine no problems, no breakdowns), a hope r2 and a hope r4 ( bought it in a sale, full retail is ridiculous)....

    the hope r2 ran for 5 years before the cables began to break inside. I tried resoldering new cables in, but due to really crap solder, really screwed the board. contacted hope, said hey guys, ima d**k, screwed my board, unit is miles out of warranty, can i buy a new board ??, they say, er no, havent got that board, can offer you an upgraded new head unit for 1/2 of retail..............er...my god, fell of floor, what customer service...

    Now the cheap chinese light is bright, can flood or spot( except he magicshine lights, which seem to be amazing value in every review I have seen), the r2 can do a very wide good spot....but the r4, can only be described as light luxury, with not a single light blind spot from the handlebar forwards for at least 20-30M......

    so put it another way, yes shimano sora changes gears, is crisp, will do the job, but after using 105 shifters, do sora ever feel adequate again???

    But i do admit, couldnt afford the r4, had to wait for a sale, but my, what a light
  • RandG
    RandG Posts: 779
    Bordersroadie wrote:

    Extract from Exposure website:

    "About Exposure Lights

    Exposure Lights are designed and manufactured to exacting standards in the UK by Ultimate Sports Engineering Ltd, USE Ltd."

    Extract from Exposure brochure:

    "Exposure Lights are proudly made by Ultimate Sports Engineering in the south of England"

    If you're going to post in massive capital letters at least get your facts right! :oops:

    Nice little play on words with that quote :roll: Made as in assembled, parts from the far east :wink:

    As long as you believe that, that's all that matters :wink:
  • diy
    diy Posts: 6,473
    About as british as my triumph motorbike ;). The LEDs, drivers and cells are all made in china and Japan.
    Guide to cheap bike lights Turbo Trainer Vids Play list
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  • Bordersroadie
    Bordersroadie Posts: 1,052
    RandG wrote:
    Bordersroadie wrote:

    Extract from Exposure website:

    "About Exposure Lights

    Exposure Lights are designed and manufactured to exacting standards in the UK by Ultimate Sports Engineering Ltd, USE Ltd."

    Extract from Exposure brochure:

    "Exposure Lights are proudly made by Ultimate Sports Engineering in the south of England"

    If you're going to post in massive capital letters at least get your facts right! :oops:

    Nice little play on words with that quote :roll: Made as in assembled, parts from the far east :wink:

    As long as you believe that, that's all that matters :wink:

    So what? I was under no illusion that all of the components were made in the UK. I'd far rather have a light designed and built in the UK* to a very high standard than a lowest-possible-cost eBay cheapo. *or any country come to think of it.

    The truth is, as with all things in life, if you want high quality, great performance and 100% reliability in a product, you have to pay for it. I'd be as happy to pay for a Far-East manufactured £200 light if it was the same quality as an Exposure. I'm sure some of the other premium bike light brands are made in the Far East, but there's Far East made good quality and Far East made cheap quality. For me it was just a bonus that the best light is designed and made in the UK - there's no "not made in Far East" snobbery going on.

    For every product in existence, there is a tempting cheapo version on eBay. Every one of them obeys the get-what-you-pay-for rule.

    Look, there I go again, trying to reason with a troll. . . :?
  • RandG
    RandG Posts: 779
    Bordersroadie wrote:

    So what?


    So what indeed :lol:
  • iPete
    iPete Posts: 6,076
    RandG wrote:
    I do snigger at the snobbery of those who think cause they spend £200+ on lights that they aren't made in the far East :lol:

    Let me let you in to a wee secret EVERYTHING IS MADE IN THE FAR EAST :wink:

    Hope wrote:
    Everything is made in the Barnoldswick Factory (with the exception of electronics in the lights, rubber seals, pad material, hose and bearings) right down to the connectors, shims, pawls and other small parts that go into making the finished piece.

    Just saying :lol:
  • michaelappleton
    michaelappleton Posts: 10
    Ive found alot of difference in battery usage, I was skeptical at first with spending so much on lighting for myself and my bike but like lostboysaint I find spending the money worth it when weight up against the agro cheap lights can cause.
  • Joeblack
    Joeblack Posts: 829
    Made in Britain - lololol

    Even if it was 100% accurate I'm not sure it adds anything, it doesn't mean what it once did!!!
    One plays football, tennis or golf, one does not play at cycling
  • Neale1978
    Neale1978 Posts: 484
    The truth is, as with all things in life, if you want high quality, great performance and 100% reliability in a product, you have to pay for it.

    Think about that for a minute and it just ends up sounding like bullshit from certain points of view (sorry)

    Some products (in life) are priced high and the quality does not justify that price, fact. Some products (in life) are priced low in comparison to others and the quality IS fine. See through the hype or advertising surrounding certain things and just buy your products (in life) based on the actual facts, spec and details and you are done and dusted (imo)
  • carrock
    carrock Posts: 1,103
    My wife has a superb Audi TT that has the best build quality of any car I have driven. Not many people know that these cars are assembled in Hungary. Does it matter where it is built? No.
  • iPete
    iPete Posts: 6,076
    carrock wrote:
    My wife has a superb Audi TT that has the best build quality of any car I have driven. Not many people know that these cars are assembled in Hungary. Does it matter where it is built? No.

    If you had to send it back to Hungary when it broke down you'd think twice... :lol:

    & that's enough to put me off buying eBay carbon copy frames, wheels, lights etc. but each to their own.
  • Neale1978
    Neale1978 Posts: 484
    You can get quality and crap from any country. China have been making countless products for the west for decades so they really do know what they are doing when it comes to certain things

    As for the fake carbon frames well i'd much rather have something unbranded than a copied venge or similar and there are top end carbon part makers over there.. same as anywhere else that makes good ones
  • Hoopdriver
    Hoopdriver Posts: 2,023
    neale1978 wrote:
    The truth is, as with all things in life, if you want high quality, great performance and 100% reliability in a product, you have to pay for it.

    Think about that for a minute and it just ends up sounding like bullshit from certain points of view (sorry)

    Some products (in life) are priced high and the quality does not justify that price, fact. Some products (in life) are priced low in comparison to others and the quality IS fine. See through the hype or advertising surrounding certain things and just buy your products (in life) based on the actual facts, spec and details and you are done and dusted (imo)
    You certainly are full of yourself.

    It is a truism that you get what you pay for - in general. To be sure there are cases, typically in the fashion industry, where you are obviously paying over the odds for the latest precious name. But if you are talking about engineering and build quality - that takes time, R&D, and money and so the prices charged are higher.

    It is also a truism that there is often resentment of this simple fact.
    http://www.My-Bicycle-and-I.com
  • diy
    diy Posts: 6,473
    "You get what you pay for" - salesman's dream. In life people pay different prices for the same product. The price you pay reflects your desire and ability to haggle or research.

    I think at the end of the day, if you paid £200 then its going to be hard to accept that you could have paid £40 for something similar. Its just human nature.
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  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,698
    Except, by your own admission, you don't. 200 buys you a light that works all the time, 40 buys one that you have to grease.

    You can go and buy a car from a showroom and drive it away, or you can buy a box of car bits for less

    How is this so difficult to understand that people want a set of lights they can trust? ALL of the time, not just some of the time.
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • de_sisti
    de_sisti Posts: 1,283
    Now, now guys. Just agree to disagree. It's amazing how much head butting goes on in this
    forum, when someone makes a statement, whilst another person makes a counter-statement
    and both continue posting to prove their point, quite often they end up being rude to each
    other. Just agree to disagree.
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,698
    Sorry, who are you??

    ;)
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • de_sisti
    de_sisti Posts: 1,283
    ddraver wrote:
    Sorry, who are you??

    ;)
    And you are?. :roll: :wink:
  • dirtyginge
    dirtyginge Posts: 67
    no your not !
  • Neale1978
    Neale1978 Posts: 484
    Hoopdriver wrote:
    neale1978 wrote:
    The truth is, as with all things in life, if you want high quality, great performance and 100% reliability in a product, you have to pay for it.

    Think about that for a minute and it just ends up sounding like bullshit from certain points of view (sorry)

    Some products (in life) are priced high and the quality does not justify that price, fact. Some products (in life) are priced low in comparison to others and the quality IS fine. See through the hype or advertising surrounding certain things and just buy your products (in life) based on the actual facts, spec and details and you are done and dusted (imo)
    You certainly are full of yourself.

    It is a truism that you get what you pay for - in general. To be sure there are cases, typically in the fashion industry, where you are obviously paying over the odds for the latest precious name. But if you are talking about engineering and build quality - that takes time, R&D, and money and so the prices charged are higher.

    It is also a truism that there is often resentment of this simple fact.

    Full of myself? hardly. My reply included a respectful apology for a start and i said SOME things are basically a rip off NOT all.

    'You get what you pay for' is a big fat cliche.

    Lights are straight forward and certainly not the most complex things to design and build by any means so in this case r&d etc is not really a huge factor is it.
    200 buys you a light that works all the time, 40 buys one that you have to grease

    OH YES its better to pay out an extra £160 instead of (at worst) putting a small amount of grease on a thread or a small amount of tape around a battery to stop it moving :roll:

    For the record.. ive never had to put any grease on my £30 1000 lumen front light and its been out in a lot of bad rain on and off over the weeks. I will do though today just because of what other guys have said that have them so cheers for that
  • rdt
    rdt Posts: 869
    Like in most segments, there's room for high-priced "premium" products and there's room for bargain-priced "commodity" products. These both offer value in different ways, depending on what floats your boat. It's the Waitrose & Aldi success stories.

    It's the companies offering the run-of-the-mill, mid-price, mid-market stuff that will increasingly struggle: stuff that's often outperformed by the bargain-priced commodity stuff, and that doesn't offer the pleasure of ownership of the premium products.
  • essjaydee
    essjaydee Posts: 917
    I've been looking at buying another front light this week, and battling to justify spending a lot of money on it. I only want it for commuting on mainly well lit roads for 11 miles, but there are a couple of miles of quite dark stretches, but in the end I couldn't justify (to myself) spending £50 plus on it, but that's me :|

    Just ordered a pair of Cree 5's for a minimal spend :)
    If they last one winter I'll have had good vfm and be very :)
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  • diy
    diy Posts: 6,473
    What is a Cree 5?

    Here is a list of all the Cree LEDs http://flashlightwiki.com/Cree and the outputs
    Guide to cheap bike lights Turbo Trainer Vids Play list
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  • bluedoggy
    bluedoggy Posts: 285
    Goodness me, all this pent up energy about bloody lights? Couldn't it be more interesting like say..growing turnips? Both need to have a big wank in the toilet to relieve the tension. Works for me. Now kiss and make up.:)
    Wilier cento uno.
  • Neale1978
    Neale1978 Posts: 484
    uwoyb.jpg
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,698
    From the look of diy's avatar, he is somewhat obsessed by them....
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • nolight
    nolight Posts: 261
    £200 lights are unnecessary and in fact a bad thing. If you left them on the bike, more chances they will get stolen. Better save up on a nice jersey instead (guy will have to rape you to steal it :lol: ).

    However I have also used extremely cheap lights as well, china £2 light for the rear and £2 for the front (only for others to see you) that uses lithium C2032 batteries. They are just not reliable. Once I rode out with the rear light on and at the end of the ride it was off, although it can be turned on again.

    £10-30 seem right for lights.
  • DavidJB
    DavidJB Posts: 2,019
    Just brought a cree and already have a magic shine...gonna run 2 super lights up front for a 1/3rd of the cost of an exposure and with the redundancy I'd want from a cheap light.

    Then if I want I can replicate a solo moving flood light.

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