Want a light for the winter?

spasypaddy

http://use1.com/exposure-lights/cycling-lights/front-lights/equinox
2000 lumens.
helmet mounted
wireless remote control from the handlebars

let me just reiterate.

2000 lumens

asprilla

That's not a commuting light, that's an interrogation device!

meanredspider

Asprilla wrote:

That's not a commuting light, that's an interrogation device!

It's a WMD!

spasypaddy

look at chain reactions holding page...
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/expo ... prod110871

wgwarburton

Hi,
£240 for a light?
I don't think I've spent that on a whole bike, let alone an accessory.

Cheers,
W.

spasypaddy

you really dont think youve spent £240 on a complete bike!?

wgwarburton

spasypaddy wrote:

you really dont think youve spent £240 on a complete bike!?

Actually, yes I have: I bought a Brommie for £250 a couple of years back. Otherwise I don't think so. The tourer I inherited from my father, I had an old MTB when I was a student or working for the Uni but I think that was £150 2nd hand. Otherwise the commuter bikes are eBay fixies/parts-bin-specials, mostly with 80s parts from local recyclers.
Never bought new, no carbon, no fancy 10-cog cassettes etc.

I spent a bit of cash upgrading the tourer a while back but at early 80s prices it wouldn't have been that much.

Cycling's only "expensive" if you want it to be, or can't build and fix your own bikes...

Cheers,
W.

walkingbootweather

£265 for a light.

They must have seen you coming, and if they didn't you'd be wanting your money back

davis

That's unnecessarily bright at full output, especially on a plastic-hat light which looks where you do. Imagine the guy in front shoulder-checking with one of those buggers on!

Even out in the proper countryside pitch black with knackered eyes and the occasional oncoming car, 750 well-directed lumens is plenty, often too much.

meanredspider

WGWarburton wrote:

Hi,
£240 for a light?
I don't think I've spent that on a whole bike, let alone an accessory.

Cheers,
W.

I bet you've spent NEARLY that much on a helmet

dilemna

This is all we need, more knobbers putting a far too bright light on top of their helmets to blind the rest of us.

veronese68

That's ridiculous. I thought it was a bad idea to have a bright light mounted too close to your eyes as you don't see shadows caused by lump and bumps in the road. So whilst you have a small sun strapped to your head you could fall down a pothole that is practically invisible to you.

unixnerd

This is all we need, more knobbers putting a far too bright light on top of their helmets to blind the rest of us.

In addition to the XML torches on my bar I run an AA Maglite with an LED upgrade on a headband. It's not bright enough to blind anyone but great for getting yourself noticed by drivers. Also great when XC skiing at night :-)

pdw

It'd be great to see Exposure put their desire to innovate into making a really good road light, with switchable high and low beams.

The Strada is on the right track, but the "dipped" beam pattern isn't a patch on stuff like Phillips or B&M that are built to German standards.

2,000 lumens isn't ridiculous as a "main beam" provided you switch off if there's oncoming traffic, but it's going to be pretty obnoxious otherwise.

unixnerd

2,000 lumens isn't ridiculous as a "main beam" provided you switch off if there's oncoming traffic, but it's going to be pretty obnoxious otherwise.

I'd rather run two main lights. That way if one fails or gets a battery issue I'm not lost in the dark. A single big light puts all your eggs in one basket. I do a lot of mtb'ing in the winter as well as night road rides so this is important to me. One upon a time I got stuck in a forest four miles from the nearest road with a flat battery on a moonless night, until that happens you don't know what "dark" really is.

Kieran_Burns

unixnerd wrote:

2,000 lumens isn't ridiculous as a "main beam" provided you switch off if there's oncoming traffic, but it's going to be pretty obnoxious otherwise.

I'd rather run two main lights. That way if one fails or gets a battery issue I'm not lost in the dark. A single big light puts all your eggs in one basket. I do a lot of mtb'ing in the winter as well as night road rides so this is important to me. One upon a time I got stuck in a forest four miles from the nearest road with a flat battery on a moonless night, until that happens you don't know what "dark" really is.

Try telling your Mum you forgot her birthday....

pdw

I'd rather run two main lights. That way if one fails or gets a battery issue I'm not lost in the dark. A single big light puts all your eggs in one basket. I do a lot of mtb'ing in the winter as well as night road rides so this is important to me. One upon a time I got stuck in a forest four miles from the nearest road with a flat battery on a moonless night, until that happens you don't know what "dark" really is.

The first time I did the Sandwick to Patterdale bridleway along the side of Ullswater we ran out of daylight about half way along. If you don't know the area it's a choice of a 2 mile, very technical bridleway, or 15 miles by road.

I'm not quite sure what we'd have done if my other half hadn't been carrying her Petzl head torch, as it was hard enough to find the track even with the torch. I'm now a bit more cautious when planning routes that don't have any shortcuts, and always carry a torch.

That said, I still commute with two lights on a single battery...

Kieran_Burns

I upgraded to the 4 cell 'epic' battery for my vision 2 and district 3. Then again I do also have a MJ808e and a cateye ld1100 ready to be strapped on the Winter bike when the dark commutes start.

okgo

What is a good choice for the London commuter, robust, well put together, sufficient for Richmond Park (I don't need a car headlight, I did last winter with a knog flashing thing), and rechargeable, not a fortune?

jonnyboy77

I don't think it's marketed as a central london commuter light though?

However strapped to my lid whilst navigating a tricky mountain bike trail in the middle of the night might just be a suitable use for it.

I have a Gemini Duo for night time off road riding, but it doubles as a commuter light in the winter, as it allows for 10-100% power output settings on 3 presets, plus flash mode - so no need to dazzle folks with 1400 lumens when out on the road, just 10% or 20% of that on constant or flashing, depending on where I'm riding.

I think this is what USE refer to here:

Optimised Mode Selector easily allows you to choose from a concise number of programs to maximise the potential of your light. Whether you’re planning a quick trail burn or a commute, OMS will keep your light optimised.

No need for any hysteria

- Jon

asprilla

If you can find an exposure joystick cheap then they are excellent.

Gallywomack

I use a Lezine Mini Drive XL, ticks all those boxes. Charges off a USB. Not sure about life, I only use it for 45 mins at a time and charge it daily. From memory if I do forget to charge it, I still get a second commute out of it (been a while since winter!). Only annoying thing is the flash mode is quite slow, which is kind of odd, but I don't use it in flashing mode anyway so not an issue for me. Pretty bright considering the size and price.

supersonic

Still hard to beat the torch option.

daddy0

I use a Moon Meteor, charges off of USB and lasts quite a while - I did the Dunwhich Dynamo with it on the lowest setting, but turned it up to full for the faster descents - lasted a whole summers night. The rubber mount is excellent. The beam is narrow, so good for road use and the three brightness settings are all useful.

Recently I got a Lezyne Powerdrive XL, which is a bit brighter. However the beam is very wide, so not much good for road use when there are vehicles coming the other way. The mount is a bit naff. The low brightness setting isn't bright enough other than to be seen with.

I recommend the Moon!

veronese68

supersonic wrote:

Still hard to beat the torch option.

In terms of bang per buck I completely agree. The downside I found is that you have to run two lights as you get no warning of the battery going, it will just turn off. I like to run two lights anyway, one static and one flash. I decided as I was using it every day, and I got it at a good price, it was worth going for the Exposure light. I particularly like their flash mode where it gives a bright flash without ever turning off the light. I wouldn't pay full retail for one though.

t4tomo

unixnerd wrote:

This is all we need, more knobbers putting a far too bright light on top of their helmets to blind the rest of us.

In addition to the XML torches on my bar I run an AA Maglite with an LED upgrade on a headband. It's not bright enough to blind anyone but great for getting yourself noticed by drivers. Also great when XC skiing at night :-)

It's fine if you are in the middle of nowhere or night MTBing in a wood, the problem is knobheads in London putting stupidly bright lights or mad strobe flash modes, either on helmets on on the bars but not angled down, blinding car drivers and fellow cyclists.

Kieran_Burns

Oddly, I don't go for the one steady, one flash option as I find having two bright steady lights confuses drivers enough for them to take note and give me more room / consideration. (usually manifesting itself when they are overtaking parked cars on their side when I am oncoming)

A flashing lights = pushbike
Steady lights = motorised something.

If you 'break' the norm then active thought is required and people stop operating on auto-pilot. This is the same front and rear btw

Of course: YMMV

asprilla

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Oddly, I don't go for the one steady, one flash option as I find having two bright steady lights confuses drivers enough for them to take note and give me more room / consideration. (usually manifesting itself when they are overtaking parked cars on their side when I am oncoming)

A flashing lights = pushbike
Steady lights = motorised something.

If you 'break' the norm then active thought is required and people stop operating on auto-pilot. This is the same front and rear btw

Of course: YMMV

Or they just get confused and suffer target fixation......

Kieran_Burns

Asprilla wrote:

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Oddly, I don't go for the one steady, one flash option as I find having two bright steady lights confuses drivers enough for them to take note and give me more room / consideration. (usually manifesting itself when they are overtaking parked cars on their side when I am oncoming)

A flashing lights = pushbike
Steady lights = motorised something.

If you 'break' the norm then active thought is required and people stop operating on auto-pilot. This is the same front and rear btw

Of course: YMMV

Or they just get confused and suffer target fixation......

reminder: hope vision 2 + mj808e

dee4life2005

Just got myself an Exposure Diablo mk4, to compliment the Lezyne mini drive and power drive XL lights that I already have.

Wanted something a bit brighter and with longer range for when going out on dark unlit country roads. The Exposure Diablo is excellent for this, but would definitely need to be aimed down towards the road (or dipped to lower/lowest setting, using the remote switch) when encountering cars or other cyclists - as the light is mega bright. The handlebar mount unfortunately doesn't have any side-to-side or vertical adjustment once secured so it's fixed pointing straight ahead. I reckon you could probably get away with using it with the helmet mount - though you'd either have to tilt your head to point it away from traffic or adjust the mount in such scenarios, easily done though.

Not cheap, but it appears - so far - to be a quality piece of kit.

supersonic

I'm currently using a 1000 lumen magic shine clone that I paid 16 quid for. Nearly 3 hours running on max - a bit of foil taped over the upper quarter of the lens modulates the beam nicely on the road. Torches on the other bikes.