Exposure Strada

earth

I had a Mk4 until recently when it along with my bikes went missing. I liked it so much I decided to get another so I just got the 800 Mk7. The Mk4 was 800 lumens as well and I felt it was plenty but this one just doesn't seem as bright. It is not dim by any estimate but it doesn't have the same impact as the Mk4. I used to be able to shine that all the way down the road and it was still bright enough or reach the back of the garden with it. Not so any more. Has anyone else compared the two?

de_sisti

Perhaps you could pose the question to the manufacturers, who may be able to give you a technical explanation?

Bobbinogs

Have you played with all the different modes? some use different LEDs, although it is difficult to tell by looking at it as you will end up blinded! shine the light on to a piece of paper and look at the patterns.

luv2ride

I got a Exposure Diabolo recently with the LED at the rear showing various setting combinations. It's way too complicated for me and, because I only have to use it occasionally, I'm sure has led me using it in lower power settings than when I first got it and set it up. Think I'd prefer to keep it to a simple high, medium, low and strobe flash setting, rather than the multiple variations on offer. Great light otherwise though...

earth

I've gone through the different settings and found the brightest is H in program mode 1.

That brings me to something else I noticed. Mode 1 has High, medium and low beam settings. On the Mk4 these different settings gave noticeably different beam brightnesses. On the Mk7 M and L give the same brightness beam. The display on the Mk7 indicates the estimated burn time for each setting and it displays 10 hours for medium and 24 hours for low despite the beam brightness being the same. One the one hand I like having the same beam brightness with more than twice the burn time of the low setting but sometimes I set it to low so it does not dazzle anyone - that does not work now because the brightness does not change. It seems suspicious to me that the low setting has over twice the burn time yet the same brightness as medium - physics doesn't give you anything for free. So I suspect one of the two setting just doesn't exist except in the display.

vinnymarsden

I can vouch for the Diablo,just got the Mk8. Awesome light but I agree,the settings are WAAAAAY too complicated, and no doubt the larger Strava unit equally so.the website is over complicated to say the least....if anyone has a simple set up I would be grateful !!

Bobbinogs

The Exposure settings can appear complicated but they really just boil down to: Choose the programme you want using the hourly settings versus power (printed on the torches to help), set the programme and then stick to it in use!

As an example, I ride fast at night and a ride will typically last 2-3 hours. Looking at all the settings on my Diablo I see I can get 3 hours from a M setting on Programme 1, with the odd boost from a H setting where needed. This will give me the most light for my time (obviously any setting of a 10 hour duration will be less bright than a 3 hour setting as a trade off). One could easily work out something similar that suits them, e.g., someone might typically ride for 5 hours and Programme 4 might give a duration of 3 hours for H, 6 hours for M, so that would do nicely.

Decide on a programme and remember the number.

Then, the key thing with Exposure is the switch on, 2 clicks to switch the torch on, 1 click to set the programme.

To set the programme then, 1 click (leaving the button depressed) until the light flashes and then observe the back LED as it scrolls through the programmes with a flash for each programme number. Programme 4 is the 4th flash so take one's finger off after the 4th flash. As simple as that, programme 4 is selected.

Then switch the torch on with a double click, once on, just tap the rear button to toggle through various modes of programme 4.

Hope that helps. The downside of Exposure lights is that they do not really suit rides with a hugely variable duration particularly when the variation occurs in transit. However, if you know what you want before you head out and allow a small margin of error then they are great as they will give you exactly what it says on the tin, time after time.

vinnymarsden

That does sound a bit more easy to understand than the website/instructions in the pack...cheers

mfin

I'm not sure Bobbinogs has articulated there that once you've set the program, it is done, you won't have to do it ever again unless you want to change program (or if you change it by accident, which is not very likely at all once you know how to turn the light on and off).

Bobbinogs

Yes, good point mfin as I didn't make that clear. I don't think I have changed the programme on my Diablo in the last 3 years! Just switch it on/off and toggle modes where needed. Mind you, that does also say that I am a creature of habit and that most of my midweek evening rides are similar :-)

Also, despite regular use, I am still getting roughly the same run times which is quite impressive and I haven't noticed any light fade. I keep thinking that someday soon the battery life will fade away but it just keeps going (must be some clever control technology that helps the torch adjust to battery life so that the user doesn't notice it).

grahamcp

I bought a Strada 1200 and have found that the advertised burn times were a bit optimistic - I was wondering what everyone else has found from their experiences....

So today from a full charge, I used it on the L setting of PGM 1 - listed at 24 hours. The remaining estimate on the display was only just over 20 hours when I started and reduced to below 17 hours by the time I completed my 50 minute commute. Strangely the charge % is still showing as 100%. Also the remaining time has since gone back up to just under 18 hours but that is still some way short of where I'd expect/like it to be after less than an hours use from full charge.

Early days for me - I have only just started using the light and have not used any other settings/programs as yet. I appreciate it must be difficult to estimate remaining burn time precisely but so far I am a little disappointed with what I have seen.

iPete

If you're in the UK it's rather cold at the moment and I suspect this will have a big impact on run times. I would imagine the estimates won't be based on freezing temperatures.

A quick google suggest that at freezing, battery capacity is reduced by around 20%.

grahamcp

OK yes good point - I am in the UK and it was about 5 degrees this morning - although why it was almost 4 hours off what was advertised to begin with I'm still not sure, as it was kept indoors on charge.

Gaz777

Graham, did you charge the light until it said 100% on the display, or until the led on the charger went green? The light will say 100% long before the led on the charger goes green, but it's not actually fully charged until that green led is on.

I had the same issue as yourself until I found that bit of information on the exposure website somewhere!

grahamcp

I don't remember the colour of the LED, so I probably did unplug when I saw it had reached 100% - thanks for that, sounds promising so I'll give it a go tonight.

Gaz777

No problem, I reckon that will cure your run time problems as my light was similar to yours until I found out about the charging!

The only issue I have now is that whilst my total burn time is pretty accurate (if it says 3 hours that's roughly what it'll do), the time read out it gives along the way isn't accurate at all, and shows way under what the light can do.