I’m in the process of returning a failed Moon XP1500 light to Merlin (charger failed) who have agreed to give me a gift voucher as the light is now obsolete (top customer service – no complaints)

So… I’ll have a voucher for £90 to spend on a new front light.
I’m happy to top up this amount a bit if needs be.
The light will be used for country lane road riding, and the occasional bit of XC mincing around the local woods.

It’ll be paired up with my Exposure joystick on my lid (think it is a MK7 – approx. 400lm)

The Hope Vision R4 (£144) and vision R2/R2i (£166)have caught my eye.. anyone have any experience of these?
I particularly like the integrated battery in the R2i
(Given the option, I’d buy another Exposure light – but Merlin don’t stock them)

The fact that Hope are based in the UK, and can repair/maintain the light are a big bonus…

I’ve always been really happy with my r4. Used a reasonable amount through last winter with no issues at all.

Another happy R4 light user here, also have an R1 also been excellent, good beam pattern and no issues.

I’ve the original Vision 2 and my wife has the R4 (not the new R4i) and a Vision 2, not had any problem with them though not had the R4 long enough really for a long term assessment. We’ve had the Vision 2s for about 8 years and still going strong.

Had the R4 a few years ago and it was pretty good.

The MTB Batteries Lumenator that I replaced it with was cheaper and better though.

HAve two, an od R2 and a newer R4, both been gret

Hope sent me a new bracket FOC when I ham fistedly broke mine, and repalced all the wiring on the R2 when it got damaged, again FOC, when it was several years out of warranty

I am a very loyal Hope customer but I thought their lights where just too pricey given the amount of use they would get from me, set I was looking at was £300-ish. I bought from MTB batteries.

I’ve had 4 sets, 2 sets failed after about 5 and 8 years of heavy use, both were repaired by hope, one set for free, the other for the price of postage (which wasn’t cheap!)

TBH, I’d not buy again as the competition are now making lights that look as nice, last just as well and are cheap enough to replace if they break. And TBH, the lifecycle of the hopes seems to be a bit on the long side. I know when we bought our second hope light the hardware was already 2 or 3 generations out of date, but it was half price.

They are nicely made, back up is excellent and they are reasonable light wise.

Borrowed an R8 for a ride and was distinctly underwhelmed by its performance and the mounting bracket that wobbled all over the shop creating a weird strobe effect.

As far as lights go, i’d buy eXposure or a good quality chinese light! (if those words can be used together)

They have potential issues with cable damage because of the lack of strain relief. Standard Hope- slightly dubious product but they’ll fix it if it breaks. Downer but not dealbreaker imo.

The R4’s a good light- the whole 4xXPG format is pretty effective IMO, it’s not stupendously bright but it’s very usable, lovely beam pattern. Definitely don’t get the lightweight battery, it’s stupidly small but the standard 4-cell one is alright.

Elephant in the room though is that the performance is basically identical to some of the quality far eastern lights, like the magicshine MJ856, which uses the same 4xXPG format, and costs £80 (and before someone says it, it’s not like the cheaper magicshines, it comes with a decent battery and charger). The bar bracket isn’t as solid, but the cable has better support so they’re pretty much matched. I’m not a fan of the cheapos but the upper end of the chinese lights are brilliant options ime.

Thanks guys – much food for thought. Leaning toward the R2i as the ‘one piece’ design looks good, and I can also use it as a torch.

Reliability issues can’t justify the high price. Return postage isn’t cheap as I’ve discovered 3 times already.

I don’t think you ever own a Hope light you merely look after it for the next generation

No matter what happens Hope will fix it. Great service

I’ve got the R4 and whilst its a good light I probably wouldn’t buy another as the cheaper ones are good enough these days, especially when its £15 v ~£200+

No matter what happens Hope will fix it. Great service… Return Postage not included

@enfht you are so funny. Every Hope thread has your negative comment in it. What did they do to you!?

Any experience with the Lezyne lights then??

Its for balance. Three failures for a £250 light is three too many and it’s the biased hope fanboys on here that should be more of a concern. I’m due another failure any day now.

You must have missed my Hope grips post then :).

I’ve had a set of Hope front light for a number of years – the 480 lumen model with the lead and separate battery.

Hope have been great with warranty, its been back 4 times for problems with the electricals, and each time they sorted it out FOC. Cannot complain about that really?

Would I buy another Hope light? Not sure, have not done night riding for several years now, but their customer service would encourage me if their pricing is competitive with other brands…

I really like Hope stuff, both my bikes are covered in it. Think their seat clamp is a bit rubbish though and for lights I prefer Exposure’s all-in-one designs which are similarly priced and UK made too.

I’ve got an old Vision 4 that must be at least 7 years old and just keeps going.

Far from the brightest, but beautifully made and sits on my bars next to a Magicshine. I am considering retiring it and getting a Hope R4+ to de-clutter the bars a bit though. £180 doesn’t seem too bad when Cateye are trying to get away with flogging lights for £650

Personally i’d avoid Lezyne like the plague, had 2, both had batteries fail, buttons fall off and then the charging circuits fail. overpriced rubbish.

Our club lights we use for back up and lending out to newbies are ancient Hope Vision 2s and they work faultlessly 99% of the time. A wee cable issue at year 5 and Hope fixed it free of charge with a rewire. Try that with some lights after 3 months!

As an aside, my vision 2 hasn’t just been used on the bike, I’ve used it for nighttime fell running and nighttime ice climbing. When the Vision 2 came out a lot of local fell runners and mountain rescue got them, only heard of a couple in the eight years or so that needed any servicing and those were done by return of post and free of charge.

I’m not a Hope fanboy but in my experience the kit works. For those moaning, next time your SuperExplodingNova lights fail let us know what the manufacturer’s response is to your request to fix them.

I had a vision 4, it worked ok and was fixed FOC when it inevitably went wrong, battery life was good though, I used it as a head torch whilst doing the 3 peaks without issue.

I’ve had a Hope Vision 1 (sold, but still going strong) and currently a several years old Vision 2. They’re good reliable lights and I got another helmet mount FOC after a phone call

I’ve also got a MTB Batteries V2 that’s around three years old. Their customer service is equally stunning with a new battery provided FOC after more than 12 months