I have a pair of Ay Ups from about 3 years ago and they claim to be 2x 700+ lumen lights.

Looking at new lights out now, the lumen count on the Ay Ups seems v low. I was/am really impressed by the Ay Ups performance. I have no inclination to swap them for something else as I have barely used them, but out of interest, have lights really improved that much in just 3 years?

If anyone has owned Ay Ups and then other newer lights it would be interesting to hear your opinion.

I had a set of Ayup’s probably 4 yrs ago. Since then had 2 generations of Exposure’s. I think the Ayup’s put out around 1400 between head and bars. Current MaxxD and Joystick around 3400 on full. Literally night and day…

I am old and wear specs so bright lights are good. Also ride with others so dimmer lights less good in that scenario. I’m sure if riding on my own I would be happy with Ayup level lumens and I always thought they were well designed and built kit

Newer lights are much brighter. This is only an issue if you’re riding in front of someone with a newer setup.

Ayups certainly don’t put out the same amount of brightness that newer lights do. I have a first generation set and it seems incredible how much light they seemed to put out when I first got them. Not now. Technology marches on. However, they are neat , well made little lights with a good run time.

Mine are still fantastic & have been reliable for coming up to 6 years old, I’ve replaced one battery during that time & upgraded the units with newer LEDs. More than happy with them still.

EDIT – just checked my emails – originally purchased in 2008 & upgraded in 2012.

They’re a great company, and lovely, well made lights. They’re just really not very bright. It’s not that they’ve been left behind in the last 3 years though, they’d already been left behind when you got them.

Does it matter? We’re a long way past needing more light. I have powerful, wide beam lights because I want my night rides to be more like day rides, I’m just going for rides when it happens to be dark. With ayups and similiar, your night ride will definitely be a night ride.

Still use mine, nothing really gets there for the weigh without spending lots of cash. They were good enough when I got them and they still do the same job without any fuss. If I rode with lots of people with brighter lights it might be an issue.

I bought a used set of (I think) 1st generation ones, which seem to be underpowered for fast riding. At times I’ve thought about buying a new set, but I’m not sure if they’d be a massive improvement over the originals. Presumably the beam pattern will be the same.

Most people have already answered your question, so I’ll just agree. Lovely lights but underpowered when the guy behind you has a sixpack and a diablo!

Thanks for all the comments, maybe should have shopped around a bit better when I was purchasing them. I went on a recommendation of a friend who said that they were bang on for the price.

I can’t say that I enjoy night riding all that much as a major part of what I like about cycling is seeing the trees etc. I just think that a night ride is better than no ride.

Maybe dropping a whole load of cash would change that but I doubt it somehow. The Ay-Ups are great for riding around my local trails on my own when I get home from work during winter.

I loved everything about mine when I first got them: the quality; the brightness (I tended to ride alone); the battery/light combination. Indeed, I bought my current set in early 2009 and have not upgraded them in any way, yet they still run for a decent amount of time. Just yesterday, I rode with them for about an hour without having charged them in weeks, and they didn’t let me down.

That said, I would probably go for something a bit brighter now.

bare in mind that light is not linearly related to lumens, you have 1400lumens, which is nothing like twice the brightness of my older 800 lumen set.

Also bare in mind that plenty of lights make frankly absurd claims for the output, then throw in the lens, the battery etc.

Ayup lights have never been the brightest, but they are light and as a system very little can touch them.