Are there any cheaper copies of exposure lights. I like the fact they are one unit, but there must be chinese/cheap/ magic shine type copy? Any recommendations. I cannot afford exposure, as much as i would like one!!!

Thanks

Save up

No.

That is what you are paying for with exposure really. Much neater better designed and made in the UK versus powerful led and cheap batteries from China.

Exposure are no longer made in the UK afaik

Aren’t they? They bought another unit on their industrial estate, I thought they were.

As always. What you pay for is the robustness, which you may not care about, the quality of the build and mounts, which you may not care about, and the quality of the batteries, which you will care about when the recycled laptop batteries die a month after purchase, or explode due to lack of protection circuits or the charger blows up if not electrocutes you, due to lack of safety standards as you get in the EU.

If you’re okay with all that, chinese knock offs are fine for the price. Assuming the airline and/or courier doesn’t confiscate the batteries.

Note that I don’t knock the LEDs. They’re all generally good as cheap or not, they’re the same stuff and all good. The lumens quoted are however complete bollox. That doesn’t mean they aren’t stupidly bright though.

Yes, get some solarstorm off eBay. £15 or so will see you sorted with a light unit that has 4 modes of which only 1 will work, with 5000 lumens that may actually be 800, and a 6000mAh battery that will power the light for 20 minutes on flashing mode ( so more like 60mAh), and a charger that gets a bit warm. Of course I may have been unlucky.

Whereas my 2nd hand exposure Maxx d that I bought a few years ago has worked faultlessly. Of course I may have been lucky, but I do think you get what you pay for and my next purchase will be an Exposure joystick to compliment the Maxx d.

Not neat and shiny like exposure, but someone on the other light thread had a normal chinese light and battery pack mounted to a qr bracket.

I’ve had the ‘chinese sunshine’ lights before and they are ok. Bit hit and miss though. Better off saving your pennies and getting something a bit better made. IMO of course!

Edit, double posted

In the chinese lights defence mine have all been fine, apart from the Smudge/mtbbateries.co.uk one which failed after a bit under a year. Response was allong the lines of “they all do that”, ill get the same light direct from china next time for an 8th of the price.

Don’t get one of the Chinese sets with the made up battery pack because the pack will be worthless.
Just get a XM-L flashlight (not the cheapest one you can find), some good brand name batterys and a basic mount, and you’re set to go.
The flashlight is basically the same as an exposure light, but with the added bonus if something goes wrong/needs fixed (rare), you can easily do it yourself instead of having to send it away, plus you can easily take a spare battery with you and swap it over in seconds.

If you want me to list the sort of items you need to buy, let me know.

I’ve found the problem with the all-in-one chinese lights is the weight. They seem to go overboard on the amount of metal used in their construction making them far heavier than the exposure lights.

Unless there are some lighter versions I’ve not come across?

This sort of thing?
http://img.dxcdn.com/productimages/sku_285522_1.jpg
Deal Extreme £23

If you can’t afford new, just buy secondhand…there was a Max Daddy going for a £100 the other week.
I’ve had mine since they first came out and it’s been faultless. I use it for a lot more than biking too.

“you can easily do it yourself instead of having to send it away”

If i could solder i wouldnt have to send the use light away either if it failed. How ever since i cant solder china light would be destined for the bin.

Plenty of Chinese torches if you want all in one. That said the solar storm is a great bit of kit. Fatastic light output for the money. What’s the problem with a separate battery pack? Its easy to replace the battery pack and cheap enough to give it a go.

Not Chinese but the Cateye Volt 1200 seems to get good reviews and is in the Edinburgh Bicycle Sale.
Anyone running these off road?

lightman – Member
Don’t get one of the Chinese sets with the made up battery pack because the pack will be worthless.
Just get a XM-L flashlight (not the cheapest one you can find), some good brand name batterys and a basic mount, and you’re set to go.
The flashlight is basically the same as an exposure light, but with the added bonus if something goes wrong/needs fixed (rare), you can easily do it yourself instead of having to send it away, plus you can easily take a spare battery with you and swap it over in seconds.
If you want me to list the sort of items you need to buy, let me know.
POSTED 12 HOURS AGO # REPORT-POST

I would like a list please

Do a search for Torchy the battery boy. I have one of his torches and it is good. Copy of the principle but not a rip off fake.

Have a good read through the thread below – it’s got a link to cheap Solar Storm X2’s (unit only) and also the list of battery’s and holders you’ll need to put together a better-than-standard-Chinese piece of kit.
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/that-time-of-year-is-coming-again-whats-hot-in-the-lighting-world

To be fair to Chinese lights I’ve had an original MJ782 for 3 or 4 years now and its still going, original battery set as well!

This sort of thing?
http://img.dxcdn.com/productimages/sku_285522_1.jpg
Deal Extreme £23

Have you got a link to a suitable bike mount for that?

alexandersupertramp, this is a list of what I recommend.
Battery’s or similar to these.
Charger. You’ll need an adaptor or cut the end off and put a normal plug on.
Bar mount. Ive tested loads and the cheapest is the best, use a zip tie for oversize bars.
Flashlight. I recommend this one if you have the ability to solder a spring onto the positive end cos it doesn’t have one.
The flashlight is the type you should be looking at. Nice and simple with very little that can go wrong and cheap enough if you wanted two.
This would’ve been the type of flashlight I would’ve recommend you, but they changed the manufacturing and ruined it!
You can read my review on the page about it, with pictures.

You can buy most of these items on ebay, but don’t get cheap battery’s like Ultrafire and any that say they have upwards of 3500mAh, because they don’t and will be worthless.

How ever since i cant solder china light would be destined for the bin.

How can a man of your caliber not solder Terry!? Can’t you weld? That’s just soldering with a bigger iron!

You can buy most of these items on ebay, but don’t get cheap battery’s like Ultrafire and any that say they have upwards of 3500mAh, because they don’t and will be worthless.

That’s a little Joystick-esque helmety light though, Exposure do proper meaty handlebar mounted ones with far higher output. Does anyone do a Chinese all in one light with a good output (and not shit batteries and a dangerous charger)?

i can weld…. my hands shake too much to solder with any degree of accuracy.

i had rustymac up at mine on saturday soldering a Chinese UV torch (natch) that i bought for showing up Central heating leaks i have been looking for (when combined with flurociene.

The one I linked to is not a Joystick-esque, the Joystick uses a shitty small led, that one uses the latest XM-L, and its not the sort of weight you want on you helmet.
People get far to obsessed with having thousands and thousands of Lumens, when in reality you can get by with a lot less if they put the light in the correct place.
If you want a light helmet light, then this one should do, it may also need a spring soldered on though.

You would be better getting two flashlights (its what I use all the time), that way you can aim either light up or down, and if for some reason there was a fault with one (very rare), you still have another working one and don’t have to rely on just one light.

Ace thanks