Have been looking for a helmet light – have hope vision 2 on the bars – and was looking at the Joystick Max2 (would prefer Diablo – but budget prevents).

I know there will be brighter and probably cheaper (P7 torches etc) but though the joystick looked a neat unit with okay light. I was about to purchase when a friend said that he thought they had reliability issues and varied battery life etc.

Any experience/observations?

Had mine for about 3 years never had any issues .. I would recommend it great light for your helmet.

There were some issues with Exposure lights a few years ago and, as is always the case, one bad batch spoils the reputation (ref: Superstar…)

I've an '08 Joystick and an '09 Diablo and they're both brilliant (in both senses of the word).

You can't go wrong.

mine's been fine.

all light manufacturers have had some reliablity issues over the years.

hope and exposure have excellent customer service though.

all my exposure lights have been excellent and never faultered. getting on 3 yars now.

our team all run exposure bar 1 or 2 HID riders that are yet to convert.

all have been problem free.. talking 10 riders or so with em riding 2/3 times a week and racing 24s …

early exposures had issues in like 05/06

2 year old joystick, used loads (helmet light for MTB, bright commuter light, flashing light for road bike in winter murk etc) with no probs whatsoever.

Would very much recommend it, probably the single most useful biking thing I own.

Both my Exposure Lights – MaxxD and Joystick Maxx have been faultless. Exposure service is second to none and you can always find them at races should you have any problems. Wouldn't buy anything else.

I bought a Fenix torch for my helmet and have since come to wish I'd just paid a bit more and got a Joystick like a couple of my mates. From what I've seen it's an excellent light.

I have the exact same set up – pro2 and joystick. They aren't the cheapest but are two well made well designed components that work well together. The beams of the two complement each other – pro 2 gives a good flood whilst the joystick is more of a spot.

Pro 2? He said Vision 2.

minor hi-jack – just want to check with ~Team STW that the Joystick is plenty bright enough for towpath commuting?
Ta.
Chris

Yes I use mine for commuting on unlight lanes & towpath.

They are a great bit of kit. Most of the guys I ride with have one as back up and they just don't fail where as the main units whatever make do.
My Niteflux Photon Max LEDs failed and I used a Joystick until I got a replacement. Funnily enough the other night one guy broke his new EnduroMaxx bracket and another guys Hopes just failed, but both had back up Joysticks.

Cheers Scruff – i was thinking of a mini-trout but, for what I want, Joystick will be enough I reckon…

My other half's failed at the end of it's 3rd ride due to water ingress (it was a VERY wet ride). USE fixed it very promptly with no questions asked (under a week, door to door)and it's been fine since (18 months ago).

Not the brightest piece of kit, but beautifully packaged. Only practical downside is the switch is too small to feel with big winter gloves on.

I have a Trustfire thingy which was about £8 from DX + 18650 batteries & charger (about £20 all in) which seems to use the same emitter. Slightly bigger, a lot less well made, and I'd expect no backup at all if it went wrong, but it does the job for 1/7 the price. YM,YV…

Great light for the helmet, but the mounts do break… I have snapped a couple..

Seems to be a resounding 'yes'.

Thanks all – I'll order one when I get home.

I think the mounts are designed to break on impact. Hence why they use a nylon bolt. I guess the idea is that it causes less damage to the structural integrity of the helmet. Btw, It is worth using a lanyard with the Joystick. If you do catch it on a branch you could be a mile away before you know its missing – assuming you are using a strong main light of course 😉

At one of the Exposure lights events I was given a helmet mount for free after forgetting mine. I also saw Rory give a guy a new bar mount for a MaxxD because the old one was getting a bit stiff. Now that's good customer service 🙂

2 years and a few days old (it was past warranty) it started going wrong. Had been used about 3 times a week though. The battery life was just dropping down to about two hours instead of three. Sent it back to exposure, they got it fixed really quick, didn't charge me anything. And now its perfect again.

I've got a joystick for my helmet and maxx for the bars – no problems at all. Really love the "no fiddly wires" and easy fit. Battery life is as expected to – into 3rd season with them. Joystick is most used as it's also the house torch lol

I bought my joystick in October 2007.

The first wouldn't charge. Replaced under warranty.
When I went to use it after the summer break it died completely. Fixed under warranty.
At the end of that winter it started cutting out intermitently. I sent it back and was told there was an issue with the connections to the battery – I must have done this when I opened it up apparently. But I hadn't opened it up. I was told I would have to pay for the repair or they would do me a concession on a new model.

After arguing, they agreed to fix under warranty.

I've been using it through the winter (it is now out of the 2 year warranty by the way) and the intermittent fault is still there. Just cuts out every now and again. I do use it but certainly wouldn't trust it off roading with it.

So to cut a long story short, no they are not reliable. I don't expect to pay near on £150 for a bike light and have to pay for repairs or a concession (£70) on upgrading it within 2 years. I expect to be able to see where the hell I am going.

joystick Maxx 2 on the lid, likewise Race on the bars 😉
I did a night ride last night in the snow and just used the joystick, its great !

two joysticks, sold first gen to a friend, used proceeds (and added some cash) to go to 2nd gen joystick. both reliable.

mounts are indeed designed to self-sacrifice, like mech hangers.

They could be incredibly reliable, they'd still be laughably expensive for a not very bright torch with no replacable battery. $18 buys you a similiar but better light from hong kong. If you're concerned about reliability of those, you could buy about 10 😉 But you shouldn't be, they're mostly well sealed and durable.

There are bike lights that are worth buying, don't get me wrong, but this isn't one of them.