Hay guys.

Looking at getting a good set of lights. i have decided that i want a ”stand alone” set as in no wires. just personnel preferance.

My question is: are Exposure lights worth the outlay?

i know you get what you pay for but i want a set that will last a good few years.

Chris

I’m very pleased with mine. Good run time, bright light and nice beam

I’ve got a Mk7 joystick as a helmet light and have another window open where i’m dithering between a 6pack and a MaxxD

I’ve had a MK1 Sirius for about 12 months, one of the best lights i’ve bought. Bright, very light and a perfect commuting light.

For bigger/darker/longer stuff i’ve just bought a Race. very impressed and with a bit of Googling (cycle surgery) i got mine for £155. Not cheap, but a good a very good light!

I have a Diablo helmet light and MaxxD on the bars, both excellent, have only had them since the beginning of the year so don’t feel qualified to comment on reliability just yet.

Only issue I’ve had was leaving the TAP function active on the Diablo when I had t on the bars of my commuter bike and it kept switching between modes every few seconds, never been an issue on the helmet mount though.

Cool, Thanks for the replies,

Looking at possibly a Sixpack + Joystick combo.

I used to find the old joystick a bit underpowered for MTB, but the newer ones might be good. Always used exposure, piggy back batteries are super handy for longer rides too.

My Mk1 Diablo (about 6 years old now) was playing up and sent back to Exposure as an out of warranty repair, and done FOC, so gets my vote.

I also run a joystick on my lid.

In the house we have 2 joy sticks – mk4 and mk6 , a mk3 maxx d , a pair of flash and flares 3 red eyes and a 3 cell back up.

They are my go to for lights.

On the two occasions ive had issues over the last 10 years they have stood behind their product and fixed and returned it for barely more than postage. Just gotta be honest with them. I rang george in repairs told him i was a clutz , id dropped it didnt try to blag warrenty or owt , they just said send it in 🙂

I like the face they also put back into the sport , the number of races ive been at where they have been with charging stands , demo lights , charged light swap schemes. The number of prizes they have put back into the system over the years also works for me and makes the price tag feel worth it.

They may be a year or so behind in the latest tech compared to the latest light from china i can live with that because im not blind. – but at least it will work for more than a year . Fed up of the number of folk that have bailed on rides in the carpark because their china light has let them down.

I definitely think they are worth the money. I’m still using an enduro light that is 8 years old and it’s still going strong despite being used for commuting every day in the winter and every night ride too. Price per year it’s been a bargain and 100% dependable. The batteries understandably don’t last as long as they used to but still long enough for a night ride.

Of our riding group, I think pretty much everyone is running a bar/helmet exposure combo. Some new, some old…all great!
Nuff said…!

DrP

Five or six year old MK2 diablo. Bulletproof. Worth every penny.

Absolutely worth the cash.

The aftersales service is great too.

If you want the integral battery, then they’re great. The joysticks are basically just very nice, very expensive, crippled torches mind but the bigger ones are good at what they do.

Any of the deal extreme “torches” let me run a rear red light on my helmet powered from its internal battery and come on with one touch ?- or plug in an external battery pack in a water proof fashion to let me have power for a full 24 hours on full power without stopping ?

Torch it may be to the layman but it has quite a few features that set it apart once you realise it was designed for a specific purpose and not just as a torch.

Joystick on my helmet.
MaxXD on the bars.
Spotty dog set up IMHO,
Well worth the cash.

Niterider Lumina series are worth considering too: 750 on the bars, 400 on helmet – fantastic combo! (much cheaper than Exposure but still very clever and solid lights)

let me have power for a full 24 hours on full power without stopping ?

When do you need a bike light to run for 24 hours non stop?

I had a set of niterider Minewts a few years ago, after being replaced 3 times under warranty I took the cash after v4 packed up. I wouldn’t buy niterider again.

18 hrs at the strathpuffer 24 …. Not essential but very handy to have one less thing to worry about when any number of things can ruin your day,

ah so 18 hours then 🙂 but I get your point.

It’s been a few years since I considered Exposure lights, but one thing which put me off them at the time was how long they took to charge. I don’t think it gives figures on their website now, but how long does it take to charge something like the Six Pack?

I have mixed feedback… My TraceR rear light lets water in, despite ensuring the seals are all correctly seated etc, so not massively impressed. Positively, my Sirius front light fell off once (I hadn’t done the rubber attachment strap up properly) and got run over by a car, and barring a few dents in the casing, was completely fine, and still is. I was amazed.

Another vote for Exposure: 6-Pack mk3 on bars, Diablo mk4 on head. Won our club ‘bunny burner’ award a year or so back 😀

As for charging, not timed as such as I normally place on charge overnight straight after a ride.

I think the best features are no cables, and you program the runtime. I think newer models have a digital display with hours/mins left?

It’s this time of year that you may find some bargains as the 2015 models are discounted to make way for the 2016 models. (usually, a little brighter and longer running)

Overall, a much better investment than the Chinese ebay specials, although I acknowledge they are bright for the money, but be prepared to buy a new battery pack every year (and hopefully with the same plug…) 😉

My Flash/Flare combo have had a few issues, my MaxxD is ready for it’s third winter and is amazing.

If you do have problems, customer service is excellent, fast and here in the UK.

Despite issues with the Flash/Flare, I’d happily have another of their off road lights, despite the cost.

Road lights I’m discovering the joy of B&M German beam patterns

I have:

Race 2008 vintage?
Enduro 2010 vintage?
Joystick 2012
Diablo 2013
6 Pack (mk3?)
2 X redeyes
Flash / Flare 2013
Trace / TraceR 2015

The Flash / Flare haven’t been totally reliable but they’re known for that. Trace(R)’s have been good so far.

6 Pack is offensively bright and is my light of choice if I need 5 hours+ of lighting.

Not needed to pay Exposure a visit for a while but their customer service has always been excellent in the past.

I spent the money on a maxx d back in 2011 after a year or two of self destructing chinese lights. I haven’t regretted it so far and it’s done more than a ride a week (probably not two, although there’s a winter of commuting in there as well, so who knows) average over the four years. Never had a problem.

The only thing is, I’m slowly losing out in the lumen stakes on night rides now, so I’m thinking of upgrading.

I’ve got a joystick that’s still used daily in the winter for commuting that I bought in 2008 too- battery is getting a bit tired but it’ll do for the moment.

My OH did have a problem with one of the new toros, something stopping it holding charge properly. It did have to go back twice for looking at but she got credit in compensation so not too bad.

i have a set from 2007/8 the joystick is goign strong. the enduro has had a new battery (for free) and is starting to die early. probably will only last one more winter (fingers crossed)

it did a couple of years of commuting every day + night rides. 2/3 charge cycles a week.

pretty happy with that.

trail_rat – Member

Any of the deal extreme “torches” let me run a rear red light on my helmet powered from its internal battery and come on with one touch ? or plug in an external battery pack in a water proof fashion to let me have power for a full 24 hours on full power without stopping ?

The irony of buying a joystick because it’s selfcontained and then saying it’s a selling point that you can plug other things into it may be lost on you 😆

Seriously though, for helmet torch duties I use a cheap quality torch in a joystick mount, which I chose over a joystick because it performs a little better and has a swappable battery. The fact that it cost about 4% as much is a bonus, on the downside there was faff involved in finding a good one with the beam I liked.

For bike light with cables attached duties I use a Magicshine MJ872 (into which I could, if I chose, also plug in a magicshine rear light, just like the joystick. Though in practice I chose standalones)

And all these things combined cost me less than either the joystick or the battery expansion, and do the individual jobs better. (aside; the MJ has also outlived 2 Joysticks that I know of despite being used much more- it’s not a cheap-and-nasty)

The more powerful exposure lights do something really useful that nobody else really does though (afaik?) and are still cool. And I’m glad I have the old joystick mount as it’s great for putting better, cheaper torches in.

I have used Exposure for years and tend to sell them on before they are 2 ys old and still have decent value. Currently have 2016 versions – MaxxD (Mk8) and Joystick (Mk 10) which are about 3 weeks old. Superb lights and I reckon it costs me about £100 a year to run fairly current models. I don’t think thats much more than a few sets of disposable chinese ones, with the added benefits of well built cable free kit and safe charging.

Joystick a couple of years old, and Trace/R here, big fan of them.

I always liked their lights but just thought they were massively overpriced. But the latest lights from Exposure are more value for money than older ones and I would recommend them if you don’t mind spending extra for a good build quality and good after sales support.

I can’t remember exact prices but I get the impression older Joystick versions were around £180 and output 400 lumens when other branded competitors where outputting twice that for a similar price.

I got an older one on sale a few years ago, I was impressed with the build and beam shape was very good, nice even wide spot, no hot spot and sharp cut off. it just didn’t have enough punch for my needs so ended up selling it on.

The latest Joystick outputs 800 lumens for £130 which doesn’t sound unreasonable for a branded light with good build quality, great beam pattern and good after sales back up.

I’ve had my tracer rear light for about 1.5 years….I had a problem last month with it , contacted exposure and they told me to send it to them, 2 weeks later….they sent me a new light…today!!..?No kidding….great light and excellent customer service!!

First gen Joystick now just about had it. Running several Flash/ Flares in the household and they’re fine. Also run a Diablo MK2, MaxxD and Reflex and can’t fault them so far. The MaxxD I got from the USE Stand at the Cycle Show a couple of years back for a deal not to be passed-up, ex-demo full guarantee.

You get what you pay for. I have a Joystick for pothole spotting and a Strada 2 for general road. The combo is 800 lumens and good off road too.

Their rear lights are a bit meh, and I’m a Cateye fanboi for these.

Buy Exposure, buy once. Like Hope – they will fix your stuff for free or for cheap…

The Joystick I found in the street in 2010 is still going strong.
The Flash and Flare I bought in 2011 had to go back repeatedly but they fixed them each time for free and eventually replaced them. I think they knew the design was faulty and have since replaced them…

I would buy Exposure again on the quality of their aftersales…

Hard to say they are VFM because they cost so much and I’ve had DX lights that work so well for so little money but having forked out the cash for a helmet mounted axis and a maxx-d I’m very very happy.

Not got enough good things to say about Exposure. The “buy cheap, buy twice” mantra has always stuck in my head when it comes to items I may rely on. Sure, if I only did 2 night rides a year I’d be happy settling for a cheap Chinese lantern no doubt (and I’ve seen many that have a decent output), but from mid September to mid April, some 7 months of the year, I need a decent light to ride with at least once a week.

Just in the market for new lights for me and the GF right now, having sold my old Maxx D and Toro lights in the spring (was short of cash and knew I wouldn’t need them for months), and despite looking at various options, I know that anything else will be false economy. For me the all in one cable free design is very important, given I’ve got several bikes the light would get used on, and the levels of programmability and customisation these days mean there’s run times and brightness to suit everyone. Yes, there are cheaper lights that chuck out more lumens, some of them are even pretty damned good quality too, but none of them tick as many boxes as the Exposures do.

ive come up with a -gative (because i dont really get northwinds negatives)

the cost of brackets ! ideally id have a bracket on each bike and each helmet.

reality – i have one of each type and swap them around as needed.

RRP of 20 quid for each – but then fact is – they work and remain working for along time so mustny grumble.

I use a Joystick on my lid and a Diablo on my bars. Both a couple of years old now and work perfectly as expected. I don’t night ride as much as I’d like and only really in winter, the added bonus of no cables to rub on my frame/bars is a plus.

While doing the mayhem course this year I found a maxxd in the undergrowth, still holding charge after a year. Tried to reunite it but to no avail. I got to keep it and the guys from exposure sorted me out with a mount and charger, works a treat.
Also I sort the prizes for Mayhem and they are super generous, a massive box of lights every year.