Am looking for a new light for night riding duties and maybe some unlit road riding. Narrowed it down to the exposure race or strada.

The strada seems to be more road specific, race off road but in real world use is there much to separate them and make one stand out over the other?

Can get them for virtually the same price

I haven’t used either specifically but all the exposure stuff seems hideously over priced. What about a Cateye Volt 1200? Half the price and 50% brighter on paper (although I am very dubious of some of exposures output claims so possibly more than 50% brighter)

When ( note not if – i sold enough cat eye gear) your cat eye fails and you have to deal with warrenty – and wait and wait and wait… Youll wish you bought from a uk company who have facility to repair your lights – and who can do it cheaply even out of warrenty.

Also the volts notorious for poor battery life on top – supposed to be 2 hours but reads low after an hour.

Fr the op – i would buy the race and just angle it down on the road.

Trail rat.

Why do you suggest the race over the strada?
I have a couple of 400 lumen lezyne lights that can go on the helmet.

If you’re going to ride much on the road, get the Strada. It works really nicely, point it very slightly left and slightly down and you get lots of light where you need it and minimise dazzle to oncoming drivers and it works okay off road too.

For pure off road use the Race makes sense, but for more than occasional road riding, pointing floody beams down is a pain in the backside, particularly given Exposure’s QR mount and you end up with a light that’s mostly too close in for quick-ish road use.

The remote with the Strada which lets you dim the light without taking your hands off the bars is a nice touch too. It’s got one very narrow Joystick-type spot and a wide, flat beam btw.

I’ve only used the Strada, not the Race, but I’ve got a few off road lights and they’re all a bit too floody for road use, not so much for you, but for other traffic. If you don’t really intend to ride much or fast on the road, I guess that’s probably not an issue for you, but for road riding, the Strada works really well while still being decent enough off road as well.

Have a look at Exposure’s own light comparison page for some beam shots btw.

+1 the stada for road use (that was it’s intended market too :D).
use mine occassionally off road when I’ve forgotten to charge the MAXX-D
and it’s been ok.
Warrenty (twice – different lights) has been superb.

Also, for pure off road use, I’d be looking at a Toro rather than a Race unless you can get a Race really cheap. I know that pure light output is only part of the story, but you’re looking at 1200 lumens claimed against 800 lumens for both the Race or the Strada.

I’d still have a Strada for the road every time though.

Thanks for the input. Have gone for the toro after advice from various people.
Hopefully should do the job when it arrives

Also, for pure off road use, I’d be looking at a Toro rather than a Race

I have a Toro for both MTB and road/commute,

can’t fault it