As above really

Thinking of venturing into night riding and like the look of the Joystick MaXx. Is it good enough as your only light on night rides of around 2 hrs? If so is it better on the bars or the helmet? Finally anyone know of any good offers, best I've seen so far is at Tredz for £134

Thanks in advance

Not by a long way in my opinion. Depending on your type of riding, I'd say if you're only going to have one light, get one on your head. If you're riding some technical/steep switchbacks, having one on your bar makes it very difficult to see the terrain around the corners. This makes it more dangerous/interesting/fun 😀

I'd look for something with at least 700 lumen if you're getting one light only.

I've done it more than once. It's fine. You might get swamped by other lights but that's no problem.
No point in putting one of the best hemet lights out there on yer bars though! 😉

Although it has to be said for the money you could get 2 DX ligts and have one on the bars, one on your head……

Yep I've got one and it was my only light for a while. Fine for non-mental stuff you're familiar with, you just have to throttle back a little bit. For new stuff you'll have to slow down even more – I did a new-to-me route in todmorden with some guys off here and managed pretty well. Admittedly since getting a hope 4 I think the joystick is lacking in power but it was fine when I hadn't got used to bigger lights. There is something to be said for running lower power lights too – more of a tunnel vision night ride-y feel to it. Joystick also has a brilliant helmet mount system – I still use it with bar mounted hopes.
Go for it I say and when the bug bites get some bigger bar mounted lights.

I've been pretty disappointed with mine…not good enough for riding at speed….put the Edison 5 back on the helmet and will just get a Betty for the handlebars.

Have a look at Rutland cycling – they are advertising it for 128 i think.(i got mine from their shop)

THere are a few places selling them for that now. Or push the boat out and get the new Diabolo. It is more expensive to begin with but includes the bar mount (£20 on its own) and is easily bright enough to ride with on its own.

are they not cheaper than that at crc?

I've had to use mine as an only light on several occasions.
Though you'll need to wind your speed in, and you'll probably get burnt out by other lights.
They work better in woodland and such places as the light bounces off the trees pointing the way, in the open they get a bit lost.

Thanks for the replies – sounds like it should be enough. I was looking for a good starter light with the option of upgrading to bigger things if the bug bites.

As for prices Tredz is still the best I can find at £134. Rutland have them for 143.99 and CRC at 148.99

Thanks again

It worked 2 years ago but the trails are much darker now in 2009, so you'd need to upgrade. 2010 is looking even darker I'm afraid.

oh right they must have just gone up.

While the Joystick is good, there's no way I would go out with just the one light. If your battery goes six miles from home, that's a long walk. Get at the very least a Tesco torch or even better a DX P7 torch and some spare 18650 batteries with a charger. Then you've got a 700 Ln torch, plus a supply of batteries, for barely £50. I've got a P7 torch, as well as the DX bike light, and the torches are fantastic, genuinely useful lights that knock spots off any Maglight, but comfortably fit in a pocket. The Fenix torches are very good and compact, but a lot more expensive. You'll never regret having a good backup, but you'll always regret not having it.

I've used one as my only light and it works great. Everything is down to personal taste but I think its more than powerful enough to be used on its own. An extension (white eye) can be added to double the output for about 35 quid.

i used to use the old one on its own then used that as a helmet and had an old enduro on the bars which was same output as new joystick i think. Must be darker these days lol 🙂

if your idea of fun is not being able to see properly, and paying a lot of money for it, the joystick is probably right up your street.
if you just don't want to see properly then just buy a cree wf606a for 15 quid. i use one of these on my lid in conjunction with my HID on the bar.
if you want to have fun on your bike buy the dx P7 bike light, AND helmet light for 100 quid, and if one goes bang you can warranty it, but still have more light with one of them than if you'd just spunked over a ton on a joystick.
joysticks are small, really neat, and very nice things to have i am sure, but in comparison to a torch from last year they just don't make a sensible purchase IMHO. YMMV.

I've been riding twice a week at night for about 3 hours with just a joystick.

remember when we all used to go out nightriding with 10w halogens?
It will be ok (on your helmet!) if you know your trails, you don't go too fast and there isn't someone behind you with a zillion lumens.

The lights arms race is getting quite comical amongst my regular night rides: loads of exposure maxx d's etc and then fatmuthahubbard turns up with his uprated troutlight 😆 Truly, it is a beast.

No point in riding in front of that, all you can see is your own shadow. I just ride at the back with my paltry 390 hat and 240 bars. 🙁

Yes I rode home from manchester with just my joystick last week. Although it wasn't technical it was completely dark in the trees and I was fine. But when I have my bar light as well I can go faster!

I've just bought the P7 & C1 torches, 4 18650 batteries, charger & mounting brackets from Dealextreme for just over £50. At the same time a mate bought the Joystick from Evans for about £135. I think he was a bit embarrassed when I switched mine to full beam 😆

The C1 runs on full power for 3 hours & gives off twice as much light for less than £20. Yes the Joystick is smaller, lighter & neater but no way worth that sort of money.

ill be honest for occasional use it would be fine but i don,t get on with mine.
even with a second white light it doesn,t have enough punch on its own & is useless when used with my maxx2 enduro.

for commutes its fine & early autumn .

if you are going fast or riding with other people or on trails you dont know, then no.

great light to sling in ya bag though

I ride lots with mine – i have a maxx D also but tend not to use that unless im out with others who have really bright lights and like to shine them into my eyes and render my joystick useless

great light to sling in ya bag though

Thats quite an expensive "back-up" light?

I am using mine for commuting, which it seems fine for, mounted on the bars. I am considering getting the white eye upgrade. Not sure I would be too confident on fast singletrack with just the joystick though, but cant speak from experience.

but at the same time advice i gave to my mate the other day was

on-one LLU light for 175 quid you wont get much better quicker than 6 weeks

i love my joystick but thats because of how my life pans out over the winter.i can often get out on the bike at around 3oclock so its great to take with me so it dunt matter what time i get back.
but as an only light for night riding it would be poor.
sure we all used 10w hallys back in the day but that was then.

Thanks again for the replies its really made me re-think this. I must say that I do like the look, size and practicality of the Joystick but the more I look at a setup like DX P7 and a C1, it does make me wonder why I should spend more money for less. Just the wait I guess.

@organic, was worded badly, i meant as an early evening light to use on day rides that dont finish in time.

not enough on its own for any serious nightridin

i had one to start with and you could never ride at a reasonable speed with just a Joystick.

I would say it very much depends on whether you're riding with people with much brighter lights, if not it's fine.