I have a solarstorm for bar mount which I was lucky with as it works very well, and have been borrowing a Diablo for the helmet, the combo works briliantly and I’ve raced with it without crashing too much!
Time has now come to get my own light, Diablos are quite expensive and don’t seem to come up much secondhand but mk 8 Joysticks are on ebay for less than £100 brand new now the mk9 has come out.
Question is now I’m used to the diablo will I find the joystick a bit underpowered? Is the difference that big?

Not used a Diablo but I find the Joystick perfect as a helmet mounted light, not enough power for serious off-road on its own in my view.

The Solarstorm will completely drown the light from a joystick. Stick with a Diablo.

I’ve got a Mk5 for sale if you’re interested.

I have a diablo and a joystick. The diablo is no brighter (distance the beam penetrates) but has a wider beam. As a helmet light I prefer the joystick as it’s lighter.

Really? You can feel 21g difference in weight but can’t see 700 lumens worth of difference in light?

Racing at MM, I could certainly see the difference between a Diablo and a Joystick. The one thing I would say, is that the dDiablo is more of a branch snagger.

mmhh..I´m running a diablo and two mates have a joystick and there is quite a difference according distance ..

I should clarify I have a 400 LM joystick and a 900 LM diablo.

For me as the extra weight is all at the front it does feel more unbalanced, like it is trying to pull my helmet over my eyes.

Got last years model joystick from Rutland cycles – was 75quid or so. Currently 95 on their site.
Ymmv

Joystick is really nice kit, it’s just not very bright. Absolutely fine to nightride with, of course but it’ll be a drop in the bucket beside a Solarstorm. The old spotlight on the head approach is pretty pointless these days when you can get a powerful wider beam that’ll light out as far as you want to see anyway, no need to chase the dot any more.

Have you tried the Solarstorm on the head? Best place for it imo, the beam’s a little tight for best results on the bars. Rather than looking for a helmet light, I’d be looking for a better bar light if I was you- maybe a Magicshine MJ872 for the wider fill, those 2 compliment each other quite well.

Daffy how much are you after?

Northwind I see what you’re saying but I can’t get the Solar to mount onto my helmet and even if I could (sure I could find a way) I’m not keen on the cables into pack and all that involves to be honest.

The solarstorm lights plenty and is fine for fire roads or wider footpaths but for tight twisty singletrack it’s no good having just a bar light in my opinion as it only lights up in front of you whilst a helmet light will light up where you are looking, ie round a switchback or further down the trail or even at your bike while you try to fix it!

Yeah, I can understand that, it took me a while to get used to the idea of battery pack in teh rucksack… But it adds up to less weight on the helmet, and generally more light and more battery life which outweighs it for me. YMMV of course but it’s worth trying.

Definitely agree that solarstorm on the bars by itself is not much good. A really good wide beam can be adequate but it’s still not ideal. If I ride with just one light, it’s on the hat.

Hmm might give it a try, how do you mount yours on your lid and what lid do you have?

I don’t have a SS any more but I use a majicshine that mounts much teh same- I made a wee adaptor out of gopro parts so a bit specific but before that, I used one of these, which was fine:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Helmet-Mount-for-MagicShine-LED-Bike-Light-T6-U2-L2-LED-Free-Shipping-/380823338011?pt=UK_SportGoods_CyclAcces_RL&hash=item58aad6fc1b

Used that on a Fox Flux and Striker- teh Flux was a terrible shape for light mounting so took a bit of effort.

But my test setup was a massive blob of blutack and a load of cable ties

I have a Flux hence not managing it! Might try that ebay mount out. Cheers

Or there is the axis (£120 at Rutland), somewhere between a joystick and diablo?

Only problem with the Diablo is the 1 hour ish battery life on full chat. To get around this I got a plug in exposure single cell battery and mount that on the back of the helmet in a spare exposure helmet mount. This also provides weight balance and extends life to 2hours. I have ridden with just a joystick and it’s doable but not on unfamiliar trails for me.

What about the axis?

You don’t need to run a Diablo at full chat, just toggle it on when you need more light.

I have a solar storm on the helmet and joystick on the bar works for me

When I first got a MaxxD I used a joystick alongside (well above) it.

The light from the joystick just got lost in the light from the MaxxD so swapped the joystick for the Diablo. I found the beam on the Diablo had a better spread with a lot more throw.

I tend to just run the MaxxD constantly and put the Diablo on for the down stuff. Always plenty of life left in it at the end of a ride.

I run a MaxxD on the bars and a Diablo with a support cell on my head. Good setup but expensive.