I’m after some lights for night riding off road. Need them to be very bright and last at least 2-3 hrs on max setting. Would prefer as compact as possible and neat design. Need to be reliable and faff free (so I think LED rather than HID, and no home brew). Would prefer to have bar mounted only. Help me choose between:

Exposure Maxx Daddy (Neat design, no cables, power gauge, but have they solved the relaibility problems they had with the original versions?)

Hope Vision 4 LED (slightly cheaper, and more importantly I have more faith in Hope products and aftersales service. Separate battery and no power gauge).

Any other ideas for less than ~£300?

Quoted power outputs are similar (both just under a 1000 lumans for what it’s worth) but would be interested in how they compare in the real world and opinions on reliability and performance. Thanks!

both will do the job really well. both have excellent customer service (which you will need if you buy the hopes)

everyone i know who has hopes (and other wired systems) has cable problems and have to send them back from time to time. my exposures just keep on going.

The Hope LED4 is a superb light. I cycled at a fairly fast pace thro tight & twisty totally unknown single tracks thro Blean Woods & didn’t miss a twig.

I have been running a Maxx D since October or November, once or twice a week for at least 2 hours and I have had no problems so far.

As for the run time on full power, if fully charged with some significant extra time on trickle charge it will run a 2 hour ride and be on the verge (10 minutes either way) of half charge. On the 750ish lumen setting it will run pretty much all night.

My only criticism is that the bolt that attaches the mounting system into the lamp itself needs some threadlock.

Try Tiger Lights – I have been running one of these all winter and they are superb – I really like the LED dashboard.

Both are excellent lights – I’ve got the Hope (no wiring problems here – but I undo the cable by using the plugs not swinging off the wires themselves…) and a mate has the Exposure.
I would have brought the Exposure if it had been available (and a bit cheaper) when I was looking purely as it’s easier to mount on the bike.

get a sscp7 torch for about £50 with two batteries and charger and spend £250 on some more nice bike parts its a no brainer IMO , the p7 really is amazing and if you get the 3 mode one you will have no problem getting 3 plus hours switching modes occaisionally, I get 2 hours on high setting per battery.IMO it really isn’t worth spendings 6 times as much money for a light that is not even twice as bright, I didnt believe the hype till I bought one, and I’ll say it again they really are an amazing light

look after the li-ion battery on either and they should last well, but the exposure will need to be opened up when it does die. will use do this for you in a couple of years time?

righty – where do you get them from and do they come with a bike/helmet mount?

P7 all the way.
Click on the tag I’ve just added to the top and read through the P7 light threads – lots of info available.

The basic’s are all here…
http://www.mtbbritain.co.uk/mountain_bike_lights_review_led.html

note the is 5 mode version of tis light, whiich I believe is more flexible and a better buy (you find links on the P7 threads)

get them from dealextreme.com you can buy a mount for about $2 although I made mine from an old mount. I was really surprised at how much brighter than my HID these lights are.There are loads of people who have sold their expensive lightsets once they saw how powerful/value for money these lights are if you do a search on the forum you will find loads of positive comments and negative ones mostly from people that have spent £300 or more on lights that offer very little more in terms of output. If I can save hundreds of pounds just for the “incoveinence” of changing a battery I know what i prefer here

exposure still service the original race some 5 years on so i don,t see that as a problem.

the exposure reliability issues was blown out of all proportion & was only ever an issue with first production race models but the rumous kept coming.

i have used all of the range of exposure lights from the race turbo enduro & now joystick maxx & maxx-d.all superb.

i have played with a mates hope vision 4 & i have to say the light is brighter but not as wide but the cable going into the back of the head unit is faulty .

if the cable is knocked the light cuts out even though it come straight on i would not buy a light with cables,the all in one unit is for me.

I have some 2009 Hope Visions and I ahev to say they are very good, they’ve taken everything the last winter threw at them including a couple of crashesh into mud/tress and the likes with no ill affect.

Highly recommended

righty, I’ve been looking at those and there is a lot of choice. Which model did you get?

I actually only have the two mode one- not sure exactly which one but mine has one one of the largest reflectors, and to be honest if I bought again would probably get the 3 or 5 mode just for longevity of the battery, saying that I have got more than 2 hours on a battery so depending on how long your night rides are a 2 mode and 2 batteries would be fine, I have yet to do a 4 hours plus nightride but I think Its good to have the choice so I would say go for one of the 5 modes, I hear the strobe is quite good

Maxx-D here. No problems after using it twice a week since november. I borrowed the Hope and found if more faffy because of the battery mounting issue. I also found the Hope light mount for the bar to be nowhere near as secure as the Maxx-D mount – the Hope one rotates too easily, especially if your bars are wet.

I get about 4hrs on the highest setting, which is a fair bit longer than you’ll get with the Hope.

The new Lumi LED system is excellent, although not “all-in-one”. Output up there with the big Exposure lights, has fuel gauge, and equivalent run-time. Auto-dimming from Max to High not everyones cup of tea but works for me!

Buy mine:

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-led-lightset-cree-r2-bflex-1#post-234181

🙂

I have also heard that there is a great external pack system you can get for the P7 light 😆

Give you about 5 hours run-time, and make the light a bit brighter, saving on any trailside faffing 🙂

Cheers Rich

I had a Exposure Joystick which went back twice and only worked for 11 days of the 8 weeks I had it! Most of the tiem i was waiting for Exposure to send them back!

I replaced it (well upgraded) to the Hope Vision 2 LED and they are great. No reliability problems using them 5 days a week. Thinking of adding a Hope Vision 4 LED for next winter so I”l have abr and helmet mounted lights.

had my Maxx-D for 4 months+ without issue. It’s done me for daily commuting through the winter – between 45 and 90 minutes a day, 5 days a week using full/mid/low beam and I’ve not been precious about charging cycles. It’s still going strong and battery life seems to be as good as it ever was.

It doesn’t have a battery life indicator gauge but the rear mini led cycles through green>orange>red dependent on the charge remaining.

The P7 option looks pretty interesting considering the cash saving. Anyone had a negative experience with them (nearly everything I’ve read has been positive so far). Turboferret – care to elaborate?

Angeldust, I have been making battery holders to take 18650 cells, and have a complete P7 kit available, have a look here

Cheers, Rich

can’t beat the Maxx imo, had mine since they came out, no problems at all.