All, I’m looking for a decent light, there’s loads of discussion about lumens, and battery life and for the two products I’ve narrowed it down to it’s horses for courses with pretty much as many fans for both the Exposure and Hope brands.

My question is about the relative merits of the single can versus separate battery; the MaxxD is quite hefty relative to the light unit of the hope R4 and I am unsure how much it will vibrate on the small mount or indeed how sturdy this would be in the case of the enevitable “off”. I’d appreciate a few thoughts before I drop the best part of £300 on one of these.
Cheers,
Ian

If you’re looking to spend that much then I’d add Trout and Four4ths lights to the list.

If it has to be one of the 2 then I’d say Maxx D, you still have to carry the weightof a battery with the Hope and I’m very impressed with my mates Maxx D, good run time, excellent lighting and the bracket seems to work well, even with the extra mass on it…

I’ve a Toro, a bit smaller but no movement whatsoever – not crashed (yet) with it though.

You can also add a backup battery (single or triple) to the Exposure.

Used my MaxxD for DH and cyclocross, it rattled on neither, and i run it under the bars on the CX bike (more room for hands on the tops) and its not fell out yet. The single unit of the exposure (no cables) is the massive plus for me.

Luminous off this forum also does an all in one light, as do Niterider (MiNewt but it’s only 600 lumens!!)
IMO anything with separate battery and trailing leads is really not worth the faff, as ‘raw lumens’ are seemingly easy to come by these days I think that anything top end now has to offer design/back up/other features to make it a stand out product.
I can see the purpose of lightweight head unit plus wires/battery but won’t go back to that kind of lighting system when I next invest a few hundred quid on lights……..

…As for the MaxxD, no-one I ride with has gone that high up the lumen count (fortunately) but have seen the lower power Exposure lights take a fair hammering with no problems with the mounts.

I have a Maxx D. Stays where it’s told to.

Thanks All for the comments. The MaxxD and it’s cable free design was already edgeing ahead in my view.
Ian

Hopes customer service is massively better and that Max D is a big lump to have on your bars .

First ride with the new MaxxD last night, and I found it excellent. Also managed to end up going over the bars and it didn’t budge!

IMO anything with separate battery and trailing leads is really not worth the faff

LOL, just LOL

The S2 is an evolution of the S1, which primarily uses the latest and greatest LED from Cree.
As well as having a bit of a weight reduction.

Initial testing indicates a max output of 1500 Lumens for approximately 3 hours.

The S2 is very similar in size to a MaxxD and should come in at around 420g.

Sadly, I’ve had a cycling related accident recently and current I’m not able to construct any of the S2s.
🙁

Hopes customer service is massively better

I find that hard to believe. I had some of the early Exposure lights when their reliability was a but suspect and their customer service was superb – faultless. I have since asked for small spare parts for them and have received them FOC next day. Brilliant company.

Not saying that Hope are bad of course, just that Exposure could not have been any better.

Max D is a big lump to have on your bars

I haven’t ridden with an Exposure light but S1s and prototype S2s aren’t noticeable on your bars for their weight.

Furthermore, compared to a separate battery and head unit system, the S1 was a good weight saving.

Also managed to end up going over the bars and it didn’t budge!

During my crash, I had an S1 on the bars. The accident was high speed and quite severe.
The light stayed on the bars.
😉

IMO anything with separate battery and trailing leads is really not worth the faff

LOL, just LOL[/quote]

I use a Exposure light on my commuter, it gets fitted/removed at least 4 times a day (uni/work/shops) and if i had to faff about untangling cables each time it would be a nightmare.

Or to put it another way, if we go to the pub after a night-ride, im always first to the bar. While the others try and remove/stash their mud covered velcro’d on batteries with the excess of cable wrapped around the bars.

So it’s been a complete nightmare for all those poor soul riding @ night over the last 10+ years.

Convience does not make it a necessity. Useful maybe, especially for quick swapping as per your senario, but suggesting it a “major” faff is just silly.
I imagine in your pub situation, its a great excuse by your m8’s to get you to buy the 1st round though 😉 They may just be taking a little longer than necessary

Z1ppy.

Its horses for courses, which is why I supply both types of light.

Generally, you can get higher output lights with the seperate battery pack set-up.

And yes, its slightly more convenient to slide on and off, an all in one light.

Ime, a lot of my customers report leaving the battery on the bike and just unclipping the head unit and take that with them.

Each to their own, theres no real right or wrong.
Its just down to preferrance.

😉

While a one box solution is tidier what if you need more juice? A spare battery pack is always a bonus on longer rides.

While a one box solution is tidier what if you need more juice? A spare battery pack is always a bonus on longer rides

Couldn’t agree more. You select your light according to the type of riding you think you’re going to be doing.
Or, conversely, to just be good enough at everything.
Commuting, road and off road.
Theres loads of choice, its a buyer market.

I will soon be offering head units only, with bar clamp and power cable, so that customers can use their own battery and charger, if they want to.

Luminous

Hope you recover from the accident quickly, I always enjoy looking at what the likes of yourself and trout come up with each year and the contrabution the pair of you make to the forum.

Luminous, I know, I’m not saying these light don’t have a place or are in anyway rubbish.
I just think it laughable that having a seperate battery is such as “faff”, a expressed above. Or is velcro and a little extra cable really that difficult for some ppl to handle 😉

I have just upgraded from a Hope 4 (not R4) to a Maxx D. Am liking the cable free design, and the mount is rock solid. Not had a big off yet, however small tumbles seem to be fine. The light will rotate on the base in this situation, rather than shear the mount. I haven’t had it rotating or vibrating while riding, including some pretty rocky stuff.

z1ppy – Member
I just think it laughable that having a seperate battery is such a “faff”

Glad to bring a bit of laughter into your life 😆

just sold my hope 4 led with the epic battery and brought a maxx-d and a diablo i used the exposure’s at d2d last weekend and stayed in place he whole time loads of battery life light quality is really good the main plus over the hope light are

1. All in one unit
2. No battery to rub on the stem
3. you can buy a bar mounted button (well i did)
4. the helmet lights are just well made light and stay put with the easy clamp.

my thoughts why hope are better

1. customer service (spend £500 with exposure at d2d and one guy was really really rude)
2. hope seem to just fix your parts and not charge you even when its you that broke it being stupid (my hope 2 led helmet light ham fisted myfault brake)

and to sum up what ever you go for you wont be dissapointed what so ever

Or is velcro and a little extra cable really that difficult for some ppl to handle

Difficult?, no. PITA?, Yes.

For me the only advantage of a battery pack light is the cheaper cost.

Anybody know of any reviews for the new Hope R8’s?

Pretty much what lumionous says, horses for courses. I use exposures (id not come across luminous lights before, i would have had an S2 other wise) as the faff of taking lights off with separate battery packs during winter commutes was a PITA. Additionally, back in the early days of off roads lights, the weak point seemed to me to be the cables. Connectors leaking, cable flexing without proper strain relief etc and i still see those issues with some lights now, albeit not so often.

I’ve recently fitted a maxx d and the mount stays where it’s put, even on the rough bits on a rigid 29er. The design also still allows a bit of fine tuning whilst remaining secure. I don’t notice the “big lump” on the bars in any way. Output and run times seem ideal too.

While a one box solution is tidier what if you need more juice? A spare battery pack is always a bonus on longer rides.

So buy a Piggyback?

Hope’s customer service is pretty damn good. My 2 1/2 year old Vision 4 developed an issue with the cable coming out of the lamp unit. I sent it to Hope Friday Lunchtime, and it was back with me the following wednesday with a new cable at no cost to me. Ace!

I’ve just bought a Four4th helmet light to compliment the Hope, and first impressions are extremely positive. I’m also impressed with the customer service from Four4th.

Hope R4 every time for me as it gives you the choice to use it as a helmet light , and if you strap the battery to your stem you’ll not have ” loads of cable to mess with ” .

pondered the same question a week or so ago (MaxxD, R4 et al). Ended up with a Lumicycle XPG, after reading all the reviews I could find.

Very impressed. Not had it side by side with the others but it’ll do for me. Cable design is very easy to set up – I have the battery on the top tube, just behind the stem.

1. customer service (spend £500 with exposure at d2d and one guy was really really rude)
2. hope seem to just fix your parts and not charge you even when its you that broke it being stupid (my hope 2 led helmet light ham fisted myfault brake)

I bought an Exposure Race unit in 2005; it came with two baterries which slot nicely in the back of the unit. In 6 years I’ve killed a battery, blown an LED, killed a charger and killed a PCB. Exposure have done all repair work FOC with no more than a week turn around; even upgraded a PCB and LED’s. £280 well spent I reckon for 6 years happy trails.

For the OP; never had the light rattle loose.

Right then – I’m in a fairly objective position for this:

– I have a Hope R4 and a Maxx-D

Maxx-d has better throw, and penetration. The lack of cables is nice, and easier for changing between day and night at 12/24 races.

R4 is much brighter, with far more spread. The battery pack is relatively small, and has a rubber stopper which helps hold it in place.

There is no battery indicator on the Hope, so when it runs out the light just dims – but to be honest you should really have an idea of how long the light is going to last anyway (and for me, being colourblind, the exposure battery light doesn’t help at all).

It really is horses for courses with the lights, Exposure and Hope are both great UK companies, with excellent customer service and QA.

If you want to use a light with a joystick or similar, the Hope is an excellent bar light. I’ve used it around Cwmcarn as a helmet mounted light on its own and it was superb.

It you don’t want to see as much out of your periphery, then the Maxx-d is a better bet.

I coupled the Hope R4 with a Mk6 Joystick at d2d, and was never once wanting for light, it felt like a perfect combination of spread and long depth.

Cheers

Ricks