Recommend me some Money No Object lights for commuting and 24 hour racing.

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Recommend me some Money No Object lights for commuting and 24 hour racing.

59 posts & 39 voices | Started 10 months ago by MidlandTrailquestsGraham | Latest reply from Gary_M

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Luminous - Member

Wow. How did I miss this thread.

Luminous lights do have flash mode, and I think Troutie's ones do too.

I have ridden with a 401 lite, head unit and battery mounted to the helmet.
Works Ok, but I wouldn't want to carry any more weight on my noggin, as it would probably just start to wobble around.

401 batteries come with a long cable as standard to allow for jersey pocket stowage as TJ correctly points out.

The ideal light combo is a 7 / 601 on bars, 401 on the helmet.

S1s are sold out now.
I am however, debating whether to make the last S1 available.
Its a bit special as it has been fitted out with XM-Ls.

Cheers.

Posted 10 months ago #
edd - Member

I have to say my vote goes with Exposure. The cable free experience is unbeatable. Personally I run a Diablo.

Posted 10 months ago #
MidlandTrailquestsGraham - Member

Luminous, could you, or anyone else, post a picture of a 701 mounting so I can get some ideas for a helmet mount conversion please.
I wear a Trek helmet because most other manufacturers only go up to size 62, which isn't big enough for me. A bit more weight up there won't make much difference, so I might as well go for the 701 if I can bodge a mount if it's £50 cheaper than a 401.

Posted 10 months ago #
Luminous - Member

MTQG.

I'm stuck on site at Warwick Uni right now, but I'll see what I can do.

Posted 10 months ago #
Luminous - Member

Right then. Not the greatest piccy as the owner had it mounted to the narrowest part of the handle bar, hence his packing out with foam in the bar clamp.

But ignoring that, this picture will give you an appreciation of the mount used with the 7/601

Sorry for picture quality, best I could do for now.

Posted 10 months ago #
gee - Member

Exposures are fantastic - The Salsa team have used them since they were released several years ago and have had some great results with them. The new MAxx-D is a lot more powerful than the 2010 one. I'd recommend a Maxx-D on the bars and a Diablo on the helmet. If you're soloing, you can buy extra batteries which run piggy-back on the main light units to up the burn time.

I have a very old 2007 model year Exposure light set (Joystick Maxx and Enduro Maxx) which I use for commuting and road riding. It still runs for 2.5hrs despite a hell of a lot of use over those 4 years (original burn time 3hrs). I reckon that's a good advertisement for long term durability.

GB

Posted 10 months ago #
TandemJeremy - Member

For a helmet mount for a cylindrical light I simply have a large o ring. One stretched across two vents, inside the helmet and connected together with a cable tie so there are two bits of rubber across the helmet that holds the light in one of the vents - a bit of foam under it and its stable but will break away in a crash

Posted 10 months ago #
BadlyWiredDog - Member

I wouldn't run a heavy light on you head - it feels like your spine is being jack-hammered. I'd being looking at a floody bar light with multiple LEDs and a light, self-contained Exposure helmet light maybe with a Piggyback for overnight solos. A Joystick is adequate and gives good burn time, Diablo with a Piggyback is awesome as a helmet light.

If you baulk at the price of the Exposure Piggbacks, get Smudge off this forum to make you a custom one for a lot less.

I run a Lumi 3XPG on the bars with a couple of small Smudge batteries and a Diablo or Joystick plus Piggyback on the bars for racing and general night riding. You can also run the Diablo as a bar light on the road for those dusk-finish rides. I've used a Trout light too and that was also excellent.

To be honest, any decent, up to date, multi-LED light should be more than up to it. The Exposure stuff has the big plus of being self contained, well, until you add a Piggyback that is.

Posted 10 months ago #
hugor - Member

Light and Motion Seca 1400.
Excellent spread of light.

Posted 10 months ago #
avdave2 - Member

Going back to dynamo lights this looks intresting although not available yet.

Posted 10 months ago #
MidlandTrailquestsGraham - Member

Due to a misunderstanding over the meaning of the words "water proof" I am now selling my Luminous 701 with only 15 hours use on the light and a brand new warranty replacement battery.
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/luminous-lights-701-pro#post-3040125

The original battery came with nothing but a cordura bag between it and the outside world. Not surprisingly, the first time I used it in the rain, it failed.
James/Luminous blames me for this because I mounted it under the down tube rather than on the bars, like this.

He reluctantly replaced the battery FOC with a new one, which came waterproofed, like this.

You can see the words "not weather proof" on the battery. The original battery had none of that orange or black waterproofing added.
The new battery should be waterproof now, but I'd rather sell the light and buy something different.

Posted 7 months ago #
nonk - Member

exposure big G every time.

yes you can beat em in the brightness for bucks stakes but they are so hassle free.
the only lights that make night riding as hassle free as day riding in my view.

Posted 7 months ago #
TandemJeremy - Member

mtqg

I would expect any battery unless rated totally waterproof to fail mounted there

Posted 7 months ago #
warton - Member

thats a big battery to mount on the bars isn't it?

Posted 7 months ago #
robdeanhove - Member

Exposure 6-Pack, loads of light and a 10hr setting for throughout the night non-nonsense lighting. the simple, solid QR bracket and cable free nature of the light makes it, in my opinion, the best 24hr race light out there. The batter meter is simple to read, should it be a time of year when >10hrs of light is needed, for peace of mind.

The 3hr setting is great for mid-week thrashes and beating your mates and the 24hr setting is great for commuting and never having to worry about charging you lights mid week. Being able to remove the light and battery with one simple spring loaded pin makes them great for commuting, rather then removing light + bracket and having to reset the angle every time I leave the house and leave work, plus having a separate battery is a faff taking it on and off every day when it's in the bike shed. Yes, it's overkill for commuting, but it's an awesome race light that makes a handy commuter light too!

I'd couple it with a Diablo Mk2 & add a piggyback if you like extra head light for longer burn times on the higher settings.

Posted 7 months ago #
thered - Member

I've just had an Exposure 6 pack for the bars and I use a Betty for the helmet, I reckon that'll keep me seen and the trails illuminated. The 6pack is ugly but form over function for me cos of no external battery pack

Posted 7 months ago #
bigbloke - Member

I have the newly developed Troutie Dominator light very neat set up and awesome bit of kit. Ridiculous lumen rate, great spread of light with no annoying hotspots, very well made and put together. My riding buds have nicknamed it "Death Ray" as its soo bright. I have the 5 level set up which on the lower settings makes a properly useful real world road/commuter light too with a further 3 high power settings for the off road adventures.

If i needed another light ever again Troutie will be getting my money and i am a fussy git!!.

Posted 7 months ago #
Luminous - Member

Ok.

This thread was brought to my attention 18/10/11 pm.

Well, this is a first. Where to start.

The battery.
Yes, its a pity that the user couldn't have chosen a more sensible place to mount the battery, I've never seen one placed there before.
Still, it would have been fine, If Graham hadn't broken the seal on the battery.
The label he has diligently exposed is one that is applied by Smudge to all the batteries I have bought from him.
I buy my batteries from Smudge at retail price, and before they leave his facility, he applies such labels.
Of course, this is before the weather proofing is applied by me.
So I can only point out that Graham's post and photo are misleading.

Also, this is the first and only light to be returned for a warranty claim.
Although, technically, the warranty was breached when Graham broke the seal on his battery.
I decided to replace his battery anyway, as a token of good will.
At my own cost.
So much for good will Eh ?.

The above picture is a battery mounting FAIL I'm affraid.
Had Graham told me he wanted to mount a battery behind the front wheel where it could be exposed to constant spray and stones, rocks hitting it.
I may have suggested the bottle battery option that Smudge provides.

Ultimately I find it to be a pity that Graham couldn't have chosen a more sensible place to locate his battery and also that he couldn't treat his equipment with a bit more respect.
But I replaced the battery he broke FoC, which, when treated correctly, will give good service.
As above, this is my first and only warranty claim against any light I've ever sold.

Time for a bit of feedback perhaps.

Dan.
"Light was superb
People were moving out of the way saying come through on my right when I was 60m away from them. They thought I was right behind them. Well funny"
MM 2010

Dave.
"feedback is fantastic, riding mates were envious, and I was amazed at the advances since my old niterider"
2010

Nicko.
"Went out Friday Wednesday night with the light - it is fantastic - thank you very much"
2010

Matthew.
"Just wanted to let you know how good mine still is - totally reliable and going strong.""
"Plenty seem to have good words to say about your kit (including me) "
"I can't fault mine and would recommend the light to anyone."
2010

What Mountain Bike.
"We've thoroughly tested the 401 Pro in a wide variety of conditions and pushed the burn times (and waterproofing!) to the limits during solo 24hr events and been impressed with the performance."

Best Regards
James
http://www.luminouslights.co.uk

Posted 7 months ago #
ScotlandTheScared - Member

I think you should stick with the liminous, but adjust your mounting position to something sensible. I am with Luminous on this one - I think you *may* have duffed up by putting a battery where you did - not the brightest idea. Mount the battery on the top tube and it'd be fine.

If you really need to change then the most FAIL-proof mounting option is to go for an exposure. I use an exposure 6 pack - all-in-one and no faffing with batteries. Long burn times and loads of light. I thoroughly reccommend it if you are intent on getting another light.

Posted 7 months ago #
MidlandTrailquestsGraham - Member

Hang on a minute, what's this about me "breaking the seal on the battery" and "exposing the label" ?
The battery was supplied in a cordura bag with a velcro closing at one end.
I didn't take the battery out of the bag until after it had failed, to see if there was an obvious fault like a broken wire. That's when I found the battery was simply a grey box with "Not weather proof" written on it.
The original battery did not have that black and orange waterproofing that the replacement battery came with.

Like I said, this was a misunderstanding over the meaning of the words "water proof".
It's not something I'd ever given much thought to before. I just thought water proof meant water proof.
My Garmin Edge 305, Forerunner 205, Memory Map 3500, ATK200 camera, Ay Up lights and cheap tail light are all sold as waterproof and have proved to be so.
The Luminous 701 came with about 1m of cable, so it made sense to me to keep the CoG low and avoid coiling the cable up on the bars to mount the battery where I did.

Posted 7 months ago #
MD - Member

I have to agree that this is abattery mount fail.
weatherproof or not, any battery would last about a week mounte4d there. Unless it has been specifically designed to withstand stones/rocks.

At least it was replaced FOC, most companies would have seen this and just voided the warrenty.....

Posted 6 months ago #
epicyclo - Member

I continue to use my AyUp lights because while there are now brighter lights out there than my 2 year old set, it is still the best system.

(I think there are brighter head units now available for AyUp)

Posted 6 months ago #
snakebite - Member

Why on earth would you put a battery there? why not put it under the top tube? Common sense failure....

Posted 6 months ago #
Gary_M - Member

Like I said, this was a misunderstanding over the meaning of the words "water proof".

Were you specifically told the battery was waterproof. I know when I bought a battery from smudge he advised me it had sealing but wasn't waterproof and was advised to wrap it in a bag before placing it in its own bag.

And thats mounting it in a sensible place. Mounting a battery on your downtube is a bit daft, not only is it very exposed to spray off the front wheel but its also going to get it with stones all the time.

Posted 6 months ago #

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