[Closed] Hope Vision 4 LED - Thoughts/views

If I was gonna spend a decent amount of money on lights I reckon Id get the trout ones personally, but I dont have any experience of either 😉

Just seems the Hope isn't as good vfm as other things.

Tis better value that Lumicycles one at any rate on comparison 🙂

P.S. wanted one for commuting urgently and then use it off road (which is less urgent) so time is an issue re: Trouts/DX lights longish wait 🙂

They're Ok. 2 vison 2s (one on helmet, one on bars) might be better though.

I've used them a fair bit and my mate has just opened a bike shop and is selling them. They are very good - yes there are cheaper lights out there but this thing is very well made, feels like a quality product in your hand and seems to do the job well. It is plenty bright enough (unless you have real poor eyesight and need a sun over your shoulder) and the burn time is good. The light thrown by the light is good, it also lights up the wheel so if you look down you don't stare into darkness.

Only problem I found with it was when you switched it off and then on again, it wouldn't remember the setting you were last on - not a huge problem but it did niggle me.

Saying that (and all things considered and all that!), if I had the cash, I'd have bought one as I do think it is very good - full submersion and it carries on working, not overly intrusive on the bars and the battery pack is a doddle to charge.

Mate has a Hope 4 led and it's not as bright as my L&M Seca 700, the hope is supposed to have 260 more lumens. I like the hope battery though, fairly compact.

I like mine, yep maybe a bit pricey but it's nicely made and you've got the legendary Hope customer service if it goes wrong. Lights the trail pretty well, especially teamed with a helmet mounted spot. It doesn't seem to win the group tests in the mags but it holds it's own.

It's pretty good as a bar light - I have one for sale as it goes 😉

Personally I don't like having so many power settings. At lease with the early Vision2 you knew that once you got to flashing the next push would give you max. With the current generation if you get to flashing you've missed max and need to count four pushes of the button if you want max power. Not at all easy whilst riding along. I also don't like the lack of symmetry having the light mounted to one side of the stem. This may be a minor niggle but if I'm paying £300 for a light then I want it to look good on the bike.
Overall, it will do the job but there are better. As I've stated elsewhere, I'm an Ayup fan.

Good:

Nice even spread of light, wide, nice colour, lasts at least as long as they say, solid housing.

The medium setting is enough to see by on simple stuff and road. The Max is plenty going down. Only a bit of difference Max->Boost.

Bad:

Battery had to go back because it had a loose connection, but they returned it super quick. Typical for Hope: minor quality problems but really good returns service. Know of 1 other with same problem.

I don't trust the battery strap so I use an extra strip of velcro.

I've only had a quick look at a trout. Those seem a tad brighter with a beam spread thats more letter box shaped (not surprising comparing the layouts). The light is whiter than the Hopes.

I've also seen the seca, lumi, aye ups, and the exposure 3 led one. There all good and in terms of light quality/quantity there is not much between them, although the aye ups are at the bottom IMO.

None have a beam that penetrates as much as 10W HID. The best I've seen to date was a 20W HID. But the problem with them are reliability and non-adjustment.

I have got an ayup for the head (just replaced after being lost and is in transit) so this and an ay-up should be good. I do like hope CS and at least is still english owned 🙂 I know there are brigther out there but the compact battery is a plus and a good bar clamp is the other. I suspect I will use it on 80% witht eh ay-up to give me up to 6 hours if I ever do another 24/12 or MM again next year 😉

This would be a B'day and Xmas pressie from wife and family BTW 🙂

I found the difference between max power setting and max-1 wasn't noticeable whilst riding but it did make a huge difference to battery life...on max the battery life seemed very short, but on Max-1 it seemed to last a good few hours - at least 3 hours without any problems...

I forgot to mention that in my earlier post.

I actually used to Know a Dick Barton - cool eh 😉 Thanks for the comment guys - sounds like moderate value for money and but otherwise good 🙂

I've had the original Vision 2's and now the Vision 4's. Both very good lights. The thing that made me go for Hope in the first place was the robustness - wanted something that wasn't going to stop working the first time it got a knock.

The only problem I did have was when I managed to pull the cable out of the back of the V2 (the original ones had short cables and crap connectors that you couldn't grip properly) when trying to change a battery. Sent back to Hope and they repaired without question (or charge), and upgraded to the new cables which are just fine.

V4s recommended.

But, the Hope guys I spoke to at Fort William this year told me that they are bringing out a new light spring 2010, supposedly even better, but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting..........took them about 10 years to get organised with their seatpost.

FoxyRider - I run a vision 4 on the bars and Ayups on the lid - works perfectly for me and I wouldn't change either of them. HTH

Cheers

doh - double post !

Hope also said they had no plans to supersede the Vision 4 as 900 lumens was enough for any light 🙄

Cool - ordered it . Cheers guys - I'll try and unwrap it before xmas if this bloody wind and rain stops 😉

Hope also said they had no plans to supersede the Vision 4 as 900 lumens was enough for any light

That's a good point though - they can just start making it cheaper/last longer instead.

Yes I believe the new version the Hope guys were talking about was for greater battery endurance, not neccessarily more light. Probably looking at battery level indicators, charging and that kind of stuff too.

I'm very happy with my vision 4. The only thing I have a problem with is where to put the battery (no lewd suggestions, thanks)- I run 120mm stems on all my bikes, on or off road, and the battery wont fit under any of them- how youse manage, I dont know!. If the pack is placed under the toptube it rattles a bit- only irritating on an alu frame but not very reassuring on a featherweight carbon one,
So to offer Hope some feedback I would ask them to BRING OUT A SOFTPACK FOR THE BATTERY, PLEASE!

???? mine fits under a 90mm stem no problem.. 😆

Hmm - I manage with a 100mm stem on my road bike with a ayup battery which is even bigger? NO sure how you can't with the smaller hope battery and a 120mm stem?

No matter where on the stem you place it, it seems either to foul the handlebar clamp and not sit squarely, or move down and contacts the head tube of the bike ( I should say I use slammed -17 degree or -10 degree stems on all my bikes which may make things a bit different to a lot of people)

Mine fits under my 90mm stem (cable pointing forwards), for my 70mm stem its a bit tight so I sling it under the top tube just behind the headtube - again cable pointing forwards.

I have had no problems even with coming off and bars pointing backwards.

foxyrider - unless you were involved with the Firework Company and attended the training course near Uffculmbe (spelling?) then I'm afraid we have never met.

Vision 4 is a very good light (but I think I've mentioned that already!).

DB - Sorry I mean I actually knew another Dick Barton in North Devon! 🙂

Cool - ordered it

Good choice 🙂

I mount the battery on my bar - it's convenient, doesn't rattle, and reduces/eliminates cable rubbing against the frame.

But my charger blew up after only 3 or 4 charges, but was replaced at my LBS after a quick call to Hope.

Cool - does sound like the good olf Hope CS 🙂 Thanks Simon - I need all the anti-guilt toughts possible 😉

Recent reviews of the hope 4 have mentioned headtorch mount now included.
Can anyone confirm this. tried google no help? Will it be available aftermarket. Have often though it would make a good head torch for camping/nocturnal al fresco fettling

Headtorch mount was included with mine which I bought about 6 weeks ago. Haven't tried mind you.

Yes you get a helmet mount which is a plastic thing with velcro wraps, and you also get a load of straps so that you can mount it to your head (i.e. with no helmet) so that you can run in the dark... Or carry out any other nocturnal activities where you need a mahoosive light and to have your hands free...

Recent reviews of the hope 4 have mentioned headtorch mount now included.
Can anyone confirm this

Yes, included with 2 and 4 LEDs now.

Thanks for that think I'll email hope.

[url= http://www.ukbikestore.co.uk/product/219/hlsp401/hope-vision-head-mount-harness-adventure.html ]hope legendary CS replied in 3 mins and here is the said item[/url]

Tried every combination but I agree with earlier poster, 2 x 2 vision 2's!

I like mine although it has it's bad points too.

Good:
- It's well made
- It's bright enough
- Hope are only down the road so when something goes wrong (and it did early on), I popped it in a bag and it was returned within a couple of days.

Bad:
- The battery attachment is really really poor. Just an elasticated strap and a foam pad on the battery - it forever 'chatters' on the stem.
- It has a tendancy to steam up from the inside and I'm not willing to remove the bezel to dry it. Last time I did this, the lens rotated with the bezel and ripped all the LEDs off...

I've used it every day for commuting on and off road for the past year and have have far fewer problems with it than my old L&M HID. I chose it primarily because of the proximity to Hope and their excellent aftersales service.

Perhaps ask hope if the misting is normal as no one else has reported it on their bad list jad?

UPDATE!

After writing this post, I got changed, got my bike from the bike shed and... it's not working!!!

There's some mist on the inside of the lens again and I'm thinking it's shorted something. Will have to post it to Hope and see what they say.

Had mine a year with no major issues. The light feels well put together, stays relatively cool in use and the bar mount is neat and rock solid. It's noticeably brighter than a DX light on the high settings. Battery life is excellent, I've only had it run out on me once, when it was new.

Bad points: the strap that comes with it is twangy and rubbish (can anyone recommend a source of replacements? Most after market velcro straps seem to be really long, for strapping up luggage and the like). If you want to swap between bar diameters then you have to change a pair of fiddly rubber plugs on the inside of the mount. It's a bit heavy to use as a helmet light or head-torch but you do get the option and it's quite handy for pottering in the shed. If value was a concern I'd probably get a DX, if money was no object I'd get an L&M Seca, but as boutique bike lights go it's pretty cheap and very good.

Pro: Powerful "flood" light, everyone has a charger/spare battery, hope fixem quick if they break.

Cons: No battery level indicator, fiddly clamp.

We have 2's as hire lights and yes the 4's are good. But 100pounds better? No.

I have one and mount the battery on top of my Spesh E150 SL 60mm stem. The velcro strap seems ok to me and will be easily replaced if it shows signs of wear.

To the guy who mentions symmetry earlier - this light looks way cooler than the twin Lumi's a lot of my mates use and is brighter, unless they decide to run 35w lamps that melt everything within half an inch of them.

The light is very well made and seems very robust - as said earlier, Hope's CS gives some extra reassurance, although I've seen no sign of any problems and I believe misting was only a problem on earlier models.

As for in use - the settings switch can be a tad annoying having to cycle through and it's a pain having to remember which setting you're on when you want to go up to max. The light isn't as bright as the quoted 960lm, but is still plenty bright enough. Medium is fine for road, high is fine for anything, but unlike others I can tell enough of a difference with the max setting to use it for downhills.

When I first fired it up in a dusky light on Houndkirk Moor I was slightly underwhelmed, as there is no distinct bright spot and it seemed a bit washed out next to others Lumi halogens. However, when the light dropped the quality of the light emitted became apparent. When you get used to the lack of spot, you realise that you actually have a bright enough, even spread that just lights everything up really well. I don't miss a spot, but may end up with one on my head at some point.

I'd recommend one to anyone.

+1 for the V4 here. Expensive yes, but no problems in second season. Plus reassurance of excellent Hope service.