Outbound lights, any experience?

I've seen their offerings via MTBR forum and they do look really well designed. They seem to have worldwide shipping sorted, and would hope you don't get stung on import duties (seems it's fully inclusive price).

If you haven't heard it, theres a really good episode of the downtime podcast with the founder of Outbound lights - very interesting and techy enough to seem like he really knows his stuff (a lot of background working for the LED manufacturers)

I've not dealt with them, but they are top of my list for when I eventually need to replace my Exposure lights.

Yep have their downhill evo package and had their previous bar light.

I like that they are all in one (though both can take additional in from usb powerbank). The bar light in particular is excellent and has a really good light spread.

helmet light is pretty good, though on full power battery does not last quite as long as you would like.

the adaptive mode does work.

not sure now they are doing tax etc plus exchange rate they are so attractive though.

if you do order. Get some extra bar mount brackets and also the cable gatherer

If you haven’t heard it, theres a really good episode of the downtime podcast with the founder of Outbound lights

Oh might have to have a look for that ta. Certainly the blurb on the site makes it sound like they know what they're doing and why instead of just following the ever brighter path, it's half the reason I'm intrigued to try them to be honest.

They seem to have worldwide shipping sorted, and would hope you don’t get stung on import duties (seems it’s fully inclusive price).

Yeah, that's also a bonus though not wholly uncommon for US companies as the shippers tend to deal with it a lot due to interstate sales.

also the cable gatherer

Is it bad that little bit of plastic is the most exciting thing about the whole package? 😂

^ I ordered before they sorted their worldwide shipping out and didn’t pay anything on arrival. Clearly they are doing things upfront now.

Lumens aren't really hidden. If you expand the specification section it tells you (2,200).

Lumens aren’t really hidden. If you expand the specification section it tells you (2,200).

That's true and if they were completely hidden I might be more sceptical that there was something to hide.
That it's not the headline though makes it seem at least, that they've thought about it from a different perspective.

For the bar light the quality of the light is really good. Very wide even spread of light with slight increase in brightness on the centre.

thisnwas a failing for me of their older light. The slight was very even everywhere and always felt it needed to be a bit more intense in the centre. The evo fixes that.

I've got the helmet light, really impressed with it. Seems to have a lot more usable light than the lumens would suggest if that makes sense.

@whydot

agree they are quality units and not just 'lumen chasing'

Excellent lights, I've got the new bar and helmet light and they are a great pair. Absolutely solid, bright, good mounts. Have used exposure/hope and various others before, none were as good. Really nice guys too!

Well I guess that's me £££ poorer then 😂

I’d be reluctant to spend Exposure money on anything not exposure especially given their incredible customer service and repairs etc.
I am risk averse though, so good on you for trying new things.

so good on you for trying new things.

The phrase you're looking for is "getting bored easily" 😉

Got the trail evo (bar) and hangover (helmet). As others have said, very very good. Better than my old Exposure 6 Pack in terms of beam pattern/useable light and also way, way better than my Magicshine 6500. I like the way it's an all in one with no battery pack/cables, and there's definitely something in their way of doing things that has merit as they're "more powerful" for less lumens. Or maybe the lumen chasing trend is a bit of a misnomer.

I’d be reluctant to spend Exposure money on anything not exposure especially given their incredible customer service and repairs etc.

I think that's what would worry me tbh. I listened to the guy on the Downtime podcast a while back and he sounds convincingly engaged with the specifics of bike lighting and has an interesting angle on a lot of stuff that hadn't really occurred to me before now... but the idea of having to return a faulty item to the States doesn't really appeal. It's a shame they don't have a UK distributor.

Haven't tried the lights though so cannot comment on the real world experience of these lights in UK conditions with a group of cycling mates. If someone has a Monteer 8000 it is probably going to be brighter than an Outbound light system but also heavier and possibly overkill.

the Outbound lights are worth a punt in my view if only for the bragging rights.

I would suggest buying the combo because UK residents cannot buy less than £135 pounds worth of lights from the website as of December 2022 according to an email I received from the friendly outbound admin person.

On my second winter running the outbound bar and helmet light combo. I am very pleased with these and as others suggested, it is more about the beam quality rather than the amount of lumens. The bar mounted light has a nice spread beam with the helmet light being extremely good at lighting the area of focus.

There are another x4 mates in the club that also have them, so far, everyone seems pleased.

My only niggle was linked to the bar mounting unit which cracked easily. Outbound where swift to replace it free of charge and the spare unit they sent had been re-designed. They Outbound team were very responsive and friendly, so top marks from me.

In a similar vein of lights that are well designed, don't have "china" power claims and come with everything that you need in the box including spare optics to change the beam pattern the Gloworm XSV is currently on a great deal on Wiggle at £189.

Yes it's a separate battery pack but easy to strap it to your top tube using the short cable and the wireless remote means easy changing of power levels.

Also Wiggle so no hassle returns if any issues. Mine needed a software update when I first got them and have been rock solid since.

https://www.wiggle.co.uk/gloworm-xsv-lightset-g20

Outbound are significantly cheaper than Exposure (but still not cheap)

Evo Downhill package = £428 delivered

Exposure equivalent (Maxx D & Diablo, non sync) = £395 + £220 = £615

In fairness you can easily (SDJ sports), get the maxxd for 272 and the diablo for 160 so about 432.

I'd still go for the Outbound set up though as I'm not a fan of Exposure (propietary charger, not a fan of the mount, and the only light I've ever had to get repaired was an exposure - wasn't that cheap as an out of warranty repair).

Gloworm XSV is currently on a great deal on Wiggle

I've an older gloworm already and it's a really nice light though largely used on my helmet these days as the separate battery pack won't stay put on my tapered top tube.

If I was happy with a separate head and battery or would certainly be on the list.

They Outbound team were very responsive and friendly, so top marks from me.

Good to hear.

Exposure equivalent (Maxx D & Diablo, non sync) = £395 + £220 = £615

A bit of shopping "around" brings that to £435 ish (though I'm guessing last year's models)

(though I’m guessing last year’s models)

SDJ prices are current models

During covid, with no bikes available that i liked, I put my Exposure Maxx-D and Diablo through my Cycle to work scheme

One thing I have noticed about the helmet light is that I find it quite sensitive to position on helmet. It sort of lends itself to nearer the front, but I found that if mounted there you become more conscious of its albeit small weight.

Mounting it more central helps, but less low branch clearance.

Mounting it more central helps, but less low branch clearance.

At 6'4" I don't have much of that to spare!

In my specific case I'll be sticking with my Diablo on my helmet - ain't broke, don't fix it - I wouldn't be looking to replace the maxx d were it not in a van in a scrappy a few thousand miles away, but it is, so here we are.

yer 6'5" here so know all about clearance as well!

mounting on top also leads to a more 'Teletubby' vibe...

Yer Diablo spreads the weight out.

were it not in a van in a scrappy a few thousand miles away, but it is, so here we are.

bugger! Still, good excuse for shiny stuff 🙂

I've tried a couple of mounting positions for the hangover. It's now almost hanging over the peak so it doesn't interfere with my coat hood and the weight isn't noticeable to me. Using a go pro mount means you can stick it anywhere on your helmet of course.

Just as an update on order value and shipping to UK. I just received a couple of spare handlebars mounts, which was a low value order and no trouble ordering.

delivery has taken about 2 weeks. find USPS is very variable for delivery times from days to weeks.

I've been looking into these as the weekly night rides are getting darker towards the end. Currently running  an older (second hand) Exposure Diablo on the helmet and considered upgrading my Chinese bar lights to a Maxx D.

Bit concerned about run times/brightness as night rides generally run about 3hrs and the most of  the other riders run the absolute cannon torch in the Exposure 6-Pack.

anything for me to worry about??

I run mine on adaptive and not had any trouble at all but I turn off off when I stop, down when I'm on fire road etc, however I did the same with my maxx d and it was similarly in need of a charge after the same rides.

That said it'll depend on what you're used to and if the people you're riding with are running on retina burn permanently in which case you'll be wanting to turn yours up so you can see/compete.

a cheap usb c power bank and a velcro strap will extend the life significantly if needed though I've not bothered as yet.

I've zero complaints so far certainly.

anything for me to worry about??

As I posted 7 months ago, what would worry me is the prospect of having to return them to the US if there were a warranty or out of warranty repair issue. Of course that might not happen, but it has potential to be expensive, slow and annoying. I know that's kind of obvious, but I'd be factoring in the possibility as a negative vis a vis a UK company. I would at least look into the warranty/returns situation before buying.

I've had my Trail evo for about 12 months and it's been outstanding. It replaced my Troute Darkness dominator and despite not having as many lumens it's a better unit. I'm eagerly looking forward to their new hangover replacement which is coming soon as the battery life of the hang over was a bit borderline for me. I think it's important to note they do a lot of work on thermal design to insure it maintains it's output for it's full burn time, not throttling back like a lot of stuff does as they get warm.

With regards to warranty and back up I too was conscious of the fact that it's a stateside product but honestly, after speaking with the Tom I had no worries at all. They were super quick to send me out an additional mount I needed and if you message them on their Facebook page they reply super fast. It's a small company so you'll most likely be dealing with someone who really knows their stuff (ie the owner Tom) rather than someone who works for an importer.

Battery life seems bang on what they quote has been very accurate for me but my night rides tend to be maybe 1.5 hours max.

John

I'm back to looking at the Detour after my Towild DL1800 decided yesterday to just stop charging, responding to the remote or button presses. Barely had it 6 months.
It's a real shame they don't have a UK distributor because the taxes almost double the price of the light to the UK. That's what's putting me off at the moment but the problem is there really isn't any comparable alternative available. The exposure ones aren't really shaped beams as they can be used upside down so are symmetrical, the Lupine ones are about the price of a house and a lot of the others can't be mounted under computer mounts where my lights sit. So right now it's looking like I'll have to go the detour route and swallow the cost.

As an aside the reason I "need" a light at this price is my commute is it pitch black country roads where being able to put all the power onto the road is really useful.

As an aside the reason I “need” a light at this price is my commute is it pitch black country roads where being able to put all the power onto the road is really useful.

Oddly I turn my down as soon as I'm on those on my way home and just use a little knog thing - there's something genuinely uplifting about the evening's when I can turn them off entirely and just ride by moonlight, one upside of it being dark at 3pm I guess.

The roads up here in Fife are so bad if I didn't have a small sun pointing at the road I'd be over the bars in about 30s, appalling state, need the power just to pick out a less potholed route 🤣

Aye, I can sympathise with that. Fortunately you get a lot more grip on pheasants and pigeons and they don't move so much for a few candela.

Any Outbound uses still around and happy?

Looks like I'm off to the US with work so can get them delivered to a colleague, and they are under the personal allowance to bring back, which helps with the purchase price.

I'm still slightly concerned about any issues with breakage, a bit less so with warranty as they seem solid but things can happen...

Certainly at £350ish for the Portal combo they are not cheap but seem competitive against other options.

I eventually bit the bullet and bought the detour for my commutes.

The beam is very evenly spread,not super bright at 1100 lumens but due to the shape of the beam you can have it on full and only get the odd flash from drivers who just don't like bike lights.

The shape of the entire package works really well because it's a wider than normal but shorter length set up so doesn't sit miles out in front of the bike.

The mount works really well, is really secure. I bought 3 of the go pro 3 prong compatible mounts to go with it so all my bikes are easy to connect to.

Robustness. I got doored a couple of weeks ago, went sideways onto the paveent, light was banged out of position on the pavement and it's fine, just a very small scuff on it. My pride was the only thing hurt.

Battery life isn't quite what they say but it has pass through charging so if I needed to do a longer ride (unlikely, getting old and lazy) I could attach a battery pack to it.

Big power and mode changing button on the top so don't miss the remote feature as its easy to press. That's on the road though. Hurtling down a mountain with their off road versions would be a different experience altogether.

Overall really like it. Really was the only option in that price range where even on max power the beam was a traffic friendly shape. Most others have a low shaped beam and then a normal shaped high beam so require dipping.

There does need to be more Stvzo standard lights out there as the selection from the main manufacturers isn't great and then not really properly thought out.

Thanks.

Good to know they are tough! Hope you are OK.

Riding wise I'm more of a "winch and plummet" kind of rider with steep off road, so I think the runtime will do me.  I tend to low/medium up, rest, quick blast on high for the down should do me.

My perfect light would have a 'toggle' option so I could program in, say 30% and 100% and just click between those 2 modes rather that scroll through all 4.  I had a light with that ability, unfortunately the actual light was crap 🙂

USB-C is a big plus.  Whack a quick charge in on the drive (although I mostly ride from home) and the powerbank option is also very good as a backup / peace of mind for longer rides.