[Closed] So whos winning on the lights front?

Lupine Wilma FTW

Troutlights for ultimate brightness, deal extreme p7 torches for value for money.

Nightrider for bling at a huge cost

Rutland have the Light and motion seca 900 ultras on offer at the mo 😉 I have the 700 and thats plenty light for lakes tecky stuff, so the 900 must chuck out some serious light. The beam pattern on the seca's are excellent and they have 4 light output modes.

Trout. He'll make one tailored to your needs.

Ayups give plenty of light with both helmet and bar mounted units and have excellent run times. You get 2x3hr and 1x6hr battery with the kit. Very light and well made and oftne do very well in all the tests. There are brighter lights out there but 3 people in my group use them and we are all happy.

Any opinions on Light & Motion Seca? I'm asking because a shop has offered to try and get a refund on my lights and if he can will offer an almost trade deal on some Secas as goodwill.

if you were looking for who's winning then ayup wouldn't be near the top of my list. sorry. they were ok when they came out but things have moved on.

They(seca) are excellent as said the beam pattern is very usable. Plenty of light for any trail condition and good battery life. The one thing that lets them down slightly but isn't a deal breaker for me, is the mounting strap to the helmet mount. It could be better IMO and can sometimes move a little when you land stuff.

The issue is that LED tech moves on so quickly that the big manufacturers will always be behind. Plus the amount of R&D for the small amount of sales mean prices are high.

For the cost of the deal extreme torches- or the bastid light you really can't go wrong.

As part of MrTall's riding group I'll second the Ayups, yes there may be better etc but very happy with mine and more than enough light for most things (30+ mph last night on some of the descents) through the woods

Sorry anc miised your post.

trouty, by far

I like the Lumicycle LED3 .....

- they are expensive though there's a CLIC24 promo code for £100 off on their web site (LED4 not worth the extra money for 1 LED)
- good beam pattern, the flood/spot combo is excellent that pushes the price up even more
- can be upgraded to the latest LED's when they are available - I could do it myself for @ £30 but no doubt Lumi will release an upgrade at some point
- if the battery goes then you buy a new battery not throw the whole unit away
- run time is very good, 3 hours on high thru to 10 hours on medium (I think)

IMO they'll be releasing a Cree XPG version before next winter.

Or, upgrade your Lumi Halogens for circa £40 each.

...not that it's any real help but I see that [url= http://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/04/14/48410/cree-160-lmw-leds-soon.htm ]Cree have just announced a new LED[/url] with an efficiency of 160 lumens per Watt at 350milliamps, that will also chuck out 750 lumens at 2A. That, is freaking awesome. Can't wait for someone to throw a couple into a DIY setup!

OG.

Mail (in profile) me if you wish. I'll see what I can do.

I'm using a Seca 900 Ultra Race - really impressive light output with a very usable beam pattern - pushes light down on the ground at the wheel, way out in front of you and has a nice wide flood as well...to be perfectly honest, the full beam is seriously far too bright - I never use it...the middle setting is my high beam and the lower setting I use on the road and fireroad.

The battery is rather heavy compared to the competition but it seems tough and seems to work very well in very cold temps (-15C didn't seem to affect run time for a night ride).

I only use it on my bars but it's a secure fit and easy enough to adjust...cable length is on the generous side but it works very well.

Only real drawbacks are the price (it's far too pricey unless you get a deal on it) and the highest beam is just too bright - but that last point is just my opinion.

Run time seems very good.

Ay-ups - the batteries seem to run much longer than the stated 3 and 6 hours - the epic seems to last almost 10 hours (instead of 6) and the smaller one seems to last almost 6 hours (instead of 3) - if you are looking for very good burn time then the Ay-ups have to be considered - very small packages and easy enough to fit anywhere.

I personally don't get on with helmet mounted lights so I'd only use the bar mounts but they give plenty of light (again this is personal choice - some would say it doesn't give enough but I didn't have a problem with them)...

I'm selling my Hope Vision 4 nice and cheap if you're interested. Fully boxed with all the cables, mounts and stuff. It's the newest version with the headtorch cradle. Email me if you're interested at matthew@screamingjaffa.co.uk

The Seca 900's outrageously good, shame it's so damn expensive 🙁 Mate of mine has one and other than the Trout option it's honestly the only light out there that I'd consider replacing my cheapo P7 torches with. The quality of the beam pattern is just fantastic.

Still, if I was buying lights today I'd get 2 dealextreme P7s. Mine have done me proud and cost so much less than anything that can match their performance. If burn time was important I'd get their bike light, otherwise torches.

Only had a couple of rides on my Hope 4 but it's really impressive so far.

You should talk to that guy selling one s/h.

I have a liberator light in gold / red or silver at a bargain price £150 and a battery/charger from smudge needed though

the last ones from this past season

some 4 led Troutlets and monster 7 UPs left too .

The new led Announced from cree will be a sod to get a decent beam from
it is more aimed at the household light market when incans have been banned

Oldgit send me your dead one and I will have a look see if it can be sorted or upgraded

AyUp is a good package with lots of useful ways of mounting etc.

Plenty light.

Anything better just sets fire to trees 🙂

Ayups are nice but so uncompetitive price and power wise. They come in a lovely case, they're well put together and have great finishing, good clamps, excellent range of batteries, all brilliant things but they just don't make enough light. If you're happy with their fairly low light levels, you can get that for far less money. It's a bit of a shame.

Love my ayups but was a bit shocked at how much they cost now compared to when I got mine, however having said that I'm not intending on getting any new ones for some time, so will see, and yep the batteries last for ages.
If anyone is ordering I want to get a new battery with the high/low on them but don't want to pay full postage

Exposure

As bright as anything out there, great multi colour LED button to tell you howthe bettery is doing and what more you're in, and the only lights to offer cable free. Nothing gets close to being as good as a joystick as the ultimate head torch for package, weight and convenience, the red eye rear light is a great add on to make it the ultimate commuter light, as well as the ultimate race light too.

Once you've gone cable free with integrated battery you'll never go back. There's a reason all the top racers in the UK (who can use whatever they want) Matt Page, Ian Leitch, Ant White, the Torque team, the Syncros Endurance squad etc. ride Exposure 😉

Too much "I ride this and it's great" on this post, not "this is best because". At the end of the day however, all modern LED lights are more than bright enough ultimately!

It looks as if the shop trying to help me will get a credit from the importers, and he will do me Seca 400s as an exchange or 700s with a bit added.

Last night I went at full chat over the Ridgeway/Ivinghow Beacon for nearly three hours on just a Joystick. They are far better than they should be.
What's odd is I like to ride on low beam. If I crank my lights up I end up hitting things. These lights that have just gone actuallty put a spot on the ground that wiped out everything else, where as I prefer everything visible as opposed to LIT UP if you know what I mean.

With lights the quality of the beam pattern is just as (if not more so) important as the total lumen count (no point having the output if it's not used effectively). For quality of beam pattern it gets no better than Light & Motion IMHO

Have a Seca 700 Ultra and it is fantastic. Far far better than the Exposure Enduro Maxx that it replaced. The beam shape is great, with an excellent mix of flood and spot. I wouldn't recommend anything else

I've got a homemade job in the house, a DX torch and the Seca...to be honest the DX is the best option if money is even the slightest issue - the torch is better than the bikelight as the batteries are cheap and you can buy plenty - full beam gets about 1hr 10mins of light but if you don't use full beam you can get almost 2 hours per battery...when that starts going, plug a new one in...I've got 6 so have almost 12 hours with that.

My homemade job was inspired by robdeanhove's original thread and it still chucks out about 4hr 30mins of light.

The Seca - I didn't pay for - has the best light pattern BUT this idea of not enough light? It's too much light in my opinion. Not sure why people need everything to be white flared to go biking...

The Ay-ups I think have more than enough light output to go mental fast offroad at night...really not understanding why people are saying they aren't bright enough.

I've tried a couple of Exposure lights and I've had a mixed reaction to them...the 3 LED main unit (forget the model name) seemed to be very good but I didn't get the same sort of performance from the Diablo (Diabolus?), I think that uses 3 LEDs but the uprated ones...I just didn't find the beam and light to be as usable for some reason.

Comes down to 2 types of night riders I guess - those that ride at night because they can only ride then and there are those that ride at night because it adds to the challenge. I think the latter don't like daylight brightness and I fall into that group.

Each to their own, if you have the cash then there are loads of options...you asked about the Seca so I gave my opinion of them - very good lights - far too bright on the highest setting and stupidly expensive if you pay full price and the battery is a bit hefty but a very good system with very usable light beam.

The others were just my opinions on them.

Exposure, hope, seca are all pretty much as good as each other IMO. Not seen a lumi but expect its just as good. Personally, I don't like aye ups, but I know a couple of people who are happy with them. I know a trout user and he is happy too. Can't go wrong really.

Get the one your LBS has in stock then if it goes wrong (heard problems about all of them apart from trout) then its their problem not yours.

There are only a small number of variants of LEDs - so one manufacturers triple led will be similar to another - same with the P7 led - better optics and better electronics make a difference but the led is the main thing.
I cannot believe anyone who has seen a DX P7 torch would recommend a specific bike light at 10- 20X the cost!

This is interesting if it can be believed, Hope and Lupine lights not getting even close to there stated outputs in the test data.

http://bikelightingsystem.com/component/content/article/81.html

I've had the Seca 700 since it first came out, just as much light as the L&M HID it replaced and a better spread of light. Extra Lumens aren't any use if they're not going where you need them.

OG - Exposure lights without a doubt. I run a MaxxD and Diabolo combo and I've been impressed with the burn times and the flood/spot patterns.

But, for me, the biggest reason to buy Exposure is the service. I had some problems with an older Enduro and they warrantied it for me and upgraded to a MaxxD. I've seen Rory just give out spares clamps and the like for free at the SD's night ride. Turning up to 24:12 or one of the CRC Marathons and knowing that if you have a problem they'll sort it is worth the money in my book.

James
Most of the lights in my little outfit are either Hope or Exposure, and seeing them side by side I'd go for Exposure. And I know how good Rorys service is. Plus my Joystick has been a life saver over the years.
It feels like LEDs have been around an age, but I think I remember Exposure launching at the first Eastnor Mountain Mayhem?
Edit.
I don't think I'd get replacements or a refund from Niteflux and that would be my money lost. This shop looks like they'll at least get me some good lights without me having to put my hand in my pocket.

The run times on those Seca lights don't seem great and they are particularly heavy. 2hrs at 400lumens is not great IMO. I guess 4hrs at 200 lumens is OK but not as good as a Diablo which is lighter, cheaper and much more powerful. But I take your point about the shop deal. You could sell and buy something else?

On the subject of Exposure- expensive torches. Not always very good expensive torches, the Diablo frinstance is just a P7 torch that you can't change the battery on. It does have a lovely mount and it's, oh, 10g lighter or so than a cheapo P7 from dealextreme but it does nothing else better, and not being able to swap batteries is a kicker. Especially since battery failure is one of the things that knocks lights out over time. The beam pattern is IMO worse than my P7s- it's more uniform but also more diffuse and has less range. But that's personal taste I guess.

Considering that you can buy the Exposure mount seperately and stick a torch in it, these are pretty hard to justify IMO.

good news the shop helping me can do me Seca 700s for £18 extra thankyou Chamberlaines.