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Not doing night riding or winter commuting anymore, so there's a Ravemen 900 going for a song in the Classifieds if anyone wants it.
Great light for the road, and (in my opinion) much less dazzling than the Exposure light it replaced.
The Olight RN lights claim to be anti-glare with cut-off as well, and seemingly good spec for the money. But I've no real world experience of them though.
I got the most expensive B&M rechargeable one, it has a run time indicator and has a car headlight pattern. It’s basically perfect for my commute, ten miles each way of which are on unlit A roads.
Certainly enough throw for a 30mph descent.
I might get a 1300lm moon light to use as a full beam on a remote switch, but no real need to, it would just give me something to do.
Just got a Ravemen PR1600 (reduced at CRC and Tredz atm).
Lots of very dark narrow lanes around here where a commuter light wasn't bright enough. I was attempting to use a Toro but I think even low and pointed down the glare for other people would've been pretty bad, plus then needing to get the multi tool out to adjust for off road.
The cutoff on this looks like it's done by ridged and shaped glass in front of the LED which doesn't produce the hard cutoff of STVZO lights but still seems to do a decent job of reducing glare, and having the easy high/low beam button is nice. Will report back once I've tried it properly.
I've got a PR1600 & took similar pictures of it to those silasgreenback posted above; with just the dipped beam & with dipped & main beam.
I don't think the dipped beam is as good as a proper STVZO light, but it's massively better than something that just throws light out all over the place.
@jkomo - i’m tempted by the B&M light. Any chance you could post some night time pics.
Bar retail space is a premium with lights, computer, 2x batteries. I’m tempted to go integrated battery but would only ever go something with proper optics instead of a beam bender lens.
SGB, I can email you pics but so far I’ve not managed to sort out posting pics. Lame I know…
Right, I have no idea if these images will post, and I'm not sure how much they tell anyone anyway, but here goes. It's very well lit round here, so I've taken them in my garage*
Image one (if all goes to plan) is the Busch + Müller Ixon STVZO on low power. You can see a little light escaping upwards, but also a very distinct 'cut-off' line. Image two is the same light on high power.
Image 3 is the Raveman PR1200, the one that comes with the wired control. This is on the 'dipped' mode on low power, and you can see the difference - a lot of light is going upwards. Image 4 is the dipped beam on the highest power setting. For comparison the last image is the Raveman on high beam using full power, where you can see that as much light is going up as down.
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As I said, the Raveman is a great and versatile light. Unless you're doing the gnariest rides it will have enough light, and on dipped beam it's not as bad as some for the ride home.
If you're after a regular commuter light that won't annoy oncoming drivers, walkers, and other cyclists it doesn't really do the job.
* All comments about the state of my garage welcome
Take a look at this BUMM!
You can see the beam patterns on the IXON lights. I have mine on a fork crown mounted bracket, set up so I illuminate from the waist down. I never dazzle anyone and the light output is fine for a 25-30kmph speed through unlit woods on a cycle path. I see the full dog, but never the dog walker's face, and since using this light I no longer encounter the Nazis who walk towards me doing a salute to shield their eyes.
Thanks chaps.
Dont think i could live with the Raveman. I’m a fit & forget lazy sort if chap and cant get on with remotes on drop bars.
I’m always a bit skeptical of white backgrounds for beam patterns making them look brighter than real world black roads!
My outbounds are stunning on the cart track minor roads. I’m just scared of going battery pack free and being disappointed like i was when i went exposure for off road lights 🤔🤔🤔
I should probably just put up with the lack of retail space till the packs die.
Up until recently I had an Exposure Strada RS and I agree with the earlier poster that the beam was not efficient. My problem was that it was okay on max (1200 lumens) but didn't last long enough for my night ride (about 2 hours ride/1.5 hours battery) so I had to keep putting it on medium or low which defeated the purpose and was a pita.
Just bought a ravemen PR2400 and pleased with it athough it isn't revolutionary. The max power dipped road beam is 900 lumens which seems about the same light as the exposure on 1200 lumens. However, the ravemen will do over 3 hours on that setting which makes my night rides much more relaxing.
The wireless remote is neat and works well, allowing you to switch to off-road mode in an instant and give out 2400 lumens all of a sudden. Having said that I did try it and although it is obviously more light it wasn't all that impressive.
As I said, the Raveman is a great and versatile light. Unless you’re doing the gnariest rides it will have enough light, and on dipped beam it’s not as bad as some for the ride home.
If you’re after a regular commuter light that won’t annoy oncoming drivers, walkers, and other cyclists it doesn’t really do the job.
Yea, a few friends have them and ive bit my tongue because they're not cheap and certainly better than exposure's offerings. But they're nothing like STVZO style lights.
I’m always a bit skeptical of white backgrounds for beam patterns making them look brighter than real world black roads!
You need to imagine them projected onto a perpendicular surface too. Imagine this one from the post above. That super bright letterbox then becomes a perfectly even beam right along the road. Whereas an even looking beam on a wall, becomes a bright spot up way too close, not enough further away, and half the power wasted into the air.
For comparison the last image is the Raveman on high beam using full power, where you can see that as much light is going up as down.
That’s the MTB mode using both emitters?
Dont think i could live with the Raveman. I’m a fit & forget lazy sort if chap and cant get on with remotes on drop bars.
You don’t have to use the remote, there’s a big button on the top of the light and a smaller one for cycling the modes. It remembers the last mode also. So really it’s about as fit and forget as you like.
I take the remote with me from time to time depending on route, as it’s often useful to get a blast of high mode if heading into hazardous/extra-dark terrain. But you definitely don't require it and all functions are operable from the light unit alone.
It’s been interesting reading about the Ravemen ‘automotive’ beam vs stvzo as I have a PR900 and yet to do a proper test re dazzling. I’ve had a few goes at resting the bike against a lamp post and walking 50m up the road but it’s difficult to tell. It’s much, much better compared to all of the MTB lights (non stvzo) lights I’ve had to date.
I took some pics of my old Cree T6 light which has a conventional round (MTB style) beam with plenty of throw. Typical of (sic) torch-style ‘road’ lights in the UK It really was impossible to be both useful to the cyclist and to not dazzle drivers. I found that it needs to be angled approx a maximum 6ft in front of the bar/front hub to a avoid blinding dazzle. Even then there is IMO hazardous glare and distraction for another road user:
I’ll do the same test with the Ravemen PR900 at some point. For now I took a pic hand-held in a garden at IIRC medium beam and the cutoff is noticeable.
There are conifers and fencing directly behind the boundary fence and the too of the beam hardly illuminated them. Directed the beam up as near as possible with the top of the fence. In hindsight I should’ve dipped it down lower to get a better idea.