[Closed] Who has what exposure lights wise ?

I have a three year old Maxx D (Mk12?) for the bars, and a 3 year old joystick (Mk12?) for my helmet.

Whichever versions they actually are, anything involving high speed riding is basically at daylight speeds.

I'd like more power from the Joystick for when I take it out by itself for those rides where I might finish in the dark, and under tree cover as the light fades but as a combo, I can't see (ha!) I need any more.

I have a race mk15. Wanted something for commutes and bikepacking trips, so long battery life rather than seeing technical riding for a two hour blast round the woods (though it would do that too it’s just not as bright as a Toro). It’s great in a compact package. Lasts 36 hours when using it on low on semi lit roads.

Toro Mk11
Wanted something for the CX bike that would be sensible enough for some road use (ie, not absolutely dazzling to all and sundry) while being able to cope with off-road and also unlit country lanes in varying degrees of disrepair. It's very good, massive burn times.

I've had at least 3 Diablo lights over the years as well which have just got progressively better with every iteration. It's a fantastic light, can be used on helmet or bars. Useful thing to have along if a ride is going to finish in the dark but you don't need full lighting.

Got a couple of the Flare rear lights too.

Eek..fanboi here...
6pack mk 11... fab, and really not much bigger than a maxx d in real terms...
Joystick mk 15... not ridden yet...
Joystick mk 7... classic!
Axis mk1... Nice and bright.. used on the road bike...
Spark... spare light...
Flare (rear light)... lovely on the road bike..
Link ➕...really great helmet light .... on pretty much 24hrs a day on the road...

I think the cable free design is amazing, and the quality and UK made nature is great.

I've had a few issues with an older maxxd and the reflex....but the new 6pack is great

DrP

Strada on the road, around 800 lumens I think, but good, a couple of older Joysticks and a Diablo with whatever it is they call their back-up battery that mounts onto the back of your helmet. I don't have an Exposure bar light as my old Lumicycle LEDs are still going strong.

Mk14 Race, Mk 12 Joystick and an old (Mk4) MaxxD that pumps out a whopping 1200 lumen.

I don't ride far, gnar or fast at night, so don't feel the need to turn night into day. Happy to pootle round the local gravel tracks with the lights mainly on the middle setting for a couple of hours, so it works for me.

Forgot I have the original Link as well, great for extra visibility commuting or a back up on a road ride at night.

Just upgraded from a 4 year old MAXX-D and a 5 year old Diablo (1100 lumens one). Now have the latest Six Pack an Diablo (1800 lumens). They are definitely an upgrade, both in terms of output and run time. My Maxx-D was just starting to fall off run time wise and the diablos aren't great to start with when running on high.

I've switched to reflex on the six pack and it seems to work brilliantly. On a 2 hour ish ride, I've still got over 50% battery left. The output is amazing, not sure if it's the power or the beam but it seems to light more of the side of the trail than the Maxx-D. The diablo I just use on the downs- I wasn't intending to change that but after getting the six pack, the old diablo was struggling a bit to punch through the beam.

Done around six night rides so far with the new lights. Both bought on sale (Use Outlet and SJ cycles). Definitely a noticeable upgrade over what I had before. Really cannot see how you'd want any more power even with old eyes 😉

Six Pack Mk9 and Joystick Mk12 here.

The Joystick is enough by itself for road training rides at night, and the Six Pack (while a little hefty) has all the light I’ll ever need for proper MTB night rides and enough battery life that I’m not worried about it if I’m riding to and from the woods too.

Yes they’re a bit pricey up front, but they last for years and you can get them a bit cheaper 2nd hand (as I did) if you’re happy with that…

I have a maxxD for the bars, it’s a few years old so maybe mk11/12. It’s great, loads of battery life and plenty of light. It’s been faultless. Although a mate had a rattle maxxD, sent it back and exposure sorted it for him.
On my helmet I run a Diablo, again that’s great. Plenty of light and it’s been faultless.
I did turn the tap feature off straight away and the auto brightening feature on the maxxD doesn’t get used. The lack of battery packs is probably the best thing. Although a battery pack on the bike isn’t the end of the world. Helmet light with no battery pack is great.

Diablo for me and spend most of my riding in the Tweed valley and haven’t hit a tree due to lack of lighting yet (I have hit plenty trees tho!)

Zenith on the helmet, great light that works well for 1 hour night cross race on one of the higher settings (with no other lights), and longer night rides on low (with an old Hope R2 on the bars)

TAP is turned off for cross racing as the jarring over rough ground occasionally turned it down mid-race…

Maxx D - think it’s a mk13 with reflex. I love it - run it on the full power reflex setting so it’s 4000 lumens at full chat but it dims itself when stationary or going slower pedalling uphill. Would recommend and I’d buy again.

Also got an Axis for the helmet - I wouldn’t buy this again. Battery life isn’t brilliant and I think the equivalent Moon Vortex Pro would have been a better buy for a lot less money. Alternatively, if buying again whilst feeling flush I’d also look at a Fourth Scorch for the helmet.

I've a MK1 Joystick, it's 20 odd years old, I'd buy another but this one won't die!

Six Pack, Zenith on the lid, a Joystick for various duties (including dog walking) and Trace front and rear for road duties.

All faultless, well made, backed up by excellent customer service (had older Joysticks, a Diablo and MaxxD previously which I’ve sold on).

Wouldn’t think of looking elsewhere and the lads I ride with have slowly over time migrated to Exposure lights from various other brands.

I have a Six pack - only because at the time it was cheaper than a Maxx-D at SDJ sports.
TBH I think a Toro would be just as good. There is a certain point where more lumens doesn't actually add much. In theory my Six Pack is about 3x bright than my MTB batteries one. But it is not 3x better as a light.

The dimming/ brightening is very good though

MK1 race maxx
Mk5 joystick (need an upgrade)
MK1 reflex

The reflex is enough light for any occasion (2.2k luman I think), bought 2nd hand from exposure (was rented out for endurance races and they offered it to me at the end of my race).

Should get a better helmet spot, but don't night ride enough to justify it.

Racemaxx batteries are getting a bit worn now tbh.

A TraceR - about four years old now, cost £34. The charging connection seems to have moved slightly to the left (or maybe it was always like that), but so impressed with the brightness and quality was I, I then bought a...

Mk12/13 Joystick. After much vouchering, sale price and cashback wizardry, cost me £93. Got the carbon fibre version as it weighed in around 6g lighter - yes, SIX WHOLE GRAMS. Another light that lit up very well, announcing my presence on the roads and lighting up dirt tracks more than I needed

Both lights would easily last a week on my commute, when I was working (30 mins each way), so only needed charging at weekends

Overall - very happy with both of them, definitely recommend them, and would buy again if I'm still alive when they fizzle out

Got a ten year old Enduro and a nine year old Joystick. Both still being used!

Joystick 7 - brilliant as I has a really useful headstrap which is how I usually use it. Only cost £56 new, so bargain
Joystick 11ish. OK really
Axis - Shit. Whoever thought of tapcase ( or whatever it's called) on a handlebar mounted light needs shooting.
Equinox - Not great really for the £300 . Battery runs down really quick, and has done since new. Got smudge to build a 4 cell support, which makes it OK, but the original light as sold is a bit shit. It's basically put me off Exposure, but someone on another thread recently said that the Exuinox was accepted to be a PoS so perhaps I'll try again.
BothEndsBurning thing - can't recall the name, but I've git one if the front&rear helmet all-in-one lights which I good.
Flare,- complete waste of time as the battery isn't rechargeable and is hideously expensive.

Mk1 Axis for commuting, battery is starting to get a little less efficient, but i'll just replace the battery next year.

Mk9 Sirius, another for commuting if required and a secondary for out on the trails.

Mk12 Toro, trail light.

Tried a few others, but realistically, exposure rule the mtb light market, not many brands do their stuff as well and i always tend to come back to just using them over anything else.

Have a Maxx D, probably 5 or 6 years old. Never used it for MTB, road only, and that was around the same time ago. Used only as a loft torch now.

It's the second one I've had, they're incredible bits of kit, had a Strada, muliyple joysticks and a Diablo too. Well worth the money, and the service from Exposure has always been awesome too.

Fanboi here also:

Toro Mk12 bought this year - super bright
Diablo mk4 - burn time starting to fade a little now. Might upgrade this year
Sirius mk9 daybright for long road rides
Blaze mk2 daybright for long road rides
Flash/flare combo from when I commuted a lot, still OK but don’t really get used
Very old red eye (with cable) also from commuting days, doesn’t get used at all

I realise there are now cheaper alternatives but for me Exposure are rock solid, simple, really well made, and the service is excellent. If you can afford one I would highly recommend

I recently bought a Toro because I was looking for something that can be used for a bit of everything. I've not actually used it yet, but as somebody whose reaction to Exposure is normally HOW MUCH?? I have to say I'm quite impressed with the build quality. The battery life readout is a big plus, and I'm not yet convinced it needs quite so many settings but they seem relatively easy to use. Still think they're expensive but I can see why people like them.

I bought an Exposure MK12-Race a few years ago, super happy with it. I also have a little Exposure Trace that I use for riding to work and short journeys across town etc - although it is also just about good enough for an hours jaunt around the back lanes at night.

Exposure Axis Mk7 (just over a year old) - run on the helmet for MTB
Exposure Toro Mk12 (a couple of months old) - run on the bars for MTB
Exposure Link+ Mk2 (a couple of months old) - this replaced an older version of the same light - run on the helmet for the road

No complaints - if I was shopping for lights now I'd be looking at buying an Axis or Joystick for the helmet (or a Diablo if I could find a good deal) and a Toro or Maxx-D for the bars

With the higher power models just be careful when putting them on charge - I accidentally put the Toro on charge once face down on my carpet - I hadn't realised the light came on and it melted the carpet fibres (I'm pretty sure the instructions do cover the charging process to avoid this happening)

I've got a maxxD and an Axis (both the current versions). I struggle to see what usable benefit anything bigger would add over the MaxxD, on reflex it's brighter than I need, the weight on the bars is ok but noticeable. I'd not want more weight from the bigger one and you're onto diminishing returns on the extra lumens IMHO.

The Axis is fine for what it is and is sufficient for using on its own as a bike packing light or for easier riding but a Diablo might be better paired up with the MaxxD.

The in-laws are getting me a flare for Christmas for full fanboi effect.

I've opted for a Toro mk12 via ebay and it's second hand.

Seller gave me a fair assessment of minor use since August and being sold due to not using the bike.

If the years of service answers on here are anything to go by thats a good deal@£150

Thanks everyone for their input, now just to wait till it arrives 😀

When my +10 year old Toro suddenly felt out of its depth on a fast gravel ride I bought a MaxxD, the latest one. Utterly brilliant.

And the +10 year old Toro - it'll still hold a 3 hour charge, just it's lacking in lumens compared to the current stuff.

Six pack mk10 here.
Utterly superb, I’d buy another.
Anytime I’ve showed it to someone else it’s been to a chorus of ‘holy shit’ or similar.

Joystick Mark I in purple.

Axis – Shit. Whoever thought of tapcase ( or whatever it’s called) on a handlebar mounted light needs shooting.

You can turn tapcase off on mine, and it specifically says not to run it if you are bar mounting. Works well as a helmet mount.

Arrived today and my my its very nice, and not too clunky 🙂

I've set it to prg4(2000lm/2h max) and initial thoughts on the number of options I thought it would be a nightmare to set up but its actually quite easy and self-explanatory

Bit of a fiddle to work out how to switch the damn thing off though 😆

Cos im more a road user, i will give the flash a go, but it looks like you get a good light to show any obstacles as well as a visual flash-(im not sure about this). I'll need to test it soon as.

Good call and thanks for all the positive reviews. 😀 Certainly way better than the light it's replacing.

On the programming complexity - as you've seen it looks more complex than it is. I have mine set on mode 4 - selected according to required burn time for my average ride. I tend to just leave it on high and let the reflex jobby do its thing when I'm off road.

Another fanboi here,

Mk6 Diablo, this was my first one, bought as I wanted an all in one light, was fed up of cables trailing into a camelbak!Starting to show it's age now sadly, battery doesn't hold charge like it used to and the switch can be a bit dicky at times. Might replace with a modern joystick or axis, similar light output but less weight and better run time (also smaller 'head' so more flexible for helmet mounting)
Mk7 MaxxD, picked up a couple of months later on a whim, went to Sherwood pines for a night ride and my cheapo chinese specials just wouldn't switch on and stay on, popped into the shop on site and bought the new light. Had to send it back to exposure for repair (LED display had stopped working) this year and had them upgrade it to the latest back panel while it was there. Thankfully my friends haven't joined the lights arms race otherwise this might be starting to feel undergunned now, as it is though it works perfectly well for me.
TraceR - bought when I started road riding a few years ago
Blaze - second light for the road
Trace - this is the most recent light, lives on the road bike as a daytime running light
I also have a RedEye micro that i can pop into the Diablo