Looking to move away from lights with separate battery packs. I’ve got myself a Joystick for my helmet and now looking at a light for my bars. Is the Toro good enough or is the Maxx D really worth the extra? Just for local woods night riding, nothing to technical.

ive got one its fine.

although it takes over a day to charge!!!

I’m looking to do the same. getting hacked off with loose connections and cables splitting and insulation tape. But not looking forward to the cost of several exposure light mounts and retiring perfectly good lights and batteries (albeit connected by ropey cables)

I’ve got my eye on the Toro, maybe the Race. Night rides aren’t that long, and if they are, they’re not super tech all the time. I rode the SDW overnight with just a joystick, swapping between bars and helmet.

My Lumenator is 2000 lumens on full, and it’s hardly ever on full. Low most of the time, half or 70% for descents. Local trails are basically fast or tech, but not really both.

Best light eg Toro on yer lid, wee light ie joystick on the bars, I only use bar light to get to the trails, diablo on lid if for twisty stuff. Never seen the point in MaxxD unless you’re doing long straight stuff, bar lights are shit on stepper or twistier stuff.

although it takes over a day to charge!!!

Your charger is goosed mate, send it back, seems quite common wi Exposure.

bar lights are shit on stepper or twistier stuff.

On the other hand, they’re very good for giving you detail on the trail. Steps and drops can get get flattened by a helmet light. Bar light gives you the shadows. As long as you’re pointing in the right direction!

If it’s twisty, you’ll be going slower, and a smaller light is going to let you know where to point your bike. If you’ve got a flat out trail, it’s going to be straighter, and you’re going to want some more advanced warning about what’s on the trail.

And a diablo is heavy enough on a helmet. I wouldn’t want a Toro up there!

I got a Toro rather than a Maxx D as it was lighter & cheaper and the run times sounded more than adequate for my 2hr-ish night rides.

It’s excellent – abundently light and it’ll work great with a Joystick on your noggin (I use a Diablo).

I’ve heard that ‘flattening out’ mentioned, never noticed it myself tbh, all of our local nightrides up the hill are fairly steep, woody, twisty but with support in corner that helps maintain speed, plenty drops and gaps, none of us use bar lights any more.

And a diablo is heavy enough on a helmet. I wouldn’t want a Toro up there!

I’ve never, ever noticed the weight of my diablo, do you have a neck like Gollum? 🙂

I actually fancy replacing my Diablo with the new joystick, I prefer a punchier spot when only using one light, the Diablo I have is a bawhair floody for my liking.

Toro sounds good enough then! Off on the eBay hunt I go.

I’d just use the joystick on the bars and save your money. 1000 lumens is loads!

I did similar same as you and bought a joystick for my helmet and then a maxx d for my bars. Price aside the maxx d is perfect, if I was really picky maybe the middle battery indicator is a bit too red and could be more yellow. I always have a half second of panic when it comes on until I check time remaining. The best bit is the unique to exposure reflex technology followed by the beam shape, I could live with a lower output but would want to check the toro has the same wide flood for corners and drops. The joystick is a bit meh, nicely made but the cheap ebay stuff does a similar job for a lot less money.

I’ve never, ever noticed the weight of my diablo, do you have a neck like Gollum? 🙂

Ha! no! And to be honest, I only ever notice the weight/wobble when I strap it on – std xc type helmet. Joystick – bit heavier than no light; Diablo – noticeably heavier. Just looked up. Joystick = 93g, Diablo, 132g

Happy to stand by not wanting a 236g Toro up there!

The joystick is a bit meh, nicely made but the cheap ebay stuff does a similar job for a lot less money.

I’d say the Joystick has probably been Exposures best bang for buck light for a very long time now, be interested to see something that’s as compact, bright, as good a beam pattern, as light, and as well made as a Joystick, for ‘a lot less money’…..

https://exposurelights.com/light-comparison-tool

This shows some beam patterns, I think the maxx d is worth the extra but depends on use and length of rides.

I don’t think there is anything as good as the joystick but there are any number of real 1000 lumen advertised at more ebay lights that have a tight beam and decent throw, they might be a bit rough but are a quarter of the price. I use the joystick on my commute so sort of am okay with the price as I’ll have it for a decade, for once a week nightride after work I’d have wires and zip ties and China’s best on the helmet if it meant I could afford sixpack or maxx d on the bars. As above lots of other opinions apply!

Took a pic in the woods last night. Swipe to pic 3. Toro and Diablo…

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Glorious clear night for an #mtb ride up #Rivington. #nightride #lancashire #mtblife #coticsolaris #solarismax #winterhill

A post shared by unduro (@unduro) on Feb 22, 2019 at 3:29pm PST

Looking at the lumen output a joystick on the helmet and toro on the bars should be amazing. I’ve got a 900 lumen light on my helmet and 1600 lumen on the bars and it’s awesome as far as I’m concerned – you have more on both comfortably. Just check runs times are sufficient for the length of your rides.

I’ve had a Toro mk9 and a Maxx-D mk10. A Joystick mk10 and a Diablo Mk7.

The Toro has a noticeably tighter beam, and I actually find I prefer the Maxx-D for the spread.

The mk10 joystick has a diffuse beam, and not punchy enough, the mk11 onwards has a spot beam, and is very punchy.

The Diablo has a nice beam, but do prefer the weight of the Joystick in direct comparison.

Given the choice of the latest Exposure lights, I’d go Maxx-D and Joystick.

The Joystick also doubles up as my head light for dog walks, so gets used around 10 hours a week without going out on the bike.

It also doesn’t explode 😉

I also have a mk11 joystick and a mk7 diablo

Former for commuting, latter for MTB. I have also used them as a pair for summer trips with the diablo on the bars

Thanks for the photos chakaping, seems like everyone is happy with their Exposure lights. Should have my joystick in a few days so I’ll use it with my BT40s while I keep an eye out for a well priced Maxx D or Toro.

I’m definitely in the ‘bigger light goes on the bars’ camp. I have a MaxxD on the bars and a gloworm X2 with spot optics on the helmet.

I’ve lent the MaxxD to riding buddies a few times when their lights broke and found riding with only a helmet light gives much less depth perception for trail obstacles- I felt I was whacking into everything I’d normally ride over.

Also- one of the best bits about Exposure lights is the fact the bracket stays on the bar. So each time you clip the light in it’s always at the right angle. I used to spend the first 10mins of every night ride faffing with the X2 until I had it pointing just right.

I felt I was whacking into everything I’d normally ride over.

Try looking farther ahead. It’s one of the reasons that I don’t use a bar light, except on the road, I start looking too near the front wheel.

My Diablo is tilted to point as far away as possible, so I have to ride head and chest up.

while I keep an eye out for a well priced Maxx D or Toro

Dunno how long you can wait for, but I sell off my shop ex demo Exposure lights every summer, then re-stock with the latest version. Normally they’re sold off as lightly used ex demo’s with full warranty for 35% discount if that appeals…

Anyway… The Toro is a wicked little light, really punchy beam pattern, if your night riding isn’t full on tech and you use a helmet light too, it’s more than enough. If you like to still ride super tech at night, and/or don’t use a helmet light, then I’d recommend the Maxx-D for the extra spread. The Maxx-D is no brighter per se, it just has a much wider spread so fills in a lot more of the periphery of your vision. If you ever ride on road though, the Maxx-D is a royal PITA, the Toro is a much better bet here if you plan on doing any road riding at night as it doesn’t upset the car drivers quite so much.

Thanks mboy, great info. Sounds like a really good deal, I’ll keep an eye out in summer if I’m not sorted by then.

Just for balance, i’m done with exposure lights. Too many repeated repairs for poor battery life and the reflex function failing on 2 lights. They do fix them quickly mind. The joystick is good for it’s size though.

So at exposure money I would go for four4th and for cheaper – mtb batteries. I did break my luminator recently, but it was simple enough for me to fix it myself with a bit of soldering.

But the wires! Think of the wires!

Simple answer: yes