LED Lights Review
The following photos were taken using the same camera settings as the review lights and should help put everything in some context.
First up we have a $20 Dolphin torch, as purchased from the local hardware store (yes, that’s the dim one).
Then we have my car headlights on high-beam
—that’s two 130-watt H4 halogen globes with aftermarket IPF reflectors and upgraded wiring looms.
Now check out how the tiny little LED bike lights compare...
Podium Pursuit 850 $150
Distributed by Bike Lighting (02) 4294 8548 / www.podiumlights.com.au
The off-road lighting market was once the domain of big-name brands and a few smaller ‘boutique’ lighting specialist. That was until the Chinese got wind of the market and started to pump out masses of low cost LED lights. Previously you had to budget $400-$600 for decent off-road lights, now you can hit the trails at night for around $100—love or hate these low cost lights, you can’t deny that they have been a game changer for the lighting market.
Podium Lights are Asian made but with clear design input from their Aussie creator. Podium says that the various components have been sourced from reliable manufacturers, with extra attention paid to the typical budget light shortcomings. Starting from $110 with the basic battery, they are certainly competitive on price.
Our sample featured an upgraded battery that uses higher quality Samsung cells. This option bumps the package price up to $150 but Podium says that it’s $40 well spent for regular users. The 5,200mAh battery takes the claimed runtime from 3.5 up to 4.25 hours and you also gain a 12-month warranty. Both standard and upgraded batteries feature an ABS plastic case that helps to protect from impacts and a built-in fuel gauge—just push a button and a series of small lights indicate the battery condition.
One of my bugbears with most budget lights comes with the inclusion of psychedelic flashing modes that are unavoidably placed within the standard mode sequence. In some cases you even have to turn the lights off completely before you get to high beam—you’ve gotta wonder what they were thinking! The Podium offering may be in the same budget price bracket but the mode sequence is simple and logical. One press turns it on, then it works as a basic low/high beam system—you’re never more than one click away from high beam. You won’t find flashing modes anywhere on this light. This may be a detractor for commuters but it’s perfect for mountain biking. You also get a helmet mount as standard with the kit—another worthwhile inclusion for off-road use.
While it has a good range of features for a light at any price, it isn’t without a hiccup or two. Handlebar mounting is tool-free, and achieved via a pull strap. Unfortunately the strap is made from a relatively stiff/hard material that doesn’t offer the same grip as a rubbery strap. This issue is exacerbated by the strap being a little too short for oversized 31.8mm bars. It does fit but you don’t get much strap to pull on once it is looped around the bar and fed back up through the mounting bracket. I found it easiest to do the strap up on a narrow part of the bar and then slide it into place. In any case, mounting is slower than it should be with this type of system and some effort is required to ensure that the light head doesn’t slip. At least the bracket offers side-to-side angle adjustment once mounted, so you can get the beam aimed properly on a variety of handlebar types.
Podium claims an output of 850 lumens from the single Cree MC-E LED. On the trail it produced a lot less light than the 700 lumen NiteRider Pro (also running a single large emitter). I’d compare it to most good quality 500 lumen lights in its light output. The beam pattern errs more on the side of spot than flood, which makes it better suited to helmet mounted applications. While the 150g light unit isn’t excessively heavy, the additional height created by the helmet mount does make the weight more noticeable than with lights that cut a lower profile.
Overall, the Podium is a good package that will get you onto the trail without breaking the bank. While clearly not as bright as claimed, the centre-weighted beam is bright enough for some real off-road action. You can even get a twin kit with two light heads to double the light output ($160 for the twin kit with the cheaper battery). To my thinking, the best feature is the optional battery upgrade. I know plenty of people who bought the cheap Magishine style light kits, only to have the batteries fail. While the basic Podium battery is meant to be better to begin with, I’d be taking the safer route and getting the Samsung battery upgrade. With its simple no-nonsense function, the Podium lets you hit the trail at night without crippling the bank account.
Podium Pursuit: Not 850 lumens by my reckoning but still a decent light output for real off-road use.
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Exposure Diablo Mk2 $360
Distributed by Bike Box (03) 9555 5800 / www.exposurelights.com
For years UK brand Exposure has produced convenient self-contained light kits. While not immediately obvious to some, having the battery and light all in one unit offers great freedom and numerous benefits...
Weighing just 123g all up (including the bracket), the Diablo is ideal for helmet mounting. With this light you no longer have a battery bouncing loosely inside your back pocket or need to wear a pack for battery stowage. You can also remove your pack mid-ride to get food or tools without the annoyance of a wire trying to pull your helmet off. With no wires and an effective mounting system, kitting up for a night ride becomes a hassle free process—I was more likely to actually get out the door as I could get ready quicker. Handlebar mounting is also an option (with the appropriate mount), and with no external battery, the light will fit any bike regardless of the frame shape or style. The Diablo was often chucked in with my luggage when travelling; it takes up next to no space and this allowed for the odd spur of the moment night ride whilst away. Finally, the self-contained format means that it doubles as a really powerful torch for camping or just around the house. It really is a convenient and versatile system.
All of this convenience used to be accompanied by a compromise in raw light output. Whilst good enough for off-road use, Exposure lights weren’t necessarily up there with the absolute brightest. This aspect has changed with their 2011 offerings, as most of their models have received a 30% boost in lumen output with the same burntimes. The claimed high beam output of the Diablo has gone from 700 up to 900 lumens—that’s up there with the brightest compact lights and extremely impressive when you consider the 123g total system weight.
On the trail, the new Diablo is clearly brighter than before. The beam pattern is best described as an intermediate width; it offers enough breadth for handlebar mounted use on fire trails but really comes onto its own as a helmet light. At full power it packs plenty of punch both in distance and spread, with a smooth filtering of light towards the periphery.
The output is great but you may want to reserve full-power it for descents and technical sections—while it burns bright, it also burns out in a little over an hour. Mid-beam still puts out ample light for most riding situations and goes for three-hours. Combine the two and you’ll be able to ride for a couple of hours with plenty of light. Low beam takes the burntime out to 10-hours but the output is getting pretty dim.
If the short high-beam burntime turns you off, Exposure has one more trick up their sleeve. With the addition of an optional Piggyback three cell battery pack ($130), you can get a full four-hours at 900 lumens. Sure, this means you’ll be back to having a cable attached, but the three-cell Piggyback only weighs 185g and shouldn’t be too much of a hindrance for the odd ride or two where you may need the extended burntime. Personally I’d stick to the cable free format and tone down the light output to suit the ride. I’d generally combine the Diablo with a good bar mounted light, so stepping back the power is less of an issue.
Overall, Exposure has produced a versatile lighting system with very few compromises. It packs plenty of lighting power with the sort of convenience that’ll see it used for commuting, MTBing and as a handy utilitarian torch.
Diabolo: A mid-width beam with plenty of intensity when run at full power.
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Lupine Piko 3 $395
Distributed by Virtuascape www.virtuascape.com.au
Any product from German lighting specialist Lupine, has typically sat at the upper end of the price spectrum. So what’s this—a Lupine light at the more affordable end of the scale?
The new Piko may be relatively affordable for a Lupine, but they haven’t compromised the quality to achieve this. The charger may be more simplistic than what you get with the top models, but more than anything the Piko is cheaper because it has been downsized. Where the Wilma ($785) and Betty ($1,095) feature four or seven LEDs, the Piko has just two. They are still super bright and efficient Cree XPG R5 emitters, so it still manages to pump out 550 lumens—and remember that’s 550 ‘Lupine lumens’ too. True to their factual and engineering based German design philosophy, they list the actual measured lumens, not a theoretical lumen output like many manufacturers. If they were to use the optimistic ‘theoretical’ output, the Piko would be listed here as a 900 lumen light!
Aside from the competitive price, the real appeal of the Piko lies in its diminutive size—this light is absolutely miniscule. The tiny light unit weighs just 55g including the helmet bracket while the battery is 119g. With a total weight of 188g, the entire system can be helmet mounted. You’d think that this much weight would be off-putting, but I found it less noticeable than some 150g light heads. This was due to the low profile of the fittings and because the weight is balanced from front to rear on the helmet (light head up front/battery right at the back). Lights that sit up high above your helmet make any weight far more noticeable. Fitting the Piko isn’t as quick and easy as mounting the self-contained Exposure Diablo but you gain similar benefits from not having to store a battery in your pack or pocket. In terms of beam output, full power on the Piko sits somewhere between the Diablo’s mid and high settings, but goes for twice as long as the Diablo on full power (Lupine claims 2:30 but ours consistently tested at 2:22).
While the Piko can be handlebar mounted with an optional clamp, everything about it seems tailor made for helmet mounting. Given the 550 lumen rating, the actual output is pretty impressive, but it is certainly more of a focused semi-spot beam rather than a broad spread. As good as the light is through the central area, it does have a distinct cut-off towards the sides. This style of beam lends itself to helmet mounting, as the light points where you look and the darkness around the sides becomes less of an issue. The Piko illuminates well enough to work as a stand alone light, but you’d typically expect it to see use as a supplementary helmet light and matched to a broader beam on the bars. It’s certainly a good option if you’d prefer a compact, entirely helmet mounted light, in preference to a bigger unit with long battery cord.
As mentioned before, it may be small but the Piko still has many of the features found on the more expensive Lupine kits. The backlit power button changes colour to double as a fuel gauge. It also flashes to offer an indication of the battery condition when it is first plugged in. The light head is aluminium and has an easy to use tilt adjustment. You can even customise the power outputs; selecting between two and three stage dimming as well as a two stage dimming/flashing mode for commuting. It certainly packs a lot into a little light—a really good quality compact light at a decent price point.
Lupine: Brighter than you may expect for a 550 lumen light—the Piko packs a lot into a small package.
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BBB Highpower BLS-63 $410 (Single LED Kit $280)
Distributed by Bike Sportz (03) 9586 1600 / www.BBBparts.com
BBB is not a brand that I’d typically associate with off-road lighting, but the Australian distributor was keen to have us try their new Highpower LED light set. It’s been rated as the ‘best buy’ in the German based Road Bike magazine, and the German mags don’t tend to muck around when it comes to their product reviews.
The Highpower BLS-63 is a truly modular kit. In its most basic form you get a single three-watt LED light with a super compact 133g battery. This is a handlebar mounted light but BBB also offers an optional helmet mount—the light straps to the bracket which in turn mounts to the helmet. With an all-up weight of 235g (light/bracket/battery) it is pushing the upper limits of what I’d mount to my head. Thankfully the helmet bracket is supplied with an extension lead, so you can just have the 102g light/mount on your head and pop the tiny battery in a pocket.
With a single three-watt LED set to high beam, you will get a healthy four-hour burntime, but you won’t get tons of light by modern-day MTB lighting standards. This is where the modular design again steps in. BBB also offers an upgrade kit that includes an extra light head with a splitter cable. Pop this onto your existing battery and you’ll double the light output and half the run time—we got a fraction under two hours on full power in this format.
As good as this adaptability may be, full power from the twin BBB kit still couldn’t match the light output of the other comparably priced LED lights on review. The basic BBB kit sells for $280 and the extra light with splitter is $130—that makes it a $410 light set. The BBB distributor also sells Hope Technology lights. While we only had space to include a full test on the Hope Vision Four (page XX), we did also get to check out the Vision Two. At $430, it is only $20 more than the complete BBB Highpower kit and features a compact 126g machined alloy head unit. On the trail the twin-beam Hope produced a brighter, broader beam and allowed both helmet and handlebar mounting (the BBB Highpower is handlebar-only when run as a twin set). The only obvious benefit with the BBB is that the initial $280 outlay is easier to swallow than the straight up $430 price of the Hope.
While it may be lacking in shear light output, there’s no denying that the Highpower is a tidy and easy to mount unit. The battery mounts cleanly in a range of locations, while being compact enough to fit under most stems or on frames that would typically present issues with bulkier batteries. The light heads feature tool-free rubber mounting straps that proved to be both quick to use and secure. You can even aim the beams from side to side, which can help to spread the available light across the trail, as the beam pattern is on the narrow side. For off-road use the BBB system does hit another hurdle when it comes to the mode sequence. The mode button cycles through as follows; low/high/flashing/off and then back to the low beam again. This means you need to go through flashing and ‘off’ modes whilst navigating from high beam back to low. At least this isn’t an issue in the twin format, as the other light will continue to illuminate the trail.
I can certainly see the appeal this light would hold within its intended market. The compact battery, quick mounting, easily accessible flashing mode and simplistic function would all be desirable for a commuter light. For off-road applications, I can only suggest that something like the Hope Vision Two would be a better choice.
BBB: With two LED light heads in action, the BBB Highpower produced a narrow beam that’s more geared towards road riding and commuting.
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Nightlightning MiniBlaast $489
Distributed by Nightlightning Australia 0417 692 698 / www.nightlightning.co.nz
A relatively small company based in Christchurch NewZealand, Nightlightning specialises in adventure lighting products. In addition to offering a wide range of individual lights and batteries for the DIY boffins, they also sell ready to use kits. Their range includes some pretty wild creations, like the 3,600 lumen iBlaast IX that we reviewed in MBA May/June/July 2011. This time around we are looking at the MiniBlaast; a lighter, more compact and affordable model that still offers a healthy 1,000 claimed lumen output.
Certain aspects of the Nightlightning product line seem to lack refinement and come across as being a little agricultural. The battery is a simple round fibreglass canister wrapped in a neoprene cover. Its shape is less than ideal for frame mounting while also proving more obtrusive than a flat-pack when put into a jersey pocket. The standard helmet mounting bracket is great, but handlebar mounting involves either strapping the same bracket to your bars, or bolting a secondary nylon clamp to the helmet mount—in either case it looks cobbled together. Unlike the previously reviewed iBlaast IX, the 147g MiniBlaast light is acceptably light, so stick to helmet mounting and you’ll be fine.
While the aesthetics of the MiniBlaast mightn’t be so polished, the electronics provide plenty of flexibility. You can select three different beam settings or opt for a simple low/high format. Each output level can also be adjusted to suit your needs. Beyond this, the electronics can cater for different battery types and the light features a temperature alarm that dims the output if it gets too hot. My only criticism in this area is that setting up these options is far from intuitive—you need to sit there with the instruction manual, a coffee and a good dose of patience to get it right. Electrically, the only obvious thing missing from the head unit is a fuel gauge. The MiniBlaast warns of fading battery power with a series of quick flashes—probably the best option for a helmet light, as you won’t see a gauge on the light head unless you remove your helmet.
As you’d expect with three Cree XPG emitters, the MiniBlaast is very bright. I have a feeling that their claimed output of 1,100 lumens could be a touch optimistic, but it still produces enough light to work well as a stand-alone light for off-road use. It will also run for just over three hours at full power, meaning most night rides can be tackled without touching low beam. This is probably a good thing as the mode button is pretty well hidden in the back of the light unit. It lacks tactile sense and can be hard to locate when bouncing down a dark and bumpy trail.
The beam pattern features a strong central distance throw that fades gently towards the sides without any distracting edges or cut-offs. It works very well when helmet mounted. While it may be a little rough around the edges, functionally the MiniBlaast is quite an advanced light set. It has a well rounded beam pattern, long burntime, fast three-hour recharge and custom options that allow you to tailor the output to suit your needs.
Nightlightning: A well sorted intermediate width beam pattern that’s pretty much ideal for helmet mounting.
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NiteFlux PMini 12 Wireless $500
Distributed by NiteFlux (08) 8463 1382 / www.niteflux.com
When I saw the claimed 1,000 lumen rating on this light, I couldn’t help being sceptical. How could something this small possibly produce anywhere near 1,000 lumens? I was set to be surprised. Not only did it produce enough light to put my doubts to rest, but it also had one of the best all-round beam patterns in this review.
The PMini is a brand new model from Australian brand NiteFlux and it features one of the smallest light heads that I’ve ever seen. With three tiny LEDs inside, the head weighs just 34g and mounts directly to the handlebar with a Velcro strap. It looks like one of those compact commuter LEDs that are just there to be seen, not to see with—until you switch it on that is… The simplistic handlebar mount means there is no side-to-side tilt adjustment, but this isn’t a major issue, as the light spread is broad enough to cover most minor variations in handlebar sweep.
More than anything, the compact nature of the PMini points towards it being a great helmet light. Snap the PMini onto the 20g adaptor bracket and you have a 54g helmet light. The compact size of the 146g battery nicely complements the light head. Add the two together and you have a 220g system that can be mounted entirely to your helmet. As with the Lupine Piko, the total weight may sound prohibitive but together they offset each other—the light at the front acts as a counterweight for the battery at the back. While the weight is noticeable, it never caused my helmet to creep forward like a heavier light unit can.
As you’d expect, the PMini kit also comes with an extension cord that lets you split it up and put the compact battery in your pocket. In this format I couldn’t feel the 54g light unit on my head.
Regardless of the format you choose, there’s another handy feature that makes this light even easier to use. The PMini and a number of other NiteFlux models are offered with a wireless remote switch. This small rubberised button can be strapped right next to your handlebar grip and allows you to cycle through the power modes or switch the light on and off—no more groping around for a helmet mounted switch.
In terms of raw light output, the PMini produces a really bright and broad central beam that diffuses away nicely around the fringes. What really took me was the effective spill at the sides—it almost ranks as a flood beam in this regard and provides a great sense of balance on the trail. If there’s one shortfall with this light it would have to be the burntime. We got just over 1:40 on high beam—you can’t get 1,000 lumens of trail scorching light without burning a few bickies. Thankfully the lower beam options will draw the run time out substantially while still producing some very useable light. The 500 lumen setting goes for over three hours and offers plenty of illumination for climbing and general fire trail riding.
In stock form, the PMini offers five light levels plus a flashing mode. From there you can pick and choose the modes that you want to keep and delete the rest (delete too many and you can always return to the default starting point). I liked running it as a two mode 1,000/500 lumen system for off-road use. The set-up process is quite easy, so play around and choose a light combination that suits your preferences.
Despite the tiny size and high power output, I never had any overheating problems with the PMini. NiteFlux has equipped this light with a temperature management system that throttles the light back if it gets too hot.
Overall I was very impressed with this new offering from NiteFlux. Aside from working as a great helmet light for mountain biking, it’ll work equally well as a compact commuter light on your roadie.
Niteflux: Beyond the strong central beam, the light diffuses out to the sides offering really good peripheral vision—stunning performance from such a tiny light.
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Hope Vision Four $550
Distributed by Bike Sportz (03) 9586 1600 / www.hopetech.com
ThisUKbrand carries quite a reputation in the MTB world. They’ve been making top quality gear for eons and off-road lighting is one of the things that Hope is known for. Despite Hope’s brand recognition, their product hasn’t been readily available inAustralia—not until now anyway. With a distributor on board, the full product range is now available on our shores.
The Hope line includes three models, starting with the Vision One; a self-contained 240 lumen light that’s powered by four standard AA batteries. The truly punchy off-road models begin with the 480 lumen Vision Two; a good value offering for $430. We tested their most powerful offering; the 960 lumen Vision Four. At $550 it is well priced for the claimed lumen output and you can also opt for an ‘endurance’ pack, which includes an additional battery pack for $800 all up.
Everything about the Hope product has a solid and well-built feel. The neat looking and heavily finned light head is CNC machined in theUKwith laser etched graphics. A raised and rubberised mode button makes controlling the light output easier on the trail—even with full-finger gloves. The wiring connectors are fully sealed and totally waterproof—clearly someUKdesign influence there! All kits come with three mounting options; helmet, handlebar and a ‘head harness’ that allows the light to be used for camping, caving and any other pursuit that involves getting around in the dark. The li-ion battery pack is sealed within an ABS plastic case to protect it from knocks and bumps but remains compact enough for easy frame or under-stem mounting. At least in terms of manufacturing quality, the Hope products tick all of the right boxes.
In use my main gripe lay with the beam settings, which place a flashing mode in the main beam cycle. At least it comes between full-power and low beam; so you’ll only have to flick through it as you’re needing less light, not searching for more. Changing between helmet and handlebar mounting options involves completely swapping the nylon brackets. It’s not as quick as some systems but at least the mounts are sturdy and well designed. Beyond that nitpick my final issue would be that the helmet mount puts the light up fairly high. This makes the 150g weight more noticeable and also makes it more prone to snagging overhanging branches.
Reading the Hope specs list could leave you expecting a narrow pencil beam from the Vision Four. They list it as having three 5-degree and one 15-degree lens in the quad LED cluster. While it does offer a reasonable distance throw, its strength really lays in the breadth of the beam; it filled the trail with a smooth and even spread of light that made it a favourite for technical singletrack riding. Its broad flood beam allowed the Vision Four to work really well as a handlebar light and minimised any tunnel vision effect.
I was also happy with the respectable burntime obtained from the compact four-cell battery. Hope claims 2:30 but I was getting 2:45 out of our test sample. Most night rides can be completed entirely on full power, without worrying about the four power levels and the flashing mode. The Vision Four is clearly a serious piece of kit and a great example of Pommy engineering.
Hope claims a 960 lumen output but it was brighter than the 1,000 lumen plus offerings from many other brands.
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Radical Chutta $730
Distributed by Radical Lights (02) 8006 2991 / www.radical-lights.com
Previously we’ve reviewed the Podda model from Radical lights. This time around it’s the Chutta on test; the smaller brother of the popular Podda. Where the Podda runs a 1,375 lumen four LED light head, the Chutta is said to produce 910 lumens with a small three LED cluster. It is also around $220 cheaper than their top-end offering.
While it costs less, the Chutta is not a cheaper quality unit—it utilises the same design ideas, construction methods and general features. The Aussie made light head is made from CNC machined aluminium and you can choose from a range of anodised finishes—you can even get custom multi-hue versions with a different colour on the back cover. It comes standard with brackets for helmet or handlebar mounting and the fittings are all top-notch. The helmet mount is of particular interest; it is a simple foam backed carbon fibre plate that discards any form of tilt adjustment to minimise weight and to cut a lower profile. Altering the beam angle involves positioning the light in just the right spot on the helmet.
You’d think the five different power levels offered on the Chutta would get confusing, but the mode button works in a very intuitive way. Wherever you are in the power settings, a quick tap of the mode button makes the light brighter while holding the button in briefly dims the beam—both simple and effective with no surprise flashing modes to put you off. Commuters can also access a single flashing mode if they want.
This light also has two ways of keeping you informed of the battery condition whilst on the trail. To start with the small ‘battery status’ LED in the back of the light head changes colour as the battery loses power, but the main LEDs will also fire off a rapid flash sequence that you’ll see if the light is helmet mounted.
In previous radical light reviews I’ve commented on the quality of light that they produce. Some lights punch a hugely bright beam down the centre of the trail, only to leave the sides of the track dark and poorly lit. The brightness of the centre section may look impressive but your eyes wind up working harder to adjust to the widely varied light levels across the trail. Radical lights always seem to produce a smooth beam that illuminates the trail in an even manner, and this was definitely the case with the Chutta.
We had the ‘intermediate’ beam on review. It spills a very even light across the trail in a broad flood beam. It is very similar to the intermediate Podda beam in this regard (reviewed in MBA May/June/July 2011), except the Chutta only has 910 lumens to spread around. As a result the intermediate Chutta is really lacking in distance throw for mid to high-speed trails. It makes a great bar mounted flood for climbing and slower singletrack but it left me wishing for more once the trail opened up.
Another oddity of this light became apparent when helmet mounted. Whilst it will vary from one helmet to the next, the light needs to be fitted towards the middle or rear of most helmets to get the beam pointing down the trail rather than down at the ground. In this location and with such a broad flood, I found that my own helmet/peak would cast a shadow immediately in front of my wheel that was rather off-putting. If you want to run the Chutta on your head, I’d suggest that the narrow beam option is the go, and that way you’ll gain more distance sight to boot.
Aside from the lower price, I’d really question the benefit of the Chutta over the previously reviewed Podda. Sure the light head is a touch smaller but it isn’t much lighter (111g versus 119g according to our scales). Both lights also utilise the same size battery, so there’s no advantage there either. Yes, the Chutta lasts longer on full power but the lower power levels on the Podda can go for up to 25-hours, so I don’t think that’s a good reason either.
Maybe we have been spoiled by our previous use of the Podda, as it’s such an impressive light. Radical undoubtedly has some of the best beam patterns in the game and the Chutta holds true to this. It has a smooth, broad spread that falls very naturally on the trail, it just needs a little more power to carry it off properly. I’d only suggest that the narrow pattern may be a safer bet in the Chutta if your budget doesn’t stretch all the way to the $949 Podda.
No central hot-spot, just an even flood of light that’s very easy for your eyes to adjust to—if only it packed a little more distance throw.
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Niterider Pro 700 $899
Distributed by JetBlack Products (02) 4560 1200 / www.jetblackproducts.com
The NiteRider Pro 700 is based directly on last year’s Pro 600. It uses the same Seoul P7 emitter but puts out an extra 100 lumens compared to before (700 lumens versus 600). The other change for 2011 relates to the battery, which is now offered in two versions. You can order it in either standard format with a six-cell battery (unchanged from 2010), or with a new lighter four-cell battery.
NiteRider lights are generally recognised as being sturdy and well built but a bit porky. The Race battery saves 100g and takes the battery weight down to 376g—not exactly featherweight but a step in the right direction for gram chasers and racers out there. Naturally the smaller battery compromises the burntime, and their claimed figure drops by an hour to 2:40 on full power, although the most we got in testing was 2:17. Using the lowest power output can extend this figure to 32 hours. More realistic use of the power options will safely provide you with three to four hours of decent light from this newer, lighter battery.
Speaking of power management, this is one area where NiteRider really trumps the competition. A few light systems allow you to select the number of beam options, maybe you can even choose how much light is produced in each setting, but this is invariably achieved via some longwinded button pressing process. NiteRider has made their Pro light models far more user friendly with their DIY software. With the program downloaded from www.niterider.com you just plug the battery into the charging dock and you’ll have all the information displayed in an easy to digest format. Select the number of beams and the intensity of each. As you do this, the program updates the burntime for each mode and displays it in a graph. You can even set up a number of different profiles within the program; load a commuting profile with high-visibility flashing modes for getting to work, then swap to a simple low/high beam for an off-road ride.
NiteRider rates this as a 700 lumen light, yet it is brighter than other lights that claim to be 800-900 lumens. The beam has a central hot-spot that travels a long way down the trail. Rather than filtering gradually away to the sides, the focussed spot is surrounded by a reasonably large halo of light. While I wouldn’t call it a broad beam, the outer halo is evenly lit and covers a good cross-section of the trail. My only gripe with the beam pattern relates to the sudden cut-off around the fringe where everything just goes black. It creates a defined ring of light that stops some way in front of your front wheel. While you do tend to get used to it, having your front wheel rolling into darkness can be a little disconcerting and the compromised peripheral vision can make you feel less ‘balanced’. Combine the Pro 700 on your head with a flood beam on the bars and you’ll be set. In the end it’s a matter of give and take; limiting the spill around the edge means less waste and more light concentrated within the main halo, and this produces a brighter beam for the lumens on offer.
Everything about the NiteRider kit is solid and functional. The handlebar mount fits a broad range of handlebar diameters without the need for easy to lose shims or spacers. It’s also a tool free mount with an oversized wing-nut that is easy to handle whilst wearing full-finger gloves. Swapping between the supplied helmet and handlebar mounts is again a quick tool-free procedure. You also get an eight step fuel gauge on the light head and a speedy three-hour recharge time. While it may not be the lightest or most compact unit on the market, it works well in adverse conditions with a minimum of fuss—these are the traits that have earned NiteRider such a solid name in the upper end of the light market.
Heaps of light down the guts of the trail with an excellent distance throw.
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Note: All of the night time trail photos were taken on a Canon 5D (28mm lens) with a 20 second exposure at F9 and an ISO of 400. Ten reflectors on the trail are spaced at 10 metre intervals so the furthest is 100m away from the light. These images were taken on the same night as our last lighting feature. While they should allow for some comparison from one magazine to the next, there may still be variations due to different print runs.
