Best winter Road li...
 

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[Closed] Best winter Road light ?

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I have always used Exposure MTB lights and have a Maxx D and Joystick setup. Neither are great on my local road rides - very dark country B roads so looking to get a road specific one. Exposure Strada is obvious choice, anything else I should be looking at ? Need lots of light and 2 hrs of it.


 
Posted : 08/09/2020 8:28 pm
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Love my strada, use it for nearly every ride. Remote is excellent too


 
Posted : 08/09/2020 8:36 pm
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^^^ good to know, thanks. Is the SB version worth the extra £40 ?


 
Posted : 08/09/2020 8:44 pm
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Yep, Strada for me too. Brilliant beam pattern that illuminates the road far better than other, supposedly more powerful lights. Worth the outlay.i went for the middle RS.


 
Posted : 08/09/2020 8:47 pm
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I use the Moon Meteor Storm, does 2 hours on max setting, only £90.

https://www.bikeradar.com/reviews/accessories/lights/front-light/moon-meteor-storm-pro-front-light-review/


 
Posted : 08/09/2020 8:54 pm
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B&M with the German road legal beam - brightest you can find in the charging format you prefer.


 
Posted : 08/09/2020 9:30 pm
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I have the Exposure Strada SB. Really like it, but I got an upgrade from my previous Strada which died and Exposure couldn’t fix. They gave me a good deal on a trade in type arrangement, old one had been dropped one too many times

My previous one was 1000 lumens on max, think it was the Mk6. new one is also 1000 lumens so not sure what the difference is apart from looking a bit newer and having some coloured LEDs on the back. Battery life seems better even though on paper it’s the same

But overall still happy with it and would definitely recommend. It’s my MTB light and my road light. Pre Covid was used for commuting mainly but now is for tame, local night rides on my MTB


 
Posted : 08/09/2020 10:03 pm
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Remember that the B&M german approved ones don't need to be as powerful as they concentrate all of the beam to where you need it.


 
Posted : 08/09/2020 10:16 pm
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Thanks folks, Strada SB ordered..


 
Posted : 08/09/2020 10:40 pm
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Strada is brilliant but no simple way to mount to aero bars. You can get a mount that bolts onto the stem, but that's it.

They do a GoPro adapter but it's a brave person who bolts a Strada onto anything that's sticking out from the bars (I imagine metal fatigue or stripped threads in the mount will be the undoing). K-Edge strongly recommended against it when I asked.

I find it a bit frustrating - there are loads of bikes now with mounting points for computers. Why Exposure can't just make a mount that securely fastens the light underneath and takes a Garmin on top, I have no idea.

The Strada is a wonderful light, which is why it annoys me every time I look at mine and can't use it on my bike. eBay beckons I suppose.


 
Posted : 09/09/2020 10:19 pm
 gray
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I use a GoPro mount for my Strada (on Canyon aero bars), I think you're worrying too much!


 
Posted : 09/09/2020 11:34 pm
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Another Strada user here. Makes sense if you already run other Exposure lights too as you can just leave the mounts on the bikes and bang any of the lights on any of them when needed.


 
Posted : 10/09/2020 6:03 am
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I use a GoPro mount for my Strada (on Canyon aero bars), I think you’re worrying too much!

I've not figured out a way to do this yet. The K-Edge in-line mount contains a specific exclusion for mounting stuff underneath using a GoPro adapter following a series of failures.


 
Posted : 10/09/2020 8:25 am
 gray
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I’ve not figured out a way to do this yet. The K-Edge in-line mount contains a specific exclusion for mounting stuff underneath using a GoPro adapter following a series of failures.

There are a couple of ways for the Canyon bars. I have the Canyon Garmin mount, with a GoPro mount underneath (was about £5 from eBay, just bolts underneath straight up into the Garmin quarter turn disc bit). The Garmin mount itself bolts to the bars with tiny bolts though, so I'm not keen on putting too much weight on that so tend to stick a smaller light on there. I also have the Raceware GoPro mount to go on the bars themselves:
https://www.racewaredirect.co/shop/gopro-bar-mount-canyon-h11-bars/
And on that I've got the newish Exposure GoPro mount thingy:
https://exposurelights.com/products/bike/3prong-action-camera-to-exposure-cleat
...so I mount my Strada to that.

They also do this thing to bolt the light directly onto the GoPro mount but I prefer the quick release doodah:
https://exposurelights.com/products/bike/brackets-and-mounts/light-mount-for-action-camera-bracket

I used it this very morning - works perfectly.


 
Posted : 10/09/2020 9:10 am
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Strada question- would the 600 be okay, assuming the dipped one is 300lm, and I’ll be dipped mostly.
The B&M beam pattern look pretty much perfect, so I’m thinking about this as the other option.
My current light is good- Moon lx360 but I fancy a treat, to entice me back to winter commuting, it’s 20 miles each way, half on unlit fast country A road.


 
Posted : 08/11/2020 8:01 am
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I'll just throw the Ravemen PR1600 into the mix, I've just brought one and it seems pretty good to me. Has a road beam & "high beam" than can be controlled on the light or wireless button on the bars.

http://www.ravemen.com/product/PR1600.html

Picked mine up for £98.


 
Posted : 08/11/2020 8:28 am
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Yeah that was in the mix too. What is the dipped pattern like?


 
Posted : 08/11/2020 8:44 am
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+1 PR1600

https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/ravemen-pr1600-bike-light-mini-review/

@qwerty £98 seems a good price, looking at switching my 900. Any deals around still?


 
Posted : 08/11/2020 9:42 am
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I’ve pushed the button on the B&M 150lux jobbie. I’d talked myself out of it till the wife said ‘haven’t you got a bike light’ she obviously wants me dead.


 
Posted : 08/11/2020 11:25 pm
 four
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I have a Maxx D and Joystick too.

They work well for me for different rides, more open areas with some ba kground light and the Joy stick does the job. Isolated proper country lanes and I take the Maxx D.


 
Posted : 08/11/2020 11:30 pm
 imn
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@jkomo - a bit late now you've ordered, but I think you've made the right choice. I have a Strada 600 and (dynamo) B&M IQ-X. The Strada's ok, but the way B&M shape the beam makes it seem a lot brighter and easier to ride at speed.


 
Posted : 09/11/2020 8:43 am
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+1 ^

Although not as square a pattern as the B+M I’ve also found the Ravemen PR to be excellent all round, but especially in the winter. It has a slightly warm white light which penetrates through the fog/cloud/mist and in general puts the light where I want it (projected evenly on the road-surface ahead) rather than creating a dazzling orb of glare. After using MTB lights and/or generic lights marketed as ‘commuting’ lights for decades I never fully realised how tiring it was for my eyes and brain to be constantly peering/squinting into a glare from my own light.

I also tried the Moon Dual before getting a light with a cutoff beam and while it had a warmer spectrum than most, the beam-pattern was still just a cone-shaped/round MTB-style which sort of defeats the purpose of a road light.

Maybe ebikes will help usher in better road-lights and there will be more choice looking ahead? 🥁


 
Posted : 09/11/2020 11:01 am
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@imn, thank goodness for that!
It’s a ten mile stretch of unlit country ‘A’ road so I think I deserve it! The beam pattern they show on the website looks better than both my cars.
£135 or so from Germany makes it not a lot more than the Ravemen. Because of fairly constant traffic I would have it on dip the whole time anyway so I might keep the moon to give a quick eye level blip to motorists.
There’s an exposure Link on helmet and Tracr at the rear so I think I’m pretty much done, and covered if anything fails mid ride.


 
Posted : 09/11/2020 1:36 pm
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Well, it arrived today so 4 days from Germany using bike discount.de free postage.
So far, shining it up the garden it does look like the pics- very bright with a complete cut off line. No remote switch, but unnecessary as it has plenty of throw from what I can tell. Looking forward to trying it.


 
Posted : 13/11/2020 10:45 pm
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I've seen several lights which have a dip mode but, as the word dip is in quotes, I suspect that they actually mean 'dim'
If the beam pattern is good enough, it wall already be dipped


 
Posted : 14/11/2020 11:32 am
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Yeah that’s what I thought, I’d be in dipped mode the whip tide.


 
Posted : 14/11/2020 2:10 pm

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