High power helmet lights - Diablo/Zenith/Scorch QR?

I've got one of the older cylindrical Lezyne microdrive things and it's perfect for helmet use. I don't think they've been available for a while now but there is this updated model:

https://ride.lezyne.com/collections/led-lights-performance/products/helmet-lite-drive-1000

Scorch would be my choice. And if you have some rides that are longer, then get 2 batteries, so you can leave it on high the entire time and battery swap mid ride. The scorch does fit an exposure mount if you prefer them.

The battery run times on the scorch are about right. I runtime tested 4 and they all went a bit over the stated times.

With one of those and the bar light I think you are in danger of setting trees on fire as you ride through the woods!

I’ve got one of the older cylindrical Lezyne microdrive things and it’s perfect for helmet use. I don’t think they’ve been available for a while now but there is this updated model:

Looks decent but tbh to even start to compete with the supernova that is the Magicshine 8000 I'm looking at around 2000lm for the helmet light, also means if I'm at anything less than full power on both I'll get hours of burn time.

Cheers though!

The battery run times on the scorch are about right. I runtime tested 4 and they all went a bit over the stated times.

Excellent, tbh my night rides are typically no longer than 2hrs and obviously I won't need full power for all of that so if it's a true 1.5hr on full that should seem me through easily.

With one of those and the bar light I think you are in danger of setting trees on fire as you ride through the woods!

But think of the lumens you'd get, a decent forest fire must be visible from space surely?

Not a criticism of the op, but seriously who needs or even wants 8k lumens?

Yes my old mk3 maxx d is a bit meagre without a head torch but that's half of what makes night rides enjoyable, you get to see things (literally) in a different light to day rides and things you wouldn't otherwise see, like the couple of badgers and an otter I saw on my last outing, which would have scarpered long before an 8k light would have [s] illuminated [/s] sublimated them.

FWIW op, I've got a Diablo I use as my head lamp, it spends most of the ride in low**, which is fine* for most woodsy singletrack, medium of its reasonably technical and kicked up to max for a couple of really awkward bits. Lasts me 3-4 hours of ride then a few more because I forget to charge it.

*well until someone turns up with 8k strapped to their bars and burns out my retinas.

**it's a sync one so low is set to 8hrs, medium 2.5, high 35 minutes and whatever luminosity that translates to

Agreed 8000 is probably overkill for most riding, however they have switches which means I can turn them down 👍

I probably won't run either the main or head torch at full power that often (once the initial honeymoon phase is over) but it's nice to have that capacity if needed.

The only one I've used is my Diablo which is about 10 years old. It still works like brand new and is more than enough light to use on it's own most of the time.

As above, I prefer my night rides to be a little darker than a day ride.

I have never ridden with a helmet light - as I worry about the effect they might have if you crash ( ripping your head back / to the side). Is this just me being over cautious?

Magicshine rn1500 with a magicshine helmet mount is great.

1500 lumen for 1hr 40min (genuine run time IME).

I used my RN1500 on the bars for an mtb night ride this morning. It's an incredible little thing.

https://magicshineuk.com/product/magicshine-rn-1500-colour-bike-headlight/

https://magicshineuk.com/product/helmet-mount/

I have never ridden with a helmet light – as I worry about the effect they might have if you crash ( ripping your head back / to the side). Is this just me being over cautious?

Just get an Exposure light. They work very well and the helmet mount is so flimsy, it'll snap off before doing your head any damage.,

I have never ridden with a helmet light – as I worry about the effect they might have if you crash ( ripping your head back / to the side). Is this just me being over cautious?

That's why I don't want a GoPro sticky mount, the exposure helmet mount has a breakaway bolt connecting it which would shear off in a crash.

I have never ridden with a helmet light – as I worry about the effect they might have if you crash ( ripping your head back / to the side). Is this just me being over cautious?

Yes. My Diablo will pop out of the mount long before it rips my head off.

Given the choice between only a bar or helmet light, helmet every time. Then the light is wherever you look, not just where your bike is pointing.

The Diablo is a good buy for that money, and works well for me in terms of light.

But even switching modes for climbs, etc. I struggle to get much more than 2hrs or 2.5hrs out of it for a winter night ride.

Rarely an issue in practice, but just saying in case you like long night rides.

Diablo is cheap on CRC at the mo. However, could you even tell you had it on alongside that Magicshine thing? I have to have mine in a setting which doesn't offer proper max power to make run time manageable. Like that it's a shade on the weak side alongside my 6 pack, but is the best compromise I've found for the kit I have and is overall plenty good enough. Add in the reliability, longevity and service support from Exposure and it works for me. Zenith would probably be better but probably not enough better to change.

4rd winter on a diablo

It's been ace!

Yes. My Diablo will pop out of the mount long before it rips my head off.

I once spent an hour in the pouring rain cycling back to where I knew I'd caught mine on a tree (before it got dark so not switched on) then best part of half an hour in the (now) pitch dark and pouring rain trying to find mine which was about a month old at the time.

Finally had a bright idea (pun intended), I could connect to it with the app so knew it was there somewhere but couldn't see it even when I switched it on so gave up and dejectedly pedalled home feeling £250 lighter.

Noticed my arse was getting really hot about 15 minutes later.
Bloody thing had dropped into the open pocket of my Waterproof and was now melting it to my back!

But even switching modes for climbs, etc. I struggle to get much more than 2hrs or 2.5hrs out of it for a winter night ride.

This could be the decider - looking at a few reviews the next level down from full on the diablo is half power so 900lm, which gives 3hrs run time.

Compare that to a similar 700lm for the scorch with 4hr 20m run time - plus the ability to carry extra swappable batteries - if I ever wanted to do a long night ride of 4-5hrs on either light I'd need the exposure support cell or an extra battery for the scorch but the scorch system is better, and of course it'll last longer (on the same output) to start with.

On the other hand, if the Diablo doesn't turn out to have enough juice, you can probably sell it for close to what you paid at sale price.

But if I were doing a 4hr ride, I'd probably only switch it on for the descents.

On the other hand, if the Diablo doesn’t turn out to have enough juice, you can probably sell it for close to what you paid at sale price.

That's true, checking eBay - anything from £100 upwards to £150 or more for a used diablo recent version. And a long night ride will generally have less technical riding/more climbing.

This could be the decider – looking at a few reviews the next level down from full on the diablo is half power so 900lm, which gives 3hrs run time.

Just change the program to one that gives what you need in terms of run time.

You'd be surprised how much longer battery life is at even marginally lower output and how little perceptible difference there is between 700 & 900lm.

Also comparing lm from one light to another isn't really very helpful.
Even if the outputs are accurate beam pattern and colour make a huge difference - car headlights manage to be very bright at about 2k lumens on high beam by having a decent spread.

That’s true, checking eBay – anything from £100 upwards to £150 or more for a used diablo recent version. And a long night ride will generally have less technical riding/more climbing.

I'm guilty of assuming everyone else does winch-and-plummet style riding, but for southern singletrack people might need the helmet light on all the time.

Just change the program to one that gives what you need in terms of run time.

Actually I should try this, yeah 😀

Wiggle have the newest diablo Mk13 for an extra £14 now too at £154, I think that settles it. Only 100lm more but may as well have the latest version as there's probably other refinements they've made to it.

but for southern singletrack people might need the helmet light on all the time.

Anyone who rides with a helmet light on tarmac needs a slap.

I've got an Exposure Six Pack on the bars (about 5k lumens I think) and run a Diablo as a Helmet light. The Diablo gives off more than enough light and as has been said, rarely gets put in full power mode. If anything happened to the Diablo I'm confident that Exposure would sort it for me. They usually respond very quickly if you need to contact them.

Diablo is rubbish as a helmet light as it is too big. The two I had did not make their run times either.

Now have a scorch. Much better but not perfect. The touch lens switch is fiddly. Mounting wise they do a running kit as extra that allows remote mounting of the battery. This means using the cable from that kit you can mount the battery low at the back and driver low at the front. Ni need for sticky mounts and results in a nicely balanced helmet without a light stuck out the top.

Anyone who rides with a helmet light on tarmac needs a slap.

????

No tarmac on most of my night rides.

I'm talking about the technical bits all being downhill for me.

When I lived down south, it was more flat/undulating and twisty - so needed helmet light on all the time.

@cha****ng

I belive you mentioned southern singletrack, I assumed you meant tarmac.

I have a Scorch. It is bright but I prefer my Joystick. In theory it has fewer lumens than the Scorch, but they are more focused so the beam is more penetrating.

I'd be tempted with the Diablo, on the Tuesday bargain page. Although I've never tried one

https://knl.mntzrlt.net/shop-rest/api/link/wrapper/1479/12?mk=GBP_EN&su=https%3A%2F%2Fpublishers.monetizer101.com%2Fhub%2Flink-generator%2Findex.html&tu=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.chainreactioncycles.com%2Fexposure-diablo-mk12-front-bike-light%2Frp-prod191356

Toro on the bars and my 1 zenith on the lid. Piggy back battery pack in the pack
Just in case 😉
Works well on “medium” for most rides.

I’ve used a Scorch on my helmet for years. The touch on/off/mode function is a ball ache because my gloves are never that conductive. Otherwise it is a great light.

I’ve used a Scorch on my helmet for years. The touch on/off/mode function is a ball ache because my gloves are never that conductive. Otherwise it is a great light.

Do your gloves have the tech threads? If the scorch touch control can be unreliable that's another vote for the exposure.

I'm going to get out tomorrow evening for an hour now it's finally stopped raining, I've not actually used the Magicshine properly yet.

@therevokid how do you find the toro for mtb? Keep toying with the idea of replacing my aged maxx d with one as I don't need all the extra lumen of the newer version but wouldn't mind a bit more oomph and the lower price tag of the toro

Diablo is cheap on CRC at the mo. However, could you even tell you had it on alongside that Magicshine thing?

Diablo and 8000 in use in this video:

Diablo and 8000 in use in this video:

Bloody Hell, I can see it reflecting off a distant planet

Bloody Hell, I can see it reflecting off a distant planet

That's not the sun's light reflecting off the moon...

I take two joysticks and switch after about an hour or so if on high power and two hours on low. The spare is easily carried. This for road rides of three to four hours but I’ve also used for night off-road rides with a modest 440lu strada. I’ve found that’s enough light. I thought the Diablo was too big.

how do you find the toro for mtb?

I have the Toro, it's fine for MTBing solo with the Diablo on my helmet.

If I'm riding with others, I sometimes have to go behind so my relatively puny light doesn't get drowned out by others' mobile floodlights.

That’s not the sun’s light reflecting off the moon…

I think moon is a different brand.

If I’m riding with others, I sometimes have to go behind so my relatively puny light doesn’t get drowned out by others’ mobile floodlights

The upside is even in the depths of winter if there are more than two of those riders ahead of you the trail is bone dry by the time you get there.

Things have really moved on, I have an old Joystick for helmet use that is 400 lumens!

Looks decent but tbh to even start to compete with the supernova that is the Magicshine 8000 I’m looking at around 2000lm for the helmet light, also means if I’m at anything less than full power on both I’ll get hours of burn time.

Nothing is competing with the 8000.... but it doesn't need to it just needs to see round corners

I run my 6500 on 1/2 power unless it's a jump session with the long/wide all set equally... and I'm now using a 800lm olight on my head. It's not much dispersion but doesn't really matter as the magicshine flood fills anyway..

True, the helmet light is mainly for tight corners, getting rid of shadows, and as a backup in case my main light runs out/stops working.

My Scorch replaced a joystick which TBH I thought was poor - thought about a Diablo but at the time the Scorch was a better deal and runtime is much better. On/off can be a faff in gloves but TBH I normally just switch it on when I get off road and leave it - the runtime is more than enough

True, the helmet light is mainly for tight corners, getting rid of shadows, and as a backup in case my main light runs out/stops working.

When I have my 6500 on 1/2 power and turn on the head one I don't think I can even see the difference...
We played at being 10yr old boys last week and did a descent on head torches only... and the 800 was OK... IMHO anything heavier and either the mount is going to come off or its going to kill you in a crash...

If you REALLY wanted more light then the magicshine sale at the moment has the
https://magicshine.com/collections/helmetlights/products/mj-902s-bike-light-headlight.. which of course you'd need to secure the battery but would give you double redundancy (able to swap batteries etc)

But honestly I'd suggest you try the 8500 first... I honestly find my 6500 on a bit over 1.2 power more than enough for where the bars are pointing and just need a focused beam where my head points.

Tried the 8000 tonight and it is very bright, but I still want a helmet light - for when I don't really need full power, for looking into the woods right and left for trails/wildlife, as a backup to the main light, for doing stuff not in front of the bike (checking shoes for dog ****, even putting my phone in my pocket was hard with almost no light). Plus for when a leaf falls down just in your peripheral vision you can check it was actually a leaf and not a goblin about to chase you downand eat you.

I got the Diablo from CRC for £130 (had a 10 off voucher). I ended up sending it back due to it being pretty poor VFM even at that price. Beam pattern is fine if it’s your only light and you want something floody, however I run a bar light and the Diablo was completely lost - could hardly tell if it was off or on, never mind what mode it was in.

The run time was also disappointing on the Diablo, I got about 45mins on full (so didn’t last a 3 hour ride switching between modes)

I ended up with a moon vortex pro for about £34, similar output but a tighter beam, better run times for about a quarter of the price. The vortex also takes spare batteries (£20) that are dead easy to swap so you don’t have to mess about with the exposure piggy back/support cell nonsense.