[Closed] Hope lights - any good?

I have a Hope Vision 4 that is over 10 years old. It is still my go to front light for the woods and works as new.
Mrs Wachowchow has one also. It stopped working a few years ago, sent it to Hope and they repaired it free of charge, no questions. It was returned within the week.
I would always buy Hope again, if I needed to.

I’ve an R8+ on bars and R2 on my helmet. They aren’t the lightest (lol), but they are amazing lights. Get as bigger battery pack as you can too.

Burn time is good, though I haven’t used them this winter as I’ve been injured since sept 😕 you get an hour+ on highest setting, but then it defaults to mid after that, which is plenty, for another 2 or 3 IIRC.

Thanks.
Can you get extension cables - thinking of not having the helmet light battery pack on the helmet.

I've got a Vision 4 that's about 6 yrs old but never been used, just tested & charged occasionally.
(not a stealth ad BTW, this thread has just reminded me that It's sitting in a drawer in the garage)
Message me if your'e interested in buying it.

My second winter of R4+ and really liking it. A good bar light. If I was to buy a helmet light it would be more of a spotlight and with integrated battery.

Can you get extension cables – thinking of not having the helmet light battery pack on the helmet.

The Hope lights come with pretty much everything: handlebar mount; helmet mount; head harness; battery; charger; extension lead.

My wife has an R4, the weight's fine for a helmet mounted light - lighter than a Joystick for example.

Re extension leads, yeah, it comes with them. On the helmet light I have the battery in my jacket pocket, then run the cable thru the jacket up to the helmet.

Thanks again.
@whitestone With the R4 have you gone for the 4 cell or 2 cell pack?

Also another question - are the switches on the lamps or the batteries?

Lamps

I have an r8 and the light is amazing. The bracket on the other hand is rubbish. It's the same as the other hope lights with a qr sprung loaded bayonet, however the extra weight of the light on the r8 means that the light moves/rattles around when riding down rough stuff. I've mostly sorted mine by bodging some cable ties around the mount to support it better but it's an annoying bodge to have to make.

They are good but really for that money I don’t see a reason not to go for Exposure lights. If you’re really on a budget then the separate battery/head unit brings the price down but at the higher end just go for Exposure.

I don’t see a reason not to go for Exposure

External battery means you can carry extra ones for if you are out longer than 1 battery lasts.

Thanks again.
Budget wise I can get both hopes for not much more than one Exposure.

Second winter with an R8+ here, faultless & wide light beam. However long lead will reduce burn time. I'm using their 2 cell battery to power an economy helmet light. Also use the 2cell with R8 for that last dark half hour on early summer rides... Runs on medium setting for 30 - 40 mins & weighs lots less!

Like Jef I have a Hope Vision 2 that is over 10 years old, it is my go to front light for commuting through the woods and works as new...............

Budget wise I can get both hopes for not much more than one Exposure.

Quick search around and you can get the latest Maxx-D and Joystick for a little over £25 more than the Hope lights linked at Evans. I know which I'd rather (and do) have. Don't get me wrong I like Hope kit, both MTBs have Hope brakes, BB's, Hubs and headsets, but for me, there is nothing than Exposure.

I had a quick play with the Hopes and they are decent, but the cable-less design of the Exposures is far better imo. The run time on the R8+ looks pretty poor too. 1 hour on full power? Also baffles me a little how they claim 4000 lumens and then 2 sentences later it states 3000 lumens measured? Same for the R4, claims 2000 lumens in the title yet says only 1500 in the description> My Maxx-D has 3300 lumens in the Reflex mode and I can get 3 hours out of it, easily. No brainer for me! Get a Maxx-D and a Joystick and you won't go wrong, they are genuinely brilliant lights!

@dirkpit74 - all our batteries are the 2 cell versions. My light is the Vision 2 so will be over ten years old - I got it for nighttime fell running (we are fairly local to Hope and there was a good deal going when they were released).

The Vision 2 has a now paltry 800 lumens (or something like that) so is totally outshone (sic) by newer lights. I've a Joystick and there's not much difference in brightness or coverage. Both have their uses - I'll be using the Hope in Finland in a few weeks' time in a race when having the battery on or close to your body is very useful (it's currently -20C out there!). I use the Joystick on things like the HT550 where you don't need a huge amount of light, just enough to keep moving, so with it on the lowest setting (works out at something like 90 lumens) it will last the four or five nights.

I do need to get some new batteries for the Hope - the last time I was in Finland I put them in the hold luggage by mistake and they got confiscated - doh!

External battery means you can carry extra ones for if you are out longer than 1 battery lasts.

You can have extra external batteries for Exposure too for rides you know will be too long for the internal runtime. But the rest of the time you have self enclosed and no awkward batteries and cables, and you’re buying extra batteries whatever.

I kindof agree that I see the value proposition of separate lamp heads and cellpacks to keep cost down, but integrated units have come so far that the Hope units look a bit odd and expensive now I think. Obviously that doesn’t affect the great units already out there, but Hope aren’t alone with customer service and long lasting product - Exposure get this too. Personal opinion, obviously but I think Hope are trading on their name a bit in the lighting market these days.

@vincienup - I pretty much agree with that, but the Vision 2 still works fine and does what I want it to so until it breaks I'll keep using it.

Buying new I don't think I'd get Hope lights and like @lawman91 I've lots of Hope kit on my bikes.

Also baffles me a little how they claim 4000 lumens and then 2 sentences later it states 3000 lumens measured?

4000 is the lab conditions, theoretical maximum. 3000 is what they actually measured at. Guess which figure most other manufacturers use.

i've always assummed exposure state the theoretical maximum.
had 3 years use out of my hope R4+ but decided this year i wanted a built in battery so bought a six pack. the hope is a perfectly good light, i just wanted more power and to get rid of the external battery/cables.

I have an R4, great light, hugely versatile on bike and off bike (use the lamp for running, illuminating gazebos in the summer, general all purpose lamp). I have had it 5-6 year, its been back to hope a couple of times, once when my son out of curiosity pulled the rubber wire protector out of the lamp, 2nd time battery rubber wire protector had shifted slightly. On each occasion hope have lived upto to their legendary levels of customer service, repairing the items and sending them back within days. Cannot fault the product or the company, and I cannot think of another company who fix/repair outside of any warranty period with no quibble like hope. Any lamp is going to get abuse on and off the bike, so knowing you get this kind of back up is priceless. Lancashire Legends!

i have heard exposure are as good as hope for customer service, i do need to send my R4+ to hope before i sell it as the wire has nearly broken coming out of the back of the light.
don't think you can go wrong with either really.

Yep never faulted exposure custody service. Only used it twice but great both times.