2009 LED Bike Lights Comprehensive Review - Sport Lights
By James Sharp

Review Navigation
Introduction
Beginner
- Sport
Expert

Sport Lights Navigation
Hope Vision 4
Princeton Tec Switchback 3
DiNotte Lighting 400L
Ay-Up MTB Kit
Exposure MaXx-D
Summary

Hope Technology Vision 4
(click here to view the images and graphs for this light)
In many ways, the Hope Technology Vision 4 was a surprise. I was surprised by the price--especially considering how poorly the Dollar is fairing against the British Pound--it's the least expensive of the 4-Emitter lights. I was surprised by what the light came with--our review sample came with a head strap in the box, an option with other lights, as well as a helmet mount, handlebar mount and charger. I was not surprised by the quality feel and excellent machining that is a Hope trademark. The light head is as well machined as their brakes and their hubs.

Unlike the other quad array lights, Hope uses a diffuser lens in front of the other lenses. While this does cut down a little on the intensity--not that we missed it--it helped to spread out the beam, eliminating the usual spot in the middle and making a nice even spread of light. Unfortunately, you can't have your cake and eat it too and making the light spread out so nicely prevents it from projecting as far down the road or trail as it might have otherwise done. This might not be a bad thing if all of your riding is on tight singletrack, but if you get a chance to open it up on a down hill, you'll find that you can outrun the throw.

The mount is easy to use, and included various rubber spacers that adapt the mount to the various sizes of handlebars. The spacers stay in well, but can be a bit of a pain if you swap between different sized handlebars frequently. The mount features a quick release lever for easy on and easy off. The button is located on the back and is easy to find, easy to push and... well... just easy to use.

The battery is not bad for a light that draws this kind of power, lasting a hair over 2 hours and 45 minutes. It's also not very big, physically, so if you don't need super long run time, you won't have to lug a big battery up the hills. In fact, it's on par with the other 4-LED lights in this review.

Hope uses an elastic Velcro strap to hold the battery in place... I wish they hadn't. A non-elastic strap would have been easier to get tight, eliminating the battery bounce that I kept trying so hard to get rid of. Just a standard nylon webbing with Velcro please. Thanks.

Otherwise, the light was without issue. It shrugged off any weather we threw at it, and begged for more. Personally, I think that it felt most at home in the rain.

Price: $390
Weight: 404
Claimed Lumens: 960
www.hopetech.com

Princeton Tec Switchback 3
(click here to view the images and graphs for this light)
Like the Switchback 1, the Switchback 3 is basically the same light, but with better emitters. And that's just fine with me. Why reinvent the wheel when it just works? The button is easy to find, the connectors are secure and the different light levels are useful.

Again, like the Switchback 1, the Switchback 3 kit is all inclusive. Packing a fast charger, good run time, car charger, helmet mounts, extension cord and various sundry straps to hold it all to your bike or pack. The large battery features lights to indicate its charge status--red, yellow and green--whether the light is one, or the battery is being charged.

I had the same issue with the handlebar mount--it was too bulky for the B-levers--as with the Switchback 1, but since mounts are the same, it was expected.

The beam is good, but not fantastic. It strikes a decent middle ground of adequate spread and adequate projection without excelling in either.

The price is unchanged from the last time we took a look at the Switchback 3, but that's going to make it a hard sale against the similarly priced Vision 4 and MaXx-D--both of which are brighter. While it doesn't compete with their output, they can't match the Switchback 3's run time. If you need run time, you need the bigger battery of the Princeton Tec, period.

Price: $389
Weight: 865g
Claimed Lumens: N/A
www.switchback321.com

DiNotte Lighting 400L
(click here to view the images and graphs for this light)
The 400L is an all-new light for DiNotte. It uses two emitters, placed side by side. The light comes with both handlebar and helmet mounts, but requires the use of a screwdriver to change from one to the other. Unlike the other lights reviewed here, the button is on the front of the light, not the top or back. Also unlike any other light in this review, DiNotte offers an optional lens kit for those who aren't quite satisfied with the stock spot lenses. Also optional, is a head strap enabling the 400L to be useful off the bike.

Overall, I found this light easy to use. While I did try it out handlebar mounted, I found that I liked it best helmet mounted with the standard lenses. Projection is very good, and while there isn't a lot of spill, I'm usually not worried about that in a helmet light. Swapping out the lenses will increase the amount of peripheral light, but will also decrease how far the light projects. I'd keep them as is, but it's nice to have a choice.

The button in the front was odd at first, I quickly became accustomed to it. The button was easy to find and press even when wearing winter gloves. It has a satisfying click, too.

Though not apparent, there are two small LEDs--one red and one green--that are used to indicate the status of the battery's charge. They are located along side the main emitters. When the battery is first attached, these will light up momentarily. Also, pressing the switch once--pushing it twice turns on the light--will activate these indicator lights. While it may seem like an odd spot for them, when a light is helmet mounted you can't see any charge indicators anyway. This way they are available on demand. I really, really like this charge indicator. I found that I was using the 400L to determine the charge status of the batteries I used in the 800L before rides. The 400L became my portable battery checker. I found that with a click of a button, I could determine how ready my lights were for use. No more guesswork, no more trying to estimate how long my last ride was, just push the button and the light would tell me. I really hope that DiNotte carries this over to their 800L and 200L lights.

I was not as thrilled with the handlebar mount. It gets the job done, but doesn't attach all that fast, nor is swapping from helmet to bar mount the quickest of the bunch. However, this is a helmet light first and foremost, and it works very well there, the helmet mount is easy to attach and remove. While helmet mounted, the 400L is easy to use and adjust up and down. The 400L is also fairly low profile on the helmet, so catching it on overhanging branches wasn't a big worry.

The 400L uses the same batteries and chargers as the 800L or any other DiNotte Li-Ion powered light.

Price: $269
Weight: with 2 Cell battery, 235g; with 4 cell battery, 335g
Claimed Lumens: 400
www.dinottelighting.com

Ay-Up Mtn Kit
(click here to view the images and graphs for this light)
The Australian-made Ay-Up lights are also old friends. These are similar to the ones we saw last year, but have been updated with brighter Cree LEDs and a battery mounted switch. The Mtn Kit features two 3 hour batteries and one 6 hour battery. The charger is capable of charging two batteries at the same time. The switch is located on the battery--like NiteRider's LED lights. Fortunately, the batteries charge whether the battery is switched on or not. The batteries are the same size as we saw last time, they just have the large orange button on them.

The kit also comes with both helmet and bar lights. Our review sample had spot and intermediate beams. There is also a flood option, if you wanted to go that route. New this year is a battery mount, the Gecko, for the helmet, should you want to locate the lightweight battery up top to eliminate the cord leading to your pocket or pack. Because the whole system is light weight, it doesn't take heavy mounts to hold them in place. The Gecko mounts use four velcro patches (each), though there are spots to use Zip-Ties should you feel the need.

The new button is very easy to find and use, even with gloved hands. The new emitters are plenty bright and the fact that the kit comes with both helmet and bar lights makes this a one box solution. Not included, but a nice option is their headband. The light head clips into it and retains the independent up/down adjustment of the right and left emitters.

The icing on the cake is the reduced price. Sure, there aren't any different light levels. There is no flashing mode--which I missed. Instead the Ay-Up's are small, light, bright, very colorful--many different body colors to chose from--and don't stick up much from the helmet or bars. The left and right side lights are independently adjustable, but I found that I usually aimed them at the same spot anyway.

What would I change? Well, my biggest gripe last time was that I had to unplug the lights to turn them off... and they fixed that. I'd like to see a low beam make it's way into these lights, if for no other reason that to eek out a little longer run time, should I need it. It would also be nice if Ay-Up could put a battery level meter onto the battery or light head. As they stand, though, they are king of simple.

Price: $320
Weight: with small battery, 196g; with large battery, 244g
Claimed Lumens: 300+ per light head
www.ayupusa.com

Exposure Lights MaXx-D
(click here to view the images and graphs for this light)
The first time we saw the Exposure Enduro, it had two LEDs and cost $450. Last year it had grown a third LED and the price was held to the same $450. This year, though, it morphed into the MaXx-D with four LEDs, while dropping to $399. Excellent.

What does that fourth LED get you? The easy answer is, "More light, duh." The not easy answer is, "More light where the Enduro was lacking before, in the periphery." The MaXx-D does not project any further than the 3 emitter Enduro MaXx did. It does, however, have more light spill, something that was sorely lacking in the Enduro MaXx. Now it's beam pattern is similar to lights which cost more--in some cases, much more.

Much of the light remains the same. The mount is still the same--that's good and bad. It needs tools, but is very secure and the light itself is easily removed. The charger is the same. The charge time is a bit on the long side. The run time, however, is really quite good, considering the fact that the battery has to fit into the light head. Our review MaXx-D lasted nearly an hour longer than the Enduro MaXx we looked at last year. There are still three brightness levels and a flashing mode. As before, you need to hold down the button for 2 seconds to get into the flashing mode, eliminating it from the high-med-low-high cycle.

New this year--like the Joystick--is the ability control a tail light right from the light head. Plug the light into the charger port and the main light, in this case the MaXx-D, will power and switch the tail light. But then, that adds a cord to an otherwise cordless light. A second battery can also be added via this port to increase the run time.

The MaXx-D is still pretty lightweight, lighter even that the similarly priced Hope. Also as we saw before, the run times are etched into the body. Nice. Overall, the light is a good update on the Enduro MaXx. While the charge time is too long, the increase in light with additional increase in run time--all in a self contained unit that is only slightly larger than the Enduro MaXx it replaces--along with the accompanying reduction in price makes this a strong contender.

Price: $399
Weight: 333g
Claimed Lumens: 960
www.exposurelights.com

Sport Summary
These are all very good lights. They are robust, have medium to excellent run times and are bright enough to use alone, or as pairs. The bargain of the bunch is the Ay-Up lightset, clearly. It is the one stop shopping experience as well, since it comes with both helmet and handlebar lights. What it doesn't come with is refined electronics. They don't have different levels of brightness--the lights are on full, or not at all--but they are small and light weight.

Also a bargain are the Hope Vision 4 and Exposure MaXx-D. Both lights are claiming 900+ lumens and both are under $400. Frankly, I find that amazing. Neither break records for run time, but both bring something unique to the table. Hope has a very smooth beam pattern. It fills the foreground in nicely, but lacks the punch of the narrower patterns. The Exposure is self contained, eschewing the external battery paradigm for all-in-one goodness.

The run time king is the Switchback 3. The battery is by far the biggest and bulkiest of the bunch, yet it charges very quickly. If you need to go all night, this is your light, no need to keep reading. Pair it with the Switchback 1 and go ride... from sun down to sun up (in the short summer nights, in winter, you'll still need to use low beam mostly to pull off an all-nighter).

The 400L is a nice refined light. It comes with two batteries, a bevy of mounts and has optional lenses, should the standard spot not be to your liking. It also has one of the coolest battery level indicators I've used.

But which is the best of the bunch? It's a tough call between the bargain Ay-Up kit and the Exposure MaXx-D. On the one hand, you've got the full kit deal, and on the other, one of the cheapest--but still very well built and spec'd--900+ lumen (claimed) in this review. I'd be happy with either, but at the end of the day, if you are buying your first serious set of lights, then the $320 Ay-Up Mtn Kit is your best bet under $400.

James Sharp is a contributing editor for GearReview.com. If you ever get the chance to speak with him face-to-face, just remember that he prefers to be called "Sport". Read his blog -- Lactic Acid Threshold.