Something that doesn’t seem to get a lot of attention in discussions of battery lights is charge time. If you’re in a multi-day event (rando, bikepacking, etc), this is a real concern. Your time near power outlets may be limited. I was just checking out the Exposure Strada and it takes 6 hours to get a full charge. That’s a lot (and you need to carry a special cable). The Magicshine Evo, 5 hours. I think that better electronics could shorten that. The Lupine SL Nano takes 1:50, even with its massive battery brick.
A better way of quantifying this would be “how much effective ride time do you get from one hour of charge?” You’d also need to control for how much juice remains in the tank, since that affects charging time.
It would be fair to say that if you’re doing multi-day events you should get a generator light, and in fact I have one, but it might not be a good choice for everyone.
I’ve gone a year without a front light because I’ve been waiting for Garmin to catch up to the current decade and release a USB-C version. Where do they even FIND micro-USB for product assembly—an antiques supplier?
I run the rear radar + camera model, even though the camera is nearly useless and destroys battery life—their non-camera version is, you guessed it, equipped with micro-USB .
There a number of sources for micro-USB. Sure, it’d be nice if they switched to USB-C, but I’ve got enough micro-USB cables leftover from older bike computers, rear lights, etc to get by as long as my lights function. Even if my Varia radar and headlight failed today, I’d replace them with the same units. They just work for me.
It has all the features I could ever want in a light for road riding:
nice cut-off beam for city riding and focusing light where you need it (like car headlights). The road is much brighter than other lights at the same lumen rating.
standard replaceable 21700 batteries. I can pack a second battery if I’m going on a LONG night ride.
Great battery life (over 4 hours at 520 lumens, over 6 at 320 lumens).
Mounts clean under the bike computer with the right mount
$39 us on Amazon
The only downsides are that the mount that comes with it isn’t great (read: terrible). I got a GoPro mount adapter that is perfect. Also, it doesn’t have a great flashing mode if you prefer that during the day. It has a strobe mode, which is pretty stupid for a bike light.
If you’re looking for a light for road, this is easily the best value and does a lot more than some light 2-3x it’s price. Clean set up. Super easy to live with if you have multiple batteries and don’t have time to charge, etc.
I’m looking for a light for MTB. I’m curious if anyone has tried the Full On MB6? It’s Canadian and looks about the same price as the Outbound EVO assuming there isn’t huge duty getting into Canada. Just don’t know how it compares.
FYI here’s what a light with an average beam shape (Ravemen CR500) looks like next to one with a really good beam cutoff (Lightskin Nacaroad). Both rated at about the same lumen output, but compare how much the far fence gets illuminated.
Thanks to feedback from this thread, I placed an order for a Lupine SL Nano AF yesterday. The mounting male hardware of my See.Sense Beam+ broke, so I needed a new light. Plus, I live in Germany now and a StVZO-compliant light was a big plus.
By the way, the non-Nano SL AF seems to have been taken out of the line-up. Otherwise I might have spent the extra 100 € to get the big light.
I received my Lupine SL Nano AF on Wednesday and oh boy, this is kilometers beyond anything I have owned as a bike light. The brightness numbers don’t do it justice, the optics works magic. Even low beams are really great. Expensive, but worth it for me.
Lupine offers many mounts, including a GoPro-style mount and not just handlebar mounts. The mounts are relatively inexpensive (around 15 €). The quality is excellent, they are made from machined aluminium with tight tolerances.
I understand your concern about the external battery. However, the last light I had broke at the mount, precisely because the plastic mount had to deal with the weight of light and battery.
Lastly, I cannot overemphasize how much better the light is. I had a See.Sense Beam+ with up to 1.500 lumens. The new light blows it out of the water simply because the optics shapes the beam and you don’t lose light illuminating tree tops.
I’ve had this light for a while and I love it. I would appreciate some soft ambient throw, but I can work around it. The benefits greatly outweigh this small gripe.
