^^^^ this - mine were charged off a dyno when needed to be at the TDR and other races. During 24s they get a piggy back battery. The whole beauty is that they don't need replaceable batteries. Shed load less waste and a lot less to go wrong.

Though, I have had a Diablo die on me - which was fixed under warranty for free a year past purchase warranty. So not all bad.

Do some local loops at night and experiment.

Personally I can ride local lower lower than unfamiliar as I know what's coming. I would advise riding unfamiliar terrain to see what works.

GregMay wrote: ↑Mon May 08, 2023 9:46 pm ^^^^ this - mine were charged off a dyno when needed to be at the TDR and other races. During 24s they get a piggy back battery. The whole beauty is that they don't need replaceable batteries. Shed load less waste and a lot less to go wrong.

Though, I have had a Diablo die on me - which was fixed under warranty for free a year past purchase warranty. So not all bad.

Pass-through charging is good.

I wasn't suggesting using disposable batteries. Nobody should be using disposable batteries in this day and age. The advantage of a light with user-replaceable batteries is you can carry a spare set of rechargeable 18650s should you need them and just swap them in. Simpler and more efficient than recharging from a power bank.

The usual complaint about built-in batteries is that when the cell eventually fails, or loses its capacity, the light is toast. To their credit, Exposure will replace the built-in batteries in their lights, for a small fee. And they reckon on 700 charge cycles for their cells, which is a lot of riding.

I used to baulk at Exposure due to the cost and I didn't get the fuss about it being a single unit. Then I bought one and was, to my chagrin*, convinced. Their after-sales have been great as the odd unit has needed attention (e.g. carbon joystick came unstuck at metal / carbon joints) and, whilst using a Diablo for something entirely unsuitable, the overheat protection (or something) fried.

The ability to add bits (remote switches, red-eyes etc) and their overall versatility is pretty handy.

I suspect you can get a cheaper alternative that'll be 75% as good as Exposure**. Whether the difference matters? Mleh

Cheaper, Exposure-compatible battery packs can be had from MTB-batteries who is also a lovely fella to deal with.

* not much really, just wanted to use "chagrin"
** entirely bobbins number but you get the point

I tested a couple of exposure lights (Diablo and Axis) and was really unimpressed with them in terms of VFM. Runtimes were fairly poor, no replaceable battery, poor brightness settings and fiddly button. The Diablo was also too floody for a helmet light (it got completely washed out by my bar light). Might be fine if it was your only light (or have a crap bar light )

They were well made but way too many shortcomings to justify the really steep prices (IMO).

Exposure user but also got a sinewave beacon dynamo and trout light .
The fenix look good.for the price as well but do love the joystick. Nice weight for the helmet and as bright or as long running as needed. The massive ones are both heavy and seriously pricey so unlikely to be owned by me.

I just got my Exposure Axis back from repair (replaced the PCB), and would have to agree that the support is excellent.

I use it to supplement a dynamo and Klite combination for night riding, and a a small Fenix HL50 head torch for camping and as a backup backup.

Cheeky Monkey wrote: ↑Tue May 09, 2023 9:59 am carbon joystick came unstuck at metal / carbon joints

Had this twice, seems to be a particualrly common occurrence . Exposure fixed it first the time, then the second time they emailed the shop I'd bought it from and told them to give me a non-carbon replacement.

Is that the one Mick Fleetwood ran (power walked) off with

Another happy Joystick owner....Mk7, Mk10 and Mk12. One on the bars, one on the helmet and if out for a few days, one as backup. Mk7 on the helmet usually due to less focused beam pattern than the later models.

Cheaper than the bigger ones from Exposure...great run time...lightweight...decent enough output...can be retrofitted with new batteries (search for Zippy's post about this).

Used on BB Run To The Sun events to good effect.

Greetz

S. : )

sean_iow wrote: ↑Tue May 09, 2023 7:18 pm Is that the one Mick Fleetwood ran (power walked) off with

That thieving bastard.

That was the replacement I think. The reaplcement I got for that one I subsequently left on a train in Italy. Think I'm on my fifth Joystick all told.