Still, away from all the peripherals, fundamentally the Exposure Strada remains a really, really good light. The display on the rear of the Exposure Strada is a particularly neat feature of this light, displaying as it does the remaining charge of the light down to the minute. But it is rather more fiddly and harder to use than the simple - but effective - silicone strap of the Knog Blinder. It’s a similar thing for the bar clamp - Exposure’s split-clamp system is exquisitely designed, with two CNC machined pieces of metal slotting together to make the hinge and clamp. The best front bike light for performance The only question is whether the performance at this price is too good to be true - I’d hesitate to give it full marks until the Allty1000 has proved itself in a full season of riding through the cold, wind and rain. I was able to see far enough ahead and with enough detail to push up to Threshold / Zone 4 and even seated VO2 Max / Zone 5 efforts. With the super bright beam for a light which is nominally only 1,000 lumens, I was perfectly happy putting in hard efforts when riding on the darkest roads with this light. On the other hand, it uses the same quarter-turn mount as a Garmin, so can be popped onto one of those mounts which is neat. But the need for an Allen key and its fiddly nature means that this isn’t so easy to swap between bikes. The band clamp system for the mount is really neat in how it accommodates all handlebar diameters without the need for rubber shims - which seem to invariably get lost. The battery indication is more basic than the previous two lights, with a simple green LED changing to red and starting to flash as you get to 30% and 10% charge, respectively, which isn’t so helpful for power management on longer rides. On the downside, it does charge with Micro USB rather than USB-C. The Magicshine Allty1000 also has the longest battery life when shining on full. Then again, the Exposure Strada costs over four times as much as the Allty1000, so in terms of light per penny, the Magicshine has the edge. The central part of the Magicshine’s beam does shine brighter, but the Exposure Strada casts much more light to the sides, lighting up a greater area in total - as it should, with a lumen count of 1,450. There’s an interesting battle between which is brightest out of the Magicshine Allty1000 and the Exposure Strada Mk11 RS. By extension, the Magicshine Allty1000 is also brighter than both the PDW Lars Rover Power and the Knog Blinder 900. It is clearly brighter, casts its beam further, and has a similar beam width to the Trek Commuter Pro RT - and that’s despite both lights being claimed at 1,000 lumens and Trek’s light being over twice the price. Let’s stick with the beam and lumens to start. Still, the three hour charge time of the CatEye ViZ300 isn't too long in any case.This light is really the star performer on test - it’s the least expensive by quite a way, super bright and nicely designed. Plus with the higher potential power draw for faster charging, there is an additional upside beyond just being able to plug the cable in either way up. With the move of many electronics now to USB C, it would be nice to see companies making this change on bike lights as well. One thing I did notice though is still the use of micro USB. It looks at home on a modern aero frame, so won’t be cramping your style for the pursuit of safety (nor performance at only 47 grams)! The overall build quality is up there though, and I like the angular style CatEye has gone for on their higher models. Okay, everything is fine once the mount is on – and with a bit of practise it came with ease – but lose any one piece of the puzzle and that's a new light bracket you're going to have to source.Īll that said, CatEye does offer a whole load of different and more permanent brackets – if you have different bikes it might be worth looking into an extra mount or two to save the hassle. My issue is that they are not fixed together - meaning I found myself dropping bits when first putting the light on. The mount itself is made of three components, the plastic click mechanism, the strong silicone strap and the rubber block which angles the light up. Plus, given the length of the charging cable included, there isn't much scope for just leaving it attached to your bike when topping it up. It fits aero seatposts and round posts alike, has a long enough silicone band for most circumstances which feels sturdy, and it angles the light up enough for really good viewing angles.īut it sure is a pain to fit. I can't argue with its security or versatility.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |