Australian Cycling Forums - Bicycles Network Australia

Comedian, my purpose was not to knock on AYUPs, or to try and detract from your ownership pleasure.
They are held yup as the gold standard however, and there was a set handy for comparison, so I thought it fair.
I know nothing about Magicshine.
The Supernova Airstream is a German product. I agree, there are many nice things about the AYUPs design.
The Airstream is only rated at 300 lumens. It's the reflector design and the physical size that creates the quality of light and helps the battery life.

Ken Ho wrote: The Airstream is only rated at 300 lumens.

Though in testing it appears to be significantly less. (Also, there are two versions of the light, a StVZO compliant one and a non-compliant one)

I ride mostly in the dark early mornings and probably half the roadies I see have Ayups. They don't seem overly bright to me. Certainly not to the point where they are dazzling. The only times I've been dazzled is by some of the big lumen Magic shines (or similar) where people have them pointed basically straight ahead rather than tilted down. It might be the beam shape or something, but they seem to be really "in your face". I'm sure they are brilliant in pitch darkness though!

Like others, I've got Ayups pointed 10 yards in front of me which seems to throw enough light to see down the road and right in front of my wheel. Couldn't be happier with them.

rjk wrote:sorry mate, i am not going to give up my lights because you whinge and complain, my lights keep me safe on night rides on trails.

the issues i have are dogs at night, assorted wildlife on the trail, and dam ninja pedestrians.

the most trouble i have is with the ninja's black clothing in the middle of the night, my lights stop me running over them, i have had many near misses with those idiots.

i dont mind running them over if you can figure out a way of me not coming off the bike and injuring myself.

once you figure that out i will gladly go for a less bright light, but until you do bad luck, just look at the side of the trail till i pass.

So, basically, you are willing to endanger other people because you don't want to slow down a bit.....

Funny how we scream at car drivers when they show the same disregard to other people.

Oh, and please tell other people how they can look ahead (which is where we have to look for safety on a bike path) while looking "at the side of the trail".

jasonc wrote:

Comedian wrote:So, a month into ayup ownership and I'm stoked. I've got a set of lights that mount beautifully and are unobtrusive, they are as bright or brighter with better throw than my magic shine, plus I only have to charge them after 3 days riding instead of nightly.

still get ~4 mornings out of my magicshine battery. I'd say yours was cactus

Hmmm possible but I don't think so.

When I say days.. I mean and early ride and a nocturnal commute. I typically leave earlier than you and in the evenings probably run for on average 45 minutes (I like to shop!). That's a lot of extra burn time, and as my magic shine had no battery gauge I was reluctant to run it until flat. For me that would mean riding home in the dark which is not fun.

So, they ran on high for 1.5 hours this morning, and will do probably another 45 on the way home tonight. Would you be happy riding home into the dark with nearly 7 hours on your magic shine battery?

The ayups do have a battery gauge which is handy. I've never run them flat either..

BrisVegas wrote: Like others, I've got Ayups pointed 10 yards in front of me which seems to throw enough light to see down the road and right in front of my wheel. Couldn't be happier with them.

I do this too... I haven't had any dazzled bikers coming the other way.. And it's enough light at 60kph...

IMHO the magicshine beam is crazy wide. It makes them very hard to aim without blinding everyone. Ayup medium beams are more focussed.

Comedian wrote:

jasonc wrote:

Comedian wrote:So, a month into ayup ownership and I'm stoked. I've got a set of lights that mount beautifully and are unobtrusive, they are as bright or brighter with better throw than my magic shine, plus I only have to charge them after 3 days riding instead of nightly.

still get ~4 mornings out of my magicshine battery. I'd say yours was cactus

Hmmm possible but I don't think so.

When I say days.. I mean and early ride and a nocturnal commute. I typically leave earlier than you and in the evenings probably run for on average 45 minutes (I like to shop!). That's a lot of extra burn time, and as my magic shine had no battery gauge I was reluctant to run it until flat. For me that would mean riding home in the dark which is not fun.

So, they ran on high for 1.5 hours this morning, and will do probably another 45 on the way home tonight. Would you be happy riding home into the dark with nearly 7 hours on your magic shine battery?

The ayups do have a battery gauge which is handy. I've never run them flat either..

mine has a gauge.... my light also has a button light that tells me how much power is left. when it gets to red it still has about 45 mins left at full power.

7 hours on low? sure, no probs.

MattyK wrote:

Ken Ho wrote: The Airstream is only rated at 300 lumens.

Though in testing it appears to be significantly less. (Also, there are two versions of the light, a StVZO compliant one and a non-compliant one)

I have the non-German compliant version.
Really, it's horses for courses. Have very different needs when I'm riding on the road in largely street lt areas vs riding a pitch black riverside path, with lichen and the odd ninja runner and his dog as well as wildlife like birds and pythons.
My old light was quite adequate for my road riding by myself in clear conditions, but terrible in a bunch on wet roads with changng surfaces due to roadworks I nearly crapped myself last weekend in those conditions.
Going sat through bush while racing MTB will clearly call for max wattage, but those same spot ties are clearly an unsociable option for a shared suburban path.

Comedian wrote:How old were the ayups? Also, ayups don't switch off when the battery goea flat like the chinese lights.. they get dimmer. The new ones are 40% brighter than the old ones, and the upgrades are cheap (they give the old ones to school mtb programs).

The Ayup's we compared were the newer 40% brighter version with the Intermediate beam, they are certainly brighter than the "standard" model although the downside is they burn the batteries a lot quicker.

I've been really happy with my Ayup's, have 3 sets of them and have probably sold about 20 sets of them.

Side by side with the Airstream, there is no comparison in the light. The airstream doesn't have any "hot spots" in the beam, it throws a much wider beam of light a lot further and is simply a superior light for use on a bike. I must admit the Germans had told me that the Airstream was superior but I wasn't 100% convinced until I did our comparison last night.

The Aussie version are 370 lumens which is around 23% brighter than the European version, in Europe they use the lower power 300 lumens version due to some European law which limits the output on bicycle lights.

MattyK wrote:

Ken Ho wrote: The Airstream is only rated at 300 lumens.

Though in testing it appears to be significantly less. (Also, there are two versions of the light, a StVZO compliant one and a non-compliant one)

The Aussie version is the brighter, 370 lumens version.

The test Ken and I did last night destroys the "more lumens is better" argument.

So, basically, you are willing to endanger other people because you don't want to slow down a bit.....

Funny how we scream at car drivers when they show the same disregard to other people.

Oh, and please tell other people how they can look ahead (which is where we have to look for safety on a bike path) while looking "at the side of the trail".[/quote]


m8 your starting to sound like a helmet debater, i am not changing my lights and that is is...see ya

edited out, pointless

Mulger bill wrote: Thanks Ken, I'm sold

Deon, I'll be in touch shortly, do you still accept bank transfer?

Shaun

I accept payment in many forms, including bank transfer

jasonc wrote:

Comedian wrote:

jasonc wrote:
still get ~4 mornings out of my magicshine battery. I'd say yours was cactus

Hmmm possible but I don't think so.

When I say days.. I mean and early ride and a nocturnal commute. I typically leave earlier than you and in the evenings probably run for on average 45 minutes (I like to shop!). That's a lot of extra burn time, and as my magic shine had no battery gauge I was reluctant to run it until flat. For me that would mean riding home in the dark which is not fun.

So, they ran on high for 1.5 hours this morning, and will do probably another 45 on the way home tonight. Would you be happy riding home into the dark with nearly 7 hours on your magic shine battery?

The ayups do have a battery gauge which is handy. I've never run them flat either..

mine has a gauge.... my light also has a button light that tells me how much power is left. when it gets to red it still has about 45 mins left at full power.

7 hours on low? sure, no probs.

Interesting. My magic shine has no gauge ... And from my one experience with the light on the back... You've got only a couple of minutes from red to dead.

The specs on mine magic shine say 3 or 4 on high compared the ayups with 6 on high or 12 plus from low. But I'm sure you are right. It's too far from home for me to chance it though.

Plus, I rarely run on low with either light.

With regards the Airstream, is it possible to loosen the front bezel and rotate the lens/reflector 180* for under bar mounting?

I have been without my regular pretty bright light for over a week now (it died) while I wait on replacement to come from the east.

I do notice that, in the dark, paths when wet are not at all easy to discern bumps and depressions with a light that adequate for dry sufrfaces. On a unicycle those unnoticed depressions are the main cause for unplanned dismounts (UPDs).

Wet roads require more light.

The new light will be, apparently, 250 lumins, ramped up from the previous model of 110 lumins, same price. Ain't technology wonderful - as time goes everything gets brighter, louder, harder, faster, etc.

Chris249 wrote:

iaintas wrote:I am sorry mr car driver, just look away for a second and keep driving straight like you would for a truck coming the other way.

Dont whine and whinge that your eyes hurt, im trying to stay alive here, you suckers with 50lm lights shining at your front wheel can collect the kangaroos for me if you want or come to central qld and be my designated "bullbar" if thats what you want......

Rant over!

So basically it's stuff me, because I can't arsed getting some decent lights that allow me to see properly?

Fixed that for you.

Ayups are hardly possum burners. Narrow beam, and they put out a fraction of that available from a car headlight on low beam. I do wonder how you ride on the road with cars at night.

I suggest you would do better to need to take ownership of *your own* safety and making sure *you* can see in the full range of situations, and shell out for the appropriate hardware.

Is ranting at people who've already gone where you should be working for you (I mean that in terms of generating effective outcomes)?

Showed Comedian my light this morning. I don't think he had the right MagicShine

Pushy wrote:With regards the Airstream, is it possible to loosen the front bezel and rotate the lens/reflector 180* for under bar mounting?

Good question, I will find out if this is possible or even necessary. I've just emailed Germany.

No-go for mounting the Supernova Airstream upside down. I apologise if I gave anyone the wrong information on this item.

Directly from the factory:

"Unfortunately it will not be possible to use the Airstream upside-down one reason is that the rotate of the lens is a more complex since the electronics will also be involved"

It seems they are a lot more high tech than your typical LED torch.

I think the mounting options are more than sufficient though. You can put it either side of the stem, on the stem or there is an optional bracket so you can mount it in front of the stem. There is also an optional helmet mount that I'll stock if people want them.

Has anyone here mentioned these Fenix Bike Lights yet? I'm certainly tempted to get one of the BT10's.....

I'm amazed you could spend $500 on a light.

I spent $7 on a light with 56 LEDs and I feel a bit guilty about the brightness.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/130871432466 ... 1439.l2649" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

diggler wrote:I'm amazed you could spend $500 on a light.

I spent $7 on a light with 56 LEDs and I feel a bit guilty about the brightness.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/130871432466 ... 1439.l2649" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There'd be 2 chances of that working on unlit roads when travelling at over 10km/h

diggler wrote:I'm amazed you could spend $500 on a light.

I spent $7 on a light with 56 LEDs and I feel a bit guilty about the brightness.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/130871432466 ... 1439.l2649" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hate to burst your bubble, but look at the pics and you can see they have it resting right on a hard surface to maximise the effect and the beam still only projects a foot or so. My light only has one LED, but it's a good un.

Ken Ho wrote:

diggler wrote:I'm amazed you could spend $500 on a light.

I spent $7 on a light with 56 LEDs and I feel a bit guilty about the brightness.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/130871432466 ... 1439.l2649" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hate to burst your bubble, but look at the pics and you can see they have it resting right on a hard surface to maximise the effect and the beam still only projects a foot or so. My light only has one LED, but it's a good un.

thats a be seen only light, not even really good for that, when you are on a bike path, you want strong lights to be able to see with.