Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Let there be light

I finally, after 4 years, decided to ditch my old busted down light system for something a bit brighter and better suited to my needs. Believe it or not, my old system consisted of a 6W halogen caving light and a bunch of random bar lights that I've won at races over the years, none of them over 10W. They worked fine on the tight twisty singletrack of Iowa and Wisconsin, but out here I can outrun the beams with ease, which makes fast descents more interesting - albeit rather unsafe. I've toyed around with the idea of a DIY system so I can actually say that I put my few electrical engineering classes to use, however after demoing a set of AyUps at the Vapor Trail 125 this year I was sold. I still have a desire to tinker and make a homemade set to fulfill my nerd quota, but that will have to wait - because these baby's are here to stay.

AyUp Enduo Kit - 24 hours of retna searing light

At 320 lumens per light set, 640 total, AyUps certainly put out enough kick for what I need. The lights themselves are a work of art - waterproof, bombproof, simple, and beautiful. AyUp is a small Australian company and certainly knows how to turn out a quality product. The entire design is simple and functional. A light set with a 3 hr battery weights in at a feathery 156 g, which is just insane. I think one of my old Nightrider batteries weighed 3 times that alone. They also have a single on-off switch, so say goodbye to fumbling with 15 different output levels. As well as easy velcro/zip strip mounting and beautiful craftsmanship overall. Click on over to the AyUp site for beam shots, specs, and even pics of working lights encased in ice! Time for some night miles!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ayup's are sick! I picked up a set last June just in time for a 24 hour race. They are bright, and batteries are so light and last a long time. Though, i rigged up an old niterider helmet mount to use instead of the zipties for easy removal...

Carney said...

They supply a elastic headband mount with the kit now so I just used that plus an old velcro strip for the helmet mount. I kinda want to ride in freezing rain with them, just cuz I can!

Matt said...

There is nothing better out there than the Ay-ups in terms of what you get for that kind of money. Attention to detail and the stuff just works. Oh - BTW - I used one 6-hour battery at VT125 for each lamp and NEVER had to change out to the backup 3 hours. What we had like ~8hours of darkness? Imagine a company that UNDERRATES it's product. How novel.

Anonymous said...

Wow... really wish we could pick them up as a sponsor as I could use a good pair of lights but I need a GPS more than I need lights right now. Everyone says great things about these lights. Someday.

Carney said...

I was planning on purchasing a set as soon as I used them at the Vapor Trail and the holiday sale they had was just icing on the cake! The sale still has a few days left over here!