AYUP Lights

No, not lights from 'up north' in fact, lights from a long way 'down south' - Australia in fact.

Anyone got one? If so, any views on them? Are they as good as the website would have us believe?

Been looking for a new front light for a while and since I'm not a rich man, I can only afford to buy the best (yes, that does make sense!). These seem REALLY good without actually breaking the bank. And I do like the idea of having a bar mounted set and a helmet set - a spotlight on the head (currently LED Lenser H7) has stopped cars pulling out of junctions in front of me on several occasions.

So, any views welcome!

http://www.ayup-lights.com/

TIA.
Dave

Do they help down t' pit?

or on the way t' pub?

know lots of MTB types back home who have them. They're generally well regarded.

My mate said:

Here’s what I’ve looking at:
http://www.ayup.com.au/australia-shop-kits.html

It’s the “MTB” kit. Two lights, one narrow for the helmet with two 3hr batteries (about the size of a matchbox) that mount on the helmet with it, and one “intermediate” that mounts on the bars with a 6hr battery (about the size of two matchbox’s) that mounts under the stem. I’m going for the “Gecko” helmet mount upgrade, and the headband so I can have a massivly powerful headtorch for fun activities if necessary.

These lights are really popular in the Australian Enduro scene. Simple as. Tiny, light, good amount of light, really short cables that don’t snag, no worrying about putting the helmet battery in a bag and cables to your helmet (I’ve had a helmet light on and went to drop the camelback to fill it up… oops!). Simple, simple, simple. So simple that it was only last year they actually put switches on their battery packs.

Well well well… I get a copy of the latest Australian Mountainbiking Magazine last week and what did I see? An LED shootout! There’s AyUp’s there… but what’s that? It’s the NEW model! Yep, if I’d waited for the colour I wanted I would have got 20% more light for the same power, batteries with Hi/Low/Flash (as opposed to On/Off) and a nice pelican style waterproof case for it all, just for 50 more. I was looking at cases separately for them, and they’ll be more than $50 alone… bugger. 2 weeks… never mind. My lights are really good, and I’ve asked if they’ll do a case as a separate item for me

I finally took the time to mount the AyUp's to the new Giro helmet. I
was all fussy and stuff about mounting the velcro tabs, cause they
couldn't be located in a way that gave 100% contact. Then I read the
online instructions and they said "So long as you've got 50% contact,
you're fine.". Well, 50% I have so now I've got lights on the helm'.

You'll notice I've got 'em pointing backwards with the red caps covering
the lights - a nice ultrabright rear light for out on long lonely roads
at night (like the Werrimul Rd) to let Truck drivers know that there's
something they're approaching. And with the velcro mounts it's
litterally a matter of seconds to swap them around to a front pointing
setup.

The AyUp's are what they are - a really good kit for the price.

They've had at least one upgrade since I got them, so my experience is based on that. Basically - they're good. I've had a solidly good experience with them. They're at a level where they're not going to be the difference between loosing and winning.

For offroad I could do with more light, and a wider beam, but considering for $400 or whatever they go for you get a complete set that covers every scenario with helmet and handlebar mount, batteries, mounts, leads, and enough battery to run both lights for 6+hours on full, they're great value. And if you want more batteries (if you want to use them at full tilt for a 24hr race then you will) they're quite cheap compared to other brands.

In races I've seen people have trouble with other lights, but not AyUps. Connections are very simple - nothing proprietary. Light units are solid.

And it comes in a compact kit.

Offroad I do the old on handlebar, one headmount. Handlebar throws shadows (so you can see bumps) helmet mount lets you see round corners. Score +1 for 'completeness' of the kit. Nothing extra needed, save for batteries if you're doing long races.

On the road I mount the helmet light in reverse (no tools required) and put on the red caps - wala, a really high powered, high level rear light. Score +2 for versatility.

On the road, if you want really bright you can just mount two lights and batteries really easily. I;ve seen photo's of three sets mounted on the front. You don't even need to get anything more cause it comes with the lot (well, my old kit did). Nice! Score another +1 for versatility.

Handlebar mount zip-ties on so it's a bit hard to remove compared to some (but easier than others) and the helmet mount requires putting supplied Velcro dots on your chosen helmet. Score -1/2 for lack of visual impact. Makes no performance difference though.

Scweet.

Perfect, Hippy. Thanks for the feedback.