Ay-ups

[banjo]

After considerable research and time I have finally taken the plunge and upgraded my lights from el-cheapo rechargeable halogen lights (5W&10W) to Ay-ups. I bought the MTB 2008 kit which got me:

2 sets of Ay-ups
2 x 3Hr Lith-Ion batteries
1 x 6Hr Lith-Ion battery
charger gear (charges 2 batteries at once)
car charger
All the required mounting hardware
A roll up kit bag for the lot.

You get to choose the beams so I got an intermediate beam for the bar and a narrow beam for the helmet, both lights in different colours to easily tell them apart.

I have to say I was amazed at how small the lights and batteries are. The 3 Hr batteries charge in about 1H 25m. The battery endurance appears to be better than what is quoted.

So how do they stack up??

I ride about 22km to work, all before sunrise at the moment. 50/50 roads and paths. This set up is a major improvement on what I had. The photos of beam patterns on the web site appear to be accurate and a good representation.

I must admit I never thought I'd ever wear a helmet light but I am sold on the idea now. Its like having a good spotty on hand that can look anywhere and is amazingly practical when you actually give it a go.

Any down sides??

To mount the lights to a helmet you have a base plate which straps on through the vents with cable ties (supplied). My helmet, a Bell Venture is not 100% compatible but I have mounted it so it works ok. The cable tie that is furthest forward touches my head which is noticable after an hour or more. A bit of adjustment and further experimenting should fix this.

The lights are very bright so obviously you don't want to be aiming them directly at drivers eyes. The bar light is easy to control but you need to be aware of whats happening up top.

Some thought and consideration (even common sense) is required. Luckily the 3Hr battery is so small and light it mounts directly to the helmet via velcro. An easy to find button on the battery allows you to turn it on and off with ease by touch.

I'm very happy with them. I should say here that my assessment of these lights is based only on how they work in practice for my riding and compared only to my old halogens.

Happy to provide more feedback if anyone wants it.

Safe riding.

[Hawkeye]

hey banjo, I bought the exact same setup as you about a month ago. Like you I'm super impressed with the performance.

Have you tried mounting the 6hr battery to your stem yet? I found the wetsuit-rubber-and-velcro strap was too short to be really secure on my Mongoose commuter, and I know it will be pretty useless on my Jekyll off-roader.

Just wondering if the batch of straps have arrived yet so I can chase him up for one.

[lisanne]

hey banjo, I bought the exact same setup as you about a month ago. Like you I'm super impressed with the performance.

Have you tried mounting the 6hr battery to your stem yet? I found the wetsuit-rubber-and-velcro strap was too short to be really secure on my Mongoose commuter, and I know it will be pretty useless on my Jekyll off-roader.

Just wondering if the batch of straps have arrived yet so I can chase him up for one.

I just bought my Ay Up's this week and hope to do my first ride with them tomorrow morning!

I have a stem that's shorter than 100mm and I found that if the battery mount strap didn't have the second wrap around velcro bit of strap to secure it, I wouldn't have been able to mount them on my stem at all.
My battery doesn't sit flush with the stem due to it's length, so the end of the pack sits on the bolt area that holds the bars, hence why it doesn't reach properly.

[Max]

This thread is timely. I just placed an order for the MTB08 kit this evening, I can't wait for them to arrive!

Max

[slik50]

Hi,

I bought a set of these for commuting. I only got the roadie kit. It is plenty bright and works a treat.

I can't recommend these highly enough, particularly for commuting.

Rob

[DrJ]

Roughly how fast can you ride with these lights in pitch black, and still be able see enough to stop safely?

[leximack]

Roughly how fast can you ride with these lights in pitch black, and still be able see enough to stop safely?

I have been on mtb rides in full pitch black conditions going down firetrails at 50-60km/h and felt like i could see enough to be able to stop in time (this is with helmet and bar light on)
They are very powerful, on the road i dont feel like i have to slow down from my usual "daylight" speed at all. Can go normal speeds, i wouldnt go down hills at 70-80km/s though just in case something pops out from the side.

Don

[Hawkeye]

How fast can you go?

With the MTB kit you get enough light to be able to race off-road at night. On road, oncoming car headlights no longer bother me. Ever.

[Dcyclist]

Like everyone else here, I am super impressed with my lights. I was given the basic road kit by my wife and kids as a birthday present last week. On the road they are fantastic. Half of my 16km commute is on an unlit road at 6:15-40, which frequently has debris that's literally fallen off the back of a truck on it. These lights easily out perform all others I've had to date. I also took them racing in helmet mount format last weekend. We have a Siberian Husky that we go scooter racing with. All Saturday races tend to be after dark in order to ensure sub-15C temps. The lights went great giving good illumination on dirt track at speeds of up to 30kph. Now all I need is the new fancy road bike to match the lights

[Wanta-bike]

i too have had the pleasure of these lights for nearly a year now.

hands down THE BEST light set i've ever ridden with. these were an upgrade from a set of niteflux vision sticks, which in comparison weigh an absolute tonne! i got the 2007 mtb kit of narrow and wide beams, racing or general riding at nite is heaps of fun, love it long time!

for those of you out there pondering about these lights, stop pondering and order a set - you will not be disappointed.

also, for those of you that have a short stem (i have an 80mm stem on me mtb), i've found that its easy to strap the battery behind the headset/steerer, so that is is just sitting infront of you on top of the top tube. the velcro strap easily wraps itself around the steerer 2-ish times for a secure battery fit.

[lisanne]

Hi,

I bought a set of these for commuting. I only got the roadie kit. It is plenty bright and works a treat.

I can't recommend these highly enough, particularly for commuting.

Rob

+1 I got the intermediate beam and used them for the first time this morning - Awesome! Riding down the dark streets I could see the road ahead easily

[ShanDog]

I've had my roadie kit (intermediate beam) for a few months now and like everyone else, I'm absolutely sold on them. Will be getting a helmet set up soon too.

In addition, their customer service is incredible. I had a problem a little while back that I posted a thread about, and withint a week he had gone above and beyond to help me out.

Highly recommended.

[Matty]

Do any of you guys/gals with Ay-ups have a Fenix torch light or similar to compare too? Obviously the Ay-ups are a much neater setup but I'm interested to see what the brightness and beam patterns are like compared to a Fenix.

[Aushiker]

Do any of you guys/gals with Ay-ups have a Fenix torch light or similar to compare too? .... I'm interested to see what the brightness and beam patterns are like compared to a Fenix.

Same here ...

Andrew

[DrJ]

Sounds impressive, I think I will go with the roadie setup.

[Kalgrm]

Do any of you guys/gals with Ay-ups have a Fenix torch light or similar to compare too? Obviously the Ay-ups are a much neater setup but I'm interested to see what the brightness and beam patterns are like compared to a Fenix.

I've ridden beside two riders with MTB Ay-up systems. My Ultrafire LED torches (described elsewhere) were brighter but with a tighter beam pattern. However, the spill from the LED torches was quite adequate to see by near the bike.

Personally, I felt my torches were better quality lights than the Ay-ups based purely on light output. Theirs looked prettier though.

Cheers,
Graeme

[PathPusher]

Are handle bars the only practical place to mount these lights? (head lamps can be worse)

I understand the need for decent lighting but I was passing a cyclist the other day on the Wyndham Bridge underpass (imagine a bike path under a bridge, like a 'C' at twilight) when a cyclist coming the other way had his dual light set up flashing away. The light show on the ceiling, floor and side walls was spectacular but I had to shield my eyes with a hand as he got closer. The cyclist was thoughtful enough to turn his lights off and I don't blame him for using these lights because some paths are pathetically lit.

What are the implications for fitting these lights lower on the bike eg forks/stem? Are they difficult to tilt downwards? If I was mountain biking on trails I would understand the need to light above because of overhanging branches but some of these lights can be dangerous to other riders in more confined areas.

[banjo]

I can't believe how many people have responded to this thread in 24hours! I was half expecting someone to tell me to stop spamming.

Good to see so many people have "seen the light". I too have found my ride speeds uneffected now at night. My 3hr battery mounts fine on my stem but I haven't tried the 6 yet. The lights themselves are easily tilted in the mount and can tilt independant of each other.

PathPusher, you raise the important issue I guess of courtesy to others and general safety. Blinding others oncoming is poor form (apart from which, if they loose the plot blinded while they're coming at you you're the first thing they're going to hit!). I find if I'm on open road, particulary dual carriageway I can tilt the helmet lights up for more range to match my increased speed. If I'm on tighter, winding paths I generally travel slower anyway (day or night) so I don't need the light range and can tilt them down or even switch off as the bar lights are plenty bright enough at average speeds. I haven't had any adverse reaction from other riders or traffic.

I showed a mate of mine my set the day I got them after I charged them up. He took one look at them lighting up his back yard and decided to get a set, he's a diehard roadie.

Kalgrm, good to see someone add some balance to the thread! I guess there probably are other lights out there that work well too even though I'm sold on these.

I'm itching (yes ITCHING) to get out on the Warby trail now at night!!

Safe riding.

Ay-up Ay-up and away.

[acw]

dont get me wrong - I really want a set of Ay-Ups too.......but riding across the Harbour Bridge often burns my retinas and temporarily blinds me from the bright lights coming the other way.

So for all you lucky buggers out there with super-cool Ay-Ups, please tilt them down otherwise you might end up with a head-on collision - and I hope not with me

[nimm]

Graeme, the latest lights from Ay-Ups are Cree Q5s so in terms of light output they should be roughly the same. Why would Ultrafire (also Cree Q5s) be any better?

Since winter coming along and doing a lot of early morning rides I'm about to buy some new lights. Ay-Ups look great but I am tending toward the Ultrafires + mounts at this point due to the price difference.

[ShanDog]

I've found the ay-ups are incredibly easy to tilt down. So if the lights are in your eyes its the riders fault not the lights.

another side story. shortly after I bought my ay-ups, went for a ride during the day with a mate who rides triathlons. After the ride, turned the lights on at his face for a laugh through the windshield. He swore at me then said 'holy F***, I thought that was a mirror shining the sun in my eyes'. pretty funny

[Pushy]

Graeme, the latest lights from Ay-Ups are Cree Q5s so in terms of light output they should be roughly the same. Why would Ultrafire (also Cree Q5s) be any better?

Since winter coming along and doing a lot of early morning rides I'm about to buy some new lights. Ay-Ups look great but I am tending toward the Ultrafires + mounts at this point due to the price difference.

I believe that the AyUps are only being driven at 450mA, its on their website somewhere, whereas most of these torches, Fenix, Ultrafires are being driven at 700mA and above.
All things being equal, I think the AyUps have better optics and are styled better. The China made torches are cheap and not really bike specific.

Les

[Matty]

Graeme, the latest lights from Ay-Ups are Cree Q5s so in terms of light output they should be roughly the same. Why would Ultrafire (also Cree Q5s) be any better?

Yeah Graeme I'd be interested to know if the Ay-Ups you compared to were the Cree LEDs or the older Luxeon ones. Even if they are Cree as Pushy pointed out it all depends on what sort of current are being run through them.

One benefit of using torches is that they come in handy elsewhere. Went crabbing a few months ago at night with my Fenix torch, much brighter than the Dolphin I usually use.

[Hawkeye]

dont get me wrong - I really want a set of Ay-Ups too.......but riding across the Harbour Bridge often burns my retinas and temporarily blinds me from the bright lights coming the other way.

So for all you lucky buggers out there with super-cool Ay-Ups, please tilt them down otherwise you might end up with a head-on collision - and I hope not with me

Oops. That may well be me. If the guy blinding you is on a skinny-tyred MTB with red forks and a white/yellow helmet, stop me and say hello.

Generally I turn my head to the left away from anybody I'm riding towards so that I don't laser them with the helmet lights, but if you're on a particularly nice piece of cycling eye candy I've been known to forget.

However, if you're one of the clowns I see regularly with no lights after dark, I make no apology.

[ShanDog]

One benefit of using torches is that they come in handy elsewhere. Went crabbing a few months ago at night with my Fenix torch, much brighter than the Dolphin I usually use.

What I've done many times with my ayups is use the long separate strap to strap the lights to the battery and tuck away the excess cable. You end up with a compact portable and very strong flashlight.

If that doesn't make sense, just picture the battery with the lights strapped to the flat side. Has an on/off button just like all other torches too.