- How much difference does spending money
make on your night lights?
We're gonna find out in cheap lights versus super lights.
(instrumental rock music)
So we've got two lights at opposite ends of the spectrum.
Firstly, this one from our partner Exposure.
This is their Sixpack.
So this is one of, if not the most,
technologically advanced lights on the market.
You've got loads of different
modes with this one, ten different modes,
so you can really customize the burn time on this.
It's also got that reflex technology,
so when you're going along,
it's got an accelerometer in there
that will bang the light up to max power at 4750 lumens.
You can also get a sync version of this,
so using your phone app you can then
really personalize the burn times.
It's £485, that truly is a super light.
And now, we have this one.
Now, if you've ever shopped online for bike lights
you've probably seen these on Amazon or eBay.
This is the Cree XMLT 6, and it costs
a fraction of the price, it's 17 times cheaper
than Exposure, it's less than £30 for this light.
So it's now in two bits, you've got the light
and then you've got a battery pack
whereas the Exposure Sixpack that's all built in one piece.
So the battery pack in there
you've got to strap to your bike somewhere.
14 LEDs, 45,000 lumens, three modes.
You've got high, low and flashing,
but no run times are listed on the spec sheet.
Let's have a quick look what you get in the box.
So, really nice box, the Exposure,
as you'd expect for the money.
You get a fast charger, you also get a USB triple charger,
you get that really nice quick release mount.
In the Cree, this is exactly
how it showed up on my doorstep,
so not quite so nice but a fraction of the price,
there's your head strap, I guess, that mounts onto there.
And there is the charger which showed up like that.
In the UK you have three-prong chargers,
and it's missing one and there is
a little screw sticking out of there.
So, hmm, not good.
Wouldn't plug that into my house.
(electronic music)
I've got the Exposure Sixpack.
- So this is the Cree light.
- I've got an Exposure Diablo on my head,
what have you got?
- I've got a torch, LED, duct taped to my nut.
- £12.
- Not bad.
Right, before we start riding, let's do a power test first.
I can't believe that's 45,000 lumens.
- Yeah, you better be careful.
I'm gonna set a bush fire.
You ready? Boom!
- [Neil] That's pretty bright
but I'm calling BS on that,
that is not as bright as a car light.
- [Blake] That's not as bright as my lights on my car, no.
- [Neil] Right, go on then.
That should be 10 times more powerful than mine.
Yeah!
Boom.
- [Blake] Oh, wow.
Look on the spread on it, though.
- [Neil] Well yours is never 45,000 lumens.
- [Blake] Holy moly.
- Right, what about a test, then?
Go, then I'll try and chase you down,
cause it's scary just being by yourself.
- It is, isn't it?
Right, try and catch me if you can, Neil.
(rock music)
- Caught me.
- Go on then, how was that then?
- Well, it's good.
It's not sharp, if you know what I mean.
You can't, I was second guessing the trail in front of me.
And then when I come to a turn,
when I'm looking around the corner,
my head torch does nothing.
- These are good, I know they're good.
Also super handy, is it tells me
exactly how much time I've got left, so on high and on low,
so I know, plan my ride and then it's gonna run out.
- Well on mine, it's green or red.
Red means, get home quick it's gonna die.
- Let's put them to a real test.
- Hopefully there's not many turns.
- Nice and slippy for us as well, isn't it?
(fast rock music)
Oh, that's sick! (laughing)
- [Blake] Bloody s*** the bed, I can't even fricking see!
Oh my gosh, look at my light!
Look where it's facing!
And I went straight in a puddle, mud in my eye.
- [Neil] Bloody light, £29 that was.
Lovely.
- Look at this thing.
It was facing the floor, I thought
I was gonna come off this one cliff.
It's not turned off, it's died.
- Well, it's cheap.
- eBay description, it says here,
"More advanced than a car light," highly doubt it.
"Sturdy and stable."
"Suitable for night flying."
Would you put that on a jumbo?
- Tell you what, Blake, I'll hook a brother up.
Cause in my Camelback bumbag,
I've got a set of mid-priced lights for you there.
- What, Exposure, yeah?
- No!
Now for the joker in the pack,
this is a Light & Motion Seca 2500 Enduro.
Still a premium light, but it's £185 cheaper
than the Exposure light at £300.
So, you still get, there's your headlight,
but you also still have to find somewhere
to stick your battery pack,
so just like the really cheap Cree.
It's a two-piece thing, none of those smart features
and intelligent stuff you get on the Exposure,
but it still puts out 2500 lumens,
you've got four Cree LEDs,
cause interesting to note,
that's what the LEDs are actually called,
so that's how those cheap lights get their name.
So, you've got six different power settings and burn times,
from two and half hours on high up to 10 hours on low.
These, well I'll say--
- Look at the size of that battery!
- £300 these, so.
- Yeah. - Get rid of those Crees--
- Is it gonna be better than that?
- They're done and dusted anyway.
- Yee!
Now that is what I call sturdy, look at that.
Alright, we're cooking, we're cooking on lithium ion gas.
Ooh, look how sharp that is compared to that death thing!
- [Neil] Follow me!
- [Blake] I can see your bum!
What, you wanna go down there?
- Well, I've ridden it in summertime in the light.
- In the daylight!
- And yeah, it's quite steep.
- That's cray, not Cree, cause that actually died, crazy!
- [Neil] Holy!
(Blake laughing)
- [Blake] Whoa, this is so sick!
Oh my God Neil, you went so sideways!
(rock music)
- Oh my gosh, what was that?
So unsurprisingly, the super light
outperformed the cheap light in every way,
including lasting the ride.
So, many people are gonna be tempted by these,
I have been, I've got a shoebox
full of these Cree lights at my house,
and of course, you could buy a new set
of these every year for 17 years,
same price as the super light.
Yes, you could, but with that not lasting the ride
and that charger being so broken
we couldn't charge it again, we couldn't.
Which brings us to the super lights.
So we've got the Exposure Sixpack
and its understudy the Light & Motion Seca.
Without a doubt, both of these are proper,
off-road mountain bike lights,
designed for the hardship of the trails.
So, the more money you invest,
the more smart features and that firepower
you get with the Exposure,
that reflex where it uses that accelerometer
to bat the light off if you stop and chat to your mates,
soon as you start moving again
it fires it back up to full power.
Also, really importantly that I find,
you get rid of that cable and that battery pack.
So just a neater bit of kit.
The Light & Motion without those smart features
and that external battery pack and that cable,
but still gives you loads of power
and a really usable light for plenty of fun on the trails.
So no, you don't have to spend a lot of money
to get a good enough light to do some proper trail riding.
Generally speaking, if you go
for one of those established brands,
you can get a decent light for about £100.
The more money you spend, the more features you add,
the more power you add and the more runtime you can get.
Don't forget that it's still really important
to get a helmet-mounted light
to pair with these bar-mounted lights,
so you can see round corners and down drops.
If you wanna see some tips on night riding,
click over there for a video all about that.
Hit that sub button, and give us a thumbs up
if you really like riding at night!