Tell me about Hope Vision R4 lights.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Just considering some new lights for winter and like the look of the Hope R4. Anyone use them? What do you think?

Ta

[Stevemorg]

I've seen then in use and they are pretty good but there are a few decent cheaper options around at the moment (I'll post some links later) and if you want something better then its worth looking at Troutlights, the Lumicycle LED set ups or some of the other custom manufacturers.
I think Hope are stuck in the middle - more expensive than some which offer the same or better performance for less money and not as good as some of the slightly more expensive custom builds.
Will get some links up when I get home

[Cheeky Monkey]

I have some of the first version launched last year, think they've been tweaked this year. It's the set up with two x 2 cell batteries. They've had some use but not a huge amount and certainly not long rides or overnighters.

Like most Hope gear it's lovely made, looking and handling stuff (if you like their "style"). I had issues on one ride in the cold where the beam power dropped to absolute lowest but talking to someone who knows much better than me I understand that's about the battery performance in low temperatures and the way the light controllers work to protect things. Only happened once and it was brass monkeys.

The light settings are slightly unusual. You have a choice of two, within which there are several brightness levels. One is "trail" (or some other moniker) which are all lower powered than the "race", which has fewer steps but a bit more grunt. I like to just ride around with the lamp on at a decent power and would rather not be flicking between settings.

A load of us got them on offer through the club and several commented that they lack grunt (in terms of overall brightness and distance) compared to others. But that all depends on what you're used to and what else people you ride with are using.

It comes with a bunch of fittings in the box (helmet, bar and headtorch options) of which I've used all and they've all been fine. Plus an extension cable and the fittings allow you to run other Hope lights (e.g. the District rear off the same battery with a splitter cable. The bar fitting needs a small allen key and has to be bolted on. No issue if you tend to use one bike but a tiny bit fiddly / less easy and convenient than your average O ring.

Whilst I like mine, I got it for a good price I'm not sure I'd get one again and almost definitely not at full price. I'd probably go for one of Troutie's or some other less "name" brand alternatives e.g. the latest one from MTBBatteries (is it 200lumens Lumenator for £112?). The lighting arms race just means there's bonkersly brighter lights each year at the mo.

I love the idea of the lights Rob Dean was using (Exposure Revo?) but they might be a bit steep.

Dunno if any of that helps :?

[Cheeky Monkey]

This looks pretty good.

http://www.mtbbatteries.co.uk/mountain- ... lumenator/

[Dan_K]

I had an XML V1 from MTB batteries. It's really good.

Lights get superseded so often with "the next brightest thing" that I can't really see the point in spending ridiculous amounts.

[Mart]

^^^ Smudge knows his stuff when it comes to Lights

[Stevemorg]

A few links that may be of use:

http://www.mtbbatteries.co.uk/

http://www.troutie.com/

http://www.lumicycle.com/product/210/ww ... ledhtm.htm

http://www.crgmoto.co.uk/gloworm-x2-led ... 1734-p.asp

I'm running a Troutie Lumen Liberator which is superb but a lot of the budget stuff is catching up. Personally I'd avoid the cheaper Magicshine/DX £50 units if you want reliability (but thats only my opinion - lots of riders are very happy with theirs)

[zigrat]

There's a guy in Glasgow going by the name of torchy the battery boy who sells lights on ebay.
I got a 1000 lumen one for my brother in law for £80 which had a good beam and fairly good battery life, I know a few other people who've got them as well and been pretty happy, I also think he offers a two year guarantee.
They're not just as bright as my Lumicycle XPG's which are 1300 lumens and the run time is not as good BUT they are a 1/3 of the price and if my Lumicycles ever die I know which lights I'll buy...

Just remembered they're called fluxients

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fluxient-1000 ... 4608d271dc

They also do a 3000 lumen one !!!!!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3000-Lumen-Fl ... 460884e015

[99percentchimp]

Stu - I replaced an aged and ailing Lumicycle Halide with an R4 and it's been great... worked well on Mach 'n' Back last winter and seems to be going well this winter too. No adverse cold effects on MnB with power or run time. Build quality seems pretty good and comes with helmet and bar mounts which are both well made (esp. the CNC machined bar mount which centralises the light over the stem).

Plenty of light for single track use on the medium setting for longer run times and a small battery can be tucked under the stem or in a frame bag with a short extended cable. Spare batteries are not that heavy (and not too expensive) if you wanted longer run times.

I can recommend but I'm only comparing against older Lumicycle halides and halogens and also some mates who run the Hope twin LEDs too. Everything I hear about customer support has been good although I had very good experiences with Lumicycle too.

HTH.

[Anthony]

Seeing as the Lumi's use the same 4 led's, you would wonder how they are claiming 1500 lumens whereas Hope r 'measuring' theirs at 1000 :?

[Anthony]

The Lumenator from MTBbatteries is on STW Fresh Goods Friday, coming into stock with them having once cleared customs.

Although the quality of finishing looks fairly 'average', you cant argue with 2000 lumen for 3 hrs at £119.