Exposure MaXx-D on order
Many moons ago Dave, Nicola and myself were out on a night ride. It was just after the Hope HID had first been launched and we were speculating on how bright it was likely to be.
One thing was for sure though, there was no way any of us were going to part with the best part of 300 smackers for a bike light. How times change…
Since then, in no measurable way have I become more affluent. The world has decided, at least by the BBC’s reckoning, to crash spectacularly in stock market terms, shedding vast wads of cash (surely someone is benefiting somewhere?), I have a mortgage which is so large I can’t afford to replace my car and the banking sector has effectively been nationalised in some bizarre version of pseudo capitalism.
Yet despite the gloom that hangs over the world I am making the brave decision to ‘invest’, if such a term still has value, in a state of the art one-light-to-rule-them-all. The Exposure MaXx-D (for Daddy).
When the Hope HID came out, we all were scratching our heads as to how bright a lumen was vs a 10w halogen. I still have no sensible answer to that one. Yet after just one winter of HID ownership, most of which was spent in the shadow of Dave’s final say on light systems (with his Trailtech SCMR16 HID) I’ve decided that it’s time to pony up. So last week I ordered a new Exposure MaXx-D from Wiggle for £292.
It’s not, I think as mad as it seems. Anyone who’s ridden with Dave knows how bright his light is, yet the combination of huge energy drain and dodgy connectors, switches and lamp brackets (so far — watch this space) has been unreliable enough for me to put a high value of stuff which just works. The Exposure has 960 whatever-they-are lumens which seems sufficient in my book, plus it’s all contained in one lightweight unit which has a quick release bracket and enough modes to cover all eventualities.
I really think that’s worth the premium, which even so is mitigated somewhat by my sale of the Hope HID. At one point I mused long and hard over the Hope Vision 4 LED light and was about to buy it. But the Exposure was only £25 more, was only ¾ of the weight and had no cables or wires to worry about, plus new smartport technology which might be useful in future.
The only problem is availablility. The local bike shop has 20 on back order, which at £325 rrp is some £6500 of sales, quite a tidy amount. Wiggle, who I’ve ordered from, are out of stock until late October, showing that at least some other people share my enthusiasm but frustrating my efforts to get out on some night rides.
I’ll be doing a full review when I get mine but in the meantime Dave has offered me the chance to guinea pig his latest LED set up which I expect to take him up on this Wednesday. Will I be pig sick or relieved after that?
I really hope the answer is relieved!!
About the author
Matt is one of the founding Molefathers of the Muddymoles, and is the designer and main administrator of the website.
Having ridden a 2007 Orange Five for many years then a 2016 YT Industries Jeffsy 29er, he now rocks a Bird Aether 9 and a Pace RC-627.
An early On-One Inbred still lurks in the back of the stable as a reminder of how things have moved on. You can even find him on road bikes - currently a 2019 Cannondale Topstone 105 SE, a much-used 2011 Specialized Secteur and very niche belt drive Trek District 1.
If you've ever wondered how we got into mountain biking and how the MuddyMoles started, well wonder no more.
There are 5 comments on ‘Exposure MaXx-D on order’
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James says:
I have this light! bought the only one Cyleworks Leatherhead got in.
Is bonkers bright, makes old Hope LED2 light seem v.weak by comparison. Wasn’t sure I’d like the coke can size object on the handlebars, but in the dark you can’t see it! and the light output is amazing, usual night ride companion has commented “it must take fun out of night rides…”
Have been so impressed with wireless set up that where Hope LED2 was to be helmet mounted to compliment MaXx daddy on bars, have now bought Joystick for helmet to benefit from no wires anywhere on light set up.
Have ridden 4ft ladder drop (Godalming way) and light hasn’t budged on bars. It has a wide spread of light with good depth, can’t fault it and burn time seems good 2.5hrs+ on maximum.
Mount for handlebars would be better if QR otherwise no flaws (so far…)
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Posted on October 28, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Matt says:
If I start riding 4ft ladder drops in the dark with my Exposure MaXx-D when it arrives I’ll consider it money well spent, since I definitely can’t do that at the moment!
The more I look at this light, the more I think it’s a great choice, can’t wait for it to arrive now. Good move getting Cycleworks’ only one, they said it went pretty quick when I spoke to them.
I wouldn’t be surprised to find myself running a Joystick MaXx on the helmet eventually either…
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Posted on October 28, 2008 at 2:24 pm
Jon says:
I’ve just ordered the Maxx-d from wiggle too, can’t wait. Its a birthday present to myself!
I’ve already got the Joystick Maxx for my helmet and this has been a superbly made and reliable light so far. There’s enough cable on bikes without adding a few more to mess with.
Just a small word of caution though – if using either of these lights on the road the side ilumination is very poor so its a good idea to take another road light when on the road. These lights are designed for seeing with and not necessarily to be seen with (by other road users I mean).
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Posted on November 4, 2008 at 10:03 am
Dave says:
A bit off-topic I admit, but although I don’t doubt for one minute that the Joystick Maxx is a great lid light, I can never understand why people gladly pay £130-£160 for a 240 lumen LED spot light when you can get a brighter 300 lumen LED set-up for around £30 via the following combo (a torch which uses readily available AA batteries) and a velcro helmet mount:
Cree torch from Solarforce
Velcro mount from DealExtreme
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Posted on November 28, 2008 at 3:03 pm
Muddymoles says:
Exposure Lights MaXx-D (for Daddy) 4 LED light review
What’s it like living with and using the Exposure MaXx-D 4 LED light? Find out in this detailed review.
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Posted on December 22, 2008 at 5:05 pm