HOWEVER, my advice is that you *should not* buy them unless you can source them from a bike shop because the company’s customer service is off the chart in terms of how bad it was.

1. The web site is not clear and lacks guidance as to how to select the right product and options. Since they were so expensive I wanted to be careful with the purchase and so ordered a single battery system. When I got it I realized that I needed two batteries but I found that the charger would only do one at a time. When I asked to swap out the single charger for a dual and pay something extra the response was ‘too bad mate – no partial refund buy a dual charger and put the the single into a drawer’.

2. When I ordered the second battery they forgot to ship it. Ten days later I called asking where it was and they said they would send it that week. No explanation. No apology. Great except my race started a week later. Had them send the lights to me in Canada but never got the second battery in time for the race. They couldn’t be bothered sending them expedited mail and it took 2+ weeks to arrive.

3. Paying was a joke. The first time I tried using my Paypal. Their site would not accept my Paypal to ship to New Zealand. So I used their option of calling and leaving my credit card on their answer phone. I never heard a thing and after another 5+ attempts I got to speak to someone who said that the credit card number wasn’t received.

The hassles of ordering, poor support, and negligent shipping make this my absolute worst experience shopping for bike gear online. It is a real shame that they don’t take their customer service as seriously as their product design. Reminds me other other companies in the past who have gone out of business in spite of excellent products.

So, if you can find the lights in your LBS buy them. Otherwise the benefits of the lights compared to the problems of dealing with the company don’t make it worthwhile getting them.

AyUps system is a quick release.

One of the advantages of Ay-Up’s is that the mounts are cheap.

We did a 2 x 4 team 24 hour. Those without lights just purchased a set of mounts each. ~AU$13.00 plus a proportion of postage. Easy and cheap. I got a couple of spare mount sets for my other bikes.

I have had a couple of sets (the first of the Cree’s) for over 2 years. Not one failure. (I have seen a guy flip a bike and break a bar mount. quite reasonable to expect)

I commute regularly and run both head and bar sets on a road bike (100km round trip) so they have had plenty of use.

They do have a proper controller. well after the nominated burn times they start to dim, then after a long while shut off. Exactly as supposed to.

If I want more bits, mounts, pouches, batteries etc, easy, jump on the net and buy what I want at reasonable prices.

I recommended them to my riding friends (I purchased sight unseen, but doing my homework). Since then many of my friends have purchased them and still talk to me (all happy and impressed). There are some competitive options out there now, but AyUps are hard to beat bang for the buck.

Andrew

I have been using these for a few months now. I have never lost a light due to a cable tie failing and I have had a few hard bails. To complain about the ‘cheap’ mounting system is only looking for something to complain about. As you say…cable ties are CHEAP…you snap one you can get 100 more for $2 almost anywhere.

Flashing mode has been added for this year…but those of us who actually use the light to ride (which these units are designed for) have no need for flashing nonsense. In fact in most states here in the US it is ILLEGAL to have flashing white lights to the front of ANY vehicle and this includes bicycles. I am only guessing you are from the UK? Which I have no idea about in terms of bike requirements.

That being said, using this in the steady on mode for commutes works just fine and when it is dark out cars high beam you if you have them pointed up too far on the roadway. They have the new CREE led’s and for the money, you get a lot and not a mess of gimmicky garbage. Straight forward light and a lot of it…plain and simple.

Have you actually owed and used these or are you armchairing your own views based on…nothing?

Most other manufacturers have quick release systems that work for lenght of system not just one month. Ayup offers only a one month warranty on these parts.

Its a clever marketing exercise of a few colored pieces of aluminium with a multitude of cheap bits like rubber spacers, cable ties to make a ‘kit’. For this its waaay overpriced. One carefully chosen torch with a modern led is way cheaper and more practical.

Lights may be bright to the uninformed when compared to the old techology but not when compared to modern tech. The light don’t even have a proper controller, just a resistor which will dimm when battery goes down.

Again, overpriced and as pointed out in your review one cannot even use the pouch it came in. Light does not have a flashing mode so limits use in commuting situations.

At a recent mtb race, the manufacturer was forced to replace many light systems after crashes when these are notionaly claimed as being robust. In practice this clearly was not the case.