Planterz
Flashlight Enthusiast
Product:
http://www.use1.com/exposure/products/joystick_maxx/index.php
Reviews:
http://reviews.mtbr.com/blog/exposure-enduro-maxx-race-maxx-joystick-maxx/
http://gearreview.com/LEDs08_single_emitter.php#joystick
Has anyone had any experience with this light? I need to replace my old L&M Vega (since it got stolen along with my Kona Kahuna), and I'm looking very heavily at this light.
I want to stick with a self-contained light for my bike; no wires, no external battery packs, something I can remove easily and put in my backpack or pocket while my bike is locked up. I liked the Vega for this fact, and even on low (lit street) or medium (dark street), it was fine for commuting around town at night. But it's old tech (LuxIII), so I wouldn't buy it again now.
So now my options are:
1. Find a new dedicated, purpose built bike light, or
2. Mount a flashlight on the bars.
If I go with option 1., the Joystick MaXx looks like the best choice. It gets glowing reviews, but mainly as a secondary/helmet light. But for me, the Vega was enough for commuting, and the Joystick is 2-3 times as bright, so it'll be just fine for my intended use (in fact, it'll probably scare the crap out of me when I first use it). I don't intend to use it for high-speed or trail riding (if I did, it'd be a helmet light used in conjunction with "real" headlights).
The advantages with the Joystick MaXx over simply mounting a flashlight on the handlebars, primarily, is that it's designed to do so. No modifications to the light needed, no screwing around with making mounts, no fuss. Plus, on its own, it looks like it's a hell of a flashlight. 1" diameter, 4" long, 100g (3.5oz), yet has a 2.5+ hour runtime on Max. It's advertised at 240 lumens, but it's probably "only" 200 or so.
The major disadvantage is its price. $250 is a bit high, compared to, say, a Fenix P2D or P3D Q5 Premium. Another con is that the battery is hard-wired within the body, so it can't be swapped on-the-fly, and needs to be sent in for service if the battery poops out (although, reportedly, their service is good and fast).
If I go with option 2., the biggest advantage would be price. A Fenix P2D or P3D Q5 or Rebel 100 is a mere $60-70 compared to the high price of the Joystick. I'm also thinking of getting a Novatac to mod (I already have an HDS U60XRGT) with KL1 optics, ala Milkyspit's SuperNova mod, and even then, it's less expensive than the Joystick. Plus, I like pocket clips.
However, the flashlight will not be the only cost. I have a few Twofish mounts, and while this works fine with my interim bike (borrowing a friend's Gary Fisher Mullet), I don't think it'll work well with the bike I have on order (Kona Kula Supreme). The reason is that the Mullet is a dirtjumper with a straight bar, and the Kula has a riser bar. The curve of the riser bar means will mean that the light mounted in a Twofish won't point straight ahead. So that leaves me with either buying a new handlebar (unlikely, since I like riser bars) which definitely moots the cost advantage. So the alternative is making a mount, but I'm not 100% on this either. I would have to use a QR for the light clamp (QR not necessary for the handlebar clamp), but I wouldn't want to bother with this if I had to use rubber shims to hold the light snug.
Another disadvantage with the Novatac/HDS idea is runtime. If I stuck with my HDS, I'd probably have it Seoul'd. Either way, I'd probably use it in the second-to-highest mode, which with a rechargable, would only give me 2-2.5 hours of runtime, whereas the Joystick should give me several hours more at a comparable brightness. Unfortunately, nobody makes larger battery tubes for Novatac's, and HDS 17670 and 18650 tubes, as collectors' items, are impractically expensive. Yes, I can always carry spare R123As, but that's just a hassle if I have to stop to swap them. And if I want to run it on the highest level, runtime is way too short.
As for the Fenix, or most other inexpensive lights, I'm not entirely enthusiastic about them, mostly due to the beam profile. Purpose-built bike lights have reflectors/optics designed as headlights, just like cars. I liked the spot of the Vega, the Joystick has similar optics, and the Supernova/KL1 optics mod is very much the same. Everything else uses reflectors and can't be as easily modded (unless there's lights I don't know about, which is entirely possible--hm, new thread time) with TIR optics. I don't like the traditional spot/spill beam of reflectored flashlights for bike use, since half of the spill just disappears into the darkness and the spot doesn't project forward as tightly as I like. The other problem with taking an inexpensive light and heavily modifying it is that it's no longer an inexpensive light, and I might as well have just gone with a more expensive one in the first place.
So what are your opinions on my quandary? Any suggestions I haven't thought of myself?
http://www.use1.com/exposure/products/joystick_maxx/index.php
Reviews:
http://reviews.mtbr.com/blog/exposure-enduro-maxx-race-maxx-joystick-maxx/
http://gearreview.com/LEDs08_single_emitter.php#joystick
Has anyone had any experience with this light? I need to replace my old L&M Vega (since it got stolen along with my Kona Kahuna), and I'm looking very heavily at this light.
I want to stick with a self-contained light for my bike; no wires, no external battery packs, something I can remove easily and put in my backpack or pocket while my bike is locked up. I liked the Vega for this fact, and even on low (lit street) or medium (dark street), it was fine for commuting around town at night. But it's old tech (LuxIII), so I wouldn't buy it again now.
So now my options are:
1. Find a new dedicated, purpose built bike light, or
2. Mount a flashlight on the bars.
If I go with option 1., the Joystick MaXx looks like the best choice. It gets glowing reviews, but mainly as a secondary/helmet light. But for me, the Vega was enough for commuting, and the Joystick is 2-3 times as bright, so it'll be just fine for my intended use (in fact, it'll probably scare the crap out of me when I first use it). I don't intend to use it for high-speed or trail riding (if I did, it'd be a helmet light used in conjunction with "real" headlights).
The advantages with the Joystick MaXx over simply mounting a flashlight on the handlebars, primarily, is that it's designed to do so. No modifications to the light needed, no screwing around with making mounts, no fuss. Plus, on its own, it looks like it's a hell of a flashlight. 1" diameter, 4" long, 100g (3.5oz), yet has a 2.5+ hour runtime on Max. It's advertised at 240 lumens, but it's probably "only" 200 or so.
The major disadvantage is its price. $250 is a bit high, compared to, say, a Fenix P2D or P3D Q5 Premium. Another con is that the battery is hard-wired within the body, so it can't be swapped on-the-fly, and needs to be sent in for service if the battery poops out (although, reportedly, their service is good and fast).
If I go with option 2., the biggest advantage would be price. A Fenix P2D or P3D Q5 or Rebel 100 is a mere $60-70 compared to the high price of the Joystick. I'm also thinking of getting a Novatac to mod (I already have an HDS U60XRGT) with KL1 optics, ala Milkyspit's SuperNova mod, and even then, it's less expensive than the Joystick. Plus, I like pocket clips.
However, the flashlight will not be the only cost. I have a few Twofish mounts, and while this works fine with my interim bike (borrowing a friend's Gary Fisher Mullet), I don't think it'll work well with the bike I have on order (Kona Kula Supreme). The reason is that the Mullet is a dirtjumper with a straight bar, and the Kula has a riser bar. The curve of the riser bar means will mean that the light mounted in a Twofish won't point straight ahead. So that leaves me with either buying a new handlebar (unlikely, since I like riser bars) which definitely moots the cost advantage. So the alternative is making a mount, but I'm not 100% on this either. I would have to use a QR for the light clamp (QR not necessary for the handlebar clamp), but I wouldn't want to bother with this if I had to use rubber shims to hold the light snug.
Another disadvantage with the Novatac/HDS idea is runtime. If I stuck with my HDS, I'd probably have it Seoul'd. Either way, I'd probably use it in the second-to-highest mode, which with a rechargable, would only give me 2-2.5 hours of runtime, whereas the Joystick should give me several hours more at a comparable brightness. Unfortunately, nobody makes larger battery tubes for Novatac's, and HDS 17670 and 18650 tubes, as collectors' items, are impractically expensive. Yes, I can always carry spare R123As, but that's just a hassle if I have to stop to swap them. And if I want to run it on the highest level, runtime is way too short.
As for the Fenix, or most other inexpensive lights, I'm not entirely enthusiastic about them, mostly due to the beam profile. Purpose-built bike lights have reflectors/optics designed as headlights, just like cars. I liked the spot of the Vega, the Joystick has similar optics, and the Supernova/KL1 optics mod is very much the same. Everything else uses reflectors and can't be as easily modded (unless there's lights I don't know about, which is entirely possible--hm, new thread time) with TIR optics. I don't like the traditional spot/spill beam of reflectored flashlights for bike use, since half of the spill just disappears into the darkness and the spot doesn't project forward as tightly as I like. The other problem with taking an inexpensive light and heavily modifying it is that it's no longer an inexpensive light, and I might as well have just gone with a more expensive one in the first place.
So what are your opinions on my quandary? Any suggestions I haven't thought of myself?
