Ay Up lighting systems

The best bike lighting system available  ?

One of the toughest pieces of gear to track down is bike lights for adventure racing. You want a good bright light, but you also need it to be light and have extended burn time for 24 hours or more. This may sound easy, but trust me, it’s not. You can usually find some good bright lights at any bike shop, but they are typically designed for night rides up to 3 hours or so. Some other lights may have a great burn time, but lack power/brightness.

After meeting Ryan, I was convinced, I needed to buy a V4 lighting kid. His Australian company has it figured all out .  The V4 Adventure Kit  contained the following:

-2 x Lights (4 leds in total)
-2 x Handlebar mounts
-4 x Light mounting bands
-1 x Gecko Light kit
-1 x Gecko battery kit
-2 x HALF EPIC high / low & flashing batteries
-1 x Half Epic battery pouch
-1 x Half Epic lock down strap
-1 x EPIC high / low & flashing battery
-1 x Epic battery pouch 1 x Epic lock down strap
-1 x 110V – 240V Adaptor
-1 x Dual Channel Lithium Polymer Charger
-1 x 12 Volt Adaptor (Cigarette Lighter Adaptor)
-1 x Extension cable 1200mm long, enables battery to be placed in backpack or pocket
-1 x Handlebar rubber packer kit to suit Diameters 25mm & 32mm bars
-1 x Bundle of 4 cable ties
-1 x Headband kit
-2 x Red Saxon caps
-1 x AY POD case
-1 x Wrist band

All this is neatly packaged in their “AY POD” case for easy storage and travel. It is a pretty slick system that contains anything you could ever need for a complete lighting set-up.

The lights are nice and small and produce approximately 400 lumens each. The lights can be mounted on your handle bars, bike helmet or worm as a headlamp – all the attachments are included in the kit. They also offer different beam configurations depending on your needs.

One other unique thing about these lights is the “Gecko” system they have for attaching one of the lights to your helmet. It’s a simple Velcro system that allows quick and easy attachment of the light and the battery to your helmet. Simply remove the Gecko and all that is left on your helmet are some small Velcro tabs.

I was recently able to field test these during a adventure race in Limburg.  I have to say the handlebar/helmet combination of Ay-ups was quite impressive, even using the lower setting to save battery life. The wide beam from the bars was great to keep the trail in front of my well lit, while the narrow beam on my helmet allowed me to scan the trail ahead or surrounding areas with ease.

So if you’re looking for a sweet, all-in-one set up for adventure racing (or any outdoor endeavour) I would seriously look into grabbing a set of Ay Ups!  Damn I love those lights !