Who:
Ay Up Lighting was born over two years ago and has developed into a world beater. We supply the lightest and coolest looking lights on the planet. No corner has been cut to provide a safe, reliable lighting system to suit the average Joe and the Elite racer. With weight, functionality, long burn, light output and low cost at the top of the design spec it took many months to evolve into what we have today. It will not stop there. We will continue to evolve the system for ever more. With a lifetime of engineering design, manufacture and systems experience behind us Ay Up Lighting can only get better. Our light has been designed to be a multi purpose unit.
Product Tested:
Ay Up MTB Kit
Ay Up lights: Pink has intermediate beam, Yellow has narrow beam
Website’s MSRP:
$ 465
Specs:
Twin light and helmet mount
Light neoprene storage belt pouch
Twin light and handlebar mount
Light neoprene storage belt pouch
One spare handlebar mount
Four spare light mounting bands
One 6hr on / off switched battery complete with neoprene mount anywhere pouch
One neoprene 6hr battery attachment strap, prevents movement
Two 3hr on / off switched batteries complete with neoprene mount anywhere pouches
One 110V – 240V Adaptor in neoprene pouch, to suit dual channel charger
One 12 Volt Dual Channel Lithium Polymer Charger – charge two batteries at once
One 12 Volt Adaptor (Cigarette Lighter Plug)
One extension cable 1200mm long, enables battery to be placed in backpack or pocket
One roll up pouch, all items fit snugly inside
One handlebar rubber packer kit to suit Diameters 25mm & 32mm bars
Handful of Ubeaut cable ties
Optional extra’s are -
Both sized batteries
Additional charger & accessories
Additional mounts
The whole MTB Kit
About Me:
6’1” 210lbs, 28 year old male. I’m a mountain biking enthusiast who enjoys XC riding.
Testing Grounds:
Local trails & streets of Southern California
First Impressions:
Small and a bit overwhelming. My first thoughts was: Would these lights be powerful enough to light up the trail? The lights themselves were small and they wouldn’t be putting out a lot of light power, 300 lumens to be exact. To give you some perspective of really how small these lights are, below is a picture of one of the lights next to my Motorola Razr, a universally recognized phone if there is one. The Ay Up light’s length about the width of my Razr!
Length of light about the same width as my Razr
I was a bit overwhelmed with the number of pieces involved in this MTB Kit. There are easily 30+ pieces including zip ties, spare mounts, chargers and various other pieces. Sorting them all out took some patience comparing pictures from the internet to what was being provided. But once I figured it all out, the assembly was a snap.
Strengths:
The first thing I have to start with is size & weight. The Ay Up lights are small. As I mentioned before, the length of the Cree light set is about the same width of my Razr. The width of the lights is slightly wider than my stem’s width. This is a small light system. The 3-hour battery is not much bigger. The battery fits comfortably on my stem with room to spare. Having a short wire between the battery and the light is also nice because it means that there is less chance of entanglement (from stem to handlebar) or getting ripped off by a tree branch (when mounted on the helmet).
Out on a group ride with the Ay Up lights
I mostly rode with the 2 x 3-hour batteries. One went on my helmet connected to the narrow beamed lights and the other 3-hour battery went on my stem connected to the wide beamed lights which went on my handlebar. Ay Up claims that the battery plus the lightest come in at about 130 grams (light – 60grams & battery – 70grams). And although this is a significant weight, it doesn’t feel like much once you get used to it. In fact, I normally just mount the light & battery to my helmet at the trailhead even if I know I might not have to use it until an hour or so into the ride. I found that the weight seems to disappear after a few minutes and never bothered me. You also have the option of running the extension cable from the light on your helmet to a back pocket if you don’t like the battery on your helmet.
I found the lights to be very tough and the finish to be excellent. I’ve done everybody a favor here and crashed hard with the Ay Up lights. When I got up from my crash I was expecting to see some damage to the lights. Afterall, the bike got a few nicks, even on the handlebar. To my surprise, the lights were shining as brightly as ever. There was not one scratch on the shell or the lens of the light. I was pleasantly surprised.
Not turned on, but already mounted to my helmet, the Ay Up lights are that lightweight
I’ve also been pretty harsh with these lights. I toss them in my bike stuff bucket after I’m done riding, taking only the batteries out for recharging. I keep a variety of bike stuff in my bike stuff bucket including a shock pump and an aluminum hand pump. My bike stuff has been rattling around with the Ay Up lights for the last three months and the Ay Up lights still look brand new, or in ebay terminology: mint condition.
Mounted via zip ties. Very simple design, and easy to fix if anything ever happened
The Ay Up lights are powerful. I never desired more light output from these lights. I’ve cruised up to 25+ mph on the trail and well over 30+ on the street with these lights and I never wished for more reach. The light is plentiful, clean and clear. In fact on just about every ride I went on someone complimented the Ay Up lights. Even when I was on a solo ride, I passed two riders who went gaga over them commenting on how the light output of the Ay Up lights was drowning out their own set of lights as I overtook them on the trail.
I’m impressed with the neoprene sleeves for the different batteries. The battery always stayed in the battery sleeve as this made them quick and easy to mount. They battery sleeves are soft, durable and the velcro is easy to use. The battery sleeve also has a loop on the back for a velcro strap to mount to your bike’s stem. I see the battery neoprene case lasting a long time.
Neoprene sleeve holds the battery and the wide velcro strap keeps it in place on the stem
The lights can be adjusted separately. Each light is able to rotate 270 degrees for more beam coverage of the trail or pointed along the same angle for more power. I personally went with the latter as I found the beam coverage to be more than adequate. But if you prefer more beam coverage, the benefit of the two lights is that you can point one just in front of your front tire and the second light can be pointed further down the trail spreading your beam out.
Weakness:
I am a bit underwhelmed by the neoprene packaging for the whole light system. The neoprene sleeves for the batteries are great, as I mentioned above, but my thoughts on the neoprene packaging for the whole light kit differ vastly. The neoprene packaging that you “store” the whole light kit is difficult to use. It is especially difficult if you do not remember where everything goes. I could not, for the life of me, repackage everything back together so that it looked as nice and clean as it did the first time I received the lights. After a while I ended up just storing everything in an empty shoe box.
I also didn’t particularly like the handlebar rubber packer. This is the protective sticky rubber strap that sticks to your handlebar so you can mount the handlebar mount. The handlebar rubber packer left a bit of residue and began moving around underneath the handlebar mount. After a while, I removed the handlebar rubber packer and took cut a piece of tire tube and zip-tied the tube to my handlebars. I then mounted the handlebar mount and this worked perfectly for the rest of the testing period.
Handlebar Rubber Packer replaced with a tire tube zip-tied to the handlebar
Summary:
The Ay Up lights are an exceptional piece of equipment. They are light enough for the pro racer while also simple enough for the novice mountain biker to use. If you’re looking for an excellent blend of weight, simplicity, durability, beam output and price, then look no further than the Ay Up lights. They’ll be the ones for you.
For more info on the Ay Up MTB Kit, click here.
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