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Ay Up! Lights have taken over 12 months to evolve and many of you would have followed the progress via the website over this time.
A ‘smart’ touch switch was to be offered inside the light. Unfortunately the circuitry for the touch switch & associated functions has so far proven to be unreliable. This option may be available later when technology again catches up and has proved reliable. After many months of trialing and testing we feel that the touch switching is unreliable. This project is still in R & D
With any night riding the most important thing is light. Solid reliable light! Most riders we spoke to have experienced some kind of problems with their lights. During some of our after dark testing escapades we have helped fellow riders with failed lights. Some of these lights were the expensive HID and LED lights currently on the market. Circuitry, vibration, switch, leads, have all played a part in their lights demise. This did come as a surprise to us as we did not expect these expensive lights to have any such problems. So what we have done for now is to change the format of how we control the light and now it has been made even more reliable. We’ve taken out the switch ‘smarts’ and we now offer a lighting system with the purest possible light beam and extremely long burn times. For example, our current 3 hr hour burn battery will run at full power for 3 hours. It will then slowly dim to that of a bright torch by 7 – 8 hours. You can still ride with this light output after the initial 3 hours or at least get you home if something happened deep in the forest or bush.
Our on / off switch is the power plug itself. Many racers and riders we have spoken to about this method of switching have said that it appeals to them more than having a switch. “Just one less thing to go wrong, brilliant” We only offer long burn times so no need to keep turning your lights on and off to conserve battery power ..... leave the lights on!
Our 3hr batteries weigh just 70 grams and the 6hr weighs 130 grams.
We offer 3 battery types in two sizes. All fully waterproof and protected. These batteries are fully compatible with all our lights ... no changes necessary.
Type 1 - our current battery without the switch for die hard solo or night epic riders. This type of battery has no on / off switch
Type 2 - same battery capacity but with an on / off switch. Both battery casings will increase in length by 8mm
See BATTERIES for more details ....
The batteries have been designed to be mounted within 100mm from the light, be it on handle bar stem or helmet and are packed inside protective neoprene pouches. There are no problems with dangly leads and we offer only very long burn times, so no need to keep turning the lights on and off whilst resting.
Our lights can be powered up and down in the wettest conditions providing it is fresh or rainwater, they are waterproof !
The power connectors we have chosen for our light system are a high quality Japanese type, which has proven to be the most reliable.
The batteries carry their own ‘smarts’ & unlike most other batteries are fully protected internally with short circuit, over voltage and low voltage cut off. Early warning of the battery becoming drained is dimming of the light until the battery switches itself off at 5V. Type 3 battery will blink every minute for 10 minutes to let you know its about to switch off.
The battery casings are waterproof to a depth of 1 meter. They are also designed to withstand a fall of 5 meters to a concrete floor.
The small aluminium, independently rotating, light shells are anodised for beauty and protection and we have twelve fantastic colours available. The light units have been tested to a depth of 5 meters in water so can withstand high pressure hosing or just washing under a tap. These lamps are fully sealed so therefore not serviceable and come with a 10 year guarantee. Weight - 58 grams
Ay Up lights use CREE XRE in a Cool White Tint and we supply the lights with the brightest possible bins available at the time. Currently we are running the Q3 bin (Nov 07). We offer three beam options, narrow, intermediate and medium. The narrow beam is very powerful and throws a good strong beam, ideal for helmet mounted use. The intermediate offers a long beam and good spread, ideal for both helmet and handlebar. The medium beam does not have the throw of the narrow and intermediate but has a wider spread and is perfect for the handlebars and to compliment the helmet light. For off road use we recommend narrow for the helmet and intermediate for the bars. For road / commuting use the intermediate or medium beam is ideal but the medium obviously lacks the throw of the marrow. As our lights are so light and inexpensive, with out a doubt the best and safest setup is to use both lights (helmet & handlebar) for all types of riding.
Our warranty policy is such that if any part fails through normal use within 1 year it will be replaced free of charge. How’s that for confidence!
The development / testing stage has involved users from all over the globe. Elite and average Joe. Thousands of hours of testing had been undertaken and now we feel we have a fully tried and tested quality light kit. Ay Up’s will continue to evolve and improve as new options and variants come online down the track. You’ll be notified of future developments in Ay Up if you are in our mailing list.
All in all we now have the most bullet proof, most reliable, lightest, best engineered, prettiest, most practical MTB lighting system on the market. Oh, and not to mention the cheapest !!
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