This year, Exposure Lights updated their range of handlebar and helmet-mounted lights, upping the lumen output, tuning the beam shape and spread, and upgrading the batteries and LEDs in order to increase efficiency across the board. The British brand is constantly updating these aspects, choosing to upgrade to better quality LEDs at every given opportunity to ensure their road and mountain bike lights are as good as they can possibly make them.
2023 Exposure Lights Updates
Exposure Lights has increased the lumen output of its handlebar-mounted and helmet-mounted lights following improvements in battery technology and quality LED availability that, together, have allowed for efficiency improvements. So, how bright are they now?
Let’s start with the handlebar-mounted lights for mountain biking.
Lumen output of the Six Pack light was 5,000; that has increased to 5,250. Output on the Max D light was 4000 lumens; that’s now 4,400. The Toro was 3,100, now increased to 3,400, and the Race light has increased in output from 2,100 to 2,400 lumens.
Exposure Lights’ helmet-mounted options are benefiting from the efficiency gains, too. The Zenith goes from 2,000 to 2,200 lumens, the Diablo has increased from 1,800 to 1,900 lumens, and the Axis has increased to 1,300 lumens. The Joystick, probably the light that Exposure is best known for, has been updated too, increasing to a lumen output of 1,150.
It’s not all about lumens, however; the beam shape and spread, as well as the light’s temperature (and thus the beam’s color), all contribute to the quality and thus how the rider perceives the trail that is looming out of the darkness toward them. You can learn more about what makes a great light for mountain biking at night here.
A major update for 2023 is concerned with the beam spread, and how brightness is distributed within that. It is now a little wider, but the gradient between brightness at the wheel (the closest point) and the brightness up ahead (the furthest away point) is now more linear, making for a beam that is generally easier on the eyes, while offering more peripheral vision too.
The updates make what was already an attractive offering even more so. We previously tested the Exposure Race and came away super impressed with the Reflex+ Technology, a feature available on all of the above-mentioned handlebar mounted lights. It basically adapts the lumen output to the speed and aggression that the rider is bringing to the trail; it does that by taking information from its built-in accelerometers and thermistors that work together to make decisions about the output required. It essentially means that the light is never over-producing, so it helps to maximize its burn time.
We were also stoked on the digital display at the rear that shows the rider how much burn time is left, depending on which of the light’s 10 modes is being used; great for forward planning on longer rides with super varied terrain.
For full details on light specs and pricing, head to the Exposure Lights website.
