If you’ve never gone night riding, you’re missing out! There’s something about riding in the darkness that makes even familiar trails feel new and different. It’s also a great way to extend your season in the short days of spring and fall. Full On Lighting is a new company from Vancouver Island, B.C. that wants to make your night rides safer and more fun with their incoming MB6 light.
The MB6 Mountain Bike Light is Full On Lighting’s debut product, and it hasn’t hit the market quite yet. The light puts out over 6000 lumens, can be mounted to handlebars or helmets, and has an auto-adjusting mode that alters the light’s output based on your speed.
Full On Lighting’s President and Founder Sean Bourquin is a lifelong mountain biker from Vancouver Island, B.C. Before starting the company, Bourquin spent 14 years as the Founder and CEO of an outdoor solar-powered lighting company.
Finding current light options were either not bright enough or didn’t illuminate a large enough area, Full On Lighting set out to create their own products that could solve these problems. Speaking with Bourquin at their Crankworx Whistler booth, he said he wants to be able to ride at full tilt in total darkness – no holding back!
MB6 Mountain Bike Light – Key Specs:
The MB6’s purpose-built optics include three bigger LED lights up top and one smaller light on the bottom. The light provides a maximum output of over 6000 lumens.
Full On Lighting’s Ultra Wide Beam design lights up a wide area around you, covering your entire field of view. Bourquin says the way our eyes perceive speed is through peripheral vision. Creating a light that illuminates the area surrounding the rider reduces tunnel vision, increases spatial awareness, and helps them gauge their speed on night rides.
One interesting feature of the MB6 is its Active Light Control. This feature automatically changes the throw and intensity of the light’s output depending on how fast you’re riding. By shining brighter at high speeds and dimming at lower speeds, this mode helps preserve battery life.
A clever feature is the MB6’s ‘Hangout Mode’. This mode puts out 100 lumens to the smaller lower light only, and won’t blind other people if you stop to chat during a night ride. This mode kicks in when you’re not moving.
If you don’t like the idea of the light controlling itself, the MB6 does have manual settings as well. It can be run at High (3750 lumens) or Low (1500 lumens).
The MB6 light is made from an aluminum body wrapped with a polycarbonate shell. This design optimizes weight, thermal performance, and durability. The light itself weighs under 120g. The battery adds another 390g to the overall package.
The MB6 light is waterproof to an IP67 rating, and the battery meets the IPX5 standard so it will keep moisture from rain and bike washing out.
Full On Lighting decided to make the MB6 Mountain Bike Light compatible with GoPro-style mounts. There are lots of helmets already available with integrated clip-on mounts, and this system allows for centered handlebar mounting with a stem cap mount like the one pictured.
Battery:
The MB6’s battery can be strapped to your frame (for handlebar use), and it has a rubber strip on the back so it will stay put and not scratch your bike. If you prefer the light on your helmet, the battery can also be tossed in a backpack. The MB6 light system uses USB-C cables to supply power. Two cables are included in the box for either handlebar or helmet mounting.
Listed runtimes are as follows: 2.5 hours in Active Light Control Mode, 2.4 hours in High, 7.2 hours in Low, and 120 hours in Hangout Mode. An LED display on the battery shows its remaining life by percentage.
There is one button on the battery, which shows your charge status when pressed. This is the only indicator of battery life, as the MB6 system does not include any audible or visual low battery warnings. If you’re riding with the battery in your backpack, you’ll have to pull it out to check on your power supply.
The 72Wh battery charges in under two hours. It can also double as a power bank for smartphones/GPS devices, etc.
Pricing:
The complete MB6 kit includes an MB6 Light, battery with mounting strap, battery charger, two USB-C cables (one 50cm cable for handlebar mounting, one 1.2m cable for helmet mounting), a curved helmet mount, a flat helmet mount, and a handlebar mount.
The MB6 kit will sell for $425 at full retail price. Currently on Full On Lighting’s website, you can sign up to be notified of special launch pricing. Through their Kickstarter campaign, the lights will be available for an introductory deal at $299.
Full On Lighting products are designed, tested, and assembled on Vancouver Island, B.C.
