bpcyclist

Looking at new headlights and wondering if anyone here has had a look at this light. It seems to have some interesting qualities, but is a bit more expensive than some competitors (such as the B&M Ixon Space). Love to hear thoughts and opinions or other suggestions. It appears my beloved Cygolite Trio 1300 may be dying, so I am looking for something powerful to replace it. The other two I use are a Metro Pro 1100 and the unknown but excellent Ceco F1000. Really appreciate the input. I was sort of looking to try/add an StVZO light, but that is not a requirement.

polyphrast

Here is another thread where the OL Road is discussed https://www.bikeforums.net/electroni...ing-worth.html
and here is a user review: https://www.bikeforums.net/manufactu...headlight.html
There is also a thread with 800+ Posts on the OL Focal Series on forums.mtbr.com

I do own the OL Road Edition (besides a Lupine SL-F). Do you have any specific questions that i could answer?

bpcyclist

Thank you very much for those links and for the heads-up. I'll dig through the links this morning. Basically, I've never owned an StVZO light before and want to give one a try, mostly on the recommendation of some folks here on BikeForums. It seems like the Outbound and this Ixon Space seem to come up a fair bit.

I guess a couple of questions might be: 1) How brightly illuminated is the pavement before you when you are out riding? 2) Is this the most effective light you've owned? 3) Is it hard to get used to this kind of cutoff? 4) Is it fairly well-made? 5) Are there any others you strongly considered before you decided on the Outbound?

Many thinks for your assistance. I really appreciate it.

polyphrast

I'll begin with those questions which are shortly answered:

2) besides the Lupine SL-F it is by far the most effective road light i ever owned and i never want to go back to use anything with less output again (although the Ixon Space on the highest setting does a very good job)

4) it is a very solid designed and made light, no flaws on it. Someone with brains sat down there and designed that lamp well from the ground up. Tastes differ, so some people might find the design "ugly".

5) i bought the Outbound Road after buying a Lupine SL-F (which has a dipped beam and an additional high beam). I bought it out of curiosity and because i wanted to support a project which designes specific and high powered road lights. Imho there are not enough. I intend to use both lights in future in parallel to always have a backup light, with the OL Road as main low beam lamp, since it has a warmer beam color tint.

Now those answers that are bit longer:

3) Since in germany non cut-off lights are not allowed on roads, (and i try to be good citizen) i never used one, always had a StVZO cutoff lamps (before i used a ixon iq premium). So not really hard to get used to for me. The issue and limitations of cut-off lights was for a long time that the light output was just too low for higher speeds, but this issue is finally resolved since the advent of lights like the Ixon Space, the Lupine SL/SL-F, the Supernova M99 lights or the OL Road. (Actually it was resolved by the advent of the B&M Big Bang (HID/Gas discharge lamp, but that was even for my liking too expensive)

1) Illumination: well enough to cycle securely with speed up to 22 mph. That is the most i can achieve for a longer time on a flat road, and the same speed i reach by day.
There is imho one little weak point in the light distribution of the OL Road: If the cut-off is adjusted in the "good citizen" way, i.e. just not blinding others, the area in front of the bike is lit/lighted up a bit too bright for my likes. On the highest setting on bright gravel this is a distracting, on darker tarmac this is less of an issue. See this post of mine (but keep in mind that camera settings used there were not adjusted to give a most realistic beam shot, it was more chosen to show that "too bright" spot. In case of the the first two images there, the gravel path was for the eye illuminated at least up to the reflective road sign, which was ~160 ft away)

Cut-off limitations:
There are situations on the road where a high beam is nice, but not necessarily needed. Then there are situations where a high beam is very useful or necessary (i.e., when you have the risk of crossing deers, or you speed down a hill above 30 mph). I enjoy the high beam of my SL-F, and i use it if there is no oncoming traffic, just as i use the high beam on my car. But since you have a few conical lamps and a helmet mounted light, you could use these lights adjusted to max throw as additional high beam lights in those situations.
Also, the OL Road can easily be adjusted while driving to a "high beam" lamp (when using the silicon holder, which is rock solid if not moved by hand, see here in this video youtube.com/watch?v=0WNN1Wvq2_U )

I personally think a cut-off light would complement your light setup very well. If you are a bit reluctant, get a Lumintop B01 on banggood or aliexpress first, <40 USD. It is not totally glare free, but mostly, and if you like this type of beam, think about the OL Road or the Ixon Space (both lamps make better beams than the Lumintop, what i have seen from pictures) The Lumintop B01 can then be used as flashlight for all purposes...


And there is another weak point: on my OL Road version, i have an automatic step-down (by two brightness steps) from the highest light setting once the runtime drops down to 50%. That cannot be overriden, you can only go up one brightness step again. I don't know whether that has been changed so far, but since OL offers a 30 day money back guarantee, you could just try the light and see whether it fits your needs. Probably one could solve this by using a li-ion battery with 3 cells in series (11V) or by just using a bigger battery pack to have more usable runtime on high. The lamphead is also available without battery for 140 USD.

polyphrast

bpcyclist : did you went shopping for a glarefree light up to now? if so, which model did you choose and what are your impressions?

bpcyclist

Yes, thank you. I have done all my research and I am going with the Outbound Road Edition, even though there are others less expensive out there. I like the Ixon Space, but its beam pattern is definitely inferior to the Outbound in my opinion. Also, quite a few people complain that the mount is not very good. So, the Outbound at $215 it will be. Thanks again for your help!!

noglider 

We expect reports and beam shots!

adr5

I have used the Outbound Lighting Road light. I've also used other lights that include the B&M Ixon IQ Premium. I bought the Outbound light after reading reviews and the description. It was expensive, $200, and because of that I had high expectations too. I was hoping that the light would be a brighter verions of the B&M light I already had. I have to say that I was disappointed with the Outbound light. The build quality of the light is excellent. The optics are good, but not what I wanted. Outbound puts out a lot of light and it had the advertised sharp cutoff so that you don't blind other road users. What I did not like is that too much light is concentrated about 15 feet in front of the bike. Beyond 15 feet the light is dim and doesn't really light up further down the road well. So if you are going much over 10 mph you don't see as well as you should. I believe that bright white spot in front of the bike also causes your pupils to close up making it even harder to see in the dark. That is different from the B&M light that produces a nice even light that goes out about 100 feet. It is not as bright as the Outbound light, but since it is an even light output it works better. The B&M also has the sharp cut off so as to not blind other users. Basically the B&M makes better use of the light it puts out. The Outbound light would be better if they changed their optics to put more light down the road instead of that bright spot just in front of the bike. I used the Outbound light for 2 seasons and I am about to sell it. I just bought a B&M Ixon Space. This is the brighter version of the B&M IQ Premium I already have. So far, I am pretty happy with the B&M Ixon Space. It is not as bright as I hoped for, but once again it makes the most of the light it does put out. It provide a nice even light going out 150 feet. I find it safer to use going faster and going downhill it gives me more confidence than the Outbound light. One area where both B&M and Outbound are lacking is in giving guidance on how to set up your light. They should tell you how to set up the light to get the best pattern and distance. Some in the way of:

Mount your light between 24 and 36 inches off the ground. When standing 6 feet away from a wheel the top of the light beam should be 48 inches off the ground.

That would help you make the best use of the light you have. I hope that helps.

CEBEP

Maybe Trail edition would've serve you better as while it doesn't have clear cutoff it does have the brightest spot where you need it.

I've just installed Road Edition on my Brompton and while I think beam battery would be better if installed on the handlebar, my installation on fork breake caliper bracket still delivers me plenty of light for my needs.

bmwpowere36m3

I have the OL hangover light and in watching videos by them, they discuss the road light and its limitations... their was a much larger market segment for trail lights. So compromises needed to be made with their road light at the time.

Their talking about a new "detour" light that will be the road light, with a nice cutoff and much improved all round. Target is road/gravel riders.

zawaprz

Have a more less same question but about

DETOUR BIKE LIGHT...

Anybody? I cannot believe I'll be first one trying it???!

CEBEP

I switched to Edelux II and SON dynamo and couldn’t be happier.