The new Enduro MaXx light from Exposure (pic: Chris Keller-Jackson)

From top to bottom: Enduro MaXx, Race MaXx and the Joystick MaXx

USE’s Exposure lights have been illuminating the wooded hills of 24-hour and night enduro events in the UK for a couple of years now. As a racer’s light they have become a favourite thanks to their simplicity with no extra gubbins or cables required, just a single unit that you put on your bars and press the button. Here’s a lowdown of the new lights.

The existing lights: Joystick, Race and Enduro have all been MaXx’ed. They might look vaguely the same but that is where the similarities end. The new lights are brighter, boast better burn times, and have been tweaked to be more user-friendly.

The Enduro MaXx kicks out 720 Lumens on full blast – that’s a lot of moomins (eh? –ed). Burn time on full power is a claimed 3hrs, stepping down to 10hrs on the Ride setting, 24hrs on Low, and forever (well nearly) on flashing mode. The burn time is the same for all the lights, with just the brightness increasing as you move up the range.

But as well as increased burn times, the big change is the way the light power now tapers rather than suddenly drops off when the battery starts puffing and panting. We now see a gentle easing of brightness down to the next setting as the battery life drops, indicated by a neat LED light on the back (in eye-shot) which is colour coded. Three colours: green, amber and red, indicate the remaining battery life. When the red light begins flashing the light is running on reserve power, which should allow enough time to get you back to safety or plug in a piggyback battery. The new piggyback batteries allow you to extend the life of your light by plugging an extra cell into the charge port and strapping the battery to the stem or top tube.

My testing area for the new Enduro MaXx was a couple of night laps of the Sleepless in the Saddle 24-hour race – the crew at USE where passing this light around like it was the only one in existence (which it was). I wasn’t running on full charge (another rider had been using it before my turn) but after around 1hr 20mins for two laps the battery indicator LED had switched from green to amber, indicating the light had used the first 50% of the battery’s juice. The LED switches to red when 25% burntime remains, and then to a flashing mode when the battery is almost out.

So how does it work? I’m no sparky or electronics geek, but as far as I can see it works by plugging the light into the charger, charging it up and then putting it on your bike and letting rip, which it does with gusto. The light is clear and picks up a decent range of vision to the sides, with the length of the beam a useful 10 to 15m, enough to hit singletrack totally flat out and not even have to give it a second thought. I guess the proof is in the pudding, day lap time 39 minutes versus a night lap time of 40 minutes. Yeah I know perhaps I should ride a bit quicker but I was on a singlespeed! To summarise, the newest incarnation of the Exposure Enduro MaXx is a definite improvement on the old light. It kicks out a heap of light in a neat bar mounted light that needs nothing extra.

Some of the key features in the new lights

The three lights, Enduro, Race and Joystick all share the same burn time. The key difference is the brightness of the light. The Joystick has one LED, the Race two, and the Enduro three.

They now use the same smart charger, with an LED on the charger to indicate when full charge has been reached.

A new universal QR bracket that is simple with a quick release to clip the light on and off – one size fits 25.4 and 31.8mm handlebars. The dovetail design makes removing the light a doddle.

All of the information you need to know about burn times is neatly engraved on the side of the light.

Power plug on the back of the light for the charger but will also take a piggyback battery that can be charged independently and will beef up your burn times.

Nice simple on/off switch on the back of the light and simple scroll through setting on this button to change brightness.

The Enduro MaXx will cost £299.99, the Race MaXx £229.99 and the Joystick MaXx £159.99. Burn times are the same for all lights: MaXx: 3 hrs. Ride: 10 hrs. Low: 24 hrs. Flashing: Days.

Visit www.exposurelights.com for more information. There lights should be ready for release by the end of September, we’ll bring you a more in-depth look and first impressions when we get our hands on a set.