Dinotte or Cateye

[doyler78]

Ok got a reply from ay-up. Seems they don't include duty or VAT. Here is their response:

Thanks for your mail and interest in Ay Up!

We have removed the GST on the shop pages as it only applied to Australia and NZ. The final cost to you for a Roadie kit is 116 pounds including freight.

Depending on whether the customs decide to charge you VAT is the luck of the draw. If they do you will receive a call from them when the goods land and they will charge you before releasing the goods. Usually its the more expensive kits which are picked up. As far as we know there is no duty in the UK or the rest of the world for a bike light.
To date I have only heard of a few customers being charged for VAT

Hope this helps

I sent an email back about the fact that an upgrade is due soon of battery with an on/off switch although I don't think personally the lack of one will be a great problem however this the response to this:

Thanks for your order and mail. Existing customers are offered all upgrades at cost so we will look after you there should you need to upgrade. Most people prefer the more robust battery without the switch.

We expect to ship your order on Tuesday

Thanks again

As you can probably tell from that second email I decided to go for them in any case. Thought I should just take the plunge and hope its the right decision although I don't see how I can go wrong given the really positive reviews that there are out there. I have yet to see a negative review about the quality of the light itself. I went for light blue - really wanted black but its out of stock. Ah well I am sure I will get over it.

I will let you all know what I think when I get it. Can't compare it to anything other than the cateye el-530 as that is the only front light I have. That is my backup. Not good enough for night riding. Fine in the twilight bit between sunset and total darkness.

 

[mikeitup]

Ok got a reply from ay-up. Seems they don't include duty or VAT. Here is their response:



I sent an email back about the fact that an upgrade is due soon of battery with an on/off switch although I don't think personally the lack of one will be a great problem however this the response to this:



As you can probably tell from that second email I decided to go for them in any case. Thought I should just take the plunge and hope its the right decision although I don't see how I can go wrong given the really positive reviews that there are out there. I have yet to see a negative review about the quality of the light itself. I went for light blue - really wanted black but its out of stock. Ah well I am sure I will get over it.

I will let you all know what I think when I get it. Can't compare it to anything other than the cateye el-530 as that is the only front light I have. That is my backup. Not good enough for night riding. Fine in the twilight bit between sunset and total darkness.

Thats great news. Which kit did you get?
Just the front or front and helmet?

look forward to your opinions on the ayups

 

[doyler78]

Thats great news. Which kit did you get?
Just the front or front and helmet?

look forward to your opinions on the ayups

Roadie Kit. One light set in it. I will handlebar mount it though if you have the money you would definitely get the regular kit which gives you 2 lights and mount one on the helmet. From the reviews this is an excellent way to go.

Have got it going to my work address (nhs) in the hope that may further help my chances on not getting hit with VAT and duty charges (if any are to be applied). Only time will tell now. Only prob with the work address is that my site is massive and things get lost all the time on delivery so my first main problem is that I may not get them at all but keeping everything crossed.

 

[wafflycat]

I will let you all know what I think when I get it. Can't compare it to anything other than the cateye el-530 as that is the only front light I have. That is my backup. Not good enough for night riding. Fine in the twilight bit between sunset and total darkness.

Eat more carrots to improve your night vision then

Using 2 x Cateye E530s up front and riding on unlit country lanes at night is absolutely fine I find. They light up the entire width of the road and a goodly distance ahead.

 

[doyler78]

Eat more carrots to improve your night vision then

Using 2 x Cateye E530s up front and riding on unlit country lanes at night is absolutely fine I find. They light up the entire width of the road and a goodly distance ahead.

I think for the cost of two cateye's there are much better options out there in the market now and I think that is not the way to go any more.

I will certainly compare the light from my cateye and the new ay-up. As there are two headlamps I will compare like with like I will mask the second light and post pics if people want so that you can compare light output from cateye with the ay-ups. I do hope they come out better however I will just have to wait and see on that.

 

[hambones]

Any thoughts on this..... BLT Ozone 21ne - High Power LED

Allegedly equivalent to 21w Halogen with self-contained battery pack. The Dinotte looks good but I want to avoid cables and bottle-cage batteries.

 

[alfablue]

It looks good, but

1) it has a 4w LED, the Dinotte I have (last years model) has a 5w and I would suggest it is nearer to a 12w halogen, so 21w equivalent sound optimistic - I reckon it would still be enough though.

2) it takes CR 123 batteries, very expensive as regular single use lithium, though rechargeables are available.

Run time may also be less because of the battery capacity.

However, it could be good, is neat being all in one, and its about £35 less than a dinotte.

 

[bonj2]

i came across this website: http://www.nightlightning.co.nz/
I've sent them an email to see if they can satisfy my housing requirements.
Here's hoping!

 

[bonj2]

just been looking at their all-in light sets:
they do one that's 720 lumens for £86!
(but that's without battery which the cheapest one is NZ$59, and the mountings)
but still, not bad!

 

[Daniel B]

I'm really tempted by the ayup lights now!

Question for you, that someone may be able to answer.

I am wondering if the Regular kit with 2 lightsets, would allow me to use one, and my gf to use the other?

Would I be right in thinking there would only be one headlight mount, and one handlebar mount?

Also, what have people gone for on beam type, Narrow, intermediate or medium?

Cheers

Dan

 

[mikeitup]

I'm really tempted by the ayup lights now!

Question for you, that someone may be able to answer.

I am wondering if the Regular kit with 2 lightsets, would allow me to use one, and my gf to use the other?

Would I be right in thinking there would only be one headlight mount, and one handlebar mount?

Also, what have people gone for on beam type, Narrow, intermediate or medium?

Cheers

Dan

If you look at the site the best combination from looking at the lights gallery seems to be intermediaate on the bars and narrow on the helmet.
You would probably want both set of lights the same for you both to use.

 

[bonj2]

as far as i understand it from looking at the website, the regular kit comes with one helmet mount and one handlebar mount, so you could have one each if one had the helmet and the other had the bar mounted one. But it does say 'optional accessories: extra mounts', so you could just order an extra mount of whichever you preferred, can't imagine they'd charge much extra for them.

What I want to know is what actual LEDs the roadie kit has got in it?
i.e. what make/model, wattage, and how many of them in each side of the 'twin' lightset?

they do look quite good value lights, i'm tempted to be honest.

 

[Daniel B]

Thanks for that bonj and mike, after a bit more prodding around, it seems they are only £3 each, so not a problem!

Once question for those that have already bought one, where do you put the battery when you mount one on your helmet, does it also go on the helmet, and if so does it feel rather heavy?

I see somewhere it states that the batteries are designed to be up to 100mm away from the light, so that can't be far enough to be in a rucksack, or back jersey pocket?

Cheers

Dan

 

[bonj2]

apparently:

3HR BATTERY - BATTERY SPECIFICATIONS, AY UP 3 HOUR, ML-07 & LU-07

Weight - 72.0 grams - 90.0 grams with helmet mounting pouch


6HR BATTERY - BATTERY SPECIFICATIONS, AY UP 6 HOUR, LL-07 & BU-07

Weight - 130.0 grams - 156.0 grams with helmet mounting pouch

but it says 'neoprene mount anywhere pouch', so you can have it wherever you like it would seem.

 

[bonj2]

Thanks for that bonj and mike, after a bit more prodding around, it seems they are only £3 each, so not a problem!

Once question for those that have already bought one, where do you put the battery when you mount one on your helmet, does it also go on the helmet, and if so does it feel rather heavy?

I see somewhere it states that the batteries are designed to be up to 100mm away from the light, so that can't be far enough to be in a rucksack, or back jersey pocket?

Cheers

Dan

where does it say that?