MikeP
Well-Known Member
I was looking for a secondary bar mounted light to compliment my MagicShine. I wanted something atleast 300 lumens, self contained battery, and under $80. After searching around I settled on the Cygolite Expilion 350. I was able to get on Amazon for $70.
I did 2 intial rides near dusk and a bit beyond to test the light solo. Tonite I did a real nite ride, started at 1000pm. The light throws a fairly wide beam and with 7 modes to choose from. I ran it on boost (350 lumen) which gives a burn time of 1.5 hours, high is 300 lumen and 2 hrs. It takes up very little barspace and is fairly light at 130g. The mounting bracket is stable, I rode over the heaviest rooted sections a CCC and the light beam bounced very little. I rode for a bit with just the Expilion and MagicShine off. IMO opinion this light solo would be fine for easy to mod tech trails solo at moderate speeds. If I tried to pick up the pace the light could throw enough light to keep up. Combined with the MagicShine I was riding almost at my daytime full speed. In fact I was less than 10 seconds of my best daytime pace on 3 different Strava segments at CCC. The combo of helmet and bar lights give you full coverage. I had the bar light slightly down to light up directly the 20-30 ft in front of me with the helmet light adjusted to look ahead. The combo really shined on the Renegade trail (similar to Orange trail at 6 Mile). I had great near coverage and could look ahead to find my turns.
I think this is a good secondary light for fast trail riding or good solo light for rail trails or commuting.
They make a Expilion 700, which comes with a helmet mount and can be had online for as low as $118 if you wanna go cordless on your helmet.
I did 2 intial rides near dusk and a bit beyond to test the light solo. Tonite I did a real nite ride, started at 1000pm. The light throws a fairly wide beam and with 7 modes to choose from. I ran it on boost (350 lumen) which gives a burn time of 1.5 hours, high is 300 lumen and 2 hrs. It takes up very little barspace and is fairly light at 130g. The mounting bracket is stable, I rode over the heaviest rooted sections a CCC and the light beam bounced very little. I rode for a bit with just the Expilion and MagicShine off. IMO opinion this light solo would be fine for easy to mod tech trails solo at moderate speeds. If I tried to pick up the pace the light could throw enough light to keep up. Combined with the MagicShine I was riding almost at my daytime full speed. In fact I was less than 10 seconds of my best daytime pace on 3 different Strava segments at CCC. The combo of helmet and bar lights give you full coverage. I had the bar light slightly down to light up directly the 20-30 ft in front of me with the helmet light adjusted to look ahead. The combo really shined on the Renegade trail (similar to Orange trail at 6 Mile). I had great near coverage and could look ahead to find my turns.
I think this is a good secondary light for fast trail riding or good solo light for rail trails or commuting.
They make a Expilion 700, which comes with a helmet mount and can be had online for as low as $118 if you wanna go cordless on your helmet.
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