Discussion: Ay-up lights

Has anybody used these lights? I am looking to find real world run times and any problems. Paulettes team may be getting them for Patagonia if the batteries have a good run time.

I've used them a bit, but not as much as others on here. The runtimes from what I hear are at least equal to the claims 3/6 for half epic, 6/12 for epic (some say more than those). You do need a good stock of batteries for an xpd race with no support to help charge them.

They are very popular in Australian AR's. My whole team used them for XPD and a range of 24 hr races. I have had my set for three years now and used them for ocean paddles, crashing MTB's and caving without killing them.

They will put out a decent amount of light for at least the stated run time, and I have got double the life out of some batteries though it was pretty faint at the end. There have been the odd dud batteries found but the after sales support was excellent, my wife called to report a dud and got her replacement before she had even posted off the first one.

I have used mine for 2 seasons ranging from cold winter to hot summer nights and am thoroughly impressed. They are not the brightest lights on the market, but certainly the most reliable, durable and lightweight considering their durability. I commute with mine daily throughout the winter and just keep both the battery and lighthead on my helmet. I have trekked all night on one 3-hour battery (before they had high/low). When night trail riding, I normally only have either my bar light or my helmet light on. I only use both when I'm really cooking down a trail or am helping someone else who's lights have kacked out.

For Patagonia last year, we used a combo of Ay-Ups and Princeton Tec APEX Pro (http://www.princetontec.com/index.php?q=apex-pro) which are amazing for multiple nights without seeing your support bin.

They are well made lights- durable, simple and waterproof. Great if you're not a fiddler.

The 2 reservations I have for AR are:

1- they are that they are not digitally regulated- they only have 2 simple settings. I prefer lights that can be dimmed down digitally and get a steady 5X the battery life on medium and 50X on low, rather than a gradual fade, and
2: I prefer lights that also can accept AA battery packs for longer races. The emitters in the Ay-ups are not currently the most efficient on the market either, but I'm sure they'll update soon.

Incidentally, the new Princeton Tec Apex has the latest XP-G emitter and cranks out 200 lumens now, compared with the older 130 lumen one PhatsJr used.

I love mine, best set up I have seen for all around biking lights. Extremely light, and fast to charge.

Highly recommend!

Thanks everybody. Real world info is the best. It looks like they are going to sponsor Four Continents at Patagonia. I am hoping that they will give them a lot of extra loaner batteries for the race. We are also talking to Princetontec. It would be great to have a combo.
On a related but different note. I have been using a Surefire Saint Minumus when I am filming at night. This is a great light,light. It is adjustable from 1-100. It uses 1 123a camera battery. That will run it a night normally.
http://www.surefire.com/SaintMinimusHS2-A-BK