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Exposure Joystick MaXx £160

Lighting for road bikes doesn’t need to be quite as powerful as for night-time off-road riding, but it is still on occasion useful to have enough illumination for speeds of up to 30mph. That’s exactly what you get with Exposure’s Joystick MaXx, which offers a choice of three power outputs with corresponding run times.

On the brightest ‘MaXx’ setting the Joystick pumps out a staggering 240 lumens from its single Seoul SLED with ‘Dual Beam Optics’ collimated lens and runs for a claimed 3 hours; the Ride setting offers a claimed 10 hour run time, while Low is supposed to last 24 hours. There is also a flashing mode that should last for several days.

We can’t confirm these figures as yet, mainly because the light was used for the National 24 Hour Championships and only had to last about 6 ½ hours, which it did happily on the Ride setting. Given that this was done on pitch-dark country rides and that the MaXx setting was never needed thanks to the broad, penetrating beam, this is impressive stuff indeed from a lamp that weighs 80g and is about the size of your middle finger. If more is needed, the Joystick will accept Exposure’s ‘Piggyback’ cell for additional burn time.

Fitment is simple, requiring the hard plastic clip to be attached to the bars using the re-useable zip tie supplied. The system is quick, versatile and sturdy enough given the small size of the lamp, and there is a cunning helmet mount available if preferred.

Charging is straightforward and easily monitored thanks to coloured LEDs that indicate state of play. Add in the durable, CNC-machined construction and you have a lighting system that, while expensive, surely offers everything the night-riding road cyclist might desire.