Exposure Toro LED front light

One of the newer generation of LED lights from the USE Exposure brand, a name already well known in the mountain-biking world, the Toro promises an outstanding mix of car-dazzling illumination, small size and long battery life.

Designed primarily for off-road racing, with a built-in battery and single, high power P7 LED from Seoul Semiconductor, the Toro gives a claimed 700 Lumens of light output with a run time of three hours on maximum, in a package that weighs only 276g. There is a choice of three power outputs, the light will run for around three hours on high beam, 10 hours on its medium setting, or a whopping 24 hours on its low setting, on just one charge. This makes it well suited to weekly commuting, or even all-night mass participation events such as the Dunwich Dynamo, the Exmouth Exodus or the London to Brighton Night rides.

The beam profile is quite narrow, with most of the light within a beam approximately 7° wide. While this is fine for most riding, it does mean that on the open road, only the high power setting spreads enough light across the road to see detail, such as junctions, clearly on the other side. However, with a neat handlebar mounted remote switch available as an accessory, turning to high beam when you need it is easy. On full power, the beam is bright in the middle and has a softer ‘flood’ effect at the edges, and a fox was clearly visible at around 60m away. In comparison with other similarly bright lighting set-ups such as Lumicycle’s Halogen System (much cheaper) and the slightly brighter Hope Technology Vision 4 LED (a bit more pricy), the Toro offers the ability to see a similar distance, but with a slightly narrower, more intense beam of light. As mentioned, this narrower beam does make the opposite side of the road less easy to illuminate. The light features an incredibly bright flashing mode as well, in case you need to draw attention to yourself in an emergency.

Packaged in a neat weatherproof aluminium body, the light fixes onto either standard, or oversize bars with a forged metal clamp. While the clamp bolts into place on the bars, making fixing the light in an optimum position an easy, fit once and forget affair, there is a nice quick-release to attach the light to the clamp so you can take your light with you when you lock up the bike.

The power, and mode selector is at the rear of the light, and has a simple, ‘double-click’ on, and hold to switch off function. While on, the light can be cycled through the output settings with single clicks of the switch. A multi-coloured LED within the button also acts as a mode indicator and fuel gauge. There is a multi-function charge socket on the back as well, but more on this later. One excellent feature of the Toro is a machined, raised lip around the rear face of the light, which protects the switch and socket in case of a fall.

With our test unit, we were also supplied a ‘Red Eye’ (optional extra at £40) rear light unit that can be powered from the multi-function socket at the rear of the light unit. Velcro-ing onto the seat-post this provides a near-car-brakelight bright rear light at 80 Lumens to ensure excellent visibility. Again made from an incredibly robust looking chunk of aluminium, this unit has a long cable to run along the bike’s top tube to the Toro on the handlebars. I say long cable, but it is not really quite long enough and may be a stretch for longer framed bikes.

In addition to the ‘Red Eye’, we were also provided with a remote switch, which velcros onto the handlebars within easy reach of a thumb, and also plugs into the multi-function socket. Designed more for mountainbikers who may wish to change modes rapidly off-road, the switch is easy to use, but prevents the simultaneous use of the rear light.

The multi-function socket, known as a ‘smart-port’ is a nice idea, and certainly provides a lot of flexibility for the light in a small package, but I am not entirely convinced. It does limit the system to the use of one accessory at a time, and changing its use from a passive, charge or remote switch socket to a powered light socket requires a sequence of button presses that take time to learn. One real advantage for extended night rides though is that it will permit the connection of additional, ‘piggyback’ batteries available as an accessory from Exposure.

Charging time is not the quickest, at around nine hours for a full charge from empty, but considering the long run times on low and medium settings, for many riders this may only be a weekly occurrence.

All in all, the Toro offers a remarkably capable, and versatile package. Its long run times, and small size make it ideal for use as a bright commuter light, and for longer winter training rides as well as for night-time events, and it can even open up the odd off-road adventure after dark as well. The only drawback is the price. With an RRP of £275 it is a significant investment, and one not to be taken lightly!

Verdict

An excellent light, compact and powerful. Well suited to longer commutes on dark roads, extended night training rides and off-roading.