Busch & Müller Ixon IQ Up To 40 Lux LED Front Light

A few members of a local cycling group I belong to had highly recommended this light so, being sick and tired of cyclists coming at me in the opposite direction telling me my current lights were too bright, I bought it... after convincing myself that the whopping price tag could be justified (it can't). First thing to note was that straight out of the packet the clear front lense was already slightly scratched (and I'd paid how much?). Second thing was that the packaging makes numerous references to the lamp running successfully on rechargeable batteries. Excellent. I inserted some freshly charged batteries and set off to work (I have cycled to work for 10 years and have a good, reliable bank of high quality, heavy duty rechargeables). On cycling home in the dark I was quite impressed with the light output...to begin with. After literally about 4 minutes of cycling with the light on it's high setting it turned itself to low mode and indicated the batteries were running low. This is nonsense, as was proved the next day by putting them in another light. In economy mode the light output is poor but I had no choice but to use it to make my way home. It's the old story, non-rechargeables work at about 1.5 volts, rechargeables at 1.2V so the light thinks it's got non-rechargeables that are going flat when it actually has full rechargeables. Fine, except again the lamp's product description clearly states rechargeables are OK. As I cycled home I pondered the pros, cons and cost of running the light with regular batteries all winter, at which point the light came off its bracket fell apart on the road spraying my batteries into the gutter, half never to be found again, and I made up my mind to return the light. For this price I'd expect a serious piece of kit, certainly one that actually recognised the type of battery in it.

The positive points:
The Ixon is a very good front light. The beam is plenty bright enough, even at longer distances. The Low setting is perfect for illuminated roads (visibility and filling in the dark spots between streetlights), and the Bright setting is just what it says: Bright, and plenty so, even on pitch black terrain more than adequate. Also, the quick release clamp on the handlebar mount allows to quickly aim the light a little higher or lower while cycling, which is very handy. A further positive is that it uses standard AA batteries, so if you need longer endurance (or for security - see the first negative point below), you can easily carry a spare set.

There are two lesser points however:
(1) During my first test ride on pitch black and very rough terrain, the light came off the handlebar mount, went flying through the air, and on impact with the ground the battery compartment opened, scattering the four batteries all over the picth dark terrain. Not funny at all. I had to dismount my rear light to use it as a flashlight to search for the batteries. So: the mount could be more secure in holding the light. Caution when using on really rough terrain, it can come off. (I must add that my bike doesn't have shock absorbers so riding on rough terrain can become pretty violent. Maybe on bikes with shock absorbers the light wouldn't have come off - I don't know)

The beam covers the road ahead very well when moving straight forward, but the transition between the lighted and the unlighted area is very sharp (abrupt change from very bright to very dark). Together with the high brightness of the beam in the high setting, and your eyes becoming adapted to the illumination of the lighted terrain, this causes the area outside the beam to become one big black hole where nothing at all is visible. In corners, especially tight ones, this becomes a real handicap - it gives you a very insecure feeling because you can't see where you're going or where you should go (even corners I know well managed to surprise and scare me). So in my view, on unlighted terrain, a helmet light to assist in the bends and corners is a necessity with this front light.

But overall I'm really happy with the light. Would certainly recommend it.

The lamp gives a good beam pattern and is bright enough for any dark country lane when on full power. The unit is compact, light and seems to be weatherproof. The only downsides with this lamp are the battery life is not as long as stated; I only obtained 2 hours on full power, and when using the light my computer ceases to function.