Description:The Photon Max is a strong, versatile and ultra reliable light with the latest in LED lighting technology.
The intensity of the 3 x 4 watt LEDs working at full power fills the visual area with light that is much whiter than any halogen system and the LED emitters last 1000 times longer than an equivalent halogen lamp.
Step it down to half power for more than adequate lighting around town or use the power saving 3 watt steady or flash mode.
Whether it be racing or commuting, this light will handle any situation.
NiteFLUX's cutting edge headlight design has resulted in a flow through 'heat-sink' headlight housing creating a world first in LED lighting "Forced Air Cooling" The cool air flow created from the natural movement of riding is forced into the front the headlight through the deeply finned alloy body allowing heat to be rapidly removed from the Hi-
Intensity LED's with the hot air escaping out the rear of the headlight. This maximises and maintains the LED's light intensity, to take unrivaled thermal management one step further we integrated a temperature sensor into the main heat transfer wall, the sensor constantly relays the current temperature readings to a "electronic brain" that will automatically reduce power to the LED's if they do get to hot.
Submitted by
HuckaBarryHound
a Weekend Warrior
from Auburn, Wa Date Reviewed: October 24, 2008
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$375.00
Purchased At:
Niteflux web site
Strengths:
Good helment mount, Bright full coverage, very good LUX per dollar.
Weaknesses:
switch is not ideal
Similar Products Used:
Nite rider and Marwi halogens, L&M HID
Bottom Line:
I tested this on a technical 3.5 hour ride that I have been doing with my L&M HID all fall. I’ve used the L&M on my helmet for the past several years. The ride has tons of steep, fast, and technical downhill single track and some ripping downhill fire roads. The trails are covered in roots and this time of year they are wet and treacherous if you don’t see them clearly. The Photon Max was far better than the L&M HID.
Beam and Brightness.
I’ve read that the beam in narrow, but I suppose that is all relative. The L&M has a fairly small spot surrounded by a uniform, much dimmer flood. The Photon max has a much bigger bright spot. With the L&M I am very aware of EXACTLY where my head is pointed because it needs to be exact in order to light the correct spot. With the Photon I found I wasn’t even thinking about it. It lights a huge area. The difference between high and medium seemed minimal. I did the ride on medium so that I wouldn’t have to worry about battery life. Even on the high speed fire road I didn’t outrun the light. On the medium setting this light was far superior to the old HID on high. It was as bright and it lighted a bigger area. We did an informal brightness test with my buddies Lupine Betty (800 lumen) and I couldn’t tell the difference.
Mounting.
The helmet mount is similar to the L&M HID. I don’t like a light that hangs on the front of the helmet because it makes a heavy lever up there that tends to move your helmet around. This one mounts on top center so it is well balanced and light. The light head is about the same size at the L&M HID. The vertical adjustment is pretty course compared to the L&M but it wasn’t an issue because it wasn’t so critical due to the large beam.
Switch.
The switch kinda sucks. I understand that there is no room for it on the light head due to all the cooling fins. Having it on the battery eliminates the possibility of putting the battery in your pack and forgetting about it. I tried it in both my baggie pockets and my jersey rear pockets. It fits nice and is not too heavy, but the switch is a difficult. You have to have a very good grip on the battery to depress it. It is recessed in a hole that my thumb or gloved finger can’t (at least not easily) fit into. There is no way I could change modes while riding (ok, maybe with some practice and technique, but it will never be easy). I’d like to see a pigtail from the battery like the Lupine has the pigtail from the light head. Having said all that… Since the light was more than ample on the medium setting (5 hours) I will leave it on that setting the entire ride and don’t expect to deal with the switch often.
I am shocked and a blown away by the quality of the light produced from these LED’s and the build quality of this light. I really didn’t expect it to compete with an HID. Based on the LUX levels on the mtbr light review pages, this light far exceeds any other light in the price range and competes with the expensive Lupines (actually a bit brighter according to their measurements). At this point I’d recommend it wholeheartedly to anybody looking to move into the LED world.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Loobster
a Cross Country Rider
from Glasgow Date Reviewed: August 31, 2008
Favorite Trail:
WHW Scotland
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$300.00
Purchased At:
Ebay seller Dereks C
Strengths:
Immense light output, 4 modes, light weight, good battery
Weaknesses:
Helmet mount, bulky head for helmet mounting, selector switch on battery
From the second you switch this light on, you know it's the real deal. It really does give an awsome beam, first saw it in a showroom in daylight and it was still way bright. Intense light output on max, even with 1000 lumen Hope on the handle bar, this light outshines it with its tight superbright spot. Probably a bit of a tight beam compared to some, and the head is a bit bulky when used as a helmet light, but still by far the most impressive light I have switched on. Available for £150 in the UK, half the price of the HOPE. I wish I bought this fit could have save myself a wad of Cash.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Derek
a Racer
from Melbourne, Australia Date Reviewed: June 4, 2008
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Purchased At:
Borsari Cycles
Strengths:
Very Bright in all 3 static settings Excellent in flashing mode in Traffic Good Battery Life - Simple to use
Weaknesses:
None yet identified
Bike Setup:
Fast Road Bike used for Commuting
Bottom Line:
I ride to work everyday in traffic in Australia's 2nd Largest City (Melbourne). I have noticed that since I have been using the Photon Max on flashing mode even in broad daylight, cars, pedestrians and even other cyclists give me more room and think twice before cutting / turning in front of me.
If you travel at speed in congested areas and want to be seen this is a must have - the extra safety margin it provides is worth a lot more than the price of the light.
I can now confidently ride at speed in all but the worst traffic conditions knowing that I am very visible. As an example on blinking mode, the light reflects off road signage that is over 300 metres down the road - this is not a mis-print 300 metres!!!
Fantastic product - I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to commute to work at speed and be able to ride confidently and assertively in traffic.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Richard Wyngaard
a Cross Country Rider
from East London, Eastern Cape, South Africa Date Reviewed: May 30, 2008
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Price Paid:
$500.00
Purchased At:
imported from UK
Strengths:
Unbelievably bright.SERIOUSLY you have to see it to believe it.800 Lumens at 50 LUX, you could put this thing on the front of your car!(kicks HID and seriously challenges Lupine products).INSANE run times, on low power it runs 10hrs between charges! Small battery pack. Battery monitors charge so you dont burn it out, auto shuts down when fully charged. On low power this baby is still brighter than almost any other light on the market, the manual says that you should only ride on the road with low power but i'm busting up single track in the middle of the forest on low power.
Weaknesses:
The beam is a little narrow, but it's so bright the reflection from the main beam lights up the whole road. It's too bright (ha ha as if that is a weakness!)
Similar Products Used:
Princeton Tec, Cateye, serfas, Sigma EVO dual kit. (dont waste your time)
If you want the worlds brightest most INSANE LED spotlight, buy this product. It is brighter than any HID, Halogen or LED product. It's worth every single cent of extra money over the other products. I'm convinced if you ran all of the lights under 'similar products tried' above together they would not be as bright as this light!
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Scott Jaycob
a Cross Country Rider
from Australia Date Reviewed: February 25, 2008
Favorite Trail:
Dargo High Plains
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Price Paid:
$375.00
Purchased At:
Dean Woods
Strengths:
Rugged light head, solid handle bar mount that pivots, angle adjustable Helmet mount, international input charger, Very light head unit the lightest multi LED system I have seen, almost half the weight of NR Tri-Newt and almost double the light output, everything on the website seems to be true and can be trusted. The light output is fantastic I had a Light & Motion ARC Li-ion Ultra previously a very good light by all standards and I actually use the lights sometimes together now when I want more light, the Photon Max cuts path straight through the HID output its credit to NiteFlux that have been able to obliterate HID lighting so competently with only 12watts of power. The light projects way further than I expected it allows me to pick out trail obstructions much further down the track than ever before. The head unit is pretty radical, sci-fi crossed with F1, covers top and bottom duct air over a extensively finned heat sink to keep the Hi-Watt LED’s cooler – as they say cooler LED’s means brighter light, a on-board temperature sensor also gives you more peace of mind as you know you will never accidentally cook/damage your LED’s this is something most Hi-Watt LED systems don’t have especially at this price point. The round battery casing is very strong I believe Li-Ion batteries if subjected to blunt impacts can be easily damaged so a strong battery casing make sense.
Weaknesses:
The switch is on top of the battery this at first concerned me and then I thought most of the time I am going to whack it on high and leave it with 2.5hours runtime at 12watt more than enough for my rides, the web site suggest mounting the battery around your shoulder strap on a Hydration pack when helmet mounting this works well and gives easier access to the switch than if you had a remote switch or a switch on the head unit. The beam of light could be wider but when head mounted its of no concern. The system over all could be lighter but the strength is certainly there
Similar Products Used:
Home Made 15 watt and Light & Motion ARC Li-ion Ultra
Bike Setup:
Yeti – great endurance bike
Bottom Line:
The trails I like to ride are mostly very technical, paths full of rocks, steep grades, and steps with narrow turns and often generous drops on the side. It's very important to have a bright beam to see all the immediate environment in detail and a spot light well ahead. One single light mounted on the bar isn't enough for unrestrained night riding , you also need lighting on your helmet in these more demanding conditions. I bought the L&M HID LI-Ion ultra thinking it would fulfill all my needs, the reviews certainly indicated that it had all the lighting that you could ever need, but it did not give me the ability to keep up with my fellow riders who had two lights, I tried using my trusty 15watt halogen for a while but the battery was on the way out again so I invested in getting a the Photon Max the combination of the two lights really is lighting the trail to the max. When the Lamp goes in the LM the battery will also be close to dying as well then I will get a second Photon Max. Who should buy it - anyone who wants the best value and one most powerful LED lights avalaible
$ 375.99
Overall Rating:
