Exposure Diablo Mk.2

THE SKINNY: The Diablo Mk.2 puts out 900 lumens of excellent light. I highly recommend this product.PROS: Super light weight, small, simple to use, mounts without tools and is incredibly stable.CONS: May need to add a Piggyback One or Three Cell battery pack (which are also very small) to get more time on the trail.

I've been anxious to get out on the trails in the dark to test out my new light from Exposure. The 900 Lumen Diablo Mk.2 with a One Cell Piggyback battery. I took the light camping a few weeks ago and was pretty impressed at how bright it was. I had to find a few good nights in the near future to get out and really give it a test on the bike.Night after night of freelance design work piled up so it wasn't until Saturday evening that all the stars aligned. There was even to be a full moon which always makes night riding even better, but as the sun went down the clouds from that day held strong to the mountain tops and dropped a few snow flurries. As much as I wanted to ride with the moon over my shoulder, it wouldn't be ideal conditions to test out the Diablo, so in this case, I'm slightly thankful.As I was getting ready, SDAY asked me if I was worried about riding alone. I assured her that I'd be fine and that there was nothing to worry about. Not realizing what was about to take place in down town Kaysville.Off I went. From my front door, the trailhead is about a ten min. ride. Good time to get the blood flowing and make any adjustments to the bike or in this case, the light. I decided to ride the Top Fuel SS, because earlier that day I spent about 2.5 hours on the Superfly, on the same trails. I'm still trying to figure out the 29er pros and cons and even though the Top Fuel has 19 less gears and some travel in the rear, it would still prove to be a good test.About 30 min. into the ride, my phone rang. I was surprised that I heard it and I knew it was SDAY so I stopped to answer. On the other line SDAY asked me where I was and if I was ok. I thought it was a bit strange but for some reason she sounded a bit worried. She then told me there was a news update about a shooting in Kaysville. A man in a black hoodie and he fled to the woods. Nice. I'm pretty sure I was in the woods. From where I was on the hill, I could police lights in the valley below and the buzz of a helicopter above. We both figured that if the helicopter gets close then maybe I should head home. I just figured I'd blind the bandit with my light as I ripped by.I was too excited to be riding and so far very pleased with the light, so I decided to keep going. Plus, it was the first report from the news and we all know how accurate that can be.As I was riding I swapped through the three different settings; high, medium and low. They all put out enough light to stay comfortable on the trail, but of course the high beam was the sweet spot. With 900 lumens of near daylight pumping from the top of my helmet, I rode the shoreline trails above Davis County for an hour and a half. The high beam a blazing and the Top Fuel ripping. More on the 26 vs 29er later.Besides how well the light worked and lit up the trail, I was really impressed with the mounting hardware. Super simple and very easy to adjust. I found myself from time to time quickly reaching up to tilt the light up or down a tiny bit depending on the trail. At first I was a bit concerned that with how easy it was to adjust that it wouldn't stay in place but it was rock solid. It held perfect on my helmet, didn't have any impact on the fit and because the light and extra battery pack are so small it wasn't bad having them both attached to the helmet.I set off at 9:30 p.m. and got back around 11:00. High beam 99.9% of the time. When I got home I took my helmet off and set it on the kitchen table and kept the light burning. I was up and about for a little while longer and at about 11:45-12:00 the light began to go into power-save mode. In which the light switches back and forth from high to medium. The power saving mode still puts out enough light to pound out some night laps during any 24hour race. About 12:30 the Diablo with its Piggyback Single Cell battery attached, began to loose it's luster as was I. I don't know the exact time it shut down completely because I fell a sleep.I'm very impressed with how long it kept pumping out some serious lumens on my kitchen table after a flawless hour and a half on the trail. Given its size and weight (110g), this is by far the best in both form and function, light I've ever used. I can't even imagine what it would be like to ride with Exposures MaXx D with its 1200 lumens or Six Pack burning an incredible 1800.The Diablo is an excellent light for anyone looking for a race ready light setup that's affordable in price. Big things come in small packages with the Diablo and I think it's worth grabbing an extra Piggyback Single or Triple Cell to extend the lumens. Without adding the single or triple cell, it will run 1hr. 10min. Just enough time to roll a quick 24hours of Moab lap :)The charging unit is great as well. Plug it into the wall or charge it via USB. Pretty convenient if you're using it on the commute to and from work. The Diablo also comes with a FREE 2 year warranty, fuel gauge and mode indicator. It's run time on High: 1 hr 10min. Medium: 3hr. 10min. and Low: 10hr. Plus there are a number of accessories you can run on the Diablo through the Smart Port.