In every shootout, there has to be a top dog. This year, the Lupine Betty takes the crown by a devastating landslide. They not only spec'd a 3600 Lumen light but they also backed it up. This light is almost scary in brightness level and one really has to look away from the light head or risk seeing 'stars' for a moment.

But the good news is the light levels are very configurable all the way to 40 Lumens without any flicker at all. So this one system can serve many purposes from the longest marathon races to the fastest descent around.

And the real novelty is the remote. It is so tiny, so easy to activate and so fast. It has a long range and is dependable and lightning quick. This makes it actually useable and easy to change light levels as it will be right at your thumbs. This is particularly useful when the light is on the helmet as one never has to take the hands off the bars.

Specifications:
  • Price: $1,095
  • Claimed Lumens: 3600 Lumens
  • Measured Lumens: 3625 Lumens
  • Measured MTBR Lux: 365 Lux
  • Light Head Weight: 177 grams
  • Installed Weight: 450 grams
  • Run Time: 1.5 Hours
  • Category: High End

2013 Lights from Lupine


Strengths:
  • Insane 26 degree, even beam pattern
  • It includes a remote that is very useable
  • Honest rating at 3600 Lumens
  • 7.5 hour run time at 900 Lumens or 1.5 hours at 3600
  • Excellent charger and smart battery with indicator
  • Lupine quality and reputation
  • Can be used with impressive array of Lupine batteries
Weaknesses:
  • It is $1100
  • Can get hot when stationary and will step down in brightness as the light head is small
  • At this brightness level, it should be wider than 26 degrees
  • At this price, bar mount should be included
Mounting:

Included mount is an excellent helmet mount. There is a CNC'd bar mount that is available as an option.

MTBR Light Meter Measurements: Compare all lights here.

This light measured 365 Lux on our ambient light measurement facility.

Integrating Sphere Measured Lumens: Compare all lights here.

3625 measured Lumens. Claimed Lumens by the manufacturer is 3600 Lumens. The Lumen-hour graph below shows how the light performs over the first three minutes of its battery cycle.



Backyard Beam Pattern Photo: Compare all lights here.



We photographed the lights in the same location setting with the same camera settings. The photos were taken in the back yard that is approximately 25 yards long. These photos feature many objects and a distinct background to analyze detail and beam pattern.

Tunnel Beam Pattern Photo: Compare all lights here.



The location is useful since it has walls and a ceiling that can display a bike light beam pattern. The walls have a lot of graffiti on them and actually show detail when they are lit up by a light with a wide angle. Cones and targets are set up with the far target set up at 80 yards.

2013 Claimed vs Measured Lumens

2013_Claimed_vs_Measured

This first graph is a bar graph of each light's Lumen output. Taller bars indicate a brighter light. The cheaper lights are on the left and the most expensive ones are on the right. And the best feature of this graph is it has the red dots on each bar that mark a light's 'Claimed Lumens'. This makes it very easy to compare what a light claims and what we measured its Lumen output to be.

2013 Lumen per Dollar

2013_Lumen_per_Dollar

This next graph is our measured Lumens divided by the price of the light. Higher numbers indicate a brighter light for the money.


Related Links
All Mtbr Lights Shootout Articles »
2013 Bike Lights Shootout »
2013 Backyard Beam Pattern Comparisons »
2013 Mtbr Lux measurements »
2013 Tunnel Beam Pattern Comparisons »
2013 Mtbr Lumen Tests »
2012 Bike Lights Shootout »
Mtbr Lights Reviews »
Mtbr Lights Forum »