Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - Busch & Müller Ixon IQ anyone?

Application is a SR series and possibly PBP, with secondary application on my commuter. For that reason I particularly like that it will run on AAs or rechargeable pack. Looks good on html - does anyone have experience with this light?

I don't know what "SR series" means. Something-Rando? Don't know PBP either. But how long do the batteries last versus the length of longer rides? I got a dynohub and love it.

I've been using one for several months. I like that it has a very sharp vertical cutoff. It's easy to set the lamp so that you can see that it doesn't shine in the eyes of oncoming drivers. That's very nice. It's also a lot brighter than the early (or even current) common LED lights like Cateye. However, it is not the brightest bulb on the block. In the past, I've done OK with two Cateye EL530 lamps. The Ixon seems brighter than both of them. For brevet work, an Ixon, a backup HL-EL 530, and a small white Cateye blinky make an OK front system IMO.

I don't know what "SR series" means. Something-Rando? Don't know PBP either. But how long do the batteries last versus the length of longer rides? I got a dynohub and love it.

SR = Super Rando series, a 200k, 300k, 400k, and 600k; PBP = Paris-Brest-Paris, a 1200k in France. The 300k and up would usually involve a fair bit of night riding.

I've been using one for several months. I like that it has a very sharp vertical cutoff. It's easy to set the lamp so that you can see that it doesn't shine in the eyes of oncoming drivers. That's very nice. It's also a lot brighter than the early (or even current) common LED lights like Cateye. However, it is not the brightest bulb on the block. In the past, I've done OK with two Cateye EL530 lamps. The Ixon seems brighter than both of them. For brevet work, an Ixon, a backup HL-EL 530, and a small white Cateye blinky make an OK front system IMO.

Good info. What kind of run-time do you get with the Ixon with AAs?

I got one a few months ago, for the same reasons (commuting and rando). It is a great commuter light. You can run it on bright for a few hours, and it is easy to recharge, on or off the bike. The patch of light is just about perfectly directed where you need it, brighter where it should be, not blasting oncoming drivers or riders. It is reasonably bright, enough for most people, I'd say.

The run time on high with disposable AA"s is pretty short, though. The light will automatically switch to the low setting when it senses the batteries getting low. With regular AA's, this happens after only about an hour. It is still a decent light on low setting, enough to get by most of the time. On low setting, you can go all night on a set of regular AA's, and you can still ramp up to high for short spurts. That's the way I used it on brevets, and it worked out o.k. Though, I was a bit disappointed that I could not get 3 or 4 hours off disposables on high.

Excellent for commuting, workable but not ideal for brevets.

Watch the battery latch on the Ixon, it is the weakest point of the design. Reports of problems there aren't unknown in the UK. Recharging the batteries in place means less wear on the catch and likely longer life.

Use lithium disposables, rather than alkaline batteries for longer run times on high beam. I use it as my backup for a Cyo on long brevets and as my main light for shorter ones.

I've had mine for a little more than two years now. 36 mile commute each way, 4 days per week. The latch has not worn out and I swap out the batteries at each end of my trip. I've used the IXON IQ for randonneuring, along with a Princeton Tec Eos Bike on my helmet.

I quite like the light a lot. The beam shape is perfect for road riding. The one potential bugaboo that I have encountered is that there is a little bit of spill out of the top of the light. If you mount this light on your handlebars, you will be potentially taking some glare straight into your face. My light is mounted on my forks and the handlebar bag blocks any spill from getting in my eyes.

I use Rayovac Hybrid NiMH batteries and get a touch over three hours on high. On low, I stopped counting around 21 hours. I have used this light on my tandem and didn't outrun the beam at 42 MPH. But my night vision is better than most people, so YMMV. In all, this is an excellent light for road use is you don't want to run a dyno light.

I get a full 5 hours on high (as advertised) when using the B+M NiMh batteries I bought with the light. Also, I believe it was reported in a different thread here a few months ago that someone gets 10 hrs on high with a set of disposable lithiums. This makes its use on brevets fairly practical doesn't it?

I've had mine for a little more than two years now. 36 mile commute each way, 4 days per week. The latch has not worn out and I swap out the batteries at each end of my trip. I've used the IXON IQ for randonneuring, along with a Princeton Tec Eos Bike on my helmet.

I quite like the light a lot. The beam shape is perfect for road riding. The one potential bugaboo that I have encountered is that there is a little bit of spill out of the top of the light. If you mount this light on your handlebars, you will be potentially taking some glare straight into your face. My light is mounted on my forks and the handlebar bag blocks any spill from getting in my eyes.

I use Rayovac Hybrid NiMH batteries and get a touch over three hours on high. On low, I stopped counting around 21 hours. I have used this light on my tandem and didn't outrun the beam at 42 MPH. But my night vision is better than most people, so YMMV. In all, this is an excellent light for road use is you don't want to run a dyno light.Hardly anyone appreciates the damage backspill does. On my motorcycle, I even taped over the infernal idiot lights in the speedo. Made a huge difference.

Good info. What kind of run-time do you get with the Ixon with AAs?

I have used mine for almost 3 years, including on the Gold Rush 1200 and the Cascade 1200 last year. I was the lanterne rouge for a great part of those two rides, so I got to do a lot of night time riding using this light. For "short" rides, like a 300k, I use rechargeables, and I get up to 4 hours of light on high. (This is with the highest capacity AA that I have, 2200 mAh, IIRC.) For a 400k, a fleche or a 600k ride, I will bring a second set of charged batteries, and replace them when the light switches to the lower intensity beam. For the one time a year that I do a ride of more than one night where I will not be able to recharge the batteries (a 1000k or 1200k), I splurge on the Egergizer 8X lithium AA batteries. I did the Cascade 1200 on 3 sets. I get more than a full night out of a fresh set. The one time when I kept track of the usage, I got about 10 hours of night time riding, including the times when I was stopped at the controls, where I turn the light off. So probably between 8 and 9 hours of actual light on time, at high intensity.

Overall, I am quite pleased with this light, and with the fact that it is regulated, meaning that the intensity of the light is constant, and does not just keep getting dimmer as was the case with the Cateye lights that this one replaced. And the shape of the beam works very well for me.

Anybody have experience with the Ixon IQ Speed? Looks like the next it is the next step up in the Ixon line.

Thanks everyone for the info. That's just the confirmation I was looking for before buying the light. BF can be awesome :)