Vetta NanoLux Under the Lens – a Test and Review of the Lighting System.

-by Michael Hopkins

The Vetta brand first came into existence in the early 1980’s with the release of a new line of saddles developed in close collaboration with Selle Italia and under the guidance of Mr. Michele Chiarella. The name Vetta comes from the Italian word for “peak” and Vetta has always taken pride in producing peak performing products.

As VETTA became more popular, the company’s main operations moved to the United States. Its headquarters first relocated to Park City, UT in 1994 and then to San Francisco, CA in 1998. CA. In 2003, the VETTA brand started a fresh chapter in its history under the new leadership of Acumen Inc. As a company prominent in fitness and cycling electronics, Acumen has expanded the VETTA line to include new products including the VL110 T2X, NanoLux, and other high-tech cycling accessories.

It is the NanoLux technical lighting system that we are here to review today.

First of all let me set the record straight, I absolutely love this light. Unlike some of the other lights we have tested the Nano-Lux is a sleek, well made light that is capable of providing a fine light for the commuter. When you couple the headlight with their supremely bright taillight and you have a total package in your hands. Nice work from Vetta.

Now for the bad part of the story, if you are a fast commuter riding city streets it is very possible to outride the light provided and that is simply because the ambient light from overhead street lights will overpower the NanoLux.

But first things first, when we received the light the box was quickly opened and the oohs and ahhs were soon replaced with “this is really cool” and indeed the workmanship and attention to detail is first rate. The actual housing for the light, as well as the unobtrusive battery tube, are machined aluminum and very sleek.

Unlike some other lighting systems we have tested, the Vetta NanoLux is very easy to install without reading the directions and when you do actually read the supplied directions it is even easier. Congratulations to Vetta for having the foresight to know that not all folks who buy their product wrench on bicycles for a living.

The pertinent engineering features of the light are: a 3-watt solid state emitter bulb with both a high and low mode of operation controlled by a remote control switch, the use of a red led indicates whether the light is in high or low mode. The beam width is controlled by the use of interchangeable lenses and features a wide flood and a normal beam. The system utilizes four AA batteries making it easy to carry extra batteries in your commuting kit for those unplanned emergencies such as staying out on your ride for an extra hour or so. Although with run times of 18 hours in high mode and 33 hours in low mode you could easily stay out till the dawns early light.

We tested the light as a primary commuter light, a primary trail light and a helmet mount add on light and found the weakest application to be the night trail light and the strongest application as a primary commuter light. The light did function quite well as an adjunct helmet mount light for trail riding purposes.

Both the flood beam and regular beam provide nice patterns, but I did find that the flood upped the contrast levels making it easier to see irregularities in the riding surface. The flood also helped light the edges of the trail better. It is nice to be able to choose the beam you want for a particular ride whether it be commuting or trail riding.

The NanoLux comes with four colored lenses as well as the flood lens, while riding the local trails at night with the red lens in place I could not help but repeat “Bond, James Bond” over and over. It was a novel experience and surprisingly the speeds were not all that much lower than with just the normal light. Nice inclusion. We certainly do not recommend poaching trails at night, but if you are somehow caught out in the dark in a secret location this is a perfect option to get you out safely and unseen.

The past two nights we have been out in the rain testing the light with the different lenses available and surprisingly found the light to be an excellent rainy night light. With some lights the falling rain is actually a distraction as it reflects back, not so with the NanoLux. Also the colored lenses lose some effectiveness in the rain, but the light has held up and appears to certainly be water resistant. VETTA does recommend that the light not be used in the heavy rain, but honestly that should be a universal warning for all lighting systems.

Now, regarding the taillight that you can add to the Lux lighting system, this thing is the single best taillight that has ever passed across my desk. With 20 LED’s providing the lighting in a large two inch circle and my riding mate declared it almost too bright. We separated over three blocks and the taillight was still distinguishable. Good job.

You have to ask yourself, do I need a light like this? That depends, if your trail riding there are probably better choices, if your commuting the system with the taillight would be hard to beat. The next question you have to ask is, do I want this light? The answer is you do. It’s reasonably priced, easily configurable to your needs, well engineered and best of all has the best taillight ever.

The number one use for the lighting system, commuting since the light pattern is ideal for city streets and the taillight is the best in the business. The number two use would be as a helmet mounted augmentation to a handle bar mounted light for trail riding.