Troute Darkness Dominator front light review

We ran Troute lights last year without a problem and the machined head, screw-fix connectors and big battery of the Darkness Dominator has proved equally bombproof over the past two months.

Fire up the three XML U2 LEDs in the ovalised head unit and you get a ludicrously bright maximum ‘boost’ setting of 2,600 lumens (theoretical is 3,000). This is – literally – brilliant for deliberately throwing riders in front into shadow for overtaking moves or fast and techy descents, and for 90 percent of the time the (approx 1,000 lumen) High setting is ample. There’s a low setting for cruising too, or you can choose a five-level version when you order.

Run times on the 14.8 volt, 5.2 amp Endurance battery are two, four and eight hours respectively, but there’s a half size ‘standard’ battery for £300 if your night raids are sprints rather than epics. Production versions will have a battery life indicator built into the switch too. The Darkness Dominator isn’t light, but the head and battery are super-secure and power-for-price ratio is outstanding.