Lupine SL Nano: The Small One with the Big Eye

Update 28th March 2022

In collaboration with Giant, Lupine has released an exclusive special edition of the SL Nano. It was created especially for Giant ebikes. Its housing features the laser-engraved logo of the world’s largest bicycle manufacturer. Giant also includes the matching connector for its e-drive with the special edition. The installation of the front headlight works correspondingly fast.

Optionally with or without high beam

Lupine and Giant have agreed to produce both versions of the SL Nano with Giant branding. On the one hand, the SL Nano F with the additional high beam. This illuminates your path with a whopping 900 lumens, so that you can already be seen 230 metres away. With a weight of just 52 grams, this level of performance never ceases to amaze. Even the low beam with 600 lumens is remarkable and more than sufficient in most situations. Just like the normal series version from Lupine, the special edition can also be mounted on handlebars with a diameter of 35 millimetres and 31.8 millimetres thanks to corresponding brackets.

⭐ Special edition of the Lupine SL Nano F by Giant

The SL Nano Classic, on the other hand, is designed for mounting on the fork crown in case your ride a rigid fork or on the yoke of your suspension fork. That is why this version also comes with the other attachment. Externally, both headlights are identical. The only thing missing from the Classic is the high beam with the corresponding remote. It is recommended for city or trekking ebikes, while the SL Nano F is aimed at all types of ebikes that you often ride off the beaten track.

⭐ Special edition of the Lupine SL Nano Classic by Giant

Both the SL Nano Classic and the SL Nano F are compatible with the following motors:

• SyncDrive Core, Syncdrive Sport and SyncDrive Pro motors on 6V basis from model year 2020
• SyncDrive Pro2 on 12V basis

The only exception to the latter is the Gant Trance X Advanced E+ model range.

Giant’s recommended retail prices are currently 140 euros for the SL Nano Classic and 195 euros for the SL Nano F.

Original post from 28th September 2020

Miniaturisation is a constant trend on ebikes. Many components are getting smaller and at the same time losing none of their performance. This applies to the things that everyone always looks at first, like motors and batteries. However, development is also constantly progressing for the sometimes more inconspicuous add-on parts. The latest proof of this is the SL Nano headlight from Lupine.

You don’t have to look at the eighth decimal place to see where Lupine is heading. The name Nano makes it clear where this front light is superior to other solutions on the market. A full 30 millimetres long and 41 millimetres in diameter are a statement. With these dimensions, the SL Nano fits wonderfully unobtrusively into many an ebike cockpit. And with 52 grams, you almost don’t want to use the word “extra weight”.

Harmonious light pattern

At first glance, the dimensions of the headlight are clearly its greatest asset. As soon as it gets dark outside, this perception could shift again. At least that is what the manufacturer is convinced of. From Lupine’s point of view, the most impressive thing about the SL Nano is not its tiny appearance. The staff around managing director Wolf Koch are much more proud of the light pattern that the headlight elicits from its small size. The front and rear areas are illuminated extremely evenly in the light cone.

Responsible for this is a design of complex free-form surfaces and Fresnel elements inside the tiny headlight. Lupine uses a thermoplastic called polycarbonate. This plastic is considered unbreakable, scratch-resistant and extremely light. Above all, the material allows for a very thin design of the lenses. In the end, the headlight as a whole is correspondingly smaller. No wonder that polycarbonate is now also used in many eyeglasses, whose plastic lenses achieve high visual acuity and yet have nothing in common with the ashtrays of earlier times. Nowadays, headlight lenses are also often made of this material.

From zero to 130 in less than a second

The sheer numbers prove how much power the SL Nano radiates. A luminous flux of 600 lumens comes out of the headlight – and that is just the low beam. With a wired remote control, you can also turn up the beam at the touch of a button. Lupine specifies 900 lumens for the high beam. So don’t be surprised if it suddenly gets quite bright in front of you. On the road, this means a maximum illuminance of 130 lux. For comparison: The IQ-XM from busch+müller, which is also fairly new, has a maximum of 120 lux.

Remote control for the SL Nano’s high beam

In any case, with the Lupine SL Nano you can safely let your gaze wander into the distance. The headlight still lets you see something at a distance of 230 metres. Then, of course, the light beam is no longer so dazzling. The value means that the ground is illuminated with 0.25 lux. On a clear night, the full moon shines similarly brightly in an open field.

Wherever there is space

Lupine has come up with three mounting options. Firstly, you can screw the headlight to the crown of your rigid fork or the yoke of the one with suspension. The second option is to attach it with the help of a two-piece clamp. The third option is interesting for those who have a Newmen stem. This is the case on many Cube bikes, for example. There is a special stem clamp for this, which we believe is the most elegant way to integrate the headlight.

Theoretically, you can ride the Nano SL on any bike of your choice. In any case, it complies with the German road traffic regulations. It probably fits best on everything that tends towards trekking ebikes and urban bikes. Given its size and low weight, it could also be mounted on an e-road bike or e-gravel bike. You still have a little time to decide. The flashlight will be available from the end of October.

⭐ Headlight Lupine SL Nano F

Background: On the road with a torch

In fact, you won’t always find all the information that is important on the packaging of a headlight. Most manufacturers give figures in lumens and lux. Behind the unit lumen is the total luminous flux emitted by a body. Usually, this light output reaches its maximum along the centre axis of a light cone or beam.
Light that is emitted is incident at a different point. The unit of measurement for this is lux. It indicates how strongly an area is illuminated.

It is one thing to use identical units across manufacturers. It is just as important to determine the respective values using a uniform measuring method. Manufacturers of bicycle lighting follow the ANSI FL standard, which is also sometimes referred to as the ANSI FL-1 standard or the ANSI NEMA FL-1 standard. And this is actually a guideline for describing the performance of torches. In 2009, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) approved this standard. It was developed by the Flashlight Standards Committee of the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA). The committee consisted exclusively of torch manufacturers.

ANSI FL standard symbols illustrated by the example of the Lupine SL Nano

Uniformity = comparability

What is good for torches cannot be bad for bicycle headlights. All prominent manufacturers such as Lupine or busch+müller follow this motto. The advantage for you is that you can reliably compare the manufacturers’ values. For example, the maximum light output is measured at a distance of ten metres from the headlight. And it must have been in operation for at least 30 seconds beforehand. The symbols for protection against water or fall safety are also uniform.

Pictures: Lupine Lighting Systems GmbH