Review: Gemini Olympia LED Light

Way back in 2012 we ran a review on the Gemini Xera light on MoreDirt and we loved it. Great size and weight with ample power and a great mount… Now the time has come to test the Xera’s big brother the Olympia that packs a whopping 1000 Lumens more…

First Impressions

On first impressions the light looks and feels great. On paper the 1800 Lumen figure immediately leaps off the page and stands out. You are never going to be short on power with this bad boy up front. I think the thing that makes it so appealing from the off is the power on offer relative to the combined size of the lamp and battery. Needless to say we couldn’t wait for dusk to fall and see how the olympia performed!

The Light Head

The Olympia LED head comes in at a featherweight 78g with only an extra 229g for the 4 cell 5200mAh battery. This is essential when it comes to using the light on a helmet as you don’t want heavy batteries and lamp units weighing you down!
The light only features one button throughout it’s entirety that controls everything through a combination of different length button holds. It would be impossible to work out how to adjust these settings without instructions and you would simply be wasting your time but luckily the instructions provided are clear, concise and to my mind fairly idiot proof. The button also doubles as a rear LED indicator to tell you which menu you are in or how much power is currently remaining inside the cell. The LED will either be showing green, amber or red and these obviously mean corresponding things. EG. If its Green the light has something between 100%-20% remaining. If it’s amber you have 20%-10% and finally is it’s showing red you have less than 10% and its time to get home.

Personally I think it would be more sensible if the warning system was to give you a little more than a 20% warning . I think the LED turning amber should be happening at around the 35-40% mark to give you ample time to get back to the car or get home.

Finally the Olympia makes use of a 19° Standard Optic to equally distribute the full 1800 lumens of light from the 3 individual Cree XM-L U2 LEDs and give a consistent and wide spread.

What's in the Box
-	Gemini Olympia LED Light Unit
-	High Capacity Samsung 4-cell / 6-cell Battery
-	Lithium Ion Smart Charger
-	Helmet Mount and Bar Mount
-	Pro Head Belt
-	Silicone O-Rings
-	Extension Cable

Mounting.

The light can is designed to be mounted straight to your handlebars via Silicone O-Rings that come with unit to wrap around the bar and give a secure and firm fit that allows the angle to easily be adjusted on the fly.
The light can be mounted to both the Helmet Strap and Pro Head Belt that is provided in much the same way by stretching the O ring around the plastic mount provided.
Most importantly for all these types of mounting they are 100% tool free. No part of the light has to be changed to allow it to mounted in any of the ways as described above.
You will also never have to live in fear of this light scratching your beloved handlebars or leaving marks from a nasty clamp as the silicone O rings are obviously soft and a soft rubber patch has been placed on the underside of the light to aid the lights ability to stay in place and avoid any marks from rubbing.

Technology.

The Gemini Olympia light has the ability to set 3 user brightness presets that range between 10% and 100% brightness in 10% increments. This is done by cycling through the 3 preset slots to the one you wish to adjust. hold down the button for 3 seconds. The rear LED will flash amber. At this point you select the desired brightness by scrolling through using the button . Once your happy hold the rear button for 3 seconds and that preset slot is fully programmed in and will stay like that until you decide to change it again or hold the button for 10seconds to factory reset the unit.

It may sound like a bit of hassle when its written down like that above but really it’s a 3 step process that takes a matter of seconds and best of all only requires one button. It’s a great functionality to have in a light as you can tailor fit the performance of the light on different settings for your preferences.

The Olympia features a built in theromostat that monitors running temperatures from within the light unit to ensure the longevity of your light. The light has built in overheat protection that will automatically step down the lights intensity once a critical temperature has been met.
The light however still has a manual over ride that so even in the unlikely event of an emergency and your light going into overheat protection mode you can still continue to use the light at full power. Obviously this is not recommended and is fitted as an emergency only feature but it’s great to know its there!

Finally the light is categorized as IP65 which after some research online I discovered means that the Olympia light unit and battery is totally protected from dust and more importantly is “Protected against low pressure jets of water from all directions with limited ingress permitted.” I would take that as waterproof in heavy rain which is definitely essential for a light that will be put to use throughout the British Winter!

Gemini Olympia LED Light System
Brightness	1800 Lumens
Size and Weight	78g Light Head. 229g 4-cell battery or 350g 6-cell battery.
Beam Angle	19° Standard Optic.
Modes	Low / Med / High. Flash. User programmable between 10-100%.
Material	Hard Anodized Aluminum
Safety	LED Overheat Protection and Battery Overcharge Protection.

The Ride...

During our time testing the Gemini Olympia we came to appreciate the strength and ruggedness of the lamp throughout the winter and the water resistance came into its own.

We used the light in some quite frankly horrible conditions and it never once faltered throughout the 6 months it’s been under going our thorough testing so that’s a big tick for reliability.

The lights really great strong and versatile fastenings for both handlebars and helmets were a big swing factory for us. Even when taken out of its comfort zone and mounted on the leg of a tripod or any tubular bar it performs amicably and would be our number one choice when packing up the bikes to hit the trails at night.

Arguably the most important part of this review is how the light actually perfroms when riding. We found sticking the Olympia on the bar at anything between 70 to 100% gives a wide and bright enough spread of light to deal with almost any trail.  As always with lights the faster your going you may want to run it on the brighter side but the battery performance is more than enough to support this if its what you require.  

The Gemini Olympia is a bright, compact and incredibly robust light that we regularly rely on. An absolutely fantastic light to have in your arsenal.

£209.99 rrp

www.gemini-lights.com/products/olympia

Distributed in the UK by I-Ride.