Lupine is best known for their bright flash lights and wired mountain bike lights which feature high-tech lenses and serviceable designs. The Lupine SL Grano is a compact all-in-one design that is instead optimized for drop-bar road and gravel bikes It’s based on the Lupine SL Nano which was an ebike light and adds an integrated battery and sleek form factor for mounting underneath out-front-mounts. Retail price for the headlight is $250 while the replacement battery is only $42. As with all of Lupine’s lights, the SL Grano is fully serviceable with an aluminum body and integrated GoPro top mount. Lupine has also added an integrated light sensor to allow the light to automatically switch between day and night modes based on the environment.
The Lupine SL Grano utilizes Lupine’s advanced lens design and is optimized for road or gravel bike setups.
| Rating | 9.4 / 10 |
| Retail Price | $250 |
| Measured Weight (in g) | 171 |
| Likes | + Serviceable design with replaceable battery at an affordable price + Advanced lens design with wide bright beam + Compact form factor with metal GoPro mount |
| Dislikes | – Premium price – Complicated configuration options with one button interface |
| Where to Buy (US) | Lupine |
UNBOXING
The Lupine SL Grano comes in a small white cardboard box with a schematic drawing on the exterior. Inside the box you’ll find:
- SL Grano headlight
- USB-C charging cable
- Allen key + bolt for mounting
- Lupine stickers
- Warranty card
- Quick-start guide
Lupine has done a nice job with the packaging by using an inner cardboard holder that securely holds the light in place.
MOUNTING
A GoPro mount is molded directly into the aluminum body instead of a plastic mount you find on most headlights. Lupine even sells an optional $7 titanium bolt that can be used with the SL Grano for riders looking for the ultimate setup while a standard bolt is included. The top-mounted GoPro makes it easy to mount the SL Grano underneath out-front lights for a sleek setup. It also has the advantage of making angle adjustments easy as you can angle the light to get the perfect angle rather than moving your entire mount. Small details like the sloped rear of the body help ensure the light has more clearance for angle adjustments. The mount is also slightly raised and forward on the body to help the light hide underneath bike computers. Compared to the SL Mono which had a side mount, the top mount design of the SL Grano is a lot sleeker and versatile.
FIT & FINISH
Visually, the Lupine SL Grano combines the compact round lens from the SL Nano and extends the body rearward to house a LiPo battery. It’s a relatively compact design that is only 85 x 46 x 53 mm or 3.3 x 1.8 x 2.1 inches for the bright 900 lumen output. What sets Lupine lights apart from most lights on the market is that they are designed for serviceability and long-term use. That means the light has an aluminum body, IPX6 water resistance and a IK09 impact resistance to ensure it is the last headlight you need to buy. Most importantly, the battery is replaceable by buying the 36 euro (i.e. about $42 with today’s exchange rates) battery from Lupine and removing a Torx bolt.
Lupine offers an StVZO and an international version of the SL Grano with the main difference being that the international version adds flashing modes. We have the international version for this review as StVZO is not required in the United States. The headlight has an extended rectangular profile with a circular front section that blends into a flat rear section. There is an LED indicator on each side of the light along with an ambient light sensor on the left hand side. The body of the headlight has a black anodized finish with semi-gloss finish and simple Lupine branding on the slot side cutouts. It is also an easy light to hold as the side slots have been sized to fit fingers for easy mounting or dismounting. There is a single button on the bottom of the light with a nice raised profile that is easy to find by touch only.
The star of the show is the biconical TIR lens which creates a sharp beam cutoff that eliminates glare. It also looks very distinctive with an egg-like shaped center lens that directs the light downward along with horizontal diffusers around an outer ring. Lupine splits the light between a focused center beam and a diffused outer ring to create a sharp beam cutoff and a DRL ring effect. The entire lens is slightly inset into the body to prevent glare with the only side visibility coming from the battery / mode LED indicators on the outside of the body.
Lupine has also integrated an integrated light sensor to allow the SL Grano to automatically switch between day and night modes. The sensor is visible on the outside of the body as a small white ring on the left side of the housing. It’s an optional smart mode that is defaulted on from the factor that automatically switches the light from a daytime flash mode to a constant nighttime mode. By default it takes about 16 seconds to switch between the modes which ensures light isn’t flipping back and forth between modes. With the sensor on the light automatically chooses the appropriate mode for daytime or nighttime.
USER INTERFACE
The Lupine SL Grano also has a surprisingly complicated user interface with smart modes and even configuration options all through a single button interface. By default, a double press of the button turns the light on while a long hold turns it off. The two LEDs on the body briefly indicate the battery status when you first turn the light on, when the light is turned off and if you hold the button while the light is off for a few seconds and let go. It’s a color coded design with 5 states: both green (100-66%), both yellow (65-31%), both red (30-16%), red / light red (15-0%) and even a red / blue for emergency reserve mode. While the green to red colors are intuitive, it’s unlikely anyone will remember what the dual color modes mean after a few rides.
To add to the confusion, the LEDs are also color coded to indicate what the active mode is while the light is on. There are five color modes: white (daytime running or flash mode), light blue (dimmed low beam), low beam (dark blue), green (eco dimmed low beam) and teal (low beam). Note, the white color actually looks more like pink on the actual indicators as the LED appears to be reflecting off something inside the light. The light even supports a configuration mode which lets you: enable / disable ECO mode (defaulted off), enable / disable ambient light sensor (defaulted on), a slow or fast auto light switch (defaulted early), enable / disable double click to turn on (defaulted on), set status LEDs to low, medium or high (defaulted medium) and do a factory reset.
All the configuration options are done by holding the power button for 6 seconds and then counting the number of times the LEDs flash from 1 to 8 times Again, it’s a cool feature but something you need the user manual for to use and something most users will likely never use. Previous Lupine lights like the Rotlicht we’ve reviewed even had a cheat sheet with the number of flashes printed directly on the body, while the SL Grano requires looking at the manual. While we generally don’t like apps as they can become obsolete quickly, it would be a lot more user friendly than counting the number of flashes.
As far as normal operation, there is essentially a two-level menu for selecting the output mode where a double press cycles between flash and constant modes. A short press cycles through the available modes for flash or constant modes with three modes available at any time in either mode. Which modes are available depends on whether the ambient light sensor is on and/or eco mode is active. If the ambient light mode is off, a single press cycles through all available modes. Otherwise, with the light sensor on, the mode options may be restricted to only one option and a single click will not change the mode.
LIGHT OUTPUT
Lupine has programmed the SL Grano with eight different modes. Depending on which settings are enabled, only a portion of the modes are accessible. There are five constant modes, two eco modes with slightly lower output and three standard options. The standard constant options are a daytime constant mode (150 lumen / 12 hr), medium mode (350 lumen / 4.5 hr) and high (900 lumen / 1.75 hr). There are also two eco modes to help increase run time with eco medium (300 lumen / 5.5 hr) and eco high (600 lumen / 2.5 hr). The constant modes are used during nighttime with the sensor on and can also be manually selected.
For the international version there are three flash modes with a daytime flash with an erratic pattern, a constant flash and a night time flash that alternates between low/medium intensity. Lupine does not publish the output or runtime for the flash modes but you can expect long runtimes. During the day, the daytime flash mode is the obvious choice with its irregular pattern and large lens making it easy for cars and riders to spot you. At night, the high mode has a bright trapezoidal beam that extends nearly two car lanes. It’s an impressive beam with a sharp beam cutoff you don’t see with simpler lens designs. The light distribution is more uniform than the Magicshine Hori 1300 and wide enough for road or gravel use. Even the medium version is sufficient for urban riding or city riding while the low mode is best for well lit areas.
THE VERDICT
Overall, we found the Lupine SL Grano to be a well-made and bright bike headlight. Lupine has taken their advanced lens design and incorporated an integrated battery to make it easy to mount on road or gravel bikes. With 900 lumens of output and a wide beam, the SL Grano lights up the road or trail while maintaining a crisp beam cutoff to eliminate glare for oncoming traffic. The light has an aluminum construction and an affordable replaceable battery that is rare to find in the market. We were impressed with the bright and sharp beam as well as the compact form factor. The downside of the light is the premium price and complicated single button user interface. That said, the Lupine SL Grano is an impressive headlight with bright output and compact all-in-one design.
Disclaimer: The product for this review was provided by Lupine. The views expressed on this website are solely those of the authors and are here to help people make an informed choice before a purchase. The authors or the blog itself does not get any monetary compensation from the product manufacturer or third-party websites/vendor links that are posted here.