Updated on Monday 13th June 2016 – See foot of the page.
Last week I got a call out of the blue from Jamie at my local shop High Peak Cycles asking what time I commute into work in a morning. After reassuring me he was not after a new stalking target and told him I leave the house at 4.20am so I can get 1.5 hours in before work. Jamie was pleased as this gave me the perfect (dark) conditions to test the new Knog Blinder lights*. I would have an hour of darkness and a few roads in the Peaks with no streetlights to put them through their paces.
*The kind folk at Silverfish UK sent a dealer gift pack out to High Peak Cyles which was a pair of the Knog Blinder Lights in a very nice presentation case. Silverfish and Knog are now one and the same and being pro-active on getting feedback on their products directly and via social media. Via The Angry Biker Blog we will be doing both for them.
First Impressions.
Once the lights are unpacked initial impressions are that they are very well made. They look true to their claimed 100% waterproof design. The USB charging point is manufactured within the frame of the light. It’s clever. Design and looks have clearly been something given plenty of attention.
I run two lights (Moon and Lezyne) front and rear to make sure bleary eyed motorists and half asleep pedestrians don’t miss me. One fixed and one ‘secondary light’ set on flash/strobe. The Knog lights look a perfect ‘secondary light. The front is 80 lumens with five modes and the rear is 44 lumens with 5 modes. The Knog front light is on the left in the picture below …
In Use
The lights are easy to fit in place on the bike. One press of the button switches the light(s) on and further presses cycle though the different light patterns. I chose full light (not flashing) for the front and ‘standard’ continuous flash for the rear.
Next to the 300 lumen front Moon light which was set on low fixed beam the Knog was very bright. I checked this at 4.30am in pitch black and the Knog panel of white LED’s was incredibly bright. Just what you need. I found the same comparing the rear light. The Knog rear panel lit up the road and scenery with it’s red flash. So far so good.
I did try a couple of miles running just the front Knog light. It was fine where there were street lights, but as soon as they became more spaced or disappeared on country roads the light beam was too short to be of any use and I switched the Moon back on. This just reaffirmed that the Knog is perfect for it’s intended use. A secondary light, a ‘get me home light’ when you stay out longer than intended or a commute light where you aren’t venturing onto dark unlit roads.
Burn wise the front light set on full lasted about two hours. I thought that was good and could see that if you altered to low/flash pattern the burn time would be much longer. The small red light which come on when you charge also comes on when the light is low on battery. It lasted approx. 15 minutes longer once the warning light came on.
The rear light (on ‘high’ flash) lasted three and a half hours and still had charge. Again, this was very good and I couldn’t forsee any issues with burn time on the rear light.
So, design, ease of use (charging and on the bike) visibility of lights and burn time all get the thumbs up.
I did have one issue though. It’s worth mentioning as it’s a quick fix. After fitting the light onto the rear seat post ‘out of the box’ when I pushed down on the pedal my leg caught the clasp of the light strap …
You can see the silver clasp in the above left picture. The clasp acts not only as a means of securing the strap, but as protection to the USB charge point which means it protrudes out a few millimeters. During my three commutes my leg would brush the light meaning it always ended up at an angle. High Peak Cycles told me to keep hold of the lights for a longterm test, so I took them out on another ride. This time I fitted the smallest rubber strap to the light.
Putting the light on using the smallest strap felt like it was too tight at first, but the clasp clicked into place reassuringly. I went on a 30 mile ride which had me moving around the bike. I was still brushing lightly against the light, but as it was now much more secure it hadn’t moved by the end of the ride.
Conclusion
The Knog Blinder lights retail at £39.99 each which puts them bang in the right price range. The design is clever and they look and feel very well built. Whilst I didn’t get a long period of rain to test them in they look very well sealed and very smooth so I would expect the 100% waterproof claim to be correct. The lights are VERY bright with good large panels helping visibility. Easy to charge, fit and use. I particularly liked the front light as it tucks away on the front of your bars whereas other lights tend to sit on a bracket or on top of the bars so are more intrusive. I’ll update the review once I’ve used them over a longer period of time, but so far so good. Very good indeed.
Update – Monday 13th June 2016.
Despite having done my Fred Whitton challenge, I’m still out of the house at 4.30am as I’ve got used to riding on the quieter roads and trying to squeeze 20-25 miles in before work. Daylight is nearly here (currently about 4.45am/ 5am), so the Knog Blinders are perfect for the conditions. I don’t need ‘full’ lights, or lights for me to see – just something nice a bright that makes me stand out to the odd car/ truck I see who’s driver has not yet fully woken up and needs a reminder not to run me over. I run the lights for one day (so morning/ night/ morning) then re-charge. That’s just under four hours riding. The front light is still on, but the rear dies (on flash mode) during the last part of the last ride. I still run two rear lights anyway (one fixed/ one flash) so I’ve no issue with that – and it’s very easy to charge the lights daily anyway if I were bothered. The Knogs are still very bright, easy to put on/off the bike (for charging) and easy to switch on and move through modes. They do look the part too. I’m still very happy with them and have no issues to report over two months of use.
The Angry Biker 