Product Review: Knog Blinder Lights

Ah, Fall!

It is a magical time of the year. The leaves are turning radiant hues of red and gold, before falling to the ground as a crunchy blanket under your tires, the air is crisp and biting, daylight savings time is at an end, and it is dark during my commute both to, and from the office.

Magical time, I tell you.

I can't tell you how thrilled I am that it is actually darker during my commute home than it is for my commute to work (I'll give you a hint; not very thrilled at all).

Still, as the saying goes about making lemons out of lemonade, blah, blah, blah... or some ridiculous thing like that, the cold and dark rides do give me the perfect opportunity to test and review some products I saw while at Outdoor Retailer and Interbike.

Today, kids, we're going to talk lights. Lights not only help you to be seen by the other larger, faster, and more likely to seriously hurt - if not kill you - occupants of the road, but they also help you see where you are going so you don't ride off the road, or hit a pothole, or even maybe run into a sandbag that has fallen off a truck and has been sitting in the bike lane for the past week (true, three of them on my route home). It truly surprises me how many BSO's get on the train at night that don't have any lights at all, not even a flashlight duct-taped to the handlebars. I'm sure that being seen isn't foremost in their thinking, but don't you want to know where you're going, and what you're about to hit?

Right, this was supposed to be a review, not a rant. Sorry.

There are a few products that I will go all fangirl over. Those products that I simply love, and can find no fault with. Knog Blinder lights are one such product.

I simply love my Knog lights. They are compact, light, waterproof, easy to mount, USB rechargable, bright and simply some of the best lights that I have used.

L-R: Blinder Road 2, Blinder 1 (front), Blinder 4 (rear), Blinder 1 (rear)

Like I said above, they are small, light, and surprisingly bright for their size. They are painfully easy to mount - no tools required thanks to the integrated silicone band. No batteries required either! And all of the lights are USB rechargable.

Charging the lights from my work computer.

They are also completely waterproof.

I use all four of the lights for my dark commute, and I'm fairly certain that the only way the cars aren't seeing me is if they aren't paying attention (fortunately, that "never" happens.) I am also able to see the rocks, potholes, and sandbags in my way.

The Blinder Road 2 ($79.95) delivers an impressive 200 lumens, with a burn time of 1 hour steady (hi-beam, 2 hours low beam) and up to 6 hours on dual flash.

The Blinder 4 ($44.95, front or rear) provides 80 lumens front and 44 lumens rear, with a burn time of approximately 3 hours steady and up to a whopping 50 hours on eco-flash mode.

The Blinder 1 ($29.95, front or rear) provides 20 lumens front and 11 lumens rear, and gives a burn time of 2 hours steady and approximately 11 hours in eco-flash mode.

You can check out all of their lights, and other products at knog.com.au