Pros: No Batteries required. Good time between charges. Great visibility. Easy to fit and switch between bikes. Light weight.
Cons: No good on its own for dark roads. Not the cheapest or smallest.
These lights are really versatile due to the stretchy rubber loop and hook system by which they can be fitted to pretty much any tube/seatpost/handlebar. There’s no separate bracket and no tools required. This means it’s a matter of seconds to fit, to remove when leaving the bike, or to switch to another bike.
Both the front and rear lights have 4 LEDs each, arranged in a single row. A single button on top scrolls between Off, Flashing and Constant mode, nice and bright for “being seen” duties. Not great for lighting up the road so you would want a brighter front light or head torch if riding on unlit roads.
The lights charge directly from USB. There’s a little green LED at the back which shows that the light is charging and goes out when charged. Some manufacturers might be tempted to save a few pennies by only providing a single USB cable, but these came with a USB cable for each light so I was able to leave one at home and one in the office which was really helpful. The only tiny niggle with the charging process is that they have Mini-, rather than Micro-USB, meaning you can’t just plug them straight into your phone charger. (Not relevant to Apple users of course!)
The rear light came with a little plastic wedge to allow it to be fitted to the seatpost and still beam horizontally. At one point I was using that with the front light to fit it to the fork due to a lack of space on the handlebar. I have the rear light fixed to my helmet (further illustrating the versatility of the fitting) which helps me not forget to take it when switching bikes as I only have one helmet!
A great feature that Topeak don’t even mention in their marketing blurb is that the body glows red as a low charge warning. I find I still get at least 40-50 minutes on flashing mode even once the low charge warning activates. Enough to get most people through their commute even if the warning comes on right at the start of the ride. I’m not sure if the rear light also has this as I tend to charge it immediately after charging the front one, for my own peace of mind.
I’ve had these lights for a while now and they have proved very reliable. While not completely sealed, the design of the rubber casing has so far kept the elements out despite having been used in some pretty terrible conditions.
As mentioned above, there are cheaper USB lights with rubber loop fixings around, but I feel these are worth the wee bit of extra investment.
Tarren Cycles 