Knog lights: any thoughts?

[drfrogsplat]

I've got 3 Knog lights (of the four I commute with—I'm a bit paranoid about them running flat since I ride in the dark a lot).

Two are the square 4-LED blinders (Front + Back) for "be seen" visibility, and a Blinder Road 3 with the narrow+wide beams for lighting up the path.

In general they're pretty good. The battery life isn't amazing, especially on brighter settings, but I'm still getting away with charging once a week or less. The little red "low battery" indicator comes on with plenty of notice to finish the ride and recharge. I think I've only once been caught out when the indicator came on during a long ride—I'd say it means 30-60 mins left. The Road 3 will drop down to the lower brightness levels once the battery indicator comes on, so I guess that helps too (though its annoying if you really wanted the brightness!). And boy does it burn through the battery on both lights + full power!

I've definitely noticed that I'm more visible with these lights (compared to some cheaper $20 ones). Fewer cars turn across my path and fewer pedestrians walk out in front of me. Pedestrians are especially more aware of me with the Road 3 pointed down lighting up the road.

They're definitely water proof. I ride all weather and they've seen a lot of rain. I wouldn't be surprised if they could withstand full immersion (though haven't tried it).

The USB charge port is nice and compact, though can be a bit hard to plug into some chargers/computers—the Road 3 comes with a short extension cord that makes it super easy, so I usually use that to charge any of them unless I really need to charge all 3 at once.

The straps are not the best design, but not especially bad either. I've actually had one of the Road 3 straps fail (i put the small strap on my handlebar when I should have used the big one—entirely my fault), and one of the Blinder 4's (the rear one, it just popped off while on my bike overnight one time—not sure if I was using the wrong technique for attaching it or if it was just a bad strap). Knog sent me a whole new light without any hassle (though it was over christmas so it did take them a few weeks, not sure if they're normally quicker or not). I suspect that was within 1 year, not sure how they'd be after that for warranty replacement.

NOTE (new versions coming out soon): their new designs coming out this December (ish?) are apparently going to have replaceable straps on even the smaller lights, and they'll come with two different sized straps. It seems like a sensible move, even if the straps aren't prone to failure when used correctly. They will also better fit aero seatposts (for those with the aerofoil shaped posts), have a wider variety of beam spread in the Blinder 4's, and have a peleton mode (seems to be just steady but dimmer, good for longer battery life without the disco in your fellow riders' faces).

I'd probably get the 5.5 or its newer, higher power version if I ever needed to replace the Road 3—the wider/narrow angles isn't *that* useful, and the brighter ones will have longer battery life (i don't often need full power but do often forget to charge my lights!). I'd almost definitely buy new Blinder 4's if I needed to replace them (though not sure which beam spread from the new designs), since they are very visible and easy to remove quickly and completely (no random empty mounts on my handlebars when I'm not using them).

[doggatas]

I haven't read all the posts but my ARC 5.5 always ends up pointing up. I had an Exposure light that I no longer use so I removed the dove-tailed quick-release piece from Exposure and screwed it into the ARC's base with a slightly longer screw. No more tilting up. It's an extreme fix that's probably only viable for those with an old Exposure light they'll no longer use.

[drfrogsplat]

Interesting, that kind of sucks... did yours come with the two different strap sizes? maybe better off with the shorter one?

My Road 3 rests neatly on my brake/gear cable housing so I've never even had the possibility of it rolling around on the handlebar and dropping down (its front-heavy).

[SheikYerbouti]

Well you can can get a twin pack of front and rear Blinder 4's now for $39.95 which is seriously good http://www.mrcyclingworld.com.au/knog-b ... pack-black" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[eeksll]

personally i don't like the prospect of removing them from the bike to charge all the time. I am thinking the lezyne ones which I can atleast charge on the bike.

[carcharias]

As I said the Cateye mount S##ts all over the opposition. Knog are living off their inner city, hipster, cool, cachet, producing an under performing, over priced product.

+1 Agreed.

[kb]

A bit overpriced, although I did notice the newer ones are bordered by reflectors, which I like.

[AUbicycles]

I have a review coming very very soon - of some of the new ones, the new fastening mechanism is a big leap forward.