So I have embarked on a slight fitness curve. Having realized that I would not be seeing the insides of a gym anytime soon, I decided on taking up cycling as an alternate. Details on the bicycle later (Silverback Stride). I found the following equipment to better illuminate myself and the missus' bike on the roads, when we cycle at night. For the front, I got this LED light, made by a company called Benex - The requirement was to have a light, that uses either AAA or AA batteries, and has a flashing mode. This saves battery, and makes replacement easier. The ones that use Button Cells, don't really last long, and are not as bright as desired. Tool free installation guide. The light was sturdier than I expected it to be. The finish and fit was good, and the button felt durable to use. Quite impressive. The business end of things, this was a single SMD LED with a reflector and lens to focus the beam. The manual claims beam throw upto 30 meters, and I did confirm this. A shot without the flash. The underside features the slide-to-lock type of mounting. Again, the plastic was of good quality, vs the various kinds that are available in the market. The rear houses a quick release mechanism to open the battery housing. This light has an interesting feature on either side of the main LED. There are two illuminated strips of plastic, that light up in red color when the main light is switched on. Just to create some illumination on the sides, or visibility on either side of the light as well. Neat touch. The other bundled item along with the 3xAAA batteries, was the mounting bracket. It included 3 different type of liners for the clamp (to accommodate different diameter pipes to which the light might be mounted. This used a Thumb screw type of locking mechanism (the thumb screw was in a slotted lock, so you don't have to open it all the way to get the clamp around the rod). The quality and feel of the plastic and the metal screw was positive, and felt that it could last for years. Definitely no corners cut here. The liners for the clamp grip, were of equally good material, though I needed only the big liner to fit the clamp on my bicycle. The slot lock. Releasing the back cover using a coin, and exposing the battery slots. The sealing is not water proof, but water resistant. Powered up. The single button has three selections. Steady-Blinking-Off. The light illumination on the sides. I mounted it on the front left shock absorber of my bicycle. I tried compressing the front forks to the maximum to ensure that there would not be any contact. Mounting was fast and easy. You can actually remove the light from the bike if you are parking in a spot where there is a possibility of someone messing with it or stealing it. The quick release mechanism works easily as well. On the Missus' bicycle. Here's a quick video of the flashing/LED brightness -
The Benex cost me around 660 INR. For the rear, I picked up a Taiwanese light, called Q-Lite - Which stands for Quality Light Is Truly Elegant This was pretty light in weight, and was cheap (Around 270 INR), so was a no brainer. Came with a groove adjustable mounting assembly ( You can change the angle of the light - detailed in picture of installation). The clamp was slightly flimsier as compared to the Benex. And the screw had to be removed completely for mounting the clamp. The screw head holds the light mount, which has serrations/grooves to decide the angle. Once you've tightened the screw fully, the mount is held at the fixed angle by the groove it is slotted in, and not just friction. This is a worthy mention, since other lights would simply slide toward gravity's pull, if the screw gets loose. To access the battery slots, I had to open these two Philip head screws, which was a tad tedious. However with a claimed life of 70 hrs in flashing mode, I shouldn't have to do this too frequently. The sealing is not the best, though the parts do fit together well. This is again water resistant, and not water-proof. Here's a shot with the cover open. The black pin in the middle is the button that can be felt on the top of the light. The LEDs have 4 modes - Steady, alternate flash (inner/outer), cycle flash (all 4, one by one), all flash. I like the cycle flash (1-2-3-4) the best. It appears to be slightly random. The LED lens cover has small lenses built into the plastic. Mounted on the bicycle. Though the light looks bright indoors, it was about average outdoors. The brightness was just about adequate. I wouldn't call it too bright at all. I'll post some night shots tomorrow, when I go cycling again.
