Biking at night seems like an accident waiting to happen, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do. If you're one of those hardy souls who relies on your bike as your primary means of transportation, or if you're just one of those winter biking nuts, chances are you're out in the soup and the more light the better. Remember the GearFlogger motto: safety third!
Princeton Tec has a nifty package for you: the Push is a dual purpose front bike light that acts as a safety light while providing illumination. The rear button activates three modes for the main : bright, not so bright and flashing. In all three white-light modes there is also a flashing red light aperature on each side that provides effective left and right marker action.
The Maxbright LED is rated at 100 lumens, which in practice on hi-bright mode is enough to illuminate a solid 50 feet ahead at trail speed, and over 100 feet if you're stationary. That's enough to pick your line, and given that most night riding is done at a more sedentary pace you'll have no problem when Push comes to shove. Three AAA batteries give you 4 hours at max bright, 14 hours on lo-bright and over 60 hours on blink.
The mount is very well designed, with a quick-release tab to remove the light cylinder, and since it's self-contained you can then use it as a flashlight. The clamp should fit any handlebar setup, and there's even a few degrees of left/right pivot with adjustable tension. Rugged and water resistant construction tops off a nice design, and at 4.3oz it's light on the handlebars.
I do like the idea of the flashing sides this is an excellent feature as it is true it is very difficult to see a cyclist from the side.
Posted by: Jeff Ransome | July 26, 2011 at 06:30 AM