You Light Up My Way

The unit mounted on the handle bar

Yesterday my basic headlight and taillight arrived from Bangalore for my Red Roadie. Bought these off Happy Earth. A NiteRider Swift 350 lumen front light and a very basic NR TL 5.0 SL. Both are basic but the taillight is more so, given that it costs Rs 549 only. The headlight costs Rs 2299 for 350 lumens of white LED light. But then there are cheaper headlights that offer 200 or 100 lumens. 

The other day while going for the early morning group ride with Rana, I realised that light is really going to be important if I was to ride early mornings. Particularly now that winter is coming and fog will soon envelop Calcutta streets in the wee hours of the morning when we venture out on the streets.

Everyone else in the group had their taillights. It was really helpful for me because all of them went ahead of me and I could see them from a very long distance behind. 

My taillight has three LED bulbs inside and offers three modes. It has the steady light, which is fairly bright. The second is the strobe mode where one light blinks on and off. Then there is another mode where the three lights go on and off in succession. I think I will have the lamp on in this mode when I ride. It draws the maximum attention. 

The lamp is powered by two small AAA batteries. The OE pair was NR branded. Very cute looking. 

The unit is operated by one tiny little switch behind. I have stuck the unit by the clip to the back of my saddle bag and I hope it does not come off on a rough patch of road. There is another attachment for strapping it to the seat post. I have kept it aside because with the saddle bag on, there is no space to use that on my bike. 

The unit feels very cheapo. Opening the unit up for installing the battery was easy. But fixing it back on was a bit scary. I was worried that it might break. Well, it did not. 

It's on. The white light is of the button

The headlight is a small "pencil torch" kind of flashlight. The light output is decent. But it is not really meant for seeing the road in the dark. It is more for making yourself visible to other drivers. That's fine for me for now. If I ever went for a 300 or 400 km Brevet, where you do a lot of night riding I would have to go for something bigger. 

This unit has three light intensities - I guess 100, 200 and 350 lumens respectively. To switch it off you keep the switch pressed for 3 seconds. There is no strobe mode. There is a way by which you can lock the switch to prevent accidental switching on when you are carrying it in a bag or something. I have to work it out though. The unit is powered by a lithium ion battery that is USB rechargeable. The unit came with a USB charging cable. I have installed it on the left hand side of the handlebar with the strap that is provided. I don't think the battery is user replaceable. I will have to chuck it off when the battery dies out.

Important Note - Added 10th June 2020

I think it was last year that the rear tail light fell off the bike and broke. It had a clip system to attach to the saddle bag and that clip progressively became loose. I had hit a small road bump and it fell off the bike. The first time it happened I could re-assemble the unit after collecting back all the disintegrated parts but on the next accident the glass shell broke. I have since not replaced it. If I do I will possibly go for a Sigma but the attachment system has to be something like my front light which is quite good.

In fact the other evening during lock-down I had gone cycling to Regent Park and the roads were totally dark in stretches. The light is pretty adequate. I could quite see my way around. I may not feel confident with it on unknown mountain roads in the dark but here in the city I am quite okay with this.