Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

review

Busch and Muller Topfire helmet lights

8
£16.00

VERDICT:

8
10
Simple and effective kit for a bit of extra night visibility
Weight: 
18g
Contact: 
www.amba-marketing.com

At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.

What the road.cc scores mean

Good scores are more common than bad, because fortunately good products are more common than bad.

  • Exceptional
  • Excellent
  • Very Good
  • Good
  • Quite good
  • Average
  • Not so good
  • Poor
  • Bad
  • Appalling

Busch and Muller's Topfire helmet lightsare a really neat way to get yourself a bit of extra visibility on the bike. They're easy to fit, effective and weigh next to nothing.

The kit contains four single red LEDs connected to a battery compartment housing a cheap-to-replace 2032 button cell. The LEDs sit in the rear vents of your lid, held in place by double sided sticky tape, and the battery clips to a strap or, in my case, the centre strut of the rear retention system.

Once it's on it stays put. I was worried that the tape wouldn't hold the LEDs in the wet, but there's been no end of wet and they're still there. The battery compartment twists to turn on and off, it's easy to do without looking and with gloved hands, no more difficult than adjusting the retention system on a normal helmet.

There's one mode, flashing (twice a second), and battery life is a claimed 100 hours. I've been using them for a month of night-time commutes home and they're still going strong.

Once the battery dies you can pick up 2032 cells online for next to nothing. The LEDs aren't super bright but they're very effective in the dark and a useful bit of extra visibility now the nights have drawn in. And at 18g you're hardly going to notice the extra weight, are you?

Verdict

Simple and effective kit for a bit of extra night visibility.

If you're thinking of buying this product using a cashback deal why not use the road.cc Top Cashback page and get some top cashback while helping to support your favourite independent cycling website

road.cc test report

Make and model: Busch and Muller Topfire helmet lights

Size tested: na

Tell us what the product is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

Innovative and stylish. Four very bright red flashing LEDs attached in rear air vents of the helmet with sticky pads. The thin, flat cables can be easily routed to the chin strap via the inner helmet surface to connect to the flat, round cell housing the on/off button that is attached by clips to the helmet strap. Please ensure that the helmet is clean and dry before attaching the LEDs into the air vents

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

Total weight including battery 18 gms

100 hours plus run time

Easy to replace standard 2032 battery

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
8/10
Rate the product for performance:
 
8/10
Rate the product for durability:
 
7/10
Rate the product for weight, if applicable:
 
10/10
Rate the product for value:
 
7/10

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes.

Would you consider buying the product? Yes.

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes.

Overall rating: 8/10

About the tester

Age: 40  Height: 190cm  Weight: 102kg

I usually ride: whatever I'm testing...  My best bike is: Genesis Equilibrium with SRAM Apex

I've been riding for: 10-20 years  I ride: Every day  I would class myself as: Experienced

I regularly do the following types of riding: commuting, sportives, general fitness riding, fixed/singlespeed, mtb, Mountain Bike Bog Snorkelling, track

 

Dave is a founding father of road.cc, having previously worked on Cycling Plus and What Mountain Bike magazines back in the day. He also writes about e-bikes for our sister publication ebiketips. He's won three mountain bike bog snorkelling World Championships, and races at the back of the third cats.

Add new comment

9 comments

Latest Comments