Knog Blinder Road 250

Knog's Blinder Road 250 is a compact little light that puts out a decent beam, comparable with similarly priced lights, and has the benefit of being helmet-mountable as a second light source. The controls are a bit fiddly when you're wearing gloves and the battery life isn't class-leading, but it's a decent unit that's more or less unchanged from previous versions we've tested, save for the output going up. Maybe it's showing its age a little bit.

"The Blinder ROAD 250 is a specifically designed hi-powered road light for the discerning rider," says Knog. "With incredible power:weight ratio and dual + constant flash modes, you won't find another light like this. Using two of the latest high-intensity LUMILEDS LEDs and incorporating both wide and narrow angle beams, the Blinder Road 250 floods any street in light, giving cyclists total night vision whilst being visible to others at over 1000m."

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The Blinder Road 250 comes with two rubber straps for different handlebar sizes, and a Velcro-strapped helmet mount too, which you just attach the light to like you would to your bars. You can turn it on using the left-hand of the two buttons, then that button switches between modes, while the other toggles high and low beam.

One of the LEDs uses a narrow lens and one uses a wide, so there are lots of different beam patterns available. Use both LEDs on high beam and you'll suck the battery dry in about an hour, whereas one LED on low beam will last two and a half. There are flashing options too.

The light works best on narrow beam as a helmet light. It's a punchy extra light for picking out potholes and seeing round corners. On the bar it's pretty good around town in low or flashing modes and it's capable of lighting your way out in the sticks too, provided you're not venturing too far: one hour isn't a huge ride and I managed to flat the battery more than once out and about. I was mostly using it as a second light so it wasn't an issue, but for £70 (less if you shop around) you'll more likely be looking for the Knog to take centre stage.

The control buttons are a bit small and fiddly, okay when you're setting off but not easy to hit in gloves on the go, especially if you have the light on your helmet. Turning it off means holding down the power button, but the light only switches off when you release it, which is annoying. It's not a deal-breaker though.

I had no issues with waterproofing, with the Knog surviving wet rides and the obligatory five-minutes-in-the-shower test without any noticeable ingress or malfunction.

> Buyer's Guide: The best front lights for cycling

The choice of wide and narrow beam is sometimes useful, but the Blinder Road 250 didn't really quite do it for me: too expensive to be a town blinkie, not long-lasting enough to be a go-to commuting light. If you have £70 to spend you can currently pick up the Cateye Volt 800 for that, which knocks this (and most other lights for this money) into a cocked hat, with a simple and effective mount, powerful high beam and whopping 8hrs on the 200-lumen setting.

As I said before, the Blinder Road 250 can be had for a lot less than RRP, and at £40 it's a good second light for the helmet or a lightweight, unobtrusive backup. Unless you're a short-range dark-lane commuter, though, it's not a first-choice front light.

Verdict

Decent as an all-rounder for short rides, but battery life limits its appeal out of town