RSP Mico 1 LED Microlight Set

Raleigh's RSP Mico 1 LED Microlights are essentially inexpensive back-up lights rather than lights to see with, but they're brighter than most other cheap lights. They're easy to attach to the bike and they're rechargeable via any powered USB port.

Raleigh's Mico (not a typo) lights are available as a pair or separately. £28.99 gets you the pair. They're single bulb LED lights that superficially appear to be reasonably well protected from the elements, and from knock damage, by the tough silicone rubber that almost fully encases them.

To recharge you simply pull off the USB plug cover at the back and plug them into a USB port. So far, both the plug covers and the lenses have been resistant to moisture ingress but they're not a particularly tight fit so may well turn out to be the weak point in the longer term. We'd reserve them for dry weather use.

To fit the lights to the handlebar or seat post you just stretch the silicone band that's part of the casing and hook it over a tab on the top of the lens. Care is needed to attach the band properly, or if you have to adjust the position of the lights on the move. It un-hooks very easily if it's slightly twisted and you can't always see whether it's twisted or not in the dark. Gloves can make this even more tricky.

A curved underside and the silicone case means they stay put on any curved surface as long as you attach them properly and don't try to move them while you're riding. A more pedantic quibble is that you can't tell which is the front and which is the rear light until you switch them on.

Don't expect to get great beam definition on darker roads from the front light: the emphasis is more on being seen rather than seeing. But the rear light is good enough to stand alone and the front is way better than most other back-up lights for around town use.

Each light has two constant brightness options plus a flashing mode. Maximum run time is said to be nine hours. Presumably that's on the flashing mode as we initially got just over three hours on the full brightness constant mode before a recharge was needed.

The batteries are lithium polymer and you get a warning that a recharge is needed when the light starts to flash fast.

Verdict

Lightweight, tough and simple to use USB charged pocket sized lights, but the retention straps aren't great and we're not convinced by longer term moisture sealing.