RSP Urban 8 LED rear light

The design concept of this RSP Urban 8 light bears more than a passing resemblance to Cateye's TL-LD 1000, with a row of LEDs facing backwards and a couple more at each end of a barrel shaped body. The net result is a light that can be seen from pretty much any angle, just what you want in a busy urban environment. Unlike the Cateye, which has a body covered in light directing knobbles, the RSP has a plain, transparent casing which lights up nicely and has nothing to interfere with the light it throws out.

The RSP doesn't have the punch of my personal favourite, the Smart 1/2w Superflash, but it has enough flashing patterns to get you noticed around town. Run time from two AAAs is claimed as up to 100 hours - that'll be in flashing mode we'd guess, which is plenty enough for it to be a fit-and-forget light for a season's commuting. Waterproofing (via a rubber o-ring seal at each end) is impressive. That is to say it survived half an hour in my backyard with a hosepipe turned on it. Let no-one say we're not thorough at road.cc towers!

The neatest feature is the nifty rubber mounting bracket which takes seconds to fit and is more stable than you might expect although it does limit options slightly if you want to mount the light on the skinny tubing of a rack.

There's nothing wildly innovative about the RSP but it's a good light that should be a trusted friend for many a commute. It's a little over-priced at full retail but a quick look online shows it to be available discounted down to as much as half price, which makes it a bargain.

Verdict

A nice little light and well suited to the urban jungle.