Kryptonite Street F-300 front light

With 24 hours of illumination, a handy battery indicator and its auto eco mode, Kryptonite's street-focused front light is host to some thoughtful safety additions. While set-up is on the fiddly side, if you're a commuter with a bit of bar to play with, you'll likely find a snug and ongoing home for the Street F-300.

• Pros: Long-lasting flash mode, safety features, easy on-off for cold hands
• Cons: Chunky handlebar clamp, lacks pinpoint brightness

The US folk who've been making locks for four decades have set out to illuminate rush hour streets with their China-produced Street Light series. Ranging from 150 to 800 lumen, these USB-rechargeable LED lights are intended to help you see and be seen on the tarmac.

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At 11.5cm in length and 4.5cm wide, the F-300 (F for front light, 300 for lumens) is not as compact as some front lights out there, nor is it the most lightweight at 139g, but it still boasts a neat torch-style lamp with some interesting safety features.

While its six modes provide enough choice for daylight, dusk and darker conditions, they're simple enough to get to grips with quickly. They comprise a high (300 lumens), medium (150) and low (60) steady beam, plus a daytime and night-time pulse (300 and 170) and an economical flash (60).

On test, the F-300's low beam provides enough visibility to ensure I feel seen at night without dazzling oncomers, while its pulses are more pleasant and predictable than some of the more erratic flashing options out there. There's also a memory feature – meaning it switches back on to the mode you left it in. So far, so simple.

Kryptonite says 'this light is great for lighting the way, for most city commuting scenarios', and it's about right. The F-300's output doesn't turn night to day, but it does cast a decent beam on the road ahead. And the light's beam width supports the commuting claim too – its illumination is broad enough to light up road signs (notably wider, in fact, than another 300 I tested, Infini's Tron, full review to come). But what Kryptonite's front light gains in width, it pays for in pinpoint brightness – without street lights, you'd need more power to see the bumps in the road.

To bolster this light's being-seen cred, Kryptonite has added a lateral illumination feature – little light ports to provide more peripheral visibility to surrounding traffic. Handy, it says, for riding across lanes. The windows are small, so output is not terrific, but it's a thoughtful safety feature nonetheless.

Mounting the light, says Kryptonite, is easy. However, the ability to find an appropriate home on your bike for this lamp might just be its main drawback. The bracket-and-ratchet-strap system is simple enough in theory: remove the unit from the bracket using the quick-release button, wrap the bracket round your handlebar, feed the strap through the bracket until you get a tight fit and finally, flip the bracket lever to secure it.

How easy it is in practice depends on your setup – specifically bar width, cable routing and whether you've got electronic gearing or not (because if there's no Di2 junction box, you could secure the light to the head tube). With my setup, the F-300's mount system proved a little too cumbersome to allow for a neat attachment. Eventually, and after some frustrated fiddling, I got there. Once on, it provides a tighter and more secure fitting than many rubber-banded options.

A better performance comes from its hassle-free mounting port. The ease with which you can attach and unattach this light from its dock makes grabbing it and running for the train far easier than is often the case. Especially when compared with the rubber attachments that require nimble fingers – tricky on cold commutes.

Battery life is a bonus. A key advantage to Kryptonite's F-300 versus some others out there is its ability to keep you rolling safely for longer between charges, promising up to 24 hours on its lowest 60-lumen setting (Infini's Tron lasts just 8hrs max, pulse or constant). By contrast, though, the full 300 setting only lasts for its claimed 90 minutes (Tron's lasts 2hrs). On test, this was bang on, settling on its longer-lasting 60-lumen 'get you home' flash mode after exactly that.

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

Kryptonite has built in a battery indicator which glows green, yellow or red through a transparent power button, to provide a warning that the lamp has a respective 100, 50 and 25% battery life remaining. When you hit 10% battery, the F-300 automatically switches itself to the economical flash mode in a mission to get you home safely. When you need to recharge, the port allows simple access for a Micro-USB cable – and its lithium battery reaches green, or over 50% full, in under two hours.

The F-300's waterproof capability is excellent, with no signs of water damage after many soggy commutes – and with a two-year warranty, it seems Kryptonite has faith in that too.

At £35.99 it's on a par with other 300s, the Infini Tron and Saturn (full reviews to come), and looks to kick out a bit more light than some higher-number options such as the Blackburn's DayBlazer 400, which is £3 cheaper.

Verdict

A sturdy day-to-night light with decent beam width, added safety features and a pocket-pleasing price tag