Kryptonite Alley F-650 & Avenue R-50 Premium USB To See Set

The Kryptonite Alley F-650 and Avenue R-50 light set is worth considering for commuting, urban and short haul cycling, though it is a bit pricey. Both front and rear can be charged via micro USB, have 'memory' functions that remember your last setting, and offer a decent mix of functionality and ease of use. They also come in a single box, which gives them an element of 'gift appeal’ if you are looking for something special for the cycle commuter in your life.

You'll find more options in our buyer's guide to the best bike lights – and our separate guides to the best front and best rear lights.

Let’s start at the front

The Alley F-650 has a durable feel to it. The grey resin shell looks good and feels solid but without being overly weighty at just 128g. There's a single switch on top and two small windows on either side that offer a bit of lateral visibility. That's definitely a useful feature for city riding.

Underneath you'll find the USB charging port with a secure rubber cover and the attachment point that clicks into the handlebar mounting system.

That mounting system locks tightly in place with a rachet strap, though it takes a little while to get your head around. I used the set on daily commutes and didn't want to leave it on my bike outside the train station, so that meant a slightly drawn out process of removal and reattachment for each leg of my commute, but it was very easy to do – and to move from one bike to another.

When it is in place the light sits out in front and it initially offered rock-steady security that held the chosen beam exactly where I wanted it, projecting the light well beyond my front wheel. After a few months of use, however, the lever that locks this attachment into place struggled to offer the same level of grip. It’s still perfectly usable, but a problem within the ratchet system means that it no longer locks as securely onto the handlebar.

On the brightest of its settings, the 650-lumen High Steady, it delivers an excellent pool of light that will illuminate the very worst of Britain's pothole-ridden roads (see the beam comparison below). It has definitely saved me from a few pinch flats over the last few months.

This mode could take you out of the city for a faster group run on darker roads, as long as you are back within its two-hour run-time. This limitation meant I really only used the Alley F-650 for riding around town and as an additional light source to supplement my dynamo on really grotty, fast descents.

It has two other steady modes: Medium at 325 lumens and Low at 100 lumens. Both are capable of dealing with urban commutes and take your run-time up to 4 and 12 hours respectively. I've easily managed to get a week's worth of commuting out of this light between charges.

For dawn and dusk riding, the DayTime Pulse offers an effective 650 lumens that definitely made me feel more secure through winter rides. And the NightTime Pulse option offers a 100/300-lumen alternative that runs for around 10 hours. It feels like it offers something for every ride.

The switch on top also doubles as the charge indicator. It will shine green when fully loaded, amber at 50% (which seems to kick in quite quickly), and then red when you drop below 25%. At 10% charge it will switch to Economy Flash, which offers a 26-hour run-time from fully charged. Hopefully giving you enough time to get home.

This front light is definitely the star-performer of the pairing. It is really effective and offers impressive illumination, but I did have a couple of small issues with our test unit. On one evening when the charge was getting low I struggled to get the switch to engage. The 'click' seemed to have gone out of it and it required a long and sustained push to get the light on. I then wasn't able to scroll between modes and was stuck on a flash to get me home. I charged it fully and it hasn't happened since, but I didn't find this particularly reassuring.

On another occasion a small silver pin that is part of the attachment and release mechanism had started to work its way out of one side of the light. If this had dropped out mid-ride I would have been left with a light that wouldn't lock into place. Luckily I saw it, pushed it back in and, again, this hasn't happened since.

These couple of quibbles aside, it's a really good front light.

Lantern rouge

The Avenue R-50 is its rear light companion, which comes with two attachment options: a rubber strap that will secure to your seatpost, and a belt clip. You slide your preferred attachment into the back of the lighting unit. I mainly used the seatpost mount, which is always my preferred option. The plastic on the belt clip doesn't feel especially robust for really long-term durability but it might prove me wrong, and it does offer a useful mounting alternative.

Like the Alley F-650, the rear also has six modes that offer run-times from 2 hours 15 minutes on the 50-lumen High Flash and 25-lumen Medium Steady all the way up to just over 11 hours on the 10-lumen Economy Flash. Low Steady (10 lumens) and NightTime Pulse (10/30 lumens) both offer 5 hours of run-time and the 50-lumen DayTime Pulse a little less at 4 hours 30 minutes.

Again you get a built-in charge indicator and the light will switch to Economy mode when you fall below 10 per cent.

The light has 'side' ports that offer lateral visibility but these work best when it's fitted horizontally rather than vertically. Although the website shows it in horizontal orientation on a seatpost, I can't fathom how to achieve this with the attachments supplied. (We've asked Kryptonite's UK distributor.) Fitted vertically, the bulk of this 'side illumination' ended up directed at my mudguards and my backside.

The side switch was easy to use and scroll between different lighting options. Putting this on a friend's bike and following on a night ride I could see that it offers really impressive illumination that will cope with anything in the city and well beyond. It's certainly a functional commuting light and I have also packed it into my saddle bag as a backup option on longer audax rides.

Value

This front and rear bundle is a good option for most, but it is relatively expensive for the output and battery life.

For the same money you could get the Lezyne Connect Smart 1000XL and KTV Pro Smart Lights pairing, which offers app-controlled functionality and very good performance. When Dave reviewed them in 2019 he gave them nine overall, and he really liked the app-control feature. I'm a fan of the robust and easy rubber attachments, too.

Dave has also just reviewed the Sigma Buster 800 & RL 80 Lightset which he thought was well designed and easy to use – and though it's not without its foibles, it's £74.99.

There's plenty to recommend the Alley F-650, but I'd be inclined to pair it with a different rear light. The Lezyne Strip Drive 300+ LED is a great option at £40. It's durable, easy to attach, has good run-times and a range of powerful outputs. Our most recent review gave it nine (excellent) and highlighted the battery life and solid waterproofing. It still wouldn't be a cheap option though – the Alley F-650 is currently reduced to £37.49, but pairing it with the Lezyne would bring the total up to £114.99 at RRP.

Conclusion

Overall, this light set is a decent choice for urban commuting, with a range of useful modes and plenty of functionality, but a few design issues limit its appeal, and it's challenged by other sets on price and performance.

Verdict

Decent option for the majority of urban cycle commuters – easy to use, with good output – but pricey and not without its foibles