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review
Lights - front
RSP Asteri 3 LED front lightRSP Asteri 3 LED front light

RSP Asteri 3 LED front light

8
by dave atkinson
UPDATED Thu, Oct 15, 2015 04:24

First Published Mar 24, 2010

2
£71.99

VERDICT:

8
10
A real lighting contender: add some side windows and it would be even better
Weight: 
156g
Contact: 
www.raleigh.co.uk
How we test

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A very well made light with a great run time, the Asteri 3 is an excellent choice if your commute takes you beyond the city limits. It's a pity there's no side visibility but apart from that there's plenty to like.

The Asteri 3 is a chunky torch-style light with an internal Lithium Ion battery. Constructed from Aluminium with a single 3W LED to the fore it's a well sealed unit and nicely finished too. There's a single push button switch to cycle the modes (high power, low power and flashing) and the mount is a quick release affair that adapts fairly easily to standard or oversize bars.

We measured the output of the light at 503 lux at 2m, which is comparable to the slightly more expensive Niterider MiNewt USB we tested not so long ago (530 lux at 2m). The Asteri has a fairly narrow beam and as such is best on road. It doesn't fall off too sharply so there's enough peripheral light to get your bearings. The beam is plenty bright enough for pootling along unlit lanes and even the occasional offroad excursion if you're not after a personal best time. Like most torch-style front lights it gets the standard point deducted for having no side visibility. Come on guys, it's not rocket science: all you need is a drill and a couple of bits of plastic.


35mm (56mm effective), 1s, f5.6, ISO800, Milk carton markers at 10, 20, 30m

The best thing about this light is the run time. Given its size you might expect it to fizzle out after a couple of hours – especially since it's quite bright – but it'll go for over 6 hours on full beam with no problems, and after that you can have another 3 hours of low beam before the battery finally gives up. That's enough light for an all-night excursion right there in a tiny torch, it really is extraordinary what these lighting chaps can achieve these days. Once you have run out of juice you're an overnight charge with the supplied mains adaptor away from another full night of illumination.

Verdict

There's plenty of good lights for this kind of money and RSP might not be the first name you'd think of but make no mistake, this little light is a real contender for your cash. Add some side windows for next year and it'll be even better.

road.cc test report

Make and model: RSP Asteri 3 LED front light

Size tested: n/a

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
8/10
Rate the product for performance:
 
9/10
Rate the product for durability:
 
8/10
Rate the product for weight, if applicable:
 
8/10
Rate the product for value:
 
8/10

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes

Would you consider buying the product? Yes

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes

Overall rating: 8/10

About the tester

Age: 36  Height: 190cm  Weight: 98kg

I usually ride: whatever I\'m testing...  My best bike is: Trek 1.5 with Ultegra 6700

I've been riding for: 10-20 years  I ride: Every day  I would class myself as: Experienced

I regularly do the following types of riding: time trialling, commuting, sportives, general fitness riding, fixed/singlespeed, mtb, Mountain Bike Bog Snorkelling, track

 

RSP Asteri 3 LED front light
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Dave Atkinson

Dave is a founding father of road.cc, having previously worked on Cycling Plus and What Mountain Bike magazines back in the day. He also writes about e-bikes for our sister publication ebiketips. He's won three mountain bike bog snorkelling World Championships, and races at the back of the third cats.

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2 comments

Avatar
dave atkinson | 14 years ago
0 likes

We can't measure lumens (it's complicated and we're simple folk) but we *can* measure lux and we'll be posting the scores of every light we test from now on.

The claimed output of the Asteri is 200 lumens but with the Niterider claiming 110 lumens is a bit brighter by our measurement, so you can see that that it's a minefield out there...

For the amount of light it puts out, and the size, it's an amazing run time though.

Avatar
Zaskar | 14 years ago
0 likes

Wish they used Lumens so we could compare intensities with the competition like 240 lumens from Hope Vision one.

Looks nice and neat though.

(Is it 500/2m = lumens? if so it's pretty on a par with 250 lumens for 6hrs is pretty dam good!)

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