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Moon MKII Rechargeable COB Front LightMoon MK-2 front light

Moon MKII Rechargeable COB Front Light

6
by Andy Ward
UPDATED Fri, Dec 04, 2015 16:09

First Published Dec 4, 2015

3
£29.99

VERDICT:

6
10
Very bright and compact, it performs well if you can get over the mounting issues, and be sure to keep it charged
Weight: 
29g
Contact: 
www.raleigh.co.uk
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The Moon MkII Rechargeable COB Front Light is small and very bright. The unusual shape provides good all-round visibility, but can make it a bit awkward to find a suitable place to mount it.

It's a light more for being seen by, rather than seeing with, and would seem to be aimed squarely at urban commuters, with simple rubber O rings allowing easy fitting and removal, and a USB port for easy charging. It performs well in this role, with good visibility from all sides and eight different modes, four of them flashing.

> Find your nearest dealer here

> Buy this online here

On the 'strobe' setting the light blinks very quickly, giving out a claimed 30 lumens for 11 hours. I can see this setting coming in useful for riders who like to ride with a safety light in the daytime, but I didn't use it on my commutes, preferring instead to use the brighter, conventional flashing modes – the brightest giving off 130 lumens for up to 2.5 hours.

The unit has hooks on the sides for the supplied O rings. One of the hooks is a bit narrower than the other and helpfully retains the ring when the light is removed from the bike.

A soft rubber bracket covers the USB port and provides a flexible surface for fixing to the bike. This bracket isn't permanently fixed to the light and can fall off when the light is detached; losing it would be a pain but not the end of the world, as spares are available.

The rubber bracket also seals the charging port from water/road grime ingress, which is the only potential weakness, but when it's strapped to the bike it's held in place securely.

Fitting the light to the handlebar proved a bit troublesome – the long, thin shape makes it hard to find a wide enough space between the stem and your bar tape. When fitted horizontally in this area, the good side visibility leads to occasional dazzling when you're bending over the handlebar.

> What front light do you need? Check out our guide to the best, and our beam comparison engine, here

It's not a light you can easily fit to a helmet, and I eventually attached it vertically to the head tube, where it proved very successful.

The only potential problem I found is that the battery warning light isn't very obvious, so it's easy to miss that you're running out of juice. And when the battery does run down, the MkII doesn't automatically change to a lower setting, or get dimmer like lights of old, but switches off suddenly. Not a problem if you keep it topped up, of course.

Verdict

Very bright and compact, it performs well if you can get over the mounting issues, and be sure to keep it charged

road.cc test report

Make and model: Moon MKII Rechargeable COB Front Light

Size tested: n/a

Tell us what the product is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

Moon says: "The MkII Front Light generates 130 lumens of light from a very compact design. The flexible brackets mean this light can be fitted with ease."

The light is certainly bright, but its long, thin shape can make fitting it to the bike a bit awkward.

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

1 pce 18 chip COB high brightness LED

Rchargeable lithium polymer battery 3.7v / 500 mAh

8 modes

3 x O rings (20-26mm, 26-40mm,40-52mm)

Rubber insert pads

Low battery, charging & fully charged indicator

Automatic fully charged cut off system

Side visibility

IPX4

300 degrees total light angle

39 degrees spot angle

29g

72mm x 24mm x 22mm

Runtimes:

Overdrive 130 lumens - 1 hour 10 mins

High 65 lumens - 2 hours 30 mins

Standard 35 lumens - 4 hours 45 mins

Low 15 lumens - 9 hours 30 mins

100% flashing 130 lumens - 2 hours 30 mins

50% flashing 65 lumens - 5 hours

10% flashing 15 lumens - 21 hours 30 mins

Strobe 30 lumens - 11 hours

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
6/10

Nicely put together, although the rubber bracket can come loose when it's off the bike.

Rate the product for performance:
 
6/10

Easy to use, the light does its job well. The sudden loss of light when the battery charge is low is a potential problem.

Rate the product for durability:
 
7/10

No problems so far. The rubber bungee straps have survived despite intense stretching and are replaceable.

Rate the product for weight, if applicable:
 
8/10
Rate the product for value:
 
6/10

Quite pricey for a compact commuter light, but brighter than most.

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

It took a while to figure out the best place to fasten it, but once sorted it performed excellently.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

The brightness. The compact nature. Speedy USB recharge.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

A bit difficult to fit due to the awkward shape. Battery warning light is easy to miss, and light suddenly goes out when the charge runs out.

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: 6/10

About the tester

Age: 46  Height: 182  Weight: 75

I usually ride: Genesis Day One Singlespeed  My best bike is: Souped-up Cannondale CAADX

I've been riding for: 10-20 years  I ride: A few times a week  I would class myself as: Experienced

I regularly do the following types of riding: cyclo-cross, commuting, club rides, fixed/singlespeed, mountain biking

Moon MKII Rechargeable COB Front Light 2015
Moon MKII Rechargeable COB Front Light
Moon 2015
Moon
Andy Ward

Andy Ward works his socks off for the NHS as a GP and teaching at Leicester Medical School. After a brief foray into road racing he decided it hurt less to fall off on mud and is now most likely to be found on his cyclocross bike. He recently surprised himself by completing the Three Peaks without breaking his bike or any limbs

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3 comments

Avatar
macrophotofly | 8 years ago
0 likes

The mount on the Mk1 was far better. Really like the shape of the light and the mount was easy to take on/off. However it runs out of juice fairly quickly (around 90 mins) and suddenly switches off which is not fun

Avatar
hampstead_bandit | 8 years ago
0 likes

Giant have an almost identical version of this light for front and rear. similar mounting issues.

front light require some width on the bar, and incoming cables to the bar tape can cause the light to sit at an angle rather than right angle to oncoming traffic

rear light does not have any angle adjustment and requires a thick rubber shim at the base to set the light at right angle to ground level - in our shop we've all glued on a cateye rubber mount with epoxy to acheive this

Avatar
RPK | 8 years ago
0 likes

I had the first version of this light.  It was great until it died suddenly after four months.

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