The Knog Blinder Road R is a seriously powerful little light. The slim casing houses four LEDs and the Blinder Road R can chuck out 70 lumens of vivid red light across five modes.
The different modes provide a range of run times and thanks to the brightness of the light and the flashing and strobe mode patterns, you should be very noticeable. A continuous illuminated slit around the body of the light gives great side visibility too.
Knog’s bungee and clip make the Blinder Road R easy to fit and swap between bikes. No tools are required and it sits securely on most seatposts. The metal clasp doesn’t fill us with confidence though; even though it flicks closed without any hassle, it just feels a bit feeble.
Despite a few niggles, we like the Blinder Road R – it's bright, USB-chargeable and fits on a range of bikes without the need for tools
Another niggle is that the power button is in a bit of an inconvenient location. It's right at the top of the light, on the edge angled closest to the seatpost: you have to get your finger between it and the tube to work it. You have to hold the light as you press the button too, because the rubber part that wraps around the seat tube has a lot of give in it. This can be exacerbated if you’ve got gloves on.
Charging is easy if you have the USB extension cord, as you can just plug it into your laptop, and there are no wires to keep track of.