The Knog Cobber Mid’s unique spread of LEDs gives excellent side-on visibility that do a good job of flooding light at the rear of your bike. In the 75-lumen constant output mode the battery is claimed to last 2 hours. It can only be mounted to seatposts or tubes but don’t let that put you off, its high price might do that.
Knog Cobber Mid details and specification
Boasting a total of eight standard modes, but with the option of using Knog’s Modemaker app to programme your own settings, the Cobber Mid is claimed to be 100 per cent waterproof with its own in-built ‘male’ USB plug.
It’s supplied with two mounting brackets, one suited to narrow angle tubes and another for slightly wider surfaces. These use an O-ring to fasten, and four different sized O-rings are supplied.
It has a charge and low-battery indicator, and Knog claims it’ll run at full power until there’s only 10 per cent battery left.
Knog Cobber Mid performance
The magnetic uni-directional sliding clip mechanism that attaches the light’s body to its mount makes for a secure connection, but can be quite stiff to use, and there’s no arrow to indicate which way it slides to release.
Once the mount is attached to the light’s body, the onboard USB connector closes off the O-ring hook so that it can’t get lost or fall off. The light’s supplied with three O-rings that vary in size, but I found the smallest to be the best, offering the most tension on a wide variety of tube sizes.
The light is long and thin and mounts to the bike vertically only, but its slim profile means that it hugs the seatpost or seat tube, keeping it well out of the way of the rear tyre as the rear suspension compresses. It isn’t supplied with any other mounting options – such as seat rails – as standard, though.
I found the narrower of the two mounts to be more stable, even on flatter surfaces, probably because it has more material to better cushion and grip the light’s weight.
If bashed it can rotate on the tube it’s mounted to and isn’t mounted as securely as some other lights. Over rough terrain the light didn’t get knocked off line, however.
The single button is easy to use when you aren’t moving on your bike and mode selection is relatively intuitive. Forget trying to use the button when you’re on the move though because it’s too tricky.
The in-built USB plug is handy if you forget or lose the extender cable and should be compatible with most USB sockets, so charging is a doddle.
The light created by the COB LEDs is fairly bright but well spread out and there isn’t one particular focal area. This floods an area of red light onto the floor behind the light rather than projecting a specific beam.
It has an exceptional viewing angle, and even at 90 degrees from the light’s rear it’s almost as bright. Step in front of the light and its illumination is still visible up to 110 degrees from the rear.
There is an impressive mix of standard modes on offer and I’m doubtful you’ll be left wanting for more. If you do, the Modemaker app should be able to cater to your needs.
Run time was 1 hour 40 minutes, which is 20 minutes less than Knog claims, but this kind of battery life on maximum isn’t bad by any stretch. And the light does last longer on the lower lumen or flashing modes if you need more time out on the bike.
Knog Cobber Mid bottom line
Knog’s Cobber Mid is an impressive light with a simple and elegant design. Its side-on visibility has to be its biggest positive. A few more mounting options as standard, considering its price, would be nice, though.
Product
| Brand | knog |
| Price | 100.00 AUD,60.00 GBP,70.00 USD |
| Weight | 43.0000, GRAM () - Total weight |
Features
| br_lightType | rear |
| br_remoteSwitch | no |
| br_integratedBattery | yes |
| Features | Clamp weight: 5g Light weight: 38g Run time (max power): 1 hour 40 minutes |
| br_outputLumens | 75 |
