Knog PWR Rider 450 and Blinder Mob V Four Eyes lights review

Knog's PWR Rider 450 and Blinder Mob V Four Eyes lights might not be sold as a set but bought together they make a strong combo for urban riders and commuters.

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Knog's PWR Rider 450 front light

Knog likes to do things its own way, and it’s no change with the PWR Rider 450, which packs a lot of features into its elegant cylindrical design, including a power bank to power up other devices and the option to customise modes via its ModeMaker app.

The light's 450-lumen LED has a nice elliptical lighting spread and a beam that is 17x30 degrees – effectively a broad ellipse that is bright enough for riding decent speeds upwards of 15mph on unlit roads. The wide spread also means that you won’t blind oncoming drivers.

The top half of the lens is shrouded so that no light shines upwards into your eyes, while the un-shrouded bottom half provides good sideways illumination.

The body of the light is made of tough aluminium with a plastic and aluminium rear cap that flips off to reveal a USB outport and micro-USB charging port. Four tiny red LEDs on the top let you keep track of the remaining charge.

In addition to the highest 450-lumen Steady setting, there’s a 190-lumen Commute mode that is fine for urban conditions, a moderate be-seen 50-lumen Stamina mode, so called for its claimed 16-hour running time, and the 320-lumen Pulse or 190-lumen Strobe modes that you’re more likely to use.

Want more? Well, using Knog’s own ModeMaker app you can add and remove modes. As for the power bank, Knog claims that you can run the PWR Rider at 450-lumens for an hour and then power-up your iPhone to 35 per cent power in three and a half hours.

I found the PWR Rider's top setting was enough for riding safely on surfaced unlit routes at a moderate speed and the second-top setting offered easily enough illumination in urban conditions. The flashing or pulsing modes are great for running lights during the day for additional visibility on the road and it was easy to change settings when wearing winter gloves.

My light ran for 2 hours 8 minutes at full power and charged from flat in around 4 hours 50 minutes, both of which were slightly better than Knog's claims.

The light's mounting is via an elasticated strap, which proved to be secure, but it’s a bit tricky to stretch around some handlebars. The light then attaches using a small 2mm hex bolt, which you'll need to keep an eye on to make sure it’s always tight otherwise there’s the potential to lose the light.

Knog Mob V Four Eyes rear light

The Mob V Four Eyes is quite a straightforward light with a mouthful of a name. Unlike most rear lights, it’s not charged via a USB lead but instead has an integrated plug that slots straight into a USB port. This may leave it looking a little vulnerable, but it’s tucked in against the seatpost when in use and has an impressive IP67 rating, so should be impervious to dust and water – including being immersed in water for up to half an hour.

The light attaches to the seatpost via an elasticated silicone strap and there are three different diameters available from 22mm upwards.

The light has all the usual modes that you’d expect: two Steady modes, a Fast Flash and two Organic flashes (basically two different rates of flashes alternating between the central two LEDs and the two end LEDs).

On its top-level 44-lumen Steady setting, the Mob V Four Eyes was highly visible and gave a very decent 2 hours 43 minutes run-time - a few minutes over Knog's claimed 2 hours 36 minutes.

It took 4 hours 16 minutes to fully charge the Four Eyes – a tiny LED changing from red to green.

While the Mob V Four Eyes and PWR Rider 450 are a little on the expensive side, they both have a lot going for them. Especially if you’re looking for a mid-power front light for predominantly urban riding with the added appeal of having an occasional power bank to hand – just make sure that little bolt’s kept nice and tight.

• PWR Rider 450: £58 / $65 / AU$90 / €65
• Blinder Mob V Four Eyes: £40 / $45 / AU$60 / €48