Battery life is good and the whole package seems pretty well-built. My only compliant is that the front headlight is not very bright. It serves to let other people know you're there, but definitely does not sufficiently light up the road in front of you. The rear light works just fine.
For the price, however, I don't think this can be beat. If you're looking for a cheap but usable bike light set, this is the way to go. Planet Bike Beamer 1 and Blinky 3 LED Bicycle Light Set
I thought this light would suffice for my short ride home from work every night but its has a much more limited scope than I was expecting. If I could do it again, I would have splurged for a bigger light. Works great and has sturdy construction but is definitely the minimum you need for night riding.
Up front, a large disclaimer - I do not own this product, and gave it 3 stars as a 'guessed at' rating.
So why am I writing a review? Well, I thought I'd pass along a very helpful bit of information I received while I debated between this bike light set and a similar, more expensive one from Planet Bike also offered by Amazon. This light set includes the Beamer 1 headlight, while the more expensive one features the 1/2 watt Blaze headlight (also from Planet Bike). In reading the reviews I saw where people had said the Beamer 1 was a bit dim, but that didn't clarify things for me.
What I'd recommend is to go over to the Planet Bike web site and fire up their 'See the Light' feature, [...]. This very helpful web page shows you *exactly* how each of the different products work, and the area they illuminate.
QUICK SUMMARY: I like this product enough to equip all six of our family's bicycles with this combo unit. They're easy to attach to the handle bar (once you understand the mechanism), easy to remove, and do a good job helping others to see you. Don't expect to use this headlight to illuminate a dark road at night, though.
There are six reasons why I like this set:
1) LED lights are much more energy efficient than the old-fashioned, incandescent light bulbs I used to use growing up. Saves money on replacement batteries.
2) The headlight beam, when focused correctly, is very bright and can be easily seen by an oncoming car from a faraway distance. Similarly, the red tail-light, when properly focused, can also be easily seen from an approaching vehicle.
3) The physical size of both the headlight and tail-light are very compact, so they look nice on the bikes.
4) They're weatherproof enough so if you're caught in the rain, both devices should keep working for you.
5) They're easy to mount on the handlebar and seat post. I used one of the rubber inserts to ensure a tight fit on the handlebar. The headlight doesn't require a screwdriver to install; the tail-light does need a screwdriver.
6) The headlight is easy to detach from the bike. I liked this feature when I was nighttime riding, and I wanted to stop and take a look at an armadillo along the road. So, it doubles as a handy flashlight, too. The tail-light is easily detached from the mounting bracket, too, but you'll probably do that only to replace the batteries.
I have four caveats to share with you:
1) The headlight isn't good enough to illuminate a dark road well enough that you can safely ride at night. You can do it, but the road will be dimly lit up. There's only one white LED in the headlight. It's fine if you're riding at night on a well-lit road and you just need a headlight so others can see you. If you need a headlight to really light up the road for you, look elsewhere.
2) Both the headlight and tail-light need to be properly focused so an oncoming vehicle can actually see you. They need to point almost straight ahead so the beam can be highly visible to an oncoming or approaching vehicle. If not pointed correctly, the bright intensity of the LED lights won't help you become visible to others.
3) Even when the lights are correctly focused, the bright light can only be seen from a relatively narrow field-of-vision. I would have preferred the tail-light to slightly offset the leftmost and rightmost LEDs so the tail-light could be seen by a wider field-of-vision. Because the field-of-vision is so narrow, take time to evaluate whether you've correctly installed the lights by moving 50 or 100 yards away from your bike, and looking to see how well the lights can be seen. (It's helpful if you work with another person to install the lights, where one person makes the adjustments, and the other stands far away to evaluate the results).
4) Stupidly, you press the headlight button once to initiate a blinking action, a second time to have a steady beam, whereas the tail-light is just the opposite -- click once for a steady beam, twice to initiate a blinking action.
In short, recommended!
This is definitely made for letting others know you are there not for riding dark trails at night, but, it does that very well and at a great price. Front and back are plenty bright enough for getting attention. Both mounted easily. My only tiny complaint is that they don't default to the same mode one to flashing and the other to solid.
I've been really happy with these lights. I the front light is bright enough for an average suburban road, and I like the blinking function on the back light. I haven't used them long enough to judge if the battery length is as long as they say, but so far I've had no problems. The bracket for the tail light was strange, I never did figure out how it was supposed to work, but I just skipped the bracket entirely and used the clip that was attached to the light. The clip seems sturdy enough by itself. Overall I'm very happy with them and it was the best price I found around. - Bike Light - Cycling - Bicycle Lights - Bike Headlight'
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