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I am the type of person who reads the reviews before buying something. I read many reviews on several bike lights. I knew what I wanted to spend and started reading about the lights in my price range. Many of the reviews of this light complained about the way it attaches to the handle bars. I found that this was not a problem. This may be because my Cannondale has thicker handle bars than some of the bikes in the reviews. I am not sure, but it fit easily and securely. The other complaint was about the strength of the light. Most reviews claimed that you would not be able to see very well on a dark trail, but that it was sufficient in a lit city. This is not really the case. I bought two and mounted them easily on my bike. I ride on dark trails at night and have found that even when riding fast I can see really well. This is true even with only one turned on, though I prefer both on at the same time. They don't light the trail like my Honda CRV, but it is plenty bright. Once while riding through the city I had the lights on strobe so that cars will notice my presence better. They are pretty bright and really show up in the reflective surface of street and stop signs. Two motorcyclists riding in front of me saw this strobe effect and pulled over, only to realize that I wasn't a cop. They were probably drunk, but that is still pretty bright. I am glad I chose this light. The battery life is also great, especially with rechargeable batteries. As for the people out there bashing this light, yeah it probably isn't as powerful as one of those $300, $400, or $500 bike lights. However, this light was $32 and more than does the job. If you are looking for car or truck headlight performance, you are not going to get that with a $32 1 watt LED. If you want a very good and reliable bike light for riding at night in and out of the city, this light is gives great bang for the buck! Hope this helps!
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I have both the one-watt Blaze and the 5-LED Beamer lights on my bike (note that I am comparing the one-watt Blaze, not the half-watt Blaze). I use the Blaze for constant-on illumination (to see) and the Beamer as a blinker (to be seen).First of all, there is NOTHING WRONG WITH THE MOUNT (which is the same for both lights). Please ignore other reviews to the contrary, which were posted by people who are apparently unable to read an instruction sheet.
The mounting strap is ADJUSTABLE. It will accommodate very small handlebars, as well as massively oversized handlebars. If you turn the mounting bracket over and examine the underside, you will see that the mounting strap has ratchet-teeth. There is a keep directly beneath the mount which holds the strap to the desired length. If the mount is too loose, push the strap towards the mount to ratchet it to a smaller size. If the mount is too tight, use a small screwdriver to hold the keep up as you let the strap out. The mount may be further adjusted by turning the set-screw (by turning the cam-lever). Don't make it too tight, or it will be hard to adjust vertically.
The mount is very secure, yet the lights are easily removed (and can easily double as a flashlight when needed and you could easily hold it in your teeth for roadside repairs).
Photos of both the Blaze and the Beamer look rather similar I wondered if they used the same plastic housing. But the Blaze is substantially larger than the Beamer (in both length and diameter, even thought they both use the same size (AA) batteries). As I said before, the mount is the same.
In blinking mode, the Beamer is actually brighter (overall) than the Blaze. This is because the Blaze (wisely) does not flash at full-intensity all of the time (otherwise you would absolutely blind passing motorists). The Blaze mostly flashes at low-intensity, but every sixth or seventh flash is at high-intensity. The Beamer flashes at maximum intensity with each flash, which is brighter than the Blaze for most flashes, but not as bright as the occasional max-flash of the Blaze. Overall, the Beamer is brighter in flash-mode, although I am not sure it is better. But it is sufficient for my needs.
Many bike lights are designed like flashlights, where the beam is really visible only from the front someone viewing from the side would not see any light from the bulb itself (only the things that the bulb illuminated). Both the Blaze and the Beamer have lens bezels which fully expose the bulb to aspect view, giving these lights about 210-degrees of visibility.
In steady-on mode, there is really no comparison in lighting intensity. The Blaze has a high and low mode for steady-on, while the Beamer has only one steady-on mode. My comparison is only using the Blaze in high-mode. The Blaze's intensity is why I give it five stars (I gave the Beamer only four stars because it was lacking in comparison).
The Beamer's steady-on mode is rather hazy and unfocused. The five-bulb light source can be seen in the uneven lighting it produces. The Blaze (which has a single bulb) produces a much whiter and brighter light which is highly uniform. I'm not sure I would recommend the Blaze for absolute pitch-dark riding over difficult surfaces (such as singletrack wilderness and mountain trails), but it is perfectly sufficient for fill-lighting in urban commutes, with occasional very-dark spots. The Beamer is sufficient only for urban fill-lighting I would not want to use this light in very dark conditions.
If I found myself riding an extended bit of pitch-dark road, I would reconfigure my lights to use the Blaze as a distance light and the Beamer as a close-in light.
Some posters complain that NiMh rechargeable batteries are inferior to alkaline. I am not able to discern any difference in the Blaze. NiMh batteries are 1.2 volts, whereas ordinary batteries are 1.5 volts. However, it is not really voltage, but milliamp-hours (mAh) which determine a battery's power potential.
The Energizer e2 MiMh batteries can be charged to 2,450 mAh (milliamp-hours), while fresh Energizer Alkaline batteries are rated at 2,850 mAh.. So the difference in power is about 8.75%. I cannot perceive this difference. However, a freshly-charged MiMh battery will ALWAYS out-shine a somewhat-discharged (but still relatively new) alkaline battery. There is a temptation to use disposable alkaline batteries until they are absolutely worthless thereby depriving ourselves of good lighting (few people toss out batteries because they are only at 91% power the point at which fresh NiMh batteries exceed their 8.75% discharged alkaline counterparts). It is better, IMO, to have a slightly inferior battery that I can recharge each evening, so I always have an absolutely fresh battery, rather than a disposable battery that may be slightly brighter for the first hour or two, but soon looses ground to a freshly charged NiMh battery.
Best Deals for Planet Bike 3044 Blaze 1-Watt LED Headlight
Generally lights in this price range are "be seen" lights (for others to see you) rather than "see" lights (to illuminate the road). This light (barely) crosses the threshold to be considered a "see" light -I can ride at 15mph on a completely dark trail and see enough to feel safe. I couldn't find any other light as bright for twice the price, making this the best deal in a headlamp that I know of.The light has several shortcomings, but they only add up to one lost star because the brightness is really the only critical issue:
* There's little difference between "high" and "low" modes. I haven't investigated whether this makes a difference in battery life, but the "low" mode seems kind of pointless.
* The "flash" mode is at full brightness. The problem here is that the light is so bright, it creates a disorienting "strobe" effect that actually makes it hard to concentrate on the road. Since you'd only use this mode to be seen, the flash could (and should) be at a much lower intensity.
* The mounting hardware is pretty bad -it's hard to get the light mounted really securely. (The attachment of the light to the mounting hardware, on the other hand, is pretty good -easy to attach and detach the light even while wearing gloves.)
Honest reviews on Planet Bike 3044 Blaze 1-Watt LED Headlight
I ride on rural roads with kangaroos on pitch-black moonless nights.I have had this light for one week. It scares kangaroos. Truck drivers dip their lights. Motorists slow down and move over.
At a distance of about 20 metres (say 60 feet) the beam is wide enough to light up the whole road. It will pick out reflectors on road side posts at about 400 metres (say quarter of a mile).
The mounting is stable, secure and easy to adjust. The on-off switch is easy to use, even with gloves, and has good tactile feedback. The side illumination is good, to ensure visibility in urban streets, without light shining back into the rider's eyes.
If you want to look into the beam, get some welding goggles.
