Knog Blinder Pro 1300 + R150 Rear - Light Set

The Knog Blinder Pro 1300 + R150 Rear - Light Set is a well-designed, compact and enjoyable combo designed for a variety of different riding uses. The high lumen counts from both lights allow you to ride in unlit rural areas, while the range of beams means the Knog lights can pivot to urban and commuter riding with ease. The lights aren't that cheap, but the front light in particular feels extremely durable and strong thanks to its aluminium casing. They aren't the lightest lights out there, the full beam battery life isn't outstanding, and the GoPro mount gave me a few problems. However, since the other provided mounts are excellent, that wasn't much of an issue, and overall this is a very good pairing.

For more options check out our guide to the best bike lights.

Construction: front

The Knog Blinder 1300 is an extremely well-constructed front light, made from an aluminium shell, and it fits easily in the hand – and at 180g it feels sturdy without being heavy.

Grippy channels are carved into the shell for grip closer to the bulbs, beneath the silicone mode button. Opposite the button is the USB-C charging port, which is covered by a removable rubber grommet.

There are some transparent side panels next to the bulb so that you can easily see the light functioning as you ride.

Channels have been cut into the side of the light to create a structure for the mount to grip onto.

Sturdy as the light feels, it is not indestructible. Drop it at speed a couple of times, as I have done, and the rear cap will pop off, exposing the electrics within.

The light has an IP67 rating, so is essentially waterproof. It handled everything autumn could throw at it, plus some actual time in the shower for testing purposes.

Construction: rear

At just 48g the rear Blinder is significantly less weighty than its companion. It has a plastic, rectangular body that is intended to be attached upright.

The button is concealed on the seatpost side of the light. It sits both proud of and recessed into the casing, which means it is quite hard to engage if you are reaching a gloved hand downwards while riding. Though it does mean it's less likely to be turned on by mistake.

The rear light also has a IP67 rating, so should shrug off the effects of any weather that it encounters.

Lighting: front

There are three wide beam and three narrow beam bulbs in the light, which Knog says illuminate the road for up to 120m, when placed at the perfect 23-degree angle. Unusually, the beam is actually slightly yellow, rather than harsh white, which actually sheds softer light on the road ahead.

I found the beam ideal for a wide range of riding. It illuminates a large swathe of the road, and I felt confident using it at night even in rural areas with no street lighting. There is a strong central beam as well as good peripheral coverage, which allowed me to keep tabs on fallen branches and roadside debris.

There are six different light modes: three flashing and three solid beams, putting out 1300, 650 and 230 lumens. The light switches on with a long press, and a single press cycles through three modes. A double press switches the light from flashing to solid and vice versa. In spite of the relatively simple range of options, they provide you with plenty of choice.

A single press when the light is off gives you a colour-coded battery check: green > 50%, yellow > 25%, red > 10%, red flash < 10%. I found this plenty detailed for my needs.

Lighting: rear

Knog says the Rear Blinder has a dedicated strobe LED set on a 12-degree angle which helps it to attract maximum attention.

This is something you notice while looking at the flashing light: that normal flashes of light are interspersed with more intense club-like stabs that have more of a dazzle factor.

The eight offered light modes are some of the wildest and most random I've come across on a rear light. There are solid settings, if that's your preference, but this is really a light for riders after utterly bizarre flash combinations, sure to get any driver or rider's attention.

There are handy settings like Peloton – for non-pros read: chaingang – where a dim 2-lumen glow will save the eyes of your mates.

Eco uses just 8 lumens, and runs for a claimed 50 hours, but the inclusion of one strobe flash among its elevator-descending effect makes it incredibly visible.

Mount: front

The front light comes with a GoPro attachment and an adjustable rounded rubber mount.

The rubber mount is extremely straightforward to use. It hooks on to virtually every bar – except the most extreme, flattened aero bars – and creates a firm hold. Once in position, the light clicks into place when force is exerted downwards.

The GoPro attachment is easy to set up and just requires you to screw in one bolt, but I found it less reliable than the rubber mount.

There is a small arm that loosens and tightens the jaws of the mount, presumably because jamming the light in and out of an upside-down GoPro mount – as per the rubber mount – semi-regularly would be quite annoying and prone to error. Also, Knog might not be totally confident that the light would stay in place upside down with that clip-in system.

During testing, I managed to drop the light a number of times early on in rides. I would attach the light to the Go Pro mount and then close the arm mechanism. However, it is so light touch and lacking any kind of clunking, locked-in finality, that it was unclear whether it was closed or open.

After going over a bump or two it was suddenly very obvious that it was open, as the light had crashed onto the ground. Clearly, this is my fault, but the mechanism is strangely indecisive and I feel it would be very easy to design something where it was glaringly obvious whether or not you had closed the catch.

Once it was correctly closed, there were no issues. But by this point, the light had quite a lot of scars and had actually burst open. Thankfully everything went back inside and I was able to close the rear cap without any further issues. Which demonstrated that it is very well built!

Mount: rear

The Blinder R-150 Rear has a totally failsafe mount. It's a simple rubber band (alternate sizes included in the box) that hooks securely into one side of the light.

It clips across to the other side courtesy of a plastic handle with a metal bar, that slots resoundingly behind the USB-A chip, doubling as a protective layer. This USB-A element has a significant amount of flex, so the pressure of the band should pull it flush with most seat posts.

I can't imagine a seatpost that it wouldn't fit onto thanks to the range of supplied bands.

Battery: front

Knog claims that the 21700 3.7V lithium-ion battery provides industry-leading power-to-weight ratio, and the performance was indeed very good.

On the 150 lumens Eco Flash mode, which I used a lot, the battery lasts for 120 hours, or around 3000km of riding. I can't claim to have ridden anywhere near that far using the light but that's an impressive claim if true.

On its most powerful 1300-lumen beam, the Knog has a runtime of just 90 minutes – but you are also able to charge it while using it, which is very good news for long-distance riders.

Battery: Rear

The numbers aren't quite as heady for the rear light but I still felt like I got good bang for my charge. Lumen ratings vary from just 2 (Peloton) up to 150 (Strobe), with 30 and 7.5 hours output respectively.

The excellent Eco setting will run for 50 hours and provides some strobe flash too.

There is one solid setting, High, which shoots out 35 lumens for 3.5 hours which I thought was pretty decent going – a nice option to have despite it being a setting I would never really use.

Value

We don't review a huge number of light sets, so it's harder to directly accurately assess the £149.99 Knog set's value.

In terms of front light, the Exposure Sirius Mk10 DayBright costs £100 and Emma was very impressed with this 85g light that was also very well made. It kicks out 900 lumens and has a slightly narrow beam, meaning it isn't the best for fully dark, rural riding. For comparison, the Knog Blinder 1300 costs £99.99 without the rear light.

Of those sets we have reviewed, Knog's pairing is 50 quid more than the £99.99 Trek Commuter Comp R Flare R City Bike Light Set. But the Knog is far more versatile, thanks to its greater brightness and its battery life is better too. The rear light is far superior in brightness and durability to the Trek.

The higher-spec Trek Commuter Pro RT/Flare RT Light Set is £189.99 but Stef still wasn't that impressed when she reviewed it in 2023. The buttons were hard to use and the mounting setup was subpar.

Again it's against Exposure that the £62.99 Knog rear light is competing. The Exposure Boost-R with ReAKT and Peloton costs more, at £90, but Matt thought it was more or less flawless. The 48-hour flashing battery life is hard to beat and has some cool features that make the light act like a car's brake lights.

For £52 you can pick up the Lezyne Zecto Drive Max 400+ LED Rear Light but based on Steve's review, the Knog is significantly better. The Lezyne's design is imperfect and the button is hard to press. However, he's still got a few that still work after a few years of use, so they are definitely durable.

Conclusion

The Knog set is a very versatile pair of lights that I'm struggling to mark down in too many areas. Of course, Knog is far from giving them away at £149.99, but the price feels justified by the excellent design, durability, good performance and total ease of use. Once I'd got my head around the slightly odd Go Pro mount design, there really wasn't much I'd want to change at all.

Verdict

Top-quality, durable pairing with a high enough spec to be versatile across different types of riding