Knog Blinder 4V Review

The Knog Blinder 4V is a bright rear light with 44 lumens of light, visible from upto 800 metres. It is USB rechargeable and easy to fit. It’s also pretty sleek and aerodynamic. The Knog Blinder 4V is a different shape to the original square Knog Blinder.

knog blinder

Recently, I’ve been looking for a bright rear light, which is easy to fix and take off. Ideally, it could be also used on my time trial bike (with aerodynamic fitting)

When it arrived, no light came on because it initially needed charging in a USB port first. When it was charged and I turned it on and looked into light, there really was a blinding effect in the eyes.

Light

knog blinder 4v

It’s very light. 44 lumens is pretty strong. It stands out on the road from quite a distance. They say it can be seen unto 800 metres, which is pretty impressive. You need this kind of lumens when riding on busy roads, otherwise, the light can be too weak.

Fitting.

The fitting device is very simple. Just click and unclick a catch. No tools, screwdriver or real intelligence required.

It fits to 22mm and 32mm saddle posts very well.

A limitation of the fitting device is that it’s hard to fit into other areas (such as clipping onto the back of a saddle bag, or onto the narrow chain stays at the back of the bike.

knog blinder 4v

shame it doesn’t fit awkward shaped aero seat tube – because it’s aerodynamic shape will be liked by time triallists.

 

I was able to fit to my road bike no problem (very quick). It didn’t fit to aero seat post on time trial bike (which is unsurprising), but I did find an unorthodox position on time trial bike (see above). It’s not ideal because it points upwards rather than straight behind.

Charging

This is the first bike light I’ve used which doesn’t use batteries. It just uses a rechargeable USB stick. This is really good. No more worrying about spending money on batteries, just plug into a USB charging device, and it lasts up to 50 hours in eco flash mode. I haven’t had it on for 50 hours yet. But, it lasts long enough for my purposes.

Overall

  • This is an excellent rear light. It is very bright, lasts along time and is easy to clip on and off. (so easy to clip off, it is vulnerable to theft if left in town). It is very easy to use. Just unpack, charge up and it’s ready to go.
  • Not having to buy batteries is a real bonus
  • If it could be improved I would say a signal to show % of battery use left would be very useful. To avoid running out of light on a ride, I will probably end up recharging more frequently than necessary.
  • Another limitation is that the very simple fixing device does limit it for some uses. But, given how easy it is to attach, you can’t have everything.

Comparisons

Last year, I tested the Knog Boomer. That particular boomer is often difficult to turn off. This Knog Blinder is much brighter and on/ off is much more reliable. A similar bright light is the Cateye TL- 610D, the Cateye is cheaper, but the Knog has rechargeable power and 50 hours on flashing, as opposed to 30 hours for the Cateye.

Would I buy it?

Yes. It will retain for around £30 ($44US). It would make an excellent present. It will also encourage me to use a rear light during the day more often. This summer is so murky, that having a flashing rear light will help with visibility. Definitely you can get cheaper, but overall this is fair value for what you get.

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4 Responses to Knog Blinder 4V Review

  1. Chris November 11, 2012 at 10:02 pm #

    The power of this light is great! The only problem is, that we are not able to switch it off again….
    Not only is it really difficult to find the exact pressingpoint to swich it on and change the flashing mode, but now this…
    Will have a good look at it tomorrow and when I don´t succeed, it´s back to the shop!

  2. Jon MacKinnon July 11, 2012 at 8:58 pm #

    Hey Tejvan, I just saw these over on BikeRumour – http://www.bikerumor.com/2012/07/10/serfas-thunderbolt-usb-bike-lights-silicon-casings-in-fun-colors/ while the standard bands may not be long enough for an aero seatpost, as they’re removable it looks like you’d be able to rubber-band or two o-rings (akin to the Garmin Edge 2/5/800 mount) to mount it to your TT bike.

    • tejvan July 13, 2012 at 11:27 am #

      thanks Jon, looks interesting.

  3. Doug July 11, 2012 at 5:44 pm #

    This looks good – but is there any up or down adjustment so the beam is completely horizontal? I think its important to make the most of the “lens” effect whenever possible – could that be achieved from fixing it onto a seat post?

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