After 7 years of usage. I decided it time to order another pair for both of my road bicycles. When they started needing close to an hour to fully charge. As to the many years of 10 minute fully charged time. But the originals still last 6 hrs on low strobe. Just hedging my bet? But rain or shine they have been worth every penny knowing they have my backside. People have commented they'd seen me from miles away. On our back country gravel shouldered county roads. Comments like that make me smile. Even on shouldered highways. Vehicles tend to give me a half a lane or at least 3 feet. So the Blackburn DayBlazers are like a warning beacon for my safety.
I've been on the fence about getting these, but decided to bite the bullet knowing they were almost likely to get more expensive. And I really should have gotten them sooner! Integration with the head unit is seamless (Edge 540), display is clear and intuitive without overloading me with information. Not many false positives (reading cars that weren't there) and no false negatives (missing cars that were). Bonus: It does a great job of picking up smaller vehicles (other bikes, scooters) that come up quickly. Light is really bright and I have no doubt it is really easy to spot.
The only thing I wouldn't use this for is my commute--it would just be going off non-stop while I ride through the city and I'm not sure the warning would outweigh the noise.
If you have a saddle bag that potentially obstructs the radar function, I'd suggest getting a mount that affixes itself to your saddle bag and maybe a protective case and lanyard to attach to the seat rails for extra peace of mind. Surprised Garmin doesn't at least provide the saddle bag mount as standard.
I use this light as the main light for road biking, fixed gear, and gravel cycling. My secondary light is a Cygolite mounted with a gopro mount on my helmet. The Knog is pretty bright, though it definitely seems brighter offroad. Compared to the Cygolite, the Knog's light is a little bit on the yellow side, so that makes it wash out a little on the road. If the light is used by iteself, this isn't as noticable. I previously had a Light and Motion light (they went out of business) which has a much wider beam, but I can't complain too much. The usb C charging connection is also really nice as it charges quickly and is not a keyed connector.
This a good light to be seen, but not to see in dark conditions. It has a 180-degree view, but the light isn't focused so you can't use it for night riding. That's fine as I bought this to be seen. The only criticism I have is the battery. As it's winter, I haven't used this on a long ride, but it seems like 5-6 hours is the max battery life on even lower setting. It also takes a long time to charge. So don't use it at night and don't expect it to last on a long ride and it's fine.
