Saturday, May 9, 2015

Serfas Helmet Tail Light

When riding a bike, it is always important to make yourself visible to other road users, especially at night when visibility is not as good. By using lights during cycling, it improves safety by making yourself visible or by lighting up the road at poorly lit places.

Other than the lights on the bicycle, it can be a good idea to attach a rear light onto the helmet. As this light is higher up, it will be more visible to other road users. I used to have a couple of X Light 4 LED helmet lights, but I have retired them as they are not working properly. Those helmet lights are quite bright, but the downside is that the battery life does not last very long, and it gets costly to replace the batteries as they are using CR2032 batteries. After a few rides in the rain, some of the lights and buttons are not working properly, probably due to some water getting through the rubber seals.

Recently, during a trip to the US, I found this helmet light at one of the bike shops, and it seems quite bright. I decided to get it and mount it on my helmet to try it out.

Serfas Helmet Tail Light

Uses 2 x CR2032 batteries. Although this light also uses expensive CR2032 batteries, the battery life for the flash mode seems really long at 175 hours, so it should be manageable.

Based on my quick and simplified estimate, this battery life should last me for quite a bit of cycling. Using an average cycling speed of 20km/h, having 175 hours of battery life will last for over 3000km of usage. Also, since this helmet light will only be used for night riding (it is not bright enough for daytime usage), this means that it should last for 3000km of night cycling, which is really a lot. Realistically, I would be happy to get half that amount of battery life.

The light comes with a velcro strap and a rubber block

Triangular light design with red LEDs at the three corners of the casing, and the on/off button in the middle.

The orange rubber block attaches to the rear of the light, acting as a wedge to adjust the pointing angle of the light.

For my helmet design, there is no central beam to fix on this helmet light, and so I have to fix it off-centre at the side.

Based on the angle of the helmet while riding, it should point somewhat horizontal towards the rear for good visibility.

This helmet light is really bright which is great for visibility.

With this new Serfas Helmet Tail Light, I now have a good rear light mounted on my helmet. A rear light on the bike plus a rear light on the helmet will increase my visibility on the road, which is always a good idea.

3 comments:

  1. I'm looking for the helmet light and this is a good review.
    Do you think I can find Serfas Helmet Tail Light in LBS ?
    Readers - Pls reply here if you're selling this product ? I'm interested.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I bought this light in the US, and i have not seen it in the bike shops locally. You might be able to get it online.

      Delete
  2. I really like the Serfas safety light but not the helmet.
    You might want to get MIPS compliant helmet.It won't cost you an arm and a leg.

    ReplyDelete

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