Towards the end of last year I saw an article about a new bike light that was about to hit the market, Blaze. It was helped to be created by kickstarter, now I had missed the opportunity to be part of this but I did sign up to the website at Blaze.cc to be on the list to get first dibs on ordering.
My wife always asks me what I want for Christmas and I can never really think of anything, I am very lucky to have most of what I would like, obviously a Ferrari is out of the price range! So last year when she asked I knew what I wanted, a Blaze light.
At the time Blaze were trying hard to get the lights to market in time for Christmas but it became apparent before they started to take orders that this was not going to be possible. My wife was a bit disappointed that the only thing I had asked for would not be able to be under the tree on Christmas morning, me I didn't care I just wanted the light.
So January arrived and with it a few emails from Blaze about when we could expect our lights, Kickstarter supporters were, quite rightly, taking priority but I was one of the lucky pre-order customers that was in the first batch of deliveries. Another email towards the end of January stated that the light had been dispatched and was on its way, unfortunately the Customs people decided to be ultra cautious about letting the packages be sent and they sat at a warehouse for several days.
Yesterday was the day that Customs had finally done their thing and the light was delivered, typical I was at work and then had to go straight out to a meeting when I got home. Nothing was going to stop me checking out the light though so I snatched a few minutes to unpack and check it out, I also managed to get it on charge so it was ready for use on my commute this morning.
My first thought on opening the pack was that the light was very solid it seemed to be very well put together and the accessories were very green! My second thought was "how is that bracket going to fit on my handlebars?"
This morning when I dragged my bike out of the back of my car the first thing I needed to do was attach the bracket and get the light sorted, good job I had to be up early to move my car so my son could go to work!
I was still unsure about the bracket, it seemed that my bars were just too big, the bolt would not fit into the slot properly and it seemed to be just on the edge. Having tested it the light did seem secure so I set off but I will double check the bracket again when its light and I am not by the side of the road!.
The first half of my commute is relatively light in terms of traffic, especially at the earlier hour this morning. The second half of my trip is where I saw the benefits of the Blaze's not so secret weapon, after all the main reason we have all bought one is due to the laser image projected in front!
The main light was great, it is probably one of the brightest I have used but it was when I started to hit heavier traffic that I switched the laser on and a little green bike appeared on the road in front.
(Yes I know that the image above is not in traffic and is on the wrong side of the road, this was when I was setting the light up in a little side road, not sure it would be safe to take a photo with my phone while riding!)
Under some of the brighter street lights on my route through London the image seemed to get a little lost on the road but was still visible when hitting other vehicles and on a couple of occasions I noticed that other cyclists had seen the image so I hope that drivers did too.
All in all the light is great and does exactly what was expected, it is functional whilst funky, now if Blaze can make a rear light that is as funky and good quality I will be very happy!
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