When summer started I thought it would be nice to dust my bike down and get out for some nice cycle rides. I like to go out on long rides sometimes, although I dislike cycling on the roads. I take as many safety precautions as I can for peace of mind, and always make sure I wear a helmet and that my reflectors are in good order. A couple of times however, I have still been out as dusk has been descending, and this left me feeling vulnerable on the roads. For this reason I decided to buy a set of lights, never having owned any before. I did not intend to cycle in darkness, but I knew it would be useful to own a set just in case.

The set contains two lights; a red one and a white one. The white light is intended for the front of the bike, and the red for the back. I was worried when I purchased the set that they would be difficult to fit, and would require me to use a screwdriver. Thankfully however, the lights literally snap on to the frame and can also be removed easily, so if you are concerned about them being stolen when you leave your bike in public you can choose to take them with you.

The light are roughly rectangular in appearance, and are quite domed for projecting the light further out. The surface of each light is mottled so that the light, when it is switched on, is not dazzling to traffic, but is still bright enough to alert traffic as to your presence. The surface is fashioned from plastic, and so is easy to clean if you go off road and get mud or other debris on them. The lights are fairly insubstantial, which disappointed me when I first removed them from the pack. Even though the lights have a thick plastic covering, it still feels as though it would break if the light was dropped. Indeed, when I left my bike resting against the garage wall a few weeks after I bought the lights, my bike fell over and the back light sustained a small crack in one of the upper corners. This damage was not sufficient to render the lights useless, but as the bike did not fall directly onto the light I was surprised that it would be damaged in this way as a result.

AAA batteries are required to run the lights. Having owned the lights for several months now I have only used them about four times, so have not noticed the intensity of the lights diminishing any as a result of the batteries being used. The intensity of the front light is excellent, and if anything it is perhaps a little too bright to oncoming traffic. The back light however, is more subdued, but you can set it to flicker so that it is more obvious to traffic from behind.

For £8 this is a very good set of lights. I was disappointed by their flimsiness, but so far they have worked fairly well, and aside from the small amount of damage they have been reliable. Even though I do not use the lights much at the moment, it is very reassuring to have them there in case I need to use them. I think if I was to purchase another set of lights I might purchase a more robust set, but if you are only using the lights occasionally this is a decent set to invest in.