Knog Blinder Road 600 front bike light review

Around since 2012, a 2020 redesign sees the Knog Blinder Road 600 front bike light gain an extra couple hundred Lumen, making it Knog's most powerful front light to date.

Knog say that by utilising two independent LEDs on the Blinder Road 600, each capable of 400Lumen, the joint beam is then calculated at 600 Lumen. The left hand side optic has a 12-degree beam, which is said to create the spotlight, whilst the right hand side optic has a 32-degree beam pattern, providing more of a flood light.

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The Knog Blinder Road 600 front bike light uses the same rubber band and clip as almost all Knog lights. There are two sizes in the box, which should fit bars either 22-28mm and 29-35mm. I can also confirm it's pretty stretchy and I've had no trouble securing it to fit an aero shaped handlebar. 

How do you charge a Knog light?

Charging is really neat with the Knog Blinder Road 600 front bike light, especially when compared to the Exposure Sirius MK9 Daybright front bike light, which requires it's own specific cable.

At the rear of the light sits a flip up USB socket allowing you to plug the light directly into a USB port. This can be a little fiddly so Knog supply a USB adapter cable to make things easier, but if you find yourself out without charge and cable, it's good to know that a standard one, that most people have kicking around, will do the job.

Enough Lumens for cycling at night?

Out on the road the beam pattern of the Knog Blinder Road 600 front bike light is a nice even flood, with plenty of contrast without relying too much on a single central spot. There's an adequate throw of the beam for a steady street light lit commute, with road signs well reflected.

On unlit roads at a faster pace however and it did struggle to throw out enough light to make me feel fully confident at reading the road, unlike the £20 cheaper Lezyne Micro Drive Pro 800XL, or aforementioned Exposure Sirius light. 

The rubberised rear half of the Knog Blinder Road 600 front bike light helps to keep it in place when riding on rougher roads. This steadying is also helped by the wide, rather than long design, keeping the centre of gravity as close to the handle bars as possible, reducing the end of a pole wobble effect.  

Controlling the double LED light is done via two tiny buttons at the rear of the light body. 

The left hand button controls power and switches through the light settings; either single LED, double LED or flashing. The right hand button then gives three brightness levels for each constant mode as well as two settings for flashing.

In theory it's a good idea to have separate light levels and functions, but in practice the buttons are near on impossible to use when wearing gloves, so it's not really a feature that you can really benefit from when riding.

What was more helpful is the small coloured LED that indicates battery level, although with decent burn in all modes, it didn't require constant topping up.

Town Vs Rural

The out front design of the Knog Blinder Road 600 front bike light will appeal to many riders, who's handlebars can become especially cluttered when night riding.

The brightness is certainly adequate for most urban commutes, but you might find yourself tapping the breaks a bit more when out in the rural darkness.