The Knog Blinder MOB – The Face, is a rear bicycle LED light from the Knog Blinder series of lights, it’s a lightweight model that has recently been redesigned from the previous Blinder with improved mounting for aero seatposts common on modern road bikes, removable mounting straps in three sizes and improved recharging access.
Knog is an Australian company that has been in operation since 2003 and produce an extensive range of lights, bike locks, bike computers, apparel and other accessories including video lights for iPhone’s.
The Blinder MOB range has five different models including the model for this review, The Face. The Face weighs in at 35 grams, has four LED’s producing 80 lumens of light in five different flash modes.
The other other models in the Blinder MOB range pictured below are:
Eyeballer Single LED casting a beam.
Four Eyes 4 LED’s.
Kid Grid 16 LED’s and a very wide beam.
Mr Chips so called for Chips On Board (COB) LED gives off a glow from a panel of light.
Unboxing the Knog Blinder MOB – The Face
The packaging is stylish and functional, there is a molded carton that slides out from the clear plastic case that holds the light and at the bottom of the carton are the instructions and two spare straps, there are three straps in total. I used the biggest size in this review as the light was being mounted on a 50mm wide aero seatpost, on a round seatpost the medium size would be used and the smallest I would imagine you could mount the light on a rear seat stay.
Error, group does not exist! Check your syntax! (ID: 9)Keep the packaging because you just slide the carton back in and the spare straps can’t fall out.
One of the improvements over the previous model Blinder is the removable strap and in the series of photos below (click to enlarge) you can see a comparison of the Blinder 4 to the new Blinder MOB – The Face, other changes are the V in the section of the light that meets the seatpost so it better fits aero seatposts. The USB recharging stick has also been moved because of the V that is now in the light plus the new location is more accessible as well.
Fitting the Knog Blinder
Fitting was simple, just slide the retaining strap through the open groove in the aluminium clasp handle and then put the light up to the position on the seatpost you want it to sit and secure the other end of the strap to the hook on the light and the clasp around the other hook. They are quite different shaped hooks so there is no chance of mounting the wrong way around.
On an aero seatpost the new V groove in the Knog Blinder MOB really makes a difference in how the light sits and stays put, once it’s secured it doesn’t move around and the black colour blends in well enough with black seatposts. For the 80 lumens the Blinder puts out it’s a compact unit measuring only 42mm x 42mm x 62mm.
Usability
Once the Knog is fitted to the bike you can switch it on by holding the button that sits beside the aluminium clasp (see photo above) for about one second or until LED’s start flashing, to scroll through the five light modes you can press the same button again quickly. To turn off hold down for about one second. The button was easily accessed and pressed with woolen gloves on.
I fitted the rear light in the middle of the day and the photo below is taken at 1pm on a reasonable bright day, even on one of the lower settings of the five flash modes it was easily visible and bright.
The sequence in the video below is taken about 10 minutes after last light and starts with solid four LED’s on mode and then goes into two other modes.
Summary
The Knog Blinder MOB is a very well engineered rear LED bike light that fills a gap in the bicycle light market, there just aren’t that many lights made specifically for aero seatposts. On top of that it’s simple to use and recharge and puts out a lot of light over different flash modes as well as being well sealed from the rain.
The removable retaining strap is a welcome change over the previous models and Knog have really engineered it well, compared to some other brands it is quite unobtrusive. The Knog Blinder is reviewed on an aero seatpost but sits equally as well on a round seatpost and I certainly recommend the Knog for either seatpost type.
The Face model of the Blinder MOB range is priced at AUD59.95 which compares well to other similar brands and models.
For prices of other models in the range and technical specifications you can visit Knog
