I’ve been writing here for over three years now and in all
that time I have never done a product review, so I thought that it was about
time I had a go at one:
I have decided to start small, very small, in fact just 39
grams. I was given my Exposure TraceR rear light
last October for the 24hr World Championships at
Fort William. The choice of lights which would have enough battery power to
last all night at that event was quite small, but fortunately a couple of them
were made by USE and the TraceR appeared to be ideal for the job, as indeed it proved itself
to be.
Nearly five months later what are my thoughts on it? Well,
having used it for commuting all winter it is still working. While this may not
sound that impressive it is the first time that I have ever had a rear light
which has lasted a whole winter, and I’ve tried loads from umpteen different
manufacturers over the years. I’m not sure exactly what I do to them, but the problem
usually appears to be water ingress around the seals and the TraceR seems to have been impervious to such things.
It is easy to use, the bracket is very simple and will fit
almost anywhere and the button can be operated even when wearing big thick
gloves.
In-situ on my commuter bike. Note also the extra, accidental,
product-placement for the handy Mt Zoom strap thingy
The battery life is excellent, more than enough for a 24hr
in the Highlands in the autumn or a whole week of commuting, and it still
carries on for ages even after the low-battery warning is given, a green,
orange or red flash when the light is switched off.
Photograph taken leaning against the side of my van,
Camera in 'auto' mode, whatever that does, but with the flash off.
Of course, none of this would matter if the light itself
wasn’t, erm, light. Not in the 39 grams sense of light but in the 75 lumens
sense of light. Luckily it is 75 lumens so sticks out like a sore thumb from
miles away. It has two modes, ‘constant’ or ‘constant with a slow flash being
even brighter’ so it has the best of both worlds there. They claim up to 24hrs
for it in the flashing mode, but mine seems to last loads more than that. I
should really time it to do this properly but there is only so long I can sit
and watch a light for and of course as soon as I leave it to do something else
will be the moment when it finally goes out.
Is there anything about it I don’t like? There is one thing
I would change. The battery is not removable, so you can’t carry a spare. This
hasn’t caused a problem for me yet but could be a nuisance on multi-day trips
without access to charging facilities but to be honest it’s light enough that
you could just carry a whole spare light. Other than that it’s spot on.
Overall
Good bits
Durability
Brightness
Battery life
Weight
Simple mount
The retail price (£49.95) is a bit steep compared to most other rear lights, but you do get what you pay for.
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