Blackburn employs the technical advances in emitter (LED) technology by Luxeon to deliver a high quality system that maximizes light and run time. Built to tackle a solo 24 hour event or several commutes, the dual three watt Luxeon lamps have 3 run modes – 30%, 70%, 100% plus a flash mode. One lamp is spot, the other is wide beam. Run time varies from 20 hours (dimmed) to 3.5 hours at full intensity. Included are 2 handlebar mounts, each fits standard or oversize bars and 1 helmet mount. Blackburn’s Constant Current technology maintains full brightness throughout the battery life; the digital charger delivers a full charge in 4.5 hours. The 5 cell battery pack is a lightweight NiMH (3600 mAh). Mtbr Bike Lights Shootout - over 50 bike lights reviewed, photographed and measured here.
Submitted by
LB
a Weekend Warrior
from Cave Creek, AZ USA
Date Reviewed: November 22, 2011
Strengths: Great system for riding at night. The dual lights can be angled and adjusted to meet my needs. I used to bike to work in the winter when it was totally dark, this system made the commute not only safe but possible. Where I live there are NO street lights, so dark is dark. With these lights I could see every bump and hazard early enough to avoid it. It's simple to charge and held it's charge well. Easy to remove the battery pack when it wasn't needed. Has High,medium and low modes to save battery power.
Weaknesses: It was a wee bit of challenge to put all the components on my bike, but the instructions are clear.
Bottom Line:
I would buy this again, but don't need to, glad I have it.
Similar Products Used: Tried other one-light systems, but this unit was really key.
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Submitted by
sewanee06
a Cross Country Rider
from Westminster, CO
Date Reviewed: March 24, 2011
Strengths: None, really. As others have said, the packaging was cool looking and the lights look pretty good too
Weaknesses: Battery
Customer service
Bottom Line:
I bought this setup last year and used them two or three times. Boxed it up for the winter and pulled them out the other day to get em ready for the first night ride of the season...nothing. The charge light doesn't come on when I plug the battery in...even after sitting plugged in all night. I honestly thought it might be the outlet so I tried 3 different outlets in my house and got the same result.
I called Blackburn hoping to at least get a discounted replacement battery...again, nothing. I was told that the warranty expired on the battery after one year and that they didn't even make the product any more. One year after I bought the system new and they no longer support it? Seriously? Wow. I will make it a point to steer clear of any Blackburn products in the future.
Bike Setup: LS Sewanee frame
Fox FX80 fork
King hubs
DT hoops
Magura Marta SL brakes
SRAM XO drivetrain
Race Face Next cranks, handlebars and seatpost
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Submitted by
Tritonlad
a Cross Country Rider
from Kent, Englan
Date Reviewed: September 26, 2010
Strengths: The lights look well produced with plenty of thought put into a versatile package. They clamp fimly onto the bars and perform well giving out plenty of light when using both lamps on full beam although you probably need to supplement them with a helmet lamp if hacking it fast on technical terrain. Great in the woods but on their own not for fast downhill.
Weaknesses: The battery! It is bulky and although used infrequently it stopped accepting a charge after only 20 uses. Also you cannot use both bar and helmet mounts at the same time. Product support is poor and Blackburn have dropped it from their website.
Bottom Line:
Athough offered a replacement battery at a cost of £99 the original was repairable for £2. The battery pack contains a circuit board powered by a CR2032 3V lithium battery. When this goes flat it shuts down the charging system. To replace just drill out the 4 plastic plugs on the side of the battery that has the charging plug. This exposes the 4 size #8 pin head torx screws. Unscrew and open the pack being careful not snap any cables. Remove nad relace the battery and reassemble. Use grease to plug the holes over the screws. It should then work okay - happy riding!
Submitted by
Hopper
a Weekend Warrior
from England, Yorkshire
Date Reviewed: August 18, 2010
Strengths: Tough
Weaknesses: Battery
Bottom Line:
I ride at night mainly cause of work, and cause its much more fun blasting down hills in the woods at night, and these do the job great for me, the only downside i'de say is hte dodgey battery, sumtimes it wont charge if ya leave it for a while between uses, so i have to shake the battery pack for a while before it will take a charge.
Bike Setup: Custom Hardtail, mainly deity, WhightBro shocks on 24' halo sas.
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Submitted by
asanathema
a Cross Country Rider
from Cumberland, MD
Date Reviewed: February 15, 2010
Strengths: Great be seen light with mild see where you are going.
Weaknesses: Battery, handle bar clips and wires. First battery was doa and it took about a week for return shipping from blackburn to get it working. Life is okay, if you don't run on full brightness and both lights. I'll get from frostburg to cumberland on the highlands trail with enough power left to go on for about eight miles down the C&O Tow Path but by then it's starting to dim to the lowest level and that's about maybe two hours with both lights. Handle bar clips... depending on the flat/riser bar you need to really tighten down the clamps and in cold winter temperatures if you don't carefully loosen them you'll break the plastic when the screw snags it. Kind of user error but it broke with minimal force so...... Using this on my other bike a DB Peak hardtail it works for the first part of the trip, when I've set it up in the house. After school in the cold even with tight/loose and the same tension for some reason the wires are so weak it doesn't turn on, during the ride it might but then shuts off. Having it on the Specialized Epic is no problem, it works......but the setup to tether the battery to either frame is a pain.
Bottom Line:
I'd buy it again only on severe discount, I like the two headlights, beam I can keep on steady and wide I can set to flash when on the roads. The ability to adjust left and right is nice, but I may just go with another company in the long run due to the hassles.
Similar Products Used: Only Cat Eye be seen lights this was the first seeing light.
Bike Setup: Custom painted Specialized Epic Expert
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Submitted by
s bickford
a Cross Country Rider
from ME
Date Reviewed: December 30, 2009
Strengths: They came in a cool looking box.
Weaknesses: The battery wont take a charge. I took it out of the box for the first time, plugged it in, came back 5 hours later, only to realize it wasn't charging. I wish I had read the other reviews of this product. If i had, I wouldn't have bought them.
Submitted by
Brent K
a Cross Country Rider
from St. Louis
Date Reviewed: May 2, 2009
Strengths: None
Weaknesses: Battery
Bottom Line:
The bottom line is that the battery wouldn't even take a charge AT ALL. I was stoked after seeing this on sale for such a "good deal" yesterday, but now I see why. This light is crap, and I got more and more upset about it after reading all the reviews. Don't buy it. I am going to return it today. Too bad there aren't negative chilis.
Similar Products Used: Light and Motion Stella 200N
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Submitted by
Marcelo72
a Weekend Warrior
from Honolulu
Date Reviewed: October 2, 2008
Strengths: Cheap
Jensonusa took it back for a full refund...
Battery charges faster than stated
Spot and flood light makes for a good handlebar setup
LED's can be easily upgraded for 2-3 times brighter ones
Weaknesses: battery life
"outdated" LED's
Bottom Line:
I kinda like what I got for my money (2 LED's, switch, helmet mount etc) had it not been for the battery life.
The speced battery life doesn't meet the stated value at all. I got 50 mins @ 100%, 1h12 @ 70% and 3h15 @ 30% out of this battery. So I shipped it back to Jensonusa for a full refund (6 months after purchase! 5 chillis to Jenson).
I intend to get the X8 system (with Li-ion battery) and mod the LEDs to more powerful ones. I'll post a review on that later.
Decent value for the money if you don't ride longer than 1h at the time.
Similar Products Used: Princeton Tec and commuter ligths
Bike Setup: Allmountain whatever stuff
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Submitted by
suefinley
a Weekend Warrior
from Fair Haven, NJ
Date Reviewed: September 11, 2008
Bottom Line:
I was so excited to get this light, since it meant that I could continue to ride at 5:30 a.m., before my kids get up and I have to get them ready for school. The first thing I noticed was that the battery charged in a curiously short period, about 5 hours. I got on the bike at 5:40, and the pair of lights did what they promised--lit not just the road directly in front of me, but a substantial area in front of my bike as well, enough to allow me to ride at almost the speed I do in daylight. About 25 minutes into the ride, however, while it was still quite dark, the lights suddenly dimmed considerably; they were on, but cast no light ahead of me at all. Within two minutes, they went off completely, leaving me miles from home in the dark. Reading all the other reviews, at least I now understand I'm not alone. Stay away from this product!!!
Submitted by
Bodybag
a Cross Country Rider
from Brea, CA
Date Reviewed: September 3, 2008
Strengths: Impressive Packaging and Perception of Value for the price.
Weaknesses: Can't come close to meeting the claims of the manufacturer.
Bottom Line:
I was an idiot and believed that they would do what was claimed on the box, or at least close to what was claimed. A group of 4 of us (3 with this light set) went for a night ride to test our new setup. Our normal loop takes about one hour in the daylight, so we figured slightly more for a night ride. Approximately 1/2 way through our loop, or 35 minutes, the first set of lights died. Within 3 minutes, the second set died. The last guy with lights still working quickly switched his to a single light at about 50% and his lasted approximately 6-7 more minutes before dying too. We were left to ride the balance of our loop in the pitch black. HOWEVER, there was one positive thing that came from this, I learned a valuable lesson, never test a new item in a real world situation first.
Favorite Trail: Chino Hills State Park - Northridge
Duration Product Used: Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$95.00
Purchased At: JensenUSA
Bike Setup: Santa Cruz Blur
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
jandlflanders
a Cross Country Rider
from Yorba Linda, Ca USA
Date Reviewed: September 3, 2008
Strengths: Very Impressive Marketing on the outside of the box.
Weaknesses: Everything inside the box. Especially the battery!
Bottom Line:
This light setup has tons of great stats on the outside of the box, unfortunately non of them were true. It states that with a full charge and running both lamps at full intensity, they will last for 5 hours. I think they forgot the decimal point and they meant .5 hours! I got 35 minutes of light the first ride. The second ride I ran only one lamp and got 45 minutes.
I would have thought it was a fluke, except for the fact that the other 2 guys I told to buy these lights with me, got the exact same results.
Fortunately, we were riding with a guy who had a good set of lights and was able to share his light with us to get us off of the trail we were stranded on.
DO NOT BUY THESE LIGHTS IF YOU PLAN TO RIDE FOR MORE THAN 30-45 MINUTES IN THE DARK!
Hopefully JensonUSA will take them back when I go to return them today, I will let you know if they don't.
Don't waste your money. Seriously, when you buy these lights keep in mind that the battery is absolutely useless. It will leave you stranded in the dark after about 30-45 minute of use. I'm gonna hack open the battery pack and see if I can replace the core with something better, because the lights themselves aren't too bad... but then this product would fall under the category of DIY. Anyway, I'll give it 2 peppers for value only because this product has some potential of become some cheap spare parts. Too bad there's no "0" chillies for Overall Rating.
Similar Products Used: Flashlight, cellphone, matches... all much better.
Bike Setup: Kelley Steel Hardtail
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Submitted by
Brian Lehfeldt
a Weekend Warrior
from Fort Collins, CO USA
Date Reviewed: January 19, 2008
Strengths: Fast charging, Build quality seems good, fairly bright, price (or so I thought)
Weaknesses: Battery life is NO WHERE NEAR what manufacturer claims.
Bottom Line:
I had already ordered these lights and then read reviews. Because of the reviews when I picked up the lights I timed how long it took to charge them. They were fully charged in around 3 hrs the first time. Unfortunately, the batteries were low enough for lights to shut off completely after 1hr 20 minutes. I tried this three more times and the third charge took 3 hrs 9 minutes to complete. It only took 1 hr. 5 minutes to fully discharge (high power, both lamps) I am returning them- might work pretty good for a commuter, seam to be well built, and they are fairly bright for the price.
Similar Products Used: Not sure what model of Light and Motion helmet light.
Bike Setup: N/A
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Submitted by
Will'm
a Cross Country Rider
from Monterey, CA
Date Reviewed: October 10, 2007
Weaknesses: DOA battery.
Bottom Line:
Ordered online, (knowing that perhaps this wouldn't be the best product do to the reviews on here) but I thought I'd at least get to have my own opinion. Never happened with the battery DOA. Ebay seller didn't mind me shipping back to them to ship to blackburn. But that's a long wait. Blackburn's turn around alone is 2-3 weeks. Which is the only reason why I'm reviewing without a working unit. We'll see how things go, but so far the reviews seemed to be dead on. (So I ordered the Jet Blast HID helmet mount light, so I can at least try and get out on my bike at night this week.)
Value = 1 because of extra shipping costs. Overall = 1 because if I had wanted DIY I could have a light now. But to spend money and not have the product for 2-3 weeks isn't very good.
Strengths: doesn't feel like it will actually break. 2 lights let you adjust to cover a wide range. build quality seems pretty good.
Weaknesses: BATTERY!!! can't use on helmet and bar at the same time.
Bottom Line:
Used these at a 24 hour race and they went into power saving mode in less than 2 hours. luckily i was just using them on my handlebars to supplement a helmet mounted HID. I'll still give them a decent rating, because they work well for commuting. Fairly cheap, last long enough as long as you charge them every other night or so, simple enough to mount and adjust. as just about everyone else has experienced, it's really the battery that brings this whole thing down. other than that, the rest of the system isn't half bad.
