The Knog Blinder range is here to wage war on the darkness. This performance oriented series of lights are exceptionally bright, well-packaged, and will help you turn night to day.

Words & Images - James Raison

The Blinder Arc 640 is Knog’s range-topper: Max 640 lumens are pumped out through 4 light modes - High 1.7 hours, Medium 3.3 hours, Low 7.3 hours, and flash 15 hours. The LED and wide-angle lens are housed in hard anodised aluminium and the battery lives in UV-resistant silicone. There’s a clever integrated charge plug too.

The Blinder Road 400 deploys 400 lumens through two LEDs, one for wide and one for narrow beam. There’s a staggering 11 different flash modes: Narrow, Wide, Dual in High/Medium/Low & 2 Flash modes. Battery life ranges from 2 hours smashing out all 400 lumens, and 9 hours for eco flash. Again, there’s a classy aluminium casing for the light, and it attaches via silicone strap and gripper.

Finally, the Blinder Road R70 rear light has 5 modes: Steady 3.5 hrs, Fast Flash 4 hrs, Chaser Flash 5 hrs, Peloton 13 hrs, Eco-Flash 20 hrs. It’s aero and round seatpost compatible, 100% waterproof, and housed in aluminium/silicone.

Blinder Arc 640

Tons of lumens and a wide beam has made this one of my favourite lights.

The Arc 640 is an outstanding light. First, the mount is outstanding. It snaps on in a second, and the silicone straps give a solid hold on the bars without putting pressure on them. Other lights with screw-on mounts made of hard plastic have left marks on my beloved handlebars. Not these.

On the road, I was impressed by the brightness and spread of the beam. Most lights have a focused dot, but the Arc 640 disperses the light widely and evenly. No other light has let me corner with as much confidence. Lights fixed to your handlebars usually give limited visibility when cornering because your eyes and bars aren’t pointed in the same direction. The Arc 640 let you have you see everything you need to.

Its battery life compares well with lights of similar size, cost, and brightness too. Weight is similarly competitive. Charging is a breeze with a flip-out connector plugging into a female USB cable supplied with the light. Overall the packaging of the light and its accessories is excellent. It even comes with a helmet mount if that’s your thing.

Blinder Road 400

The Blinder 400 has an insane number of light modes

The Blinder Road 400 is a fantastically versatile light. With full lumens it’s bright enough to ride on a fully dark roads. I was descending confidently in the darkness, but not quite full gas like I was with the Arc 640. I was sceptical of needing so many light modes until I used them and saw their utility. You can have one LED flashing, and the other solid. That’s handy for when you want to light the road and catch the attention of other road users at the same time. A few button presses later and you can have one-LED lit, alternate flashing, and a bunch of other combinations.

Again, I love the packaging of this light. It’s superbly minimalist, pointing out perpendicular to your bars. It’s never in the way. It uses the same flip-out charge system as the Arc 640, and it’s just as good here.

Blinder Road R70

The Blinder R70 hates you and your retinas.

The Blinder Road R70 will make you visible from other time zones. Each of the four LEDs are individually capable of blinding light and as an ensemble they live up to their ‘blinder’ moniker. There’s a solid range of flash and solid modes to give you the right situational light. Their versatile mount that grabs round and aero posts meant I could snap it onto all the wacky standard and proprietary posts I could find.

Wrapping up

I didn’t stop using the Knog lights after I tested them. I stopped using all my other lights. They tick all the boxes: bright and beam with excellent spread, simple and versatile mounting, solid battery life, and easily re-chargeable. If you’re a roadie looking for an upgrade, the Arc 640, Blinder Road 400 are both great options. On the rear, the R70 is a mighty good buy.

Check out more on the Knog website.

Our kit partner Cycle Closet sells the Blinder Road 400 and Road R70.

All lights were supplied by Knog. We do not receive any proceeds from the sale of Knog lights.

Are you interested in a set of these lights? Do you already have them and like them as much as we did? Chuck your thoughts in the comments below.