Knog Gekko 3 LED Rear Light £16

At a glance Brilliant mounting concept that makes this ideal as a back up light or additional lighting for people with more than one bike 7/10


"Little known fact: everybody who smiles at you when you walk down a busy street actually wants to kiss you with their tongue, check-in to a hotel and recreate scenes from erotic French literature." What does that have to do with bike lighting? Search me... but it is what you will find emblazoned on the side of the ultra-trendy packaging on the Gekko. And much like the light itself, it can't help but raise a smile.

What makes this light so brilliant is the way it attaches to your bike. It's silicon body has a unique rubber-band like arm that winds round the seatpost and then hooks back onto itself. It is so simple yet utter genius. In fact, as someone with a garage load of bikes it has revolutionised my life. It can now act as the primary light on the back of my folding Dahon for quick night trips into town. It has put an extra light on the back of my Trek for night time training rides and it is an additional or spare light for bikes that I'm testing. The flexibility of not having to fit a mounting bracket is simply brilliant.

So where's the downside? Well for starters there's simply not enough light on offer here to make this a suitable standalone light for serious night riding. But that's fine: for me it is an additional or back up and it does its job well.

And then there is the issue of its run time: 30 hours on constant or 220 hours flashing. That's not bad you might think, but one minor design fault is the switch, which sits under the LEDs. This is all too easy to activate. I tend to throw my lights into my work bag at the end of the morning commute and then take them out at the end of the day to find the light has switched itself on, in my bag: possibly for up to 8 hours. That means those 30 hours are quickly eaten into.

But that doesn't detract from the brilliant attachment system of this light and the fantastic functionality of this as a back up bike light.

Where can I find out more?  www.knog.com.au

Where can I buy one?  www.wiggle.co.uk