Draper Front and Rear LED Bicycle Light Set
Draper Front and Rear LED Bicycle Light Set
Draper Front and Rear LED Bicycle Light Set
Draper Front and Rear LED Bicycle Light Set
Following on from our "Bike Fit, Mudhugger and Ducksmart" review series, I thought I would look at some lights from a well known maker. Draper Tools.
I was looking forward to the prospect of checking out the LED Bike front and rear light set by Draper Tools, as in the past the quality has been reasonably good for the price, so lets see what happened.
Draper Front LED light
Well looking at them in the packaging, they looked a good bit of kit for the money, that was until I got it out the packet!
Looks can be deceptive! it looked solid enough as I fitted the front light onto the handle bars, but found this was not as solid as it seemed.
I found the mounting bolt to be flimsy and not very tight fitting, it was fiddly to fit, and had a Clamp lock on it that kept slacking off, so I had to position it where it was only semi tight fitting, then lock it in to place with the help of the brake cable, as unfortunately the clamp did not stay in the locked position.
As you can see from the photo above, the mount was made of very cheap plastic, it did not do the job of clamping to the handle bars at all well!
I found the slide on and off lever was hard to get to grips with, so much so it became frustrating removing the Front Light from the holder,[ a design similar to the Cat-Eye type of click on and off system] but not as good!
To gain access to the battery's, there is a small screw holding the top section in place, a quick unscrew, to see a nice neat battery tray, with a micro switch. Fitting the battery's, was quick and simple checking they were the right way round, I screwed the cover on and pressed the ON switched which is located nicely on the top, and waited to be dazzled by the LED, and then waited, and waited, I then turned it OFF, then ON again, nothing! took the cover off, double checked the battery's were in the right position, and the right way round, put the top back on, and tried it again, Nothing! not a glimmer, so I tried some more New battery's, still nothing, and some more, nope, not working!
So I gave up with the front LED light in the end, and went onto the back one. Lesson learned.... Never judge a book by it's cover
Draper Rear LED light
As with the Front light it seemed nice, solid and durable, so I had a go at fitting the battery's to this, I found this to be very tricky and confusing, I knew the cover must come off, but how? so I searched for the instructions to find that there are none! Finally I managed to get my way in to the battery compartment by pulling and clicking a press bar, to try and release the top cover, which it did eventually, so I fitted the battery, checking they were the right way, and we tested it, and it Worked! marvelous..
On offering the rear light up I decided to position it just under the rear saddle, so I removed the knob that held the light to the clamp, only to find the knob went onto a lose nut, which decided to fall on the ground! this caught me by surprise, and after 15 minute's of searching in the stones on the ground I found it! [Make a mental note....never fit when the light is bad!] I then fitted it to the saddle, using a spacer strip which was supplied to make up for the smaller seat post.
Conclusion
Front Light.
Fixing was cheap and cheerful, not too sure if it would hold up to the job of keeping the light from moving on the handle bars.
The light could not be tested, as I did not manage to get it to work!
Rear Light
Nice and bright at any angle, good flash process, and bright enough to be seen from a distance on the road, it would be slightly too bright if you were following behind someone on a Tow path for example, in which case it would be better to just keep it on a constant red, and not pulse mode.
Personally it would have been nice to have been able to test drive [so to speak] something at the cheaper end of the market, and be able to give it a good review, as not everyone can afford expensive cycle accessories, but in this case........... Draper should stick to Tape Measures!
On a Lighter side, Have been contacted by Draper Tools, who will send out a new one, so, watch this space!
Review on Draper LCD Cycle Lights
UPDATE
Thanks to Draper for getting us a New replacement light that works, it was possible to carry on with a further review on a promising light.
On Switching the Light on, I found it easy to do so, no fiddling with a small button, it was well placed on top, once on, the LCD lights had 3 setting, you press the switch for each setting, first was a Pulse light, that was a fast On/Off , and the second press made the light pulse a different speed, 3rd press of the switch made the light stay on permanently, nice and simple.
I had the first light we tried on the Handle bars of a Trek Mountain Bike, this we were using for a test along the Tow Path, What I did not realize when I fitted the light, the clamp does not swivel, and I had the clamp set near the brake lever's, which was OK, until it got a bit darker and it was time for the switch on, I found that I had set the Clamp at a slight angle, so it was shining not straight ahead, but a bit to one side, this I have since changed to a more straighter light beam in front.
A Lot of us all have 2 bikes, and 1 set of light's, so I tested to see how easy it was to change from a small diameter mountain bike handle bars, to a Road bike handle bar set up, to do this the inner tag needed to be made larger to accept wider handle bars, after fiddling around to make it larger, I found the retaining clamp would not not tighten up enough to hold it solid and in place, once out on the road, I found it keep moving and I had to keep moving it.
Verdict on the Draper LCD Light Set
Good Points
Nice LCD set for the price, simple to use, gives off enough light to see most of what in front of you on a Tow Path.
Simple to switch from one setting to the next, and off again.
Easy to remove from handle bars bracket.
On the road, you feel sfe with the light on a pulse as it is nice and bright.
Bad Points
Found the Bracket does not adjust easy enough to change from small to large handle bars (Best to keep on one bike).
The Tightening system does not allow the clamp to be tightened in small amounts.
Not easy to adjust from small to larger handle bars.
If removed from bike, and placed in a handbag, switch could be turned on by accident, and might flatten the battery if left on.
Overall Comment, small chat, do I like it, well, in a way Yes, will see how we go once the darker nights sett in, will be putting this on my bike bike to ride on a Night Ride very soon!
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