At the least 12 years in the past, I obtained certainly one of Knog’s Frog hind lights as a present. Right this moment, the sunshine nonetheless works completely, however ultimately a small tear developed within the silicone band that secures it to the bike. This Spring I bought a suggestion from Knog to check out an up to date pair of entrance and rear Frog lights, which have a number of new options my previous model didn’t have.
The present Frog lights had been up to date in 2022, they usually now use rechargeable batteries. In addition they have 9 completely different lighting modes and a battery life indicator. The general physique design of the lights didn’t change a lot, as a result of it’s genius! I’ve had the Frog lights on my commuter bike since early this 12 months, they usually’ve confirmed to be dependable, straightforward to make use of, and supply excellent battery life.
Knog Frog Lights – Specs and Options:
The primary intelligent factor you discover in regards to the Frog lights is their form. I believe Knog hit on an important design – It’s glossy, light-weight, tremendous straightforward to put in and take away, and will be connected to something it will probably wrap round. The our bodies are available six completely different colours, however within the inexperienced colorway, you may actually see the summary resemblance to a frog. The lights are additionally water resistant to an IP65 ranking.
Knog gives a entrance and rear model, with the entrance giving off the anticipated white mild and the rear, after all, glowing crimson. The Frogs’ curved lenses enable them to throw mild to the perimeters, rising their visibility from completely different angles. The Frogs recharge through a USB-C cable, which isn’t included. The entrance mild claims as much as 80 hours of runtime, whereas the rear lists as much as 60 hours.
The Frog (entrance) weighed in at 20g on my scale. The rear mild really weighed 19g.
Operation/Charging:
The Frog’s one-button design retains issues easy. An extended press turns the sunshine on or off, and whereas illuminated, quick presses scroll between quite a lot of lighting modes, together with regular, flashing, and a number of other variations in between. You can too examine your battery life when the sunshine is just not in use with a fast faucet of the button.
Additionally, every time the Frog is turned off, its lights flash a number of instances to point battery life. A full cost will mild up the entire width of the sunshine’s lens, however because the battery depletes, the LEDs will present how a lot cost stays from left to proper.
I absolutely charged each of my Frogs from simply three LEDs lit on the left aspect. In slightly below two hours, each lights had been absolutely charged, so I’d estimate a full cost from utterly useless would possibly take roughly 2 ½ hours.
Trip Impressions – Entrance Frog:
Whereas the Frogs are small, we cyclists know that any mild makes an enormous distinction to our visibility in dim or darkish circumstances. Even within the daytime, a light-weight will nonetheless make you extra seen to motorists and pedestrians. The Frogs are simply vivid sufficient to be seen from a long way away in any mild mode you select, however their 9 modes do supply dimmer and brighter choices.
I used to be stunned to seek out the entrance Frog does throw some mild. Within the brighter of the 2 regular modes, the Frog will mild up a small patch of floor forward of your bike. That stated, the Frog is a light-weight that helps you be seen, not a light-weight that helps you see. With a 40-lumen max output, it’s not an alternative to a headlight that truly tasks. On a really darkish street, I couldn’t successfully see the place I used to be going with simply the Frog.
The assorted modes on the entrance mild would possibly turn out to be useful for off-bike use (clipped to a backpack, maybe?), however personally, I discover using in something aside from the excessive or low regular modes distracting and annoying! A vivid, flashing mild in your handlebars is difficult to disregard.
I found one bonus with the entrance mild’s regular excessive mode – It’s vivid sufficient to be helpful as a small flashlight round the home. I’ve used mine a number of instances for family functions!
Rear Frog:
The rear mild is well seen from very far-off, and the flashing modes significantly enhance your visibility to motorists. I ran the rear mild in varied flashing modes, however you may select high and low regular modes as effectively. The rear Frog gives one additional vivid flashing mode that doubtless affords the most effective visibility. I used to be stunned to learn that the rear Frog’s output maxes out at 20 lumens, as this mode can be straightforward to see from a really lengthy distance, even in broad daylight.
I by no means bought the Frogs completely drenched throughout my testing, however the rear positively bought splattered with tire spray on a number of rides. It survived the moisture simply high quality, and in the end, each of my Frogs have carried out with out fault all 12 months.
For the reason that Frogs are really easy to put in and take away, meaning they’re straightforward to steal. If you happen to stay wherever apart from a small, pleasant city (just like the one I’m fortunate to name house), you’ll want to pull the Frogs off your unattended bike so nobody else does. Fortunately, they’re tremendous straightforward and fast to take away and set up.
Battery Life:
As for the Frogs’ battery life, I didn’t try to trace 60-80 hours of use, however I’ve decided that not each mode will final that lengthy. Using with the entrance mild within the brighter regular mode will certainly not present 80 hours of runtime, however I think sure flashing modes would get a lot nearer or attain the claimed run instances. Even in excessive regular mode, the Frog lasted for a lot of rides earlier than needing a cost.
It appears the runtime on the rear Frog is barely lower than the entrance, as marketed. I ran the rear in varied flashing modes, and it drained at an identical charge to the entrance mild working between excessive and low regular modes. Once more, battery life remains to be excellent; Even with each day use, you’ll doubtless go weeks between prices.
I additionally came upon the Frogs’ batteries don’t lose their cost shortly when sitting round. Whereas I examined two e-commuter bikes with their very own built-in lights, the Frogs largely sat for about 5 months this summer time. Seeing little or no use throughout that point, each retained ¾ of their battery life from my preliminary cost.
In mid-September, I recharged each Frogs to full energy. Neither had been really useless but, I simply topped them up for Fall using. It’s now mid-December, and I’ve been using my commuter bike extra typically in current weeks. My commuter rides are typically quick, however at present, each batteries nonetheless have a minimum of 25% life left in them. Leaving the Frogs in my chilly shed doesn’t appear to affect battery life a lot, which is nice.
Pricing:
Knog’s Frogs are a high-quality different to the cheaply made copies you may purchase by huge on-line retailers… and certain toss within the rubbish after not lengthy. I’d wholeheartedly suggest spending slightly extra and having fun with correct product high quality!
The Knog Frog lights can be found in six completely different colours and include a two-year guarantee. MSRP for the Frog entrance/rear set is often $55, however at present, they’re on sale on Knog’s web site for $41.