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| Customer Reviews: | | Average Customer Review: ( 42 customer reviews )
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39 of 40 found the following review helpful:
 Surprisingly Bright Nov 22, 2007
By James C. Duncan
Over the last couple years I've accumulated several bike lights. Unfortunately, most lights under $100 are usually pretty dim and are usually more useful for being seen by car drivers than actually lighting up the road. Fortunately, with newer LED technology, inexpensive bike lights are becoming more capable. The Blaze is a big improvement over the Cateye EL-500 (LED) and the Planet Bike 5000x (halogen) that I have been using. The LED in the Blaze is brighter than both of those lights, its only drawback being that it is more of a spot beam than a flood. Depending on your needs, this can be a good or bad thing. I've found the Blaze very useful as a helmet mounted light to be used in addition to a handlebar mounted light with a brighter, wider beam. The Blaze is enough light to manage with on its own, provided you keep your speed below about 15 mph. It comes with both handlebar and helmet mounts and runs on 2 AA batteries. It appears just as bright with rechargeables as with alkalines.
All in all, the Blaze is an impressive little light, given its low price. For light that rivals a car's headlights, you'll still need to spend well over $100, but the Blaze proves that advanced LED technology is starting to trickle down into the really cheap lights, and that's a good thing. Even a year ago, it would have been impossible to find an LED light this bright for less than $50. Highly recommended for those on a budget or as an addition to a brighter light with a wider flood beam.
26 of 26 found the following review helpful:
 Nice Be-Seen Light, Intense But Very Narrow Beam/Spotlight Oct 26, 2009
By Voiceover Guy
I like Planet Bike's products and bought the 1/2 Watt Blaze after reading a lot of reviews and doing a lot of hands-on comparisons in stores. Pro's: light weight, small, good build quality, easily removable (and works well as a handheld flashlight while removed), illuminates reflective street signs over a block ahead, surprisingly inexpensive, can be seen somewhat from the sides as well as front due to smallish'cutouts'in black plastic lens shroud, has good attention-getting flash mode, very bright to other's eyes if/when viewed directly head-on, throws a tight very narrow intense beam of slightly blue-ish LED light up to about 100-150 feet (your experience may vary). I would compare the brightness to a decent LED flashlight (with a very narrow beam). I haven't had it out in a real downpour but it seems reasonably built. Changing batteries is easy and fast. I'll review the handlebar mount mode only as I have a different LED headlamp on my helmet. Handlebar mount feels sturdy, tilts up/down.
Beam area is about three feet wide at 30-40 feet out, with a faint trace circle (but not much) of light outside that narrow beam. And will shift abruptly with each twitch of your handlebars.
Cons: Well, that narrow beam again. In city or suburban driving where you have some kind of streetlight presence as fill-in lighting, this would be a good choice to make you visible to drivers ahead of you. But on a dark trail (or a sudden patch between streetlights) you may find this is too narrow a spot and insufficient ambient light directly ahead of you, IE what you're about to roll over (or into).
For that, you may want (and I recommend) to get a good & inexpensive multi-LED headlamp(6 LEDs seems to be par right now, and perfectly adequate) to provide additional lighting to actually illuminate a dark road/trail ahead.
The 1/2 Watt Blaze is to let you be seen by drivers; the LED headlamp is so you can actually see the roadway ahead. In combination, pretty good for most needs.
One note: the on/off button is conveniently at the very top of the light but in the dark doesn't stand out & has to be found by Braille. I scotch-taped a little white mini-label on mine, makes it much more visible.
I'll be interested in comparing this 1/2 watt Blaze with the 1 watt version.
UPDATE. Soon after this review, I was able to exchange the 1/2 watt for the newer 1 Watt Blaze version (which uses the same mount as all other Planet Bike Blaze lights, mount-only available separately, so you can switch lights between bikes without changing mounts). The 1-Watt Blaze is not just twice as bright as the 1/2 watt; compared side by side, the 1 watt is 3 to 4 times brighter, cumulatively, with a pure white light, not blue-ish like the 1/2 Watt model, and both an objectively brighter and much larger circle of light (and a broader, better lit 'outer circle' outside the spot circle itself). The 1/2 Watt Blaze in flash mode emits a steady slower-paced one-two blink; the 1-Watt Blaze in flash mode is set to a much faster, more SuperFlash-like blink. You choose which would be more effective for your riding environment; I prefer the faster One-Watt to get driver's attention. For the few dollars difference, I definitely recommend the newer One-Watt--in performance, the 1/2 Watt can't compare . Bike light LED technology has hit a tipping point, and I'm looking forward to seeing the recently released Planet Bike Blaze, 2 Watt version.
17 of 17 found the following review helpful:
Not your mother's night light... Nov 21, 2007
By s0ckeyeus
This is a great light as long as you don't have unrealistic expectations; it won't illuminate the whole road or give you the brightness of the more expensive lighting options available. I feel plenty safe riding my bike at night with this light as it allows me to see reasonably well and adequately alerts those pesky car drivers that there is another vehicle on the road. The single 1/2W LED is much more powerful than any of the other 2-3 LED headlamps or flashlights that I own and the magnification produces a strong focused beam. Hardcore night-bikers might argue for much more expensive systems and the gadget gurus might insist on strapping on several more lights, but overall this is a well-constructed, practical light that will more than suit a good majority of commuters and more casual night-riders. For me, it's perfect.
6 of 6 found the following review helpful:
 Good light but mounting options are lousy Apr 28, 2009
By PDSF
As others have mentioned, this is a very narrow spot light. This obviously has pros and cons. It is very bright for the price. I don't understand other commenters saying that it isn't bright. I will use it as a helmet light so the narrow focus is OK. However, the mounting options are lousy. The "cam lock" doesn't, that is, it doesn't hold the light in place. There is no detent to hold the cam in the "locked" position. The cam lever just slides open. So you couldn't mount this to your handlebar if you wanted to. The helmet mount isn't that great either. It has a flat rubber mounting surface, but the strap covers up the rubber and the flat surface probably doesn't match many helmets. If your helmet surface is ribbed (mine is), it will be cockeyed. This isn't a deal breaker, but I don't like it either. It would be better if the mount had little feet and the strap slid in between them. Anyway, not bad for the price but far from perfect.
8 of 9 found the following review helpful:
Good price, great product! Oct 01, 2007
By R. Ruiz Jr.
I bought an "affordable" LED light at a discount store and I must say I grew tired of it, the light was decent but it was heavy (4 AA batteries) and bulky. The answer is the Planet Bike Blaze, it's EASY to install, lighter (2 AA batteries), compact, and the light is brighter than my previous light. It can even be placed on your helmet. If you're looking for an fair priced product and great quality, I recommend this product.
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