The Brightside Topside Bicycle Helmet Light Rechargeable Gear is a well-constructed, easy-to-operate bike light that makes you much more visible to motorists. While it can be used as an actual handheld flashlight, its best-intended use is in your helmet. The light is very easy to attach and detach from your handlebars, but the mount itself is pretty sturdy. You won’t have any confidence issues while biking with this light on!
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Cycling is a unique form of transportation that can take you on adventures to parts of the world you’ve never been before or let you navigate uncharted territories near your home. But for some, cycling simply isn’t possible when darkness arrives! Wanting to be healthy and economical, and the desire to change our lives, and the craving for fun and exciting experiences are what entice us to cycle.
If you’ve ever had the good fortune of riding your bike at night, you know that it’s a unique experience. All too often, however, people overlook the importance of bicycle headlights and think that they only need them when riding in areas without light. But, if you’re looking to take your after-dark rides to the next level, there are plenty of options available to increase both safety and visibility — whether you’re commuting to work or hitting the trails.
Off-road riding isn’t just about finding the next great trail. It’s a form of mountain bike racing, where riders race over obstacles and down rocky slopes. At night on rough terrain, you need headlights that point where you need them. For this type of riding, having a bicycle helmet light rechargeable gear is important.
Brightside’s Topside Bike Helmet Light helps you experience the world as you’ve never seen it before. Whether you’re commuting to work, going for a ride on a trail, or enjoying a leisurely cruise along the coastline AT NIGHT, when you mount this bicycle helmet light rechargeable gear to the top of your helmet, it will illuminate your path for a safe journey. You can see everything around you with a full view of the road ahead that won’t leave you guessing.
Construction
At only 70g, the Topside is one of the lighter bicycle helmet light rechargeable gear on the market. The clip is a simple, yet effective plastic semicircle that easily clips onto nearly any helmet vent. A rubber strap, which passes through vents and hooks onto the clip, firmly holds the light in place. You can also use zip ties rather than using the strap. But we suggest you get used to the strap as it fits most sizes, especially given that it’s adjustable. It’s comfortable, and you’ll feel as if it isn’t there at all.
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The Topside Bike Helmet Light features a quick-release clip, which makes switching between light colors as easy as pressing a button. Sliding the clip back and forth is all it takes to select red or white light modes, and the O-ring at each end of the clip indicates which way round the light should be inserted for maximum security.
This bicycle helmet light rechargeable gear comes with a tiny USB cable that can be charged at a plug socket or via your computer’s USB port. It takes about three hours to charge fully, but you can still use the device while it’s charging.
The Topside aims to make you visible to traffic. There’s nothing worse than getting home exhausted from a long day, only to realize that your lights weren’t bright enough for passing drivers to see you. The Topside solves this problem by mounting your light high on your helmet, where it will be more likely to draw the attention of drivers.
There are many situations when you need to be seen on the road, not just see where you’re going. This means that the Topside Bike Helmet Light alone won’t give you enough visibility. That’s why you’ll need to pair Topside with a bar-mounted front light to make sure that you’re fully illuminated in low-light conditions.
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Double-ended helmet lights are a great solution for cyclists looking to stay visible — but they can be tricky to set up properly. Just make sure that the beam doesn’t project down to the ground and up into the sky but just horizontally within a driver’s eye-line. If you’re head-down, it’s best on the back of your helmet; if you’re up-right, a more forward position is best.
Usage
The different light modes for Brightside’s Topside Bicycle Helmet Light Rechargeable Gear are controlled by a single button. The modes include the following:
- The white light is off but the red light is shining constantly.
- The white light is shining constantly but the red light is off.
- Both the white and red lights are shining constantly.
- The white light is flashing and the red light is shining constantly.
- The white and red lights are flashing in an alternating pattern.
- Both the white and red lights are flashing.
- The white light is shining constantly while the red light is flashing.
It may seem complicated, but you’ll get the hang of it quickly. The rear light produces 30 lumens and has a wide beam thanks to its fish-eye lens. It can be quickly switched between modes by pressing the button on top. In winter, you won’t accidentally activate it while it’s in your pannier or pack, as it only works when you apply pressure for half a second.
The Power button will automatically turn on the light to indicate how much power is remaining in the battery. Green means you’re good to go, orange means it’s getting low, and red means it’s time to plug in. (And while it’s not much help when you’re riding, it’s convenient to check prior to jumping on your bike.) Not only that, but it’s also a charging indicator, flashing green during charging and becoming constant once the battery is full.
Durability & Reliability
The Topside’s hardy, sturdy design is a pleasure to wear — the casing solid enough to withstand a small fall. You’d be impressed how after months of use, you still get to see it being resilient against the elements. Try leaving this outside in freezing temperatures at night, finding out that it’s still the next morning will make you not regret getting it.
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The Brightside bike light is wholly water-resistant, making it the perfect accessory for rainy commutes. Although it shouldn’t be immersed in water, if you decide to test it by dousing the light with water to see how it handled the sudden shower, you’d be more impressed who the light will work perfectly fine — as no water came into contact with any of its internal mechanisms.
By the way, if the reason why you ended up here is that you were looking for the best cold-weather bicycle gear, yes the Topside Bike Helmet Light is one, but we do have a list of that as well.
Performance
Visibility on the road is an important consideration when buying a light. The Topside is visible to drivers from over 500 meters away, which gives ample time for them to react to your presence on the road. If you take this bicycle helmet light to a straight stretch of road, and even at 180 meters, it’ll amaze you how you could still see it clearly. This suggests it will be visible from considerably further.
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The run-times of Brightside’s Topside Bicycle Helmet Light Rechargeable Gear are long and impressive, but it depends whether you use them regularly or only occasionally. Also, the duration of the operation depends on the frequency of use and temperature as these can have an effect on the battery’s performance. Note that the white LED uses less battery power than the red LED.
The Topside has an admirable battery life — it can stay lit for a very lengthy 17.5 hours with the fast-double-flash mode, and it can take 35 minutes before the red battery warning light started flashing. That’s why the most power-efficient mode is the double flash setting. However, there is a slight delay between pulses (like half a second), which you might not like.
With both the white and red light shining constantly, you can rely on this bicycle helmet light rechargeable gear to last around two hours and forty minutes of sustained use, with the indicator light flashing for the last ten minutes. After the battery dies, you can briefly turn it back on in double flash mode to extend its useful life for an additional twelve minutes.
If you try to pull the same trick after that point, Topside can deliver at least another 5 minutes of fast double flash. But you shouldn’t be relying on these extended periods of usage as these periods are only useful so long as the light has yet to undergo many charge cycles, but once it’s older, they no longer present a viable solution to the trouble of dimming.
Now, if you want the Topside to last longer, instead of going for the constant beam, use the quick flicking light. It attracts the eye more readily. It will also be able to hold up for 25 minutes after the battery turns red.
Conclusion
The price point of this bicycle helmet light rechargeable gear is good when you look at the features. You’re basically getting both a front and backlight for the same price. Some of the competition only offers one or the other for the same price. If you’re in the market for a bike helmet light, don’t miss out on this one.
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