Exposure Blaze MK2 DayBright

For 2018, Exposure's Blaze DayBright rear light has had a few tweaks, resulting in this MK2 version. Thankfully, the excellent output levels, superb burn-times and robust durability still remain, so if you are willing to splash out 90 quid on a light then this should be on your list.

• Pros: Excellent brightness levels, easy to set up for the conditions
• Cons: It ain't cheap...

When I was cycle commuting 200 miles a week whatever the weather, lights were something I was happy to invest in. If you are riding in the dark both ends of the working day, at rush hour, on one of the busiest A-roads in Wiltshire, then not only do you need lights to make you stand out, you need them to be reliable. This is where I see lamps like the Exposure Blaze justifying their price tag.

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For starters, its liquid ingress rating is IPX6, which means it has to pass testing where it is subjected to powerful water jets from any direction.

Gone is the top cover of the MK1, which encased the charge port and button, replaced by a black rubber cap like that used on Exposure's front lights.

On two wet rides which killed the IPX4-rated NiteRider Omega 300 (review to come), the Blaze shrugged everything off and no water got past the cover at all. Exposure has placed the charge port on the top of the light rather than on the bottom, which also shows good design sense, unlike many other light makers out there.

Output & battery life

The Blaze offers three programmes, each with a pulse and a steady state mode within them, which keeps things really simple.

Program 1 is the brightest with an output of 80 lumen, which Exposure calls DayBright mode. It's bright enough to be seen on even the sunniest of days from a fair distance, but by no way overly extreme for use in the dark in my opinion.

The pulse mode is definitely eye-catching, with the bright LED flashing once and then a double pulse while a low power output keeps the red glow on permanently.

Early morning rides can often see fog being an issue, but it'll cut through that too.

Battery life is good for a light of this size and power, with the 80 lumen solid mode giving you more than the claimed 6hrs – I achieved 6hrs 28mins – and the pulse giving you 12hrs.

You can see what is happening to the battery life by the colour of the button. It's green when the juice is above 50%, then amber until 25%, before turning red until battery life drops to 5%. If it flashes you haven't got much time left, but the light will switch to the lowest power output to eke out the last of the power.

Charging takes 4hrs from a 500 mA power supply so it's easy to top up at work provided you remember to take the cable with you. Most Exposure lights use a specific cable rather than Micro USB, for example.

Dropping to Program 2 drops the power output by 50% and doubles the burn-time, the same from Program 2 to 3. Flashing in this lowest mode is about 20 lumen, and will give you 48hrs of illumination.

Mounting bracket

The clamp is a simple push fit around the recessed part of the Blaze, which might make you a little nervous on rough roads but fear not! I've using these clamps for years and never lost a light yet. The plastic bracket has a very firm hold on the light and the rubber band is a solid piece of kit.

It will only fit round seatposts, though, so if you have an aero model you'll need to buy the specific clamp from Exposure.

Build quality

Durability is another place where the Blaze justifies its price for me. I've had one of the original Blaze lights from when they first came out probably five or six years ago. It's been used extensively and is still working fine and holding those burn-times. It's been dropped and seen plenty of rain and even snow plus loads of freezing temperatures.

The overall design of this new MK2 Daybright version is pretty much identical, so I see no issues here either. You also get a two-year warranty.

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I think the build quality and output make it good value, but you can buy cheaper: Blackburn has both its Dayblazer 125 and the less bright 65 lumen option. Priced at £44.99 and £27.99 respectively, they are quite a bit cheaper than the Blaze.

There is also the excellent Oxford UltraTorch, which costs just £17.99.

I stand by my initial thoughts, though: if you want a bright, reliable light for many years to come, the Blaze MK2 DayBright is worth the investment.

Verdict

Impressive outputs and burn-times make this durable light a great longterm investment