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review

Moon Lunar rear light

7
£14.99

VERDICT:

7
10
Good little battery rear light that's easy to fit and bright enough for the job
Weight: 
18g

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Moon's Lunar is a good quality battery rear light that'll work for just about any bike. The mount is simple and effective and the output is enough to get you noticed. Only the fiddly mode switch lets it down.

The Lunar is a very compact light and runs off two CR2032 button cells, which will give you somewhere over 65 hours of light in any of the five modes, according to Moon. Button cell batteries aren't the most convenient or cheap to replace in an emergency but they can be had for very little if you buy in bulk online, so best to get a stock.

Push the button to light up the strip of 15 tiny LED emitters and click to change modes, or double click to switch between flashing and constant. Then hold down to turn the Lunar off again, at which point it kind of fades out. But make sure you let go of the button before it fades out completely, or when you let go it'll turn itself on again, but only sometimes. Got all that? Yeah, it's a bit of a faff. But you get used to it.

You attach the Lunar via a plastic and rubber mount that's very simple to fit and also features a clicky bit to adjust the angle to three different positions. It's designed for seatposts and works just dandy there, but it's also small enough to attach to a seatstay if you prefer. There's an optional saddle rail mount too.

Once it's on, and on, it's a good rear light, not super-bright but bright enough for getting noticed around town with good, if not class-leading, visibility from the sides. There's a silicone seal in the click-together body and we've had no issues with water getting inside, and it should be good for a couple of months of commuting before the batteries need replacing.

You wouldn't want to rely on it to get you noticed in the daytime, and you might swear at the over-complicated button-pressing a couple of times, but for fifteen quid it's a good option at the cheaper end of the spectrum.

Verdict

Good little battery rear light that's easy to fit and bright enough for the job.

 

road.cc test report

Make and model: Moon Lunar Rear

Size tested: Red

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

- 15 chips high brightness red Led

- 5 modes : Standard / High /50% Flashing /100% Flashing /Strobe

- Quick release rubber strap seatpost mount (fits 22-31.8mm)

- Quick release saddle rail mount

- Side visibility

- Water resistant

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
7/10
Rate the product for performance:
 
7/10
Rate the product for durability:
 
7/10
Rate the product for weight, if applicable:
 
9/10
Rate the product for value:
 
8/10

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

It did the job just fine

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

Small, good mount

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

Fiddly button

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes.

Would you consider buying the product? Yes.

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes.

Overall rating: 7/10

About the tester

Age: 40  Height: 190cm  Weight: 102kg

I usually ride: whatever I'm testing...  My best bike is: Genesis Equilibrium 853

I've been riding for: 10-20 years  I ride: Every day  I would class myself as: Experienced

I regularly do the following types of riding: commuting, club rides, sportives, general fitness riding, fixed/singlespeed, mtb, Mountain Bike Bog Snorkelling, track

 

Dave is a founding father of road.cc, having previously worked on Cycling Plus and What Mountain Bike magazines back in the day. He also writes about e-bikes for our sister publication ebiketips. He's won three mountain bike bog snorkelling World Championships, and races at the back of the third cats.

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1 comments

Avatar
nbrus | 10 years ago
0 likes

If its dim when the batteries are fresh, just think of how much dimmer it will be as the batteries wear out ... you probably don't want to go for the full 65 hours runtime, which makes running costs much more expensive than it first appears. The best option is a light that takes very common AA/AAA cells and use rechargeable cells so you can keep them topped up.

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