This is a review of the ThorFire BL02 (my first review on here).
The ThorFire BL02 is a LED bike light that comes with a selection of accessories including a rear light.
The best performing bike lights all use Cree LEDs and this one is no different, it uses a pair of Cree XM-L2 LEDs and the manufacturer claims 1400 lumens. When you turn it on, you notice that it is bright, on “high” it lights up a room, if you cycle through to low it takes your eyes a second or two to adjust because of how bright it is on high! I can’t give you numbers but the 1400 lumens is believable.
The light has a battery indicator and turns orange when the voltage of the battery drops.
The light is made from anodized aluminium and the finish is perfect as we’ve come to expect from ThorFire. Each of the LEDs is surrounded by a stainless steel bezel which gives the light an attractive look. There is a single button on the top, hold it down and the light turns on. Pressing the button cycles through the three modes, high medium and low. A double click will switch to full intensity strobe, holding it down again will turn the light off. On high it is bright, the 1400 lumen figure is very believable unlike a lot of cheaper lights. The light is IPX6 rated and is well waterproofed, the lenses are protected with o rings, while the switch has a rubber cover over it and there is good sealing around the cable entry, plenty of attention to detail has been made to keep the water out. The reflectors have an orange peel texture on them to smooth the beam and they are of course flawless.
The battery pack consists of 4 18650 cells, which give a good 2 hour battery life on high, 6 hours on medium and 24 hours on low. It comes with a nylon case which uses velcro to attach to your bike frame. It uses a fairly standard connector so you can use it with other battery packs if you wish to.
The rear light is made from plastic like many, but unlike most it includes a pair of lasers which project a bright red line on the road to the each side of your bike. In the dark these lasers give a much larger area for drivers to see and to judge distance off which should improve safety.
What’s in the box?
The front light
Two rubber O rings to clip it to the handlebars, one larger, one smaller.
The rear light
A mount for the rear light
The battery pack and its case.
The charger and two adapters (UK and euro plugs)
A charging cable
A cable to run the light off a USB power source
Overall I think that it works well and is good quality! I would have preferred a better waterproofed battery but I don’t ride my bike in the rain.