This morning I took my first ride with the MityCross 350 LED bike light an came away generally impressed. Â I’ve used two other lights, both from Blackburn but this simply outshines (ahem) the other units.
I do a lot of riding first thing in the morning, typically leaving around 5:30am and it’s dark. Â Seeing the road and being seen by cars is a rather critical detail. Â With the past lights, I was able to see though there clear limits to what the lights could cover and I’ve wanted to have something much brighter for a while. Â There’s honestly no comparison to the other lights in general light output and range of the beam. Â While small, the MityCross 350 really pumps out a very bright and wide beam of light. Â I was able to see the road ahead as well as a good bit of the peripheral bit of the road in pre-sun darkness.
The best part of the MityCross was that oncoming traffic generally dimmed their high beams. Â This is a huge plus as one of the more dangerous aspects of riding in the dark is being blinded by oncoming cars. Â Now they see me coming clearly and tend to respect my presence as though I was a motor vehicle.
My usual morning loop is a bit over an hour (all I can do before heading to work sadly) and the sun starts to rise about mid-way through. Â Once that happens, I tend to switch over to blinker mode which the MityCross also handles expertly. Â The flasher is more like a strobe and again, enabled cars to easily see my approach from well off in the distance.
The main “issue” with the MityCross is that the battery is external and requires that you fasten it to your bike (or helmet) via a velcro strap. Â I found that there was plenty of cable to manage, but it’s considerably less clean of an install over an all in one type of light. Â The MityCross 350 runs about $200 at retail which is probably more than most people look to spend, but amazing is really just the starting point for bright bike lights. Â I believe I’ll be satisfied with this light for a while and expect it to serve my riding needs for many miles.