Exposure BoostR + ReAKT and Peloton rear mild assessment: A terrific rear mild with helpful sensible options but in addition costly

When selecting which of the perfect bike lights you need to match, the tendency is to concentrate on the entrance one. It’s what helps you see and be seen, and because it’s usually the dearer buy of the pair it’s solely pure that it attracts the eye. 

Rear lights actually shouldn’t be an afterthought although. Danger – by which I imply vehicles and different giant street customers – tends to come back from behind, and so enhancing your rearward visibility, particularly when out on nation roads, must be simply as a lot a precedence. 

I’ve been testing out a load of back lights. The Magicshine SEEMEE300 has impressed me enormously, as has the Knog Mid Cobber for various causes. The Exposure BoostR + ReAKT & Peloton has been my longest-serving take a look at mild, and I’ve had it on the go for 2 winter seasons now, so I actually ought to get round to telling you why I noticed match to place it into my purchaser’s information. 

The brief model is that I actually price the construct high quality, the battery life, and the additional options, in addition to the actually easy consumer interface. The mounts nevertheless left me a little bit chilly, and given the worth of competitor lights it’s a comparatively giant outlay. 

Design and aesthetics

Unlike most rear bike lights, the Exposure BoostR + ReAKT & Peloton is an elongated cylinder that’s longer than it’s huge. The physique is machined from aluminium, which is then anodised crimson (a cultured contact it should be stated), with a single giant bulb on the finish. The BoostR can mount both through a clip that grabs the cylindrical physique, within the case of the underneath saddle mount, or the bayonet finish on the base slots right into a ¼ flip mount that attaches to your seatpost. 

Just behind the clear lamp is a black rubber band, which you’ll raise up utilizing a little bit tab to disclose the charging port. My unit is micro-USB, however this has since been up to date to USB-C. You can take away the band solely to disclose the only button, however there isn’t actually a scenario that you just’d want to do that past simply technical curiosity. 

The single bulb sits on the base of a reflective cone, with a perspex cowl textured with tiny spheres designed to diffuse the crimson mild, fairly than permitting it to be a single large beam. There is a little bit of aspect visibility, however not something engineered in as with the Knog Mid Cobber or the Magicshine SEEMEE300, simply the truth that the clear perspex extends out past the physique to permit some mild to flee sideways. 

Like Exposure’s entrance lights – the Exposure Strada and Exposure Race for instance – the mode selector is a two-tier system. You maintain the only button down and rely the flashes to pick out one among three energy tiers relying on the run time you need, then if you swap the sunshine on (double press) you solely get to decide on stable or flashing. Once you’ve locked in your most popular tier of brightnesses – I opted for the brightest, as I hardly ever trip greater than 6 hours in the dead of night – it’s quite simple.

You additionally use this ‘maintain the button down and rely the flashes’ system to activate the additional options. These are the ‘ReAKT & Peloton’ settings that make-up half of ‘Exposure BoostR + ReAKT & Peloton’. ReAKT permits the BoostR to routinely modify to ambient lighting, brightening in streetlit areas to take care of most visibility. This characteristic additionally permits it to function as a brake mild, flaring as much as a most of 150 lumens if you decelerate. 

Peloton mode is for group using, and when switched on the BoostR will routinely dim when a lightweight is shone onto it from the rider behind, in a lot the identical means because the Exposure Strada reacts to automobile headlights. Given the fairly dazzling nature of the sunshine BoostR at full brightness, that is definitely a helpful addition.

As for the stats, Exposure doesn’t really quote a lumen determine for every mode, solely runtimes. The most brightness when it flares up underneath braking is 150, nevertheless it’s lower than this typically use. The shortest runtime, for the stable beam on the highest depth, is a claimed 6 hours, and with the heart beat mode on and set to the dimmest setting you’ll allegedly get 48 hours of use. There isn’t any point out of how a lot the ReAKT and Peloton modes have an effect on this although, because the brake mild performance particularly will probably scale back this to a point. 

Performance

Overall I’ve been very impressed with the Exposure BoostR + ReAKT & Peloton. The construct high quality is great, which is an actual hallmark of Exposure lights, backed up by a extremely good restore service ought to something horrible occur, and when you’ve chosen a setup you want, which was for me the brightest pair with ReAKT turned on to behave as a brake mild, it’s fantastically easy to make use of. Just swap it on, choose from stable or flash, and away you go. 

One of my greatest bugbears with bike lights, back and front, is overly advanced modes. The Magicshine Ray 2600B entrance mild was legal for this, and whereas I actually do price the Magicshine SEEMEE300 very extremely, the modes choices are plentiful and onerous to tell apart at a look, so I find yourself simply selecting a random possibility and hoping for the perfect. The BoostR, regardless of the preliminary faff of choosing which pair you’d like, is preferable to me. 

In phrases of the brightness and visibility, I’ve not been left wanting. When I first acquired the sunshine I used to be very swiftly requested if I may swap it off on a gravel trip at night time, so dazzling was it for the rider behind. Shortly I ended up behind somebody additionally operating a BoostR, and really shortly understood the problem. It could also be a single bulb, and it might not have absolutely the lumen rely of one thing just like the Lezyne Strip Drive Pro 400+, however it’s completely blinding nonetheless. Peloton mode would alleviate this, however I actually do price the brake mild performance extra extremely, and so for group rides, I simply swapped the brightness right down to the bottom setting. Sadly you can not have each ReAKT and Peloton on the identical time, however just one (or neither, if you wish to get the longest battery life). This is a little bit little bit of a letdown, however for riders who frequently head out on group rides all winter, I do suppose the Peloton mode is efficacious. I are typically a solo rider more often than not, because it’s loads simpler to focus on testing. 

Where I believe the BoostR lacks barely is within the mounting division. In the field, you get a seatpost mount, however nothing extra, and it is just suitable with spherical seatposts. It’s safe, and correctly angled so the sunshine stays horizontal, nevertheless it does have an annoying behavior of twisting round all through the trip. Other mounts can be found – my desire is the saddle rail mount often – together with these for aero seatposts, however cheaper lights just like the Knog Mid Cobber and the Magicshine SEEMEE300 include these within the field. 

I’ve no situation with the battery life, in opposition to the quoted numbers. Even at full energy, most of us aren’t going to be using for greater than 6 hours in the dead of night frequently, and 48 hours of use is ample for roughly any scenario. There is a battery indicator, however with a purpose to use it you do have to show the sunshine on after which off, and it’ll mild inexperienced, amber, crimson, or flashing crimson to point the remaining cost. 

Value

This is the costliest rear mild I’ve examined up to now, excluding radar choices just like the Garmin Varia. I’m not going to fall into the lure of equating it being costly with essentially being poor worth, as there are issues that do effectively to justify the worth. I do know from expertise that the aftersale assist is sensible, having didn’t kill the Exposure Strada in an incident, and the construct high quality is unmatched. 

The battery life isn’t class-leading, however for a lightweight of this dimension and brightness, the battery life is outstanding. The extra options, too, do provide further worth over and above ‘dumb’ lights.

I do suppose that paying £100 / $110 and solely getting one mount within the field does depart a little bit to be desired although, so a combined bag on the worth entrance. 

Verdict

The Exposure BoostR + ReAKT & Peloton is a really high-quality rear bike mild. It’s effectively made, affords sensible visibility and battery life for such a small type issue, and when you’ve bought the setup you need dialled within the consumer interface is fantastically easy and simple.

It is dearer than most choices on the market, however for that further outlay, you get added usability in group trip eventualities, sensible options, and a stable aluminium physique, plus a top quality after-sales service. Exposure lights have a popularity for high quality for a motive, and the BoostR hasn’t scuppered this, however I’d wish to see no less than an aero seatpost mount within the field too.