Knog is known for their lights and their colorful silicon housings that let you attach and remove them easily. The Frog has become a mainstay of city riders all over due to its minimalist size and the ability to fit just about anywhere (bar, post, helmet, frame…) including your pocket for when you don’t want the lights left out. The Beetle is similar in size and shape, but in terms of light output it is many times brighter than the Frog. I’ve always found the Frog lights to be woefully underpowered as they disappear in the darkness, but the two higher-output LEDs of the Beetle have no such problems. These are bright enough that I feel that people can actually see them, especially when paired with another on your bag or back. Great lights for the bike that you most likely won’t get caught out at night on, but just might. Good insurance tucked up by the seatpost clamp on that road bike for the next all-day ride that could turn into evening with a flat tire or three.
Along with their ability to attach to all sorts of points, the silicon body of the Beetle also houses a switch that pretty well covers the entire to of the light and has a tactile on/off feel. No slop here, the switch hasn’t exhibited any problems and the Beetle seems to handle the rain just fine. There are unfortunately more than on/steady/blink modes available, you have a few other blinking choices to cycle through every time you turn the thing off. The unique housing shape also requires use of two CR2032 button cells that according to Knog lend 25 hours of steady run time and 130 hours of blink per pair. The $19 beetle is available in a number of different housing colors, each with either red or white LEDs.
I’ve always been let down by Knog lights, my first set the bulbs broke off at least they replaced them for free. They just weren’t bright enough, I remember being out riding around with people I know who use them and I couldn’t see their lights! My lady was hit by a car from behind while in the bike lane using them. I wouldn’t use Knog lights again, I prefer the Planetbike Blaze and SuperFlash, been using those for 53 weeks and only changed the batteries twice.
Dan
Not happy to hear you’ve been let down by Knog lights as we like to think we have a SAFE and quality product. I’d like to ask you to contact me at my direct email address to further discuss and would like to ask you to be the first tester of a new product to see if we can redeem some faith. If you say no - no problem and no questions asked. If you say yes, great let’s give it a go. You can contact me directly at suzayotte@earthlink.net.
Thanks,
Suzette
Biking to work at 5 AM, I’m a little obsessed with visibility. I have two Frogs on the front, one Frog and a Gecko on the rear, plus a Cateye. I have a Bullfrog, but it’s incompatible with my brake cables so it’s on my wifes bike. One of the things I like about them is the ease with which they transfer from bike to bike, or into your pocket or bag. I’m a fan of all the new LED lights because they’ve brought the cost and simplicity of effective lighting down.
One of my friends won 2 beetles at the Cleveland Bike Polo tournament and because he received two front lights (well two white lights, so most people prefer using those on front) and he gave me one. I really like the brightness, and the ease of use, however the button on it doesn’t work any longer if the casing is on. I have to hit it at an odd angle, or take it out of it’s casing and use my keys to push the button it to make it go on. Slightly inconvenient, but besides that nice lights. The other light my friend has works no problem.
Maybe they’ll fix this problem in the future?
i have a knog beetle i use on my bars…it’s nice that it’s so easy to put on and take off
i use a superflash for my back light
i don’t ride a lot at night but the knog beetle seems perfect for when i am riding into town to meet up with people, the different flash options are great