Niterider is an American brand headquartered in San Diego, California that is dedicated to designing high quality performance lights for extreme sports that are waterproof, very bright, lightweight and hands free. We got an opportunity to review one of Niterider’s urban safety lights, the Sabre 80, and here’s what we think.
The Niterider Sabre 80, as the name suggests is a powerful 80 lumens rear safety light that is a brilliant display of Niterider’s trademark compact design and top-notch quality. The light is aptly named Sabre, because of its sharp, sleek, aero design and its powerful light output. Powered by an in-built rechargeable Li-Po battery, the Sabre 80 boasts of a runtime of up to 12-15 hours on a single charge. With six different modes of operation, the Sabre 80 gives the rider a wide variety of options to choose from based on the rider’s environment. There are 3 steady modes (high, mid and low), and three flashing modes (pulse, slow blink, quick blink) to choose from, which is quite a lot of options for a rear light in this segment.
The COB (Chips On Board) design of the LEDs in the Sabre 80 enables the light to emit a sharp, bright, intense red beam which is bright enough to be spotted even in daylight, thanks to Niterider’s trademark DVF (Daylight Visible Flash) technology. There are amber side panels on both sides that aid in 180-degree visibility enhancing the safety feature of the light.
Weighing just 28 grams, the Sabre 80 features a Razor thin, sleek and aerodynamic design that makes the light small, but quite powerful. The light can be mounted on the seat post with an “Easy On/Off” rubber strap that has a quick release tab which makes it easy and fast to pull the strap while mounting. The light can also be mounted to aero seat posts by using an aero mount that is sold separately. It also has a wearable safety clip, which allows the light to be clipped on to the rider’s clothes, belt loops, bags, etc without the mounting bracket. This means that the light can be used as a safety light even when the rider is off the bicycle.
A single solo rubber button located on the face of the light controls switching the light ON/OFF, and toggling between the modes. A long press switches the light ON/OFF and a sin-gle click toggles the mode. Holding the switch down for 3 seconds activates the flashing modes. The USB charging port is neatly tucked away at the base of the light and is covered by an airtight and waterproof rubber cap. The light itself comes with an IP64 water and dust resistant standard that makes it a hassle-free option while riding in wet, rainy, dusty or windy conditions.
Overall Rating
Niterider has definitely hit a sweet spot in the tail-light segment with the Sabre 80 rear light. Priced at a pocket-friendly Rs.1,699 (as on 13th May 2019), the Sabre 80 is sure to please the riders looking for a good rear light with a long runtime which can also double up as a wearable safety light.
Prices are subject to change by the brand, without due notice.