Review on 🚲 Cygolite Metro 550 Lumen Bike Light - 4 Night Modes & Daytime Flash Mode - Compact & Durable - IP67 Waterproof - Secured Hard Mount - USB Rechargeable Headlight - Ideal for Road & Commuter Bicycles by Andy Tran

This is my second Cygolite fixture. I bought a Cygolite Metro 420 this spring and it worked so well I decided to buy another one to mount on my helmet or use on my wife's bike. Unfortunately the 420 is no longer made so I decided to try the 360; in practice the light turned out to be *very* similar (I'll get to that later). Metro 360 is a very, very bright light. Since I usually ride where there are streetlights, I find medium settings fine for most of my purposes. Full brightness mode is really overkill when you have ambient light and I save it for completely unlit areas to save battery life. I can compare this flashlight's "bright" mode to a (nominally) 200 lumen flashlight, and it's actually not that much brighter than a flashlight. far forward when mounted on the steering wheel. With one light on, I'm comfortable driving 15 mph in the dark, but I wouldn't go much faster for fear of not being able to avoid unseen obstacles. For higher speeds I use one light on my bike and one on my helmet, and the latter I can adjust on the fly as needed (helmet mount is not included though; I built my own solution while awaiting official approval). CygoLite helmet mount for ExpliOn). Charging is easy - use any USB port. The cable is included but the power adapter is not. You can use your PC's USB port or a cable with a charger, e.g. B. a phone charger, for faster charging. A fully discharged battery can take several hours to charge, and a flashing green light below the power button indicates charging is in progress (solid green when complete). Since it's not completely dark on my way to work, I often use the emergency signal ("Daylight"). The battery seems to last forever in this mode, and I can go weeks without a charge if I only use it on my 20-minute commute. I've never had this thing run out of power during use; I just charge it when I remember and it's always ready to go. The only time I found it dead completely was after apparently leaving it on overnight. I've seen the 8 hour run time listed and would believe it. The mounting bracket is simple and effective. The knurled screw is tightened and you can lock it. You can use the spacers provided if your handlebars are too small, or you can cut out an old inner tube and use that in place of a spacer. The mounting mechanism allows you to tilt the lamp from left to right; If you are having trouble with the light moving side to side too freely during installation, you can tighten the Phillips head screw in the bracket so sideways movement requires more force. The flashlight disengages from the mount when you press down on the locking tab and slide it forward. While I haven't tested the 360 in the rain yet, I have used the 420 in the rain a lot. It held up well in all weather conditions with no noticeable issues, and I expect similar results from the 360. A word of caution: make sure the USB port is covered with a rubber plug. Otherwise, water can penetrate the plastic housing of the flashlight. The user interface is comfortable. Single press toggles mode, long press turns off while "saving" the current mode to turn on. The order is as follows: Medium -> Bright -> Low -> Bright with intermittent very short flashes (called "sustained pulses?") -> Standard Flash (typical normal on/off/on/off flashing, aka "DayLightning?" ) The 360 sequence is identical to the 420 sequence. "Sustained Pulse" is a somewhat unique mode that is almost, but not entirely, fully continuous, allowing you to use it as a headlight without being blinded for long while blinking. ***EDIT*** I originally incorrectly stated that there was no "walk" mode, but I just didn't know how to enable it (instructions? WHO NEEDS INSTRUCTIONS!). As the commenter points out, press and hold the 'off' button for 1 second. Walk Mode is virtually identical to Low Mode, but in Walk Mode a single press does nothing, and the light only responds to a long press (thus turning it off entirely). I can't readily think of a use for it, but. Here it is. *** EDIT END *** Four stars instead of five because: - the battery does not appear to be replaceable - a spare battery would be nice for long trips and the ability to swap out the battery if the power eventually runs out will extend the life of the flashlight . - no "imminently low battery" warning from the UI, at least none that are documented or that I've seen (although the long battery life mitigates this). This encourages me to charge more often than I really need to, so I'm not surprised. The price is high compared to 'regular' non-bike lights of this quality, but acceptable given the quality of the mount compared to what you want. Try tying a regular light to the bike*** EXTERIOR: What happened to the model numbers, Cygolite? *** I find it very difficult to understand why Cygolite has so many different products. This product is said to replace the Cygolite Metro 300, but as of this writing this product is still available. 360 brighter? May be. But I have compared the 360 to my 420 here and you will have a very hard time telling me which is "better". I think the 360's lighting scheme is a little "softer" - the 420 has a few "hot spots" that are brighter but more isolated. 360 is a bit brighter in flash mode, but that's hardly worth mentioning. Physically, at least outwardly, they are identical. The lettering is printed differently, but the actual shape is the same. The mounting hardware is the same. According to my scales, both weigh 108 grams (without bracket). My Cygolite Metro 420 seems to be discontinued too. to exchange for Cygolite Metro 500 USB bicycle headlight. Which cygolite to buy? 300? 360? 420? 500? To be honest I have no idea. Do the model numbers really match the brightness? If so, at least in my experience, the difference is probably not significant for most people, as I feel the 360 is bright enough. I chose the 360 as it was their cheapest model at the time of purchase, which seems as good a criterion as any.