Hi all,
This weekend I finally had a chance to observe the B&M Toplight line plus brake[tec] in action on my bike.
I knew that this rear light had a good reputation for rear light visibility
and I have seen a couple of short promotional videos of the "braketec" in action.
but here are my own observations:
1) The basic rear-light works well even in dull daylight
It is not as visible / in-your-face-bright as a Cateye TL-LD1100
when you are physically close to both lights (and looking from a bit above)
But as you get further away, directly behind the light, as you would as a driver of a following vehicle,
the Toplight line becomes pronouncedly more effective, where the TL-LD1100 does not seem to change in its visibility.
And the stand[by]-light (i.e. the "Plus" bit works well too.
2) The "braketec" (connected via an Edelux to a SON hub dynamo) definitely works.
But it only responds to a significant reduction in speed, like when stopping or when slowing down to take a sharp turn.
It does *not* light up when you simply stop pedalling and your speed (on the level or up hill) drops,
nor when you brake gently to adjust speed a bit.
It also only stays brighter while the (significant) deceleration is occurring.
So it does *not* exhibit the same characteristics as a conventional motor vehicle brake light
(i.e. come on at the slightest application of the brakes and stays on while the brake is applied even when stationary).
Also on a strange psychological note, even *I*, knowing that it has a brake-light technology
and actively observing its operating characteristics, there were a couple of occasions
when *I* did not react to it as a braking event.
3) Other interesting note this light would not light-up (when connected either way around)
when connected to a *DC* bicycle dynamo
At least not until its stand-by capacitor was initially charged-up via an *AC* dynamo
Once charged-up using the *AC* it would then operate off the *DC* dynamo
even with intervals between operation of several hours.
But overnight, when the capacitor had fully discharged, it needed "booting" using the *AC* dynamo again.
My verdict: IFF you are considering a light-weight, well-made rear dynamo-powered light
then the B&M Toplight Line plus (with or without the "braketec") is a good option.
And IFF you are going to buy the "Toplight Line plus"
*and* you can accept that there might be reliability implications of the extra "braketec" circuitry,
then I think the "braketec" is probably worth the extra pennies / cents.
But if you already have the Toplight Line plus (or indeed any other good dynamo rear light)
the I would not pay the full price of the "braketec" version simply for this extra technology.
If you could adjust the sensitivity of the deceleration response
*and* the light stayed bright for a few seconds longer
*and* you rode with lights on even during the daytime,
(because the braketec doesn't operate when the lights are off of course)
*and* drivers learnt that even bicycles might have brake lights
then, and only, then might it be worth replacing an existing (good) dynamo rear light
with one that incorporates a brake light too.
--
IanW
