off-road.cc

The Knog PWR Mountain Kit comprises a modular light, a power pack and a whole host of attachments and settings. That means it can be mounted in a variety of ways. It’s incredibly solid, nicely priced and super easy to use – in fact, it’s seriously hard to knock.

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In the kit, you of course get Knog’s 2000 lumen PWR Mountain Lighthead, plus the 10,000 mAh PWR bank battery. You get a brake boss mount and mounts for the frame, a helmet, a go-pro compatible mount, a side mount, and finally a large mount that fits the whole lighthead and power pack to your bars.

Also included are all Allen keys you need to fit all of the mounts – a nice touch – and a bunch of rubber shims to tune handlebar fit.

As for the light itself, its minimum run time stretches around two hours, and that’s while kicking out the full 2,000 lumens. As for the maximum run time, Knog says it’ll go for 200 hours in the Eco-Flash mode (not a mode I’ve tested much, as my riding is limited to off-road).

On the subject of modes, the PWR Mountain has six: there’s that Max mode which blasts out 2,000 lumens, plus Mid, Stamina, Pulse, Strobe Flash, and Eco-Flash. The first three are basically flood modes of reducing output as you scroll through, while the latter three add the flash for visibility on busy roads.

These modes already hint at the massive versatility of this light.

Setting this light apart from many others is that there are no buttons on it at all. To turn it on, you just twist and hold the lighthead, while to scroll you give a single twist. The light head is surrounded by a heat sink, which provides a great level of grip and a tactile touch. 

It’s very well made too. Absolutely solid, in fact, thanks to the all-alloy build.

All of those modes paired with all of those mounts make the PWR Mountain an absolute... erm, powerhouse. You can throw the large mount onto your commuter bike’s handlebar (it’s small enough to become a permanent fixture) then fit the frame and three-pronged Go-Pro mount to your mountain bike, for example. Because the PWR uses a universal mount, it’s super easy to swap from bike to bike.

Knog has also taken great advantage of the detachable power pack. By simply holding a button down and pulling the light head, and power pack comes away, multiplying the mounting opportunities.

The pack itself pretty smart. Much like the light, it’s totally buttonless, so to check its power level you give it a little shake. If it’s full, four red lights show up.

It can also be used as a charging station for your phone or any other USB device – very handy if you like an overnight bikepacking adventure.

While this light is great mounted any way you like, I really liked using it mounted on my helmet. As it weighs just 100g it doesn’t add a noticeable heft to the top of your head, and because the power pack is fairly small, it’s easy to stow in a backpack.

Its ‘twist to turn on’ functionality is absolutely ideal for helmet mounting too, as you’re never fumbling around for the button when you want to dim the light before blinding your mates. Or after, which let's face it is funnier.

Mounting the whole unit to the handlebar does make the steering noticeably sluggish – that 375g battery is not best placed there – but at least you have the option if you really can't mount that mass anywhere else.

There are brighter lights out there, but the Knog's 2,000 lumen beam spreads evenly across the trail without hotspots, and proves more effective than some more powerful units I have on test right now.

As for battery life, I've stretched it to around three hours by dialing down the brightness on the climbs and flats. It's not quite the life you get from heftier batteries but in return, you've got a compact and lightweight light that fits happily almost anywhere and keeps going for your average night ride.

It’s really tough to find something wrong with the Knog PWR Mountain Kit. If I were to really look for niggles it's a shame there’s no Garmin style mount, meaning you have you change mounts if you’re looking to swap a cycling computer with the PWR.

The sheer versatility, excellent build quality and great performance of the Knog PWR Mountain Kit make this a truly great light, and it offers excellent value for money. Grab yourself another battery and your options are limitless.

• www.knog.com

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