Coospo BLC100 Front Tracer Light Review

Coospo have been around for about ten years now and are probably best known for their budget friendly range of bicycle computers and sensors, the BLC100 is their first foray in to the wider range of cycling accessories.

The BLC100 is a front-facing ‘tracer light’. This light allows you to be more visible to others, but doesn’t provide enough light to illuminate the road in front of you.

So, let’s take a look at the BLC100 unit:

Features

The Coospo BLC100 includes all the features that you would expect from a front tracer light, such as:

• Bright White LED
• Five illumination modes (flash, constant high, constant medium, pulse, SOS)
• Long battery life (over 30hrs in our tests)
• Waterproof (we didn’t test this, but it’s certainly showerproof)
• Standard ‘Garmin’ mounts top and bottom. (Top mount is via an included adaptor plate)
• GoPro mount adaptor included.
• Dual charging (USB-C or Apple Lightening port)

Charging a mobile phone or other device is also possible, as the light will also double as a power bank. This will, of course, affect the battery life somewhat.

Set-up and operation

Once charged via either the USB ‘C’ or Apple Lightning port, it’s simply a matter of pressing the on/off button to start the light flashing. Once the unit is on, briefly pressing the button will again cycle through the various flash modes.

The unit has a Garmin compatible mount on the underside with an adaptor to provide a mount on the top. The idea being that you can attach the light to a Garmin ‘out front’ mount, and then attach a cycling computer to the top. Thus, keeping your handlebars clear of extra accessories.

What we would strongly recommend with this is that you use a tether to your handlebars. We tested a similar light previously, and the combined weight of the light and computer caused the retaining lugs on the mount arm to fail. The result was that the light and computer broke free from the mount and were damaged by hitting the ground. A better solution to this, in our opinion, is to buy the optional Coospo mount, which has Garmin mounts top and bottom, and means the light and computer are mounted separately (as shown above).
Another solution is to use the included GoPro adaptor if you already have an out-front mount that has a GoPro adaptor on the underside. 

Whilst the adaptor is a novel feature, we think it detracts from the overall appearance, and a built-in mount would look better.

As for visibility, fellow riders all agreed that the light was easily visible from a good distance and should provide plenty of warning for oncoming road traffic. The only improvement we would like to see in this respect is for the angled LEDs to wrap around the side. This would provide a measure of visibility from the side as well as the front.

Specifications

Weight – 110g (light unit) + 10g (adaptor plate)

Size – 9.5 x 6.3 x 1.8 cm

Light intensity – 100 lumens

Battery – 5000mAh

Battery life – Constant flash tested to 30hrs

Connections – USB ‘C’ and Apple Lightning port (UK Specification, other regions may vary)

Overall

There’s not much more to say about something as simple as a tracer light. It does what it says on the tin – provides enough light to be seen by in a relatively compact package.

Advantages

• Cheap.
• Good battery life.
• Multiple mounting options.
• Good visibility.
• Dual charging options.
• The power bank functionality is quite useful.

Disadvantages

• It would be better if the adaptor plate was built in.
• Lack of side mounted LEDs reduced visibility.

Overall rating  – 4.5/5.0

If you want to try one of these for yourself buy through this Amazon link in the UK – https://amzn.to/4irF1RQ

To see a video review of this device visit our YouTube video at – https://youtu.be/FCInr2VMNvE

Note – This unit was provided by the manufacturer free of charge for the purposes of this review. The opinions in this review are purely those of the author and apply only to the unit provided for review. Specifications are subject to change and may vary by country / region.