Topside Helmet Bright Dual Front and Rear Helmet for All Cyclists. 43 Hour Battery, Flash and Constant Modes. Waterproof, Rechargeable, 60 Grams and fits Most Helmets.

Having been knocked of my bike by a driver on a roundabout by someone who blamed me because they didn’t see me (despite the 400 lumen front light) I thought I ought to try and make myself even more conspicuous. I wasn’t wearing helmet either so I need to prevent the constant gripping from the wife, in laws, parents, sister, doctors, consultant, radiographer, porters to name but a few.So, helmet now dusted off with this puppy installed on the top. It looks good, works brilliantly and gives a nice bright combination of lights front and rear. It came well packaged and feels like a quality unit.Charging takes a couple of hours, which brings me onto a slight gripe. The USB plug is slightly longer than a standard one. Which means if you don’t have the one supplied it won’t connect and charge, which is a bit of a pain if you need a charge at work as it’s effectively a specialist connection. Not a big deal if the battery lasts an age or if you get a decent pre warning of charge being needed but something to be aware of. Plus side though, It also seems to work when on charge so I see no reason why it wouldn’t work with a power pack.There is a good selection of attachments depending if you want to mount it on a helmet that has bars on it going front to back or side to side. I have used the long rubber band type things on mine that you get with it and they are a little tight. It would be nice to have those a bit longer or adjustable. I hope they don’t snap. I Haven’t used the cable ties as in the event of more contact with the road I’d rather have the light break away from the helmet, rather than drive itself into my skull. The light simply clips into the mount and seems like it would come away in the event of hitting the road so that’s good.Turning it on gives you a veritable choice of light patterns, all bright but not dazzling.In all feels like a good unit, despite the niggles with the strap and charge lead. I am yet to use it in anger but hopefully it will do the job, and I might actually be seen from space!!Quick edit- 06/01/20- unit performed very well, happy to report. Unfortunately its now dead as i left it in my rucksack and washed it over Christmas! Lit the drum of the washing machine up a treat! Will be buying another though!

Firstly, if your sick and tired of having to constantly charge your lights then buy one of these, depending on the configuration of whether you have both front and rear on constant, one on constant one on flash or both on flash you should get between 3 and 10 hours minimum, i get generally 13-15 with one on one on flash.The light itself is super bright and a great secondary light, i still have bike fixed lights but given i know this is always going to have charge in it i find that i worry less that my main lights will go out because i havent charged them twice that day already.I forget how the lumens are spread depending on the way its set up but they are bright, very bright. A taxi driver called me a fat something christmas tree following a near miss altercation which i was quite pleased with. Id rather be a fat christmas tree than a dead ran over badger.Ive attached some pictures of how ive fixed it to my helmet, i used some additional cable ties to secure it because my helmet has quite wide vents, it comes with a few cable ties included so you may not need them, but it will attach to any helmet with a bit of thought on placement. Its sturdy once fixed and havent had any issues with rattling or movement since putting it on. It detaches easily to charge if you remember to only use the rubber strap to clip it in rather than cable ties which i wouldnt reccomend, ie dont cable tie the light to the mount, cable tie the mount to the helmet and use the strap to secure the light to the mount.Really handy torch if you need one as well. All round a great buy and pleased i picked one up.

I bought 2 of these, for myself and my wife. Our helmets are quite different designs so my comments are based on trying to fit to two different helmets. I originally bought to light up my night ride on the unlit Waterbeach / Cambridge river path. I have very bright road lights but on the narrow path, with walkers, runners and other cyclists I wanted a light that was not too bright and I could quickly direct downwards to avoid shining bright lights on to other path users.The good: the lights are very well made and higher quality than most at this price. They have multiple functions for flashing/steady front/rear lights, which is good, and even better, the last setting is remembered so there is no need to cycle through a half dozen settings. The button is a soft green light than tells you when charged. The USB charging slot is protected by a rubber piece that slots in, a bit awkwardly. Only time will tell if this keeps rain water out. It is very light and I could not feel the weight on my helmet.One other thing, not related to using as a bike light - in Cambridge a lot of cycle paths are also footpaths and unlit. walkers carry a torch in winter or you risk being hit by a bike, many of which do not have lights. I always wanted a hand torch that had a red flashing light one end to warn cyclists coming from behind, and a white front light for the path. This light actually does that, although it's a bit small to hand carry comfortably.The bad: It comes with 2 clip on fittings, one for lateral and one for lineal fitting on the helmet (a nice touch). The fitting secures with a rubber strap. I think if you were really lucky you might have a helmet where this design works fine - layout and width of the helmet's struts, holes and angles - but these are a lot of variables - and the mount just can't cope with all the helmet types out there. That is a design flaw. It should be designed for much greater flexibility, perhaps using a soft moldable component that can be tightened with cable ties through built in loops.So I decided to fit the lights without the mount, directly to the helmet using cable ties. The light rotates so the USB charging port can be accessed. I've dropped 2* because the mounts do not do justice to the quality of the light itself.As the manufacturer clearly states these lights are designed to be seen not to see. And this is true. The lights give an excellent strobe like flash that is excellent for being seen at the top of the rider's frame (great for when in traffic). They are not good for lighting up a path as the front beam is designed to be a wide as possible for visibility. So it didn't work for my tow path! But I kept them as they are really well made and super lightweight.You can see in the pictures the light fitted with the mount (it wiggles around as it cannot find a way to sit tight), and my own preference fitted without the mount.

This is a great additional light set for extra visibility on the road. Quick to charge, and the battery appears to last as long as the advertised 43 hours when used on flash settings which is what I have predominately used. As a constant beam setting, it is bright, but only suitable for urban lit roads. I wouldn't rely on it for a dark country lane as the sole front light. It comes with a couple of different types of fittings to accommodate most bicycle helmets. The fitting is with extra strong rubber bands, that attach a cradle for the light to the helmet. This allows for easy removal of the light to recharge, without having to fully remove the fittings each time.It is very light, and I don't notice it on on my head on my commutes to work. I have it slightly to the side of my helmet, as I often have a camera on the top of my helmet. I have yet to use it in the rain, so will be interesting to see how waterproof it is. I am that impressed with it, that I am going to purchase another for my son to use in the winter months for his cycle to school.

So I already had the Brightside - very good. I wanted a day-to-day duo helmet light that I could switch out with a full-on night riding helmet light when I want to do off-road. So as I liked the style of the Brightside I thought I would try the Topside. It has enough front and back constant and flashing options and it's bright enough to be seen. All good. It comes with two mounts - in line and across - plus two rubber bands and two cable ties. As some others have commented, the mounts aren't suitable for all helmets. If your helmet has a bar that is roughly the size of a handlebar then great. Bigger than that and this does not work so well. Personally I think they should have provided a flat base mount a bit like Evans own FWE "Go-Pro" style helmet mount, or the Lezyne version. I actually tried this Topside into both of them but the Topside diameter is just too big by a couple of mm. So, I used the Topside mount that goes lengthways down the helmet strut and used velcro ties (or use their cable ties) to secure it. Its not the best, and its not adjustable so thats my complaint. In their instructions in the box (but not on their website?!) they make a very good suggestion to loop one of the rubber bands under the mount and then around each end of the light, as shown in picture. Very good, super secure. The housing is actually tight enough that you probably don't need it day to day but if you're going to bounce around a bit then it can't hurt. I did it because now I can pop out the Topside, then put in a Lezyne 700LM MacroDuo night light and loop the rubber around it for off-road so it won't pop out. Hope that all makes sense!