Rear lamp: Axa Blueline

Specifications:

StVZO approval no: K1204
Mass: 42g (with washers/nuts).
Size: height 35.3 mm, width: 108.5 mm, thickness 21.2 mm
Light source: 2 red LEDs.
Mounting method: On the rear rack, 50 mm or 80 mm bolt distance (which are different versions).
Cabling/connectors: There are 2 x 2.8mm connectors for cables with 2.8mm plugs, and plug in pieces of plastic for loose wires.
Construction: Plastic, with 2 steel black painted bols, and ditto serrated washers and nuts.

Versions: standard or steady (standlight), with either 50 mm or 80 mm bolt distance
Price: ca. € 7 (OEM version), ca. €12 for retail version.

Pictures:

Experiences

Tested from: 2015-8-13

Website of manufacturer: http://www.axasecurity.com/bike-security/en-gb/products/lights/rear-dynamo/blueline-steady-50mm/

Indoor test: It has 2 not quite point sources. I feel that they are too bright (covering them up gives an extremely pleasant taillamp), however the diffuser has been made matte so there is not a real point source in your eyes. This lamp is mostly excellent, the whole reflector lights up, but not sure how noticeable it is from far away, this will come in my real test. It has 2 x 2.8mm connectors with small plugs for bare wires. Not bad, though you can lose them. Philips and B&M's solutions are better, but for the price of this lamp it just doesn't matter. This is the cheapest good taillamp for on the rear rack... Axa has improved enormously in their taillamps with this, one of the best you can buy now...

After much more testing at night: It's a bit too bright in the 2 spots of the LEDs for (closely) tailing cyclists, which is an issue for places with lots of cyclists (like NL, Germany), though it's acceptable, just. For countries where you would feel you need to make yourself visible as opposed to motorists, I suppose it is better than the Solo.

Beam shots

See the camera settings page for more on the setup and settings to make pictures of the beams of taillamps.

To come

Comparing taillamps

Design- and thus review considerations for taillamps

See Theory for taillamps.

Conclusion

Too bright (cd/m^2) in 2 places, but I suppose still acceptable. Could be good also for other countries than NL with fewer cyclists. It is a lot brigher than the B&M Line plus! The quality of this lamp is far better than anything else Axa produced so far, in connectors and optics. The price is amazingly low, at least for the OEM version. The version with carboard for some reason is about double the price at the distributor I bought it from. Or was the OEM version accidentally too cheap? Seems a high price difference for just some packaging. I'd wish the lamp was slightly less bright in the 2 spots of the LEDs, but all in all it is recommended.

Last modified: 2015-8-14 CEST