Thousand Traveller Light

Thousand is a cool US brand that’s already well known for its retro-style cycle helmets. The innovative company has now branched into bike lights, including the Thousand Traveller Light, which is available in both front and rear editions. You can buy them as a pair, or individually, depending on your needs and what you’ve got already. 

However, if you’re looking for a consistent theme they do look quite cool when matched together as a pair. They certainly stack up well alongside the best bike lights you can buy right now.

These two lights might look a little retro, but they also perform with the front one offering 250 peak Lumen performance. The rear one, meanwhile, offers up a peak Lumen of 80. Both come complete with everything you need to get started, with rechargeable batteries and a USB cable that can get each light back up to 100% in just two hours.

Thousand Traveller: Price and availability

The Thousand Traveller Light combination is available to buy right now on the Thousand website. Each light is sold as a separate entity, with its own stylish packaging and everything included to get you illuminated. You’ll be looking to pay around £32/$35/AU$55 for each, so a pair for approximately £64/$70/AU$110 makes the duo of cycle lights seems like an attractive proposition.

Thousand Traveller: Design

• Stylish, quirky design
• Compact
• Slightly fiddly magnetic release

Both Thousand Traveller Lights come in stylish, recyclable packaging, which immediately gives you an indication of the quality you can expect. The design could be seen as quirky by some, but the almost retro-styling fits in perfectly with the vibe given over by the brand. If you’re a fan of their cycle helmets, it’s safe to say you’ll be on-board with this brace of bike lights.

Bike lights used to be boring cycling accessories with little in the way of appeal, other than showing you the way to go home, as well as letting you be seen. Now though, quirky new brands like Thousand are revitalising the bike light marketplace, with a range of lights that look cool and perform too. 

Our examples arrived in Speedway Crème, with a red/brown flexible rubber mounting strap, but you can also get them in Stealth Black or Thousand Navy. The lights are really quite compact, with the actual lighting area proving to be the biggest part of the design. 

The feel is one of quality though, with a really solid twist action allowing you to select on/off or the other light modes that are on offer. There’s a magnet inside each design too, allowing for quick and easy attachment, although this can be fiddly at times to release.

• Design score: 4/5

(Image credit: Rob Clymo)

Thousand Traveller: Features

• Three light settings (Solid, Flash, Eco-Flash)
• Up to 250 lumens for front light
• IPX4 waterproofing

Either of the Thousand Traveller Light models come with an attractive range of features and functions, making either or both a great choice for lighting your way. The front light features three light settings, including Solid, a Daylight Flash option and finally, Eco Flash, which is much more frugal.

Meanwhile, the rear-facing Thousand Traveller Light has the same three settings. Switching between these modes is easily done, simply by twisting the mode dial on the body of the light itself.

Charging the Thousand Traveller Light takes 2 hours and this can be done with a supplied USB cable. The light itself weighs in at 40 grams while the mounting bracket is 20 grams. The way the latter is rubberised means, during our tests, we found fitting the lights an incredibly simple process. 

It’s worth noting the light will work with handlebar thicknesses between 22.5 and 35mm, covering the vast majority of frames, but exceptionally slender roadsters or chunky e-bikes might be out of luck. The lights are IPX4 waterproof rated, so they’ll withstand the worst slashing rain, but we wouldn’t submerge them for any reason (as if you were planning to).

• Features score: 4/5

(Image credit: Rob Clymo)

Thousand Traveller: Battery life

• Two-hour charge time
• Eco-Flash extends battery life significantly
• Rear light not as efficient as front light

Both front and rear lights come complete with everything you need to get started, with rechargeable batteries and a USB cable that can get each light back up to 100% in just two hours. There’s a neat dial switch on the body of each light, and turning this allows you to switch between the three different modes, which means you can milk the battery life for all its worth. 

On the front light, Solid mode offers 100LM for eight hours, Daylight Flash means you get 250LM for six hours and Eco-Flash gives you 30LM or 36 hours of on-time. On the rear light, things seem to be a little different: Solid offers up 35LM or 4.5 hours of illumination, Daylight Flash gives 80LM or 3.75 hours of shine and the Eco Flash option taking the up-time to 10LM or 22 hours. 

The performance figures outlined above also seem to be pretty much on the money, with a decent return on tap from the internal battery. If charge is an issue, you can switch back to eco-flash to give you enough juice to complete a journey home The other bonus with either of these bike lights is the ease with which you can recharge them. That two-hour recharge time is accurate according to our tests, although because the rear light fails faster than the front light, you could end up in a position where your rear light runs out of charge before you notice. 

• Battery life score: 3.5/5

(Image credit: Rob Clymo)

Thousand Traveller: Performance

• Dependable
• Looks good
• Easily taken off the bike once parked

Whichever of the Thousand Traveller Light options you choose, you’ll find them both solid and dependable performers. The neat styling makes them very unique and quite quirky to look. However, they are also hugely practical, with three no-nonsense lighting modes to choose from, ease of operation and a mounting system that combines a magnet and rubberised strap system. 

Ultimately, that means you’ve can get the lights on and off your bike in minimal time and take them with you for security. They're also small enough so fit easily into a bag or coat pocket too, which adds real value to the package.

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First reviewed October 2022