Over the years Light and Motion has produced a steady stream of rock solid lighting for cyclists, divers and hikers. I have long been a fan, and when presented with the opportunity to test the new Urban 800 Fast Charge, I admit I was a happy camper. I have tried previous generations of the Urban line, and have always been impressed with the lights. I was curious as to how Light and Motion could improve upon a seemingly perfect product, but as evidenced by the new Urban 800, the engineers at Light and Motion have been busy. The most important improvement in my opinion is the beam of light. The new Urban distributes the beam in a smooth and even pattern. There is no harsh transition from the center of the beam to the outer edges, and it seamlessly enhances the field of view. The new lens that creates this beam is brilliant; this feature alone is worth the upgrade. At 800 lumens, the light is more than bright enough for any need, and as is per usual, the light has four settings covering high, medium, low and pulsating. As the name suggests, this light charges quickly, with a mere 2.5 hour time for a full charge. This helps in situations when you realise it hasn’t been plugged in and you are faced with a dark commute home. Plug the Urban 800 into the USB port on your laptop for a little while, and you will be ready to tackle the ride home. The light is also fully waterproof to a depth of one meter for 3o minutes. This isn’t to suggest you should go for a dip on your bike, but it does mean that no matter the intensity of the rainstorm you may be stuck in, the Urban 800 will pull through without any problem. The Urban 800 is designed and assembled in California with about 50 to 80 percent of the manufacturing done in the United States. This number will grow as the company has built a new factory in Marina, California, that will be able to accommodate more in-house production. Light and Motion deserve a great deal of credit for designing and creating excellent products, all the while committing themselves to bringing back domestic manufacturing. I continue to be impressed, and more importantly, I continue to see the road in front of me.
