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review
2023 Restrap Light Mount - 3.jpg£6.99
VERDICT:
Simple and effective – an excellent little accessory that won't break the bank
Simple and quick to fit
Sturdy
Cheap
Weight:
13g
Contact:
This product has been selected to feature in road.cc recommends. That means it's not just scored well, but we think it stands out as special. Go to road.cc recommends
At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.
What the road.cc scores meanGood scores are more common than bad, because fortunately good products are more common than bad.
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Restrap's Light Mount is an incredibly simple product that works very well indeed, helping you get lights into a position where they aren't obscured by seat packs or luggage in general, and freeing up room on your handlebar as well.
The Light Mount is designed to be used anywhere on your bike that has sideways-pointing mounts – like rack mounts on your seatstays or those found on the fork legs of gravel/adventure bikes.
> Buy now: Restrap Light Mount for £6.99 from Restrap
The idea is that if you are carrying luggage that covers your handlebar or seatpost you can mount your lights in other positions. I used it on the fork legs for the bulk of the time, and once attached to the threaded boss with the included M5 bolt it was very sturdy and stable. It's also useful if you run a very short length of seatpost.
It'll take quite a weighty light, too, so you aren't just limited to 'be seen by' lights, like the Exposure Boost Daybright that I tried it with.
I also tried it with an Exposure Joystick, and the Trek Comp R Flare that I was reviewing at the time.
> Buyer’s Guide: Best bike lights
In fact, your only limitations are the width of the bracket for getting a secure fit (if it isn't any wider than the light mount), and the width of the light body, so it doesn't foul the fork leg/stay. The body of the bracket is about 25mm in width, with a diameter of 30mm.
The side that sits next to the bike can also be used to thread/unthread Shimano crank bolts. Not a tool you'll need that often, but handy to have if you are out in the wilderness.
Materials-wise it looks to be a thermoplastic nylon, and certainly stands up to wear and tear from light brackets, though you get a lifetime warranty from Restrap anyway.
From a value point of view there isn't much in the way of comparison – that we've tested anyway – but for £6.99 I reckon it's a great little device that is very handy, simple to use, and backed up by that lifetime warranty.
Verdict
Simple and effective – an excellent little accessory that won't break the bank
road.cc test report
Make and model: Restrap Light Mount
Size tested: One Size
Tell us what the product is for and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?
Restrap says, "The Restrap Light Mount is a useful accessory that allows lights to be mounted to any M5 threaded eyelets, keeping your handlebars clear for mounting bags or other accessories.
"By attaching lights to different spots like mid-fork, dropouts, or rack eyelets at the back of the frame, this keeps lights out of the way of luggage that could obstruct the beam. As a secondary function, it also serves as a tool to thread/unthread the crank bolt found on Shimano cranks."
It's a clever little design backed up by a lifetime guarantee.
Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?
Restrap lists:
Thermoplastic nylon body
25mm wide, 30mm diameter
20mm x M5 bolt included
Rate the product for quality of construction:
8/10
Rate the product for performance:
9/10
Rate the product for durability:
9/10
Rate the product for weight (if applicable)
8/10
Rate the product for value:
5/10
Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose
Very well. It'll take any light that is narrow enough to fit on it.
Tell us what you particularly liked about the product
Very sturdy so it'll work with heavy lights as well as light ones.
Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product
Nothing.
Did you enjoy using the product? Yes
Would you consider buying the product? Yes
Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes
Use this box to explain your overall score
It's excellent! A sturdy design and simple to fit. It's cheap, too, especially when you consider that lifetime warranty.
About the tester
Age: 44
I usually ride: This month's test bike My best bike is: B'Twin Ultra CF draped in the latest bling test components
I've been riding for: Over 20 years I ride: Every day I would class myself as: Expert
I regularly do the following types of riding: time trialling, commuting, club rides, sportives, fixed/singlespeed,
Since writing his first bike review for road.cc back in early 2009 senior product reviewer Stu has tested more than a thousand pieces of kit, and hundreds of bikes.
With an HND in mechanical engineering and previous roles as a CNC programmer/machinist, draughtsman and development engineer (working in new product design) Stu understands what it takes to bring a product to market. A mix of that knowledge combined with his love of road and gravel cycling puts him in the ideal position to put the latest kit through its paces.
He first made the switch to road cycling in 1999, primarily for fitness, but it didn’t take long for his competitive side to take over which led to around ten years as a time triallist and some pretty decent results. These days though riding is more about escapism, keeping the weight off and just enjoying the fact that he gets to ride the latest technology as part of his day job.
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- S.E. 17 hours 22 min ago
Inner width is only 13.4 mm... Will you get Shinano or Campognolo?
Add new comment
15 comments
Can I have one without the fugly crank cap remover please? Those crank caps are mostly useless appendages anyway...
I'm still after a recommendation on a COB rear light, good waterproofing that comes with a bracket that will attach to a rather thin seat stay. As an accessory light.The Moon pictured above used to have narrow o rings...
I got this from AliExpress for £1.76 (although it seems to have gone up to £5.88). They are available in a range of colours.
I have a similar system I've used for years.
As the bike always has a luggace rack, I used a piece of 25mm dowel, it extends from the left of the luggage rack (go right if you ride/drive on left) and my Magicshine rear light is affixed to that. (With cable ties over the rubber strap for eta security and to prevent it rotating downwards)
Dowel is simply cabletied in place under rack, with flat spots cut out of it to let it lock into place.
I was amused to read on the manufacturer's site that, over and above its crank bolt utility, it boasts a further two concealed benefits; it's waterproof, and vegan friendly. Truly swiss-army-knife-esque!
The design of these in general is brilliant, but so hard to acquire so I'm glad this one from Restrap will get more out there. Last winter I spent ages looking for one within the UK and the best I found at the time was the metal PDW version at Condor for £13.99. That was out of stock for over 4 months (now fixed) so I never got one.
There was also the Paul Gino light mount for £29.99 on SJS cycles but that seemed excessive for me so I didn't but that. There is also the Origin8 eyelet stub mount for £14.99 but I didn't like the look of it as much.
In the end my brother 3D printed them at work so I'm lucky I had that option.
I was genuinely too excited to hear restrap launch these this winter (even though I've got all the ones I need 3D printed), and I have convinced a colleague to get this one.
I've got two of the Origin8 mounts and they're pretty good.
The metallic construction makes them less likely to pull out of shape when you are tightening something up.
Could be improved by a shake proof washer inside though but I'm also using with a VersaMount so there could be slight looseness in the threads of the VersaMount.
Portland Design Works (PDW) produce pretty much the same thing, but their's is double the price IIRC.
I've recently got so fed up with the rubber mounts for lights wearing out and often rendering a light unusable because they have a proprietary strap that I've cable tied many of my lights to the frame (I have seven on the commuter, I believe in overkill), which does pretty much the same job in terms of positioning as this gizmo. Rather than taking them off for charging I charge them using a power bank; obviously it does mean that you can't easily swap lights between different bikes, but I like to keep a full set ready for each bike anyway.
I have the top metal bit of one of those cheap almost cylindrical bells that come on new bikes bolted to the rack mount on one bike, doing the same job. Saves plastic..
I've seen others do the same thing with a headset spacer and 2 top caps.
I had a DIY one made from a wine cork for a long time. But now that everyone has a 3D printer its easy to do one looking better.
I haven't got a 3D printer.
DM cycling Mikey !
I haven't got a 3D printer either, but I would like one. Shall we go halves?
I do have a 3D printed light bracket though, and buying it felt like a very futuristic experience. I downloaded the file from Thingiverse and ordered the part from a Midlands-based 3D printing service. It cost £1.50 plus £7.50 p&p and arrived in two days. Amazing I thought.
And you have no relative/friend that has one ?
Fusion360 is free for non commercial use
A decent PLA 3D printer cost less than 200€ and then you have to buy PLA at 10to25€/kg.
Its probably one of the tools that reimburse his cost the faster.