REVIEW – The Bookman Volume 800 bike light is ready to hit the road, so you don’t. It sends a maximum 800 lumens in a wide light beam that will insure you are seen by anyone in front of you and can see everything in front of you as you ride. But there were some snags to report.
What is it?
The Bookman Volume 800 is a rechargeable, 800 (max) lumen bike light with adjustable light levels and flash modes.
What’s in the box?
- Bookman Volume 800 bike light
- Handlebar mount
- Extra handlebar mount strap
- Allen wrench
- Charging cable – USB-A to USB-C
- Bookman business card
Hardware specs
- Brightness: 800 Lumen
- Battery: 18650 Li-Ion battery (Replaceable)
- Battery Capacity: 3200 mAh
- Charge time: 8 hours from depleted to 100%
- Runtime: Steady From 3 to 35h
- Weight: 4.2 ounces
- Mount: Garmin compatible
- Charging: USB-C
- Water Resistance: IPX5
- Size: 4.72 x 1.26 x 2.05 inches
- Lock Mode: Yes
- Chassis: Plastic
- Available in Black, White, and Orange
Design and features
The Volume 800 has a rotating switch on the side Bookman calls the ‘Power Wheel’. To adjust the light output, simply turn the Power Wheel forward for more power or backward to dim the light. To change between steady and flashing, quickly press the on/off button. Each switch of the Power Wheel has its own flashing mode which seems unrelated to the steady-on brightness level.
There are light ‘ports’ on each side of the Volume 800 which provide side lighting to aid your visibility to others as you ride. On the top of the light are four small LEDs to show the remaining power level. Some riders may prefer to cover these if they find their light distracting.
This is the best a video can do to show the Volume 800 flashing into direct sunlight. The light is very distinctive in daylight and videography doesn’t do it complete justice. This was my favorite daytime flash pattern.
The Volume 800 lens is designed to throw wide light in a floodlight style pattern.
Our reviewer, Zack Chongulia was, is, and ever shall be a bike mechanic, so I leaned on him for a look at the mount of the Volume 800. Zack confirmed it’s a Garmin style mount. The company says it’s GoPro compatible also. The center bar mount pictured at the Bookman website is not offered as an accessory, and Zack said it may require a special handlebar to fit with anyway. Thanks Zack!
Setup
After charging the Volume 800 I mounted it to the handlebars of my e-bike. The handlebars on the Velotric Nomad bike are not straight bars but have a tapered diameter and are swept back towards the rider. The bars are also of a smaller diameter than the Volume 800 mount can accommodate.
I had to do some DIY rigging with rubber strapping and foam rubber to get the light mounted. It cheapens the look, but was necessary if I wanted to use the Volume 800.
Performance
The Volume 800 bike light came with no instructions and we didn’t get a reply when we requested them. Hello? We can only hope you’ll get instructions if you order this light. I recommend inquiring first. You’ll probably be ok without instructions but at one point I could have used the reference.
On my first night ride I turned the light off briefly but couldn’t get it to come on again. Thankfully I was near home. After a few minutes of troubleshooting I discovered the light will not turn on when it is set to its brightest mode. That makes no sense to me, but it seems so. But I’m on my own here because we couldn’t get any response from Bookman about directions for the light.
The Allen wrench mount adjustment is very inconvenient for a bike light. I had to tape the Allen wrench to my bike frame since I didn’t always remember to pocket one with each ride. Sure lots of bikers have Allen wrenches in their seat bag, but that’s beside the point. A twist-to-tighten clasp would have been so easy to produce for the Bookman Volume light. It seems a no-brainer to make a light mount fast and easy. With the Bookman Volume 800 I have to pull over, stop, and take out a tool to adjust my light. With my other light I can tighten it as I ride, although I seldom need to. If the Bookman Volume 800 fit my handlebars properly, I doubt frequent adjustments would be needed.
This is the piece on the light that joins the mount socket on the handlebars.
The Volume 800 bike light is made to only aim straight ahead, mounted on straight handlebars that are 90 degrees from the frame when aimed forward. I had to wrap foam rubber and a piece of inner tube around my handlebars to take up space and provide a good grip for the Volume 800 mount. There are a few degrees of left / right aiming play possible but it’s that rotation that dismounts the light, so if I turn it too far, the light comes off from the mount. This light really is made to only aim straight.
The floodlight style of lens really lit up the road ahead from curb to curb and at a good distance, so that nothing surprised me as I rode, even at 25 mph.
The Volume 800 sends a lot of light down the road, but an unfortunate amount of distracting light comes up into the rider’s eyes from the top of the lens. I unfortunately had to put a piece of painter’s masking tape over the end of the light to prevent that glare. My down-road visibility improved after applying the tape.
Here are the light and flash modes of the Volume 800. What better way to depict how a bike light illuminates than to show it at a desk, reflected on a printer? If you can guess what brand of printer I have you can read two Gadgeteer reviews for free. Actually, flashing LEDs directly into a camera lens is not a great representation of how the eye sees a LED light. I also tried video-ing the light modes on a blank wall and that was not a good illustration either. Bear with me…
I am impressed by these steady light and flash choices and their effectiveness and distinctiveness at road illumination.
I’ll call the steady light modes, low, medium, high, higher, and turbo. I name the flash modes, low flash, medium flash, fade-on / fade-off flash, flash-pause-4 flashes-repeat (my favorite daytime mode), steady-on plus flash (this was my favorite night riding mode).
What I like
- Excellent brightness and variety of flash modes
- Good run-time duration
- Seems well constructed
What I’d change
- The mount should accommodate tapered, curved and small diameter handlebars
- Instructions should be in the package
- The extended center bar mount pictured at the website and at Amazon was not included in the package nor offered as an accessory
- The light needs a quick adjust mount vs. the Allen screw
Final thoughts
For $99 you should get a bike light that mounts easily and adjusts quickly. Its operation should either be super intuitive or easy to learn thanks to complete instructions accompanying the light. The Bookman Volume 800 bike light seems like a well made, nicely engineered light that illuminates the road very well. Hopefully Bookman will make the total package more biker-friendly as they get more experience.
Price: $99
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Bookman Urban Visibility.
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Couldn’t you use a sharp knife to cut around the foam rubber so that it doesn’t show, if you think it cheapens the look?
Sure, but the bigger issue is having to do that at all, to make the light fit the handlebars.