Light and MotionTaz 1200 Light(Return to Product Page)

Great light for night time riding. I like all the different light settings.

I like everything about the light, and there are no dislikes. I'm a road biker, day or night. And, I can travel high use areas (e.g. rush hours), as well as narrow country roads (e.g. the wine country). By night, I need illumination where roads have no street lights. The 1200 lumens provides that excellent visibility. I'm thinking that if I were a mountain-biker (which I am not) and taking-on an off-road challenged terrain, I may want to boost the lumens to 1500. For road biking, this TAZ 1200 provides excellent illumination and a wide field spread of light. Many headlights provide a spot-light view, but this TAZ lets you see a broad area at night. By day, and in heavy traffic, I'll use the strobe. I'm convinced that being visible by day has avoided possible accidents. I'm always amazed at the surprise looks I get from drivers coming from my right at an intersection. It's true, these drivers often just don't see a bicyclist, and this TAZ 1200 (at 300 lumens in strobe) catches their eye. Finally, the size and ease of recharging makes this perfect for me. My night rides will not exceed 2 hours and using the maximum illumination where there's no street lights, and powering-down when there is the luxury of street lights, my 2 hour jaunt is well covered. And, I don't have to carry that extra and heavy battery pack. The TAZ is all self-contained, and easily onoff the bike. It's been a great light.

I've started doing 200-mile rides, and riding in the dark is almost inescapable. I've been using the Cygolite Expilion 300 before it does the job, but I wanted something a little bit better. The Light & Motion lights were highly recommended so I decided to give it a shot.

The Taz 1200 is blindingly bright at its strongest setting, especially towards oncoming traffic. For urban riding, it may be a little bit much, but it certainly attracts attention. The medium (600-lumens) and low (300-lumens) are pretty sufficient for most cases. There are other modes (flashing, pulsing) that's useful mostly in urban riding to be seen, not so much for seeing. The side lights are also nice to have but I don't really see myself using it much. What I like about the L&M lights is how they spread the beam in front of it. It's a little bit wider so it covers more of the ground and makes it easier to see. There's less of a concentrated halo of light in the center which other lights tend to have.

Battery life is on par with manufacturer's claims. I can get about a little over 3 hours in the medium setting, and truthfully that's where I hope I could get a little bit more. For all-day-and-night riding, you'll have to make compromises with how much light is being used stronger light less run-time. The low (300-lumens) mode is a little bit on the dimmer side than I'd want to in a pitch black environment.

The strapattachment is a mixed bag. I like it because it's universal, but it comes at the cost of being inconvenient when you frequently attachdetach the light. On more bumpy roads, you'll want to use the appropriate adhesive material to prevent it from moving out of place.

Overall a great light only thing I'd want more is a longer battery life.

This is a great light. It may be overkill, but I like to really see the road when I'm riding at night. Before this I had a 300 lumen light and it was only adequate on roads that were well lit. With this light I can go down a dark road confidently. I use the flashing feature during the day time and it is brighter than my past light. I'm definitely much more visible. Cars at night have stopped for me much more readily. One tried to run a stop sign and then abruptly stopped when he saw me. Another car stopped and waited for me to pass even though they had plenty of time to make it. It's nice to not have cars blow you off like they often do during the daytime. During the day time it has helped to decrease people cutting me off as well. A great investment in safety! It's nice that even if I use up the light on full power, the 600 lumen setting is still plenty bright. It does not seem to last as long as the battery life indicated, but I believe that was mainly because it was a cold winter's night. (On full power 1200 lumens lasted me an hour instead of an hour and a half.)

Half my commute is dirt trails, half next to traffic on the streets. I needed a bright light for the dark trails, and on the lowest setting I can see well (sometimes need medium for the rainy dark nights). When next to traffic I only need a light to flash to make cars aware of my presence (street lights allow me to see). This light is way brighter than I need, but I chose it because using it on the low setting allows for a long time between charges and the 3 LEDs light the trail up much better than the single LEDs light do.

With an iPad charger (recommended by light & motion) the light charges up lickity-split (interesting since their website claims 2A charging, but iPad chargers are 2.4A or 12W).

My rating, functionally I would give it 5 stars, but because it is so expensive I feel it should be knocked down a peg. Price is important, especially for a commuting light. For mtn bike night riding I use L&M Seca series and price was less important.

Additionally, the light is not well shielded and causes my wireless bike computer to loose signal. Turn the light off and the computer works again. I played around with location, but there is only so much room on a road handlebar. My Seca does not have the same effect on my mtn bike computer (different model, both cateye computers).

Now that I've had a chance to run this light for a year, can definitely say this is a LIGHT. The light dispersion gives great coverage and the multiple patterns are quite useful. On high, you light up the road.

L&M is spot on for battery life. Use a electric powered cord for quicker charging.

Just wish the mounting was better. A quick release would make charging the light easier.

When shopping for a light I wanted something bright, reliable, rechargeable, and with an internal battery. This model is Light and Motion's brightest all-in-one, with no need to fuss with an external battery pack or the cables. The battery lasts at least as long as advertised and this light can be recharged quickly via USB in the office. There are dimmer/lighter lights out there and there are brighter/heavier/bulkier lights out there. With 1200 lumens the Taz 1200 is the perfect bright enough to see model in a compact package.

One more note, the large buttons are easy to operate while in winter gloves.

I've had this light about a month now. I commute to work (night shift) so I leave home around 945pm. This light makes me forget what time it is! I have no problems seeing potholes in plenty of time, etc. Now the only problem is the rabbits & stuff that do that jiggety freak out when they are blinded & can't decide which way to run... Ahh, but it adds a little excitment. The light easily gets me the 10 miles to work (about 40 minutes) on full blast & then the whole way home (another 40 minutes) on strobe with battery to spare. It charges up within a few hours from my cell phone charger. The strap holds the light securely but I'm still able to quickly remove it when I park. I'm not sure how much good the little orange side lamps do, they seem kind of dim & my arms block them most of the time anyway (roadie drop handlebar). Overall, I'm super pleased with the light, it aint cheap, but you get what you pay for!

Very happy with light output and pattern. Freuently ride a heavily tree lined MUT so a good light is important to me. No problem with mount as noted by other reviwers as of yet.

The Taz 1200 is an awesome light. It is super bright and compact, no separate battery pack and wires to mess with. I really like the wide beam pattern, with the Taz you truly only need one light. I ride with the Taz on my handlebars and no helmut light, where I ride there are a lot of switchbacks and there is no problem seeing around the next turn like with some narrower beam lights.

I upgraded from an already bright 600 lumen to the Taz 1200 and what a difference. On the morning commutes cars actually do now pay attention and wait til I pass them. And on the training rides thru the wooded area I have now a much wider visual view. Both makes the riding in the early morning hours so much saver and enjoyable. And the fact that the Taz 1200 has an internal battery makes it even better.

Love it! Super bright and easy to use, only problem I have is on really rough trails, slips on the big bumps, I'm talking the bumps that use my full suspension travel on my 140 mm fork. Looking for a better way to keep from slipping. I hate to slow down and one handed is not really an option when it slips, I also have a helmet light so I can still see, if this were the only light the slipping would be a huge problem. Light spread is excellent, oval shaped beam covers a wide angle on the trail.

The strobe option needs a lower power setting, 400 lumens on the blink would be fine, 1200 is blinding to oncoming drivers.

I commute an hour and a half each way to work. This light is super bright for the streets/bike path with no lights. The Taz 1200 casts a consistent beam that provides full coverage of your surroundings. Because my commute is at the upper limit of the battery life on the high setting, I have to be conserve battery life by switching to a lower setting when there is street/ambient light.

Amazing light. Super bright, with great settings. Side illumination is also a plus

I purchased this light to increase my visibility to vehicles. With the number of people texting and simply not paying attention as they drive, I thought it was important to communicate my presence on the road with the high density flashing light mode offered with the Light & Motion Taz 1200. It's easy to charge and each charge lasts a long time.

The instructions are clear and the controls are intuitive to use. Well built and worth the cost.

I spent a lot of time researching light options for my morning training rides up and down a dark canyon road. I had been using a light and motion light 900 lumen (claimed) that was bright enough but the beam had an odd shape and the separate battery was a bit of a pain. The Taz 1200 is compact, easy to use and has a great beam pattern. The soft lighting at the sides, long and bright central pattern without too much going into driver's eyes is a real plus. Full power is like a motorcycle headlamp, enough to descend at 25 mph and a canyon road and still spot the deer and porcupines far enough away to avoid them. For ordinary commuting medium or low cast plenty of light. Battery life matches the claims.

The mounting system is not that hard to figure out (RTFM) and has done very well on my oversize road bars. I am have not tested it on the mountain bike over rough trails but I think if snugged properly is should work

The only caveat is to make sure you have a 1.5 or 2.0 Amp USB charger (iPad works great) otherwise charge times are long

It is very bright and is very helpful for biking at night

This is an amazing light. You really could only do better by getting a second light mounted to your helmet for directional light. Only problem is the interference with the Cat Eye computer I use. I have to mount on my frame, but the mounting bracket spins a full 360 so it is possible, it just means my light pattern is rotated 90 .

Well worth the money. This light is plenty bright and fits well on both MTB and road bars. Plenty or light for trails and more than enough for roads.

I love this light. I bought it to replace a Light & Motion Urban 700. This one lasts just as long on high but is much brighter. On the second brightest setting, it's nearly as bright but lasts twice as long.

I do mostly mountain biking and I find the beam pattern to be excellent for it. I use this as my wide beam pattern light, on my handlebars. A helmet light is almost unnecessary.