Fabric are known for creating high quality components and have recently announced the launch of the Fabric Lumaray.

In case you’re not aware, Fabric grew out of the accessory/component arm of Charge Bikes (if you’ve ever ridden a Charge Spoon saddle – and most of us have – then you get the idea). The reason for spinning off the brand was to create something that other manufacturers might consider speccing on their bikes, something that wasn’t going to happen when it was branded Charge Bikes.

Where was I? Oh yes, the Fabric Lumaray. Well for some time now on my commute I’ve been conscious of the lack of side visibility on bikes in general, and my bike in particular. It’s obviously exacerbated by the dark evenings. Just last week, my commuting buddy was nearly side swiped by a car doing a cheeky side-road-into-main-road lunge just as we passed by. In the dark, we might have helmet and handlebar lights on but from the side, we probably aren’t that visible.

Now, one option is some reflective tabs on the spokes. I’m planning to sort some of that out, but it’s also useful to have a light that is visible from a wider range of angles and can double as a punchy daylight flash as well. That’s where the Lumaray comes in.

The beauty of this light is that it takes advantage of your Garmin mount (face it, most of us have one, if only to help move the Garmin forward for our age-challenged eyes to focus on!). It fits to the Garmin mount so doesn’t take up any extra space on your handlebars and can be used either underneath the mount, or as a sandwich between it and your GPS unit. It’s definitely in the ‘be seen’ category rather than ‘see by’ but every bit helps and it’s output is spread over 270°.

I can see this as being useful not only to the road commuter crowd but also for mountain bikers out on a night ride, when you inevitably need to string road sections together (or get back from the pub). It might even let you eke out a bit of extra runtime from your main lamps, or get you out of trouble if you were out longer than intended. It’s also quite practical – USB chargeable, waterproof and puts out 30 lumens from it’s COB LED.

About the author

Matt is one of the founding Molefathers of the Muddymoles, and is the designer and main administrator of the website.

Having ridden a 2007 Orange Five for many years then a 2016 YT Industries Jeffsy 29er, he now rocks a Bird Aether 9 and a Pace RC-627.

An early On-One Inbred still lurks in the back of the stable as a reminder of how things have moved on. You can even find him on road bikes - currently a 2019 Cannondale Topstone 105 SE, a much-used 2011 Specialized Secteur and very niche belt drive Trek District 1.

If you've ever wondered how we got into mountain biking and how the MuddyMoles started, well wonder no more.