Giant Recon TL 200 rear light review

The Recon TL 200 rear light is a shining example of Giant’s ability to equip you with almost everything you need for cycling and the triathlon bike leg. 

Capable of producing 200 lumens on High Flash mode and 100 lumens on High, it’s an extremely bright rear light considering the price (£34.99 / $45).

Long-lasting visibility 

Giant claims drivers could see you from as far as 1km away if you use High Flash at night. 

There are two main lenses, and also strips of side light to offer 270 degrees of visibility. 

Charging is via micro-USB, and you can get 2.5 hours of use on High up to 25 hours on Low Flash mode. If your battery is running low, the on/off switch lights up to tell you it’s time to recharge. 

Plenty of mounting options

The Recon TL 200 comes fitted with a removable rubber mount and strap that wraps around your seatpost, and secures to a plastic attachment on the side of the unit. 

I found it fitted on aero road seatposts and round seatposts alike. It didn’t budge wrapped around my seat stay either. It can also mount vertically or horizontally. 

Removing the rubber mount reveals a clip that allows you to attach the Recon TL 200 directly to the back of compatible Giant helmets. 

Even better for triathletes with oversized seatposts on their bikes is that for another £6.99, you can get a saddle rail mount to attach the light to. 

However you want to run your rear light, the Recon TL 200 almost certainly offers a solution. 

Brilliant brightness 

When you’ve mounted, it’s simply one long press to turn on and off and short presses to toggle between the seven modes. 

On the road, day or night, the Recon TL 200 gives me a little more peace of mind that even the doziest drivers have a decent chance of seeing me, such is its brightness. 

I tend to favour High (non-flashing) for short journeys, High Flash in the day and Smart Mode Night for night rides. 

The latter switches from steady to flashing when it gets dark without needing to press a button.

 There’s also a light memory mode, so when you turn it back on it’s still in the same mode as when you turned off. 

Little room for improvement 

The light has been nothing but reliable and durable during the test period, coming with an IPX7 waterproof rating to ensure rain is no match for it.  

What could be improved? 

Not much, but I’d like to see the charge port move to USB-C for even faster charging. 

Run times could go up a little to match lights such as the Topeak Redlite 80 with 3.5 hours on high and 30 hours on flash, but I appreciate the Recon is more powerful. 

Giant Recon TL 200 rear light bottom line

The Recon TL 200 is one of my favourite rear lights, and I’d recommend it to any cyclist or triathlete. 

It’s keenly priced, simple to use, very bright and will fit almost any bike.

Giant Recon TL 200 rear light specs

Price:	£34.99 / $45
Max lumens:	200
Run time:	Up to 25 hours
Waterproof rating:	IPX7
Weight:	46g including mount