DreamRider85

For so long I never used rear lights but I didn’t know that it was state law. Anyways do you recharge every ride or do you have batteries? For my Vont front light it has AA batteries. So I don’t need to charge that right?

Gresp15C

Some of my older lights have disposable batteries. They tend to break or wear out after a few years, and as I replace them, I get ones that can be recharged. At present all of my headlights are rechargeable.

If you're using alkaline batteries, those can't be recharged.

I don't recharge after every ride. More like once every couple of weeks. LED's and lithium batteries are an area where bike technology has actually improved in a way that's beneficial for "casual" cyclists like myself.

OldTryGuy

Preparing to leave the house in 30 minutes for another "overnight 100 miler" and the lights are plugged in topping off. As soon as I am done with the ride they will be plugged in to top off and then topped off right before the next ride. The ride tonight is the first ride since my night Memorial 103 Mile Ride this past Sunday.

Pete Cornell (biking friend) was hit/killed by a semi 8 years ago this past Sunday. Have biked 100 miles on the day of his death in memory of him since 2012.

1989Pre 

I have both, but have decided that the risk of re-chargeable (U.S.B) lights are a risk.
If you get caught out at night on a pitch-black country road that is infested with
mosquitoes and your U.S.B light goes out because your ride took longer than usual
or you thought it had enough juice, you're in trouble. With battery-powered, pop
the new ones in and you're out of there.
If you're talking about re-chargeable AA batteries, then I wouldn't even even
bother, unless you know that your ride will be under 2 hours. Go with Lithium
Ion batteries for longest life.

MattTheHat 

My rechargeable lights all last at least 6 hours on low. In many thousands miles of riding at night I’ve never had the light go out. This is because I simply charge it every few rides.

I’m no tree hugger but going through many dozens of AA batteries every year is not something I’d be okay with.

Pop N Wood

Please don't use disposable batteries. Get the Panasonic eneloop rechargeable batteries. They are low self discharge and hold a charge for a year or more in a drawer. Buy a bucket of them and keep some charged in a kitchen drawer, that way you always have fresh batteries with no wait for recharge time.

I use eneloop batteries in everything, TV remotes, clocks, you name it. They saved half a landfill and countless dollars when my son was in his Xbox phase.

I much prefer replaceable batteries in taillights. Plant Bike Greatful Red tailights are cheap and have a large reflector area. I get a couple of months use before needing to swap out the batteries.

Headlights need the extra capacity of a USB kind. I always carry a spare headlight. Ride until it dies, swap it out, than charge the drained one once I get home. Zero planning required that way, always have a fresh light. The Cygolite brand lights can be run off a cell phone backup battery in a pinch, good for multi day tours.

Wilbur Bud

I recharge after every ride out of habit, due to commuting in cold and parking bike outside every day while at work, plus higher consumption also drains battery faster. But, my battery (10 amp-hour one) is permanently mounted so that it powers all lights front and back, so I just had the habit of plugging it into the charger dongle every time I arrived home. Since three years ago I've been work from home, but I find I still plug it in each day after the mid-day ride. I'm sure I could go a week or more now because the battery sizing decision was made before LED when I used a few 20W incandescent bulbs.

roundypndr 

Our state only requires, when riding a bicycle at night, a red reflector on the rear and a white light on the front, but I still use rechargeable battery operated lights front and rear, that have easily removable battery packs powering each one. I keep one or two spare battery packs in the panniers, depending on the time of year, and a couple more battery packs charging at home, with my rotating the packs on a near daily basis.

Notso_fastLane

Two bikes:
1) Recumbent: Front two lights are Nightryderz. I recharge them about every weekend, just to be on the safe side. I've used one every morning for over two weeks without noticing any dimming, and I don't always run both when commuting, so there's a backup. Tail lights are all rechargeable AAs. I have two small buckets in the house, one for 'dead' batteries, and one for charged batteries. When I get 8 in the dead bucket, I put them in the charger.

2) Velomobile: This has a 12 volt system with a battery pack that runs the whole electrical system (headlight + highbeam, tail light + brake light, turn signals, and horn). It's good for a week of commuting, even in the winter when I'm using for both to and from work. I charge it usually friday evenings after work. If I go for a long ride on the weekend, I may charge it again sunday before the work week. I will be ordering a spare in a few weeks.

Chistophe516

I switched re-chargeable lights 10yrs. ago.

JanMM

1. No
2. Yes

Digger Goreman

I run a Cygolight 360/Hotshot combo that is still recharging fine after more than five years....

fietsbob

My year around bikes have front hub generators & LED lights wired to them.. motion = Light.

battery lights for around high summer, Justin Case.. and when I break out my Studded tire bike,
as i keep them in my pocket, warm, until I start riding.
I have not needed that bike for several years, here.. coldest days were clear & dry..







..

FiftySix

I have an older set of lights that takes batteries. My most recent set is USB rechargeable.

The USB headlight I have is only rated at 2 hours on high. One time I didn't keep up with charging that headlight and the little red warning light came on and about 5 or 10 minutes later, that headlight was dead. All I had was a pair of front reflectors for my return trip to the house.

FiftySix

I have the USB version of the Grateful Red. I love that light.

holytrousers

Both : Main taillight with two sets of Ni-MH AAA Batteries (one set lasts ~12 hours steady mode), and one Li-Ion light that lasts ~ 1h30. These are cheap lights and with cheap lights, better rely on good Ni-MH batteries and have a spare charged set.

Gresp15C

I've had super good luck with these lights:

https://www.banggood.com/XANES-600LM...r_warehouse=CN

I bought enough to ensure that nobody in the family would ever be without a light. At this rate, it's easy for me to just throw an entire spare light in my bag. The lights passed my test, which is to get through a season of winter commuting in Wisconsin. Once a week was enough to keep them charged up.

jack pot 

i ride in the dark all the time >>> i always carry an extra white & an extra red USB light ... i switch out & recharge at least every 7 days

livedarklions

It's been my experience that LED lights have a real long-lasting charge, but if you're really that worried, you can just carry an extra fully-charged USB light. Generally, they take up less room and weight than AA batteries.

greatscott

According to everything that I've ever read about modern rechargeable batteries, it's best to recharge the battery after every use, no matter what that battery is in, lights, camera, Garmin, Di2 electronic shifting, phones, etc, etc. Apparently you will shorten the recharge cycles by at least half if you wait till their dead then charge up, or even close to death. Lately some people have been saying not to recharge after every single use, but rather when the battery gets down to 45 to 55% then recharge; I don't know.

I practice recharging my phone no matter how much battery was used with my iPhone SE and the original battery lasted 4 1/2 years, I just replaced it last week, the guy at the battery shop said he had never seen a iphone battery last that long, he said typically they last between 1 1/2 years to 2 years. I'm doing the same with my lights, one of my tail lights is 3 years old and still charging just fine, I have a set of 8 year old AA rechargeables and they're doing fine as well.

https://theconversation.com/four-easy-tips-to-make-your-batteries-last-longer-41172

Here is another take on it:
https://langa.com/index.php/2019/04/...ast-for-years/

There has been a change on how to treat rechargeables since the last time I looked at this subject. Since my phone battery lasted so long, and my other batteries as well I will continue to charge after every use.