sqwertl

I bike commute to work every day and with the days getting shorter, I wanted to see if anyone had a recommendation for a good bike light. I usually leave work at 7 or 8pm, so it's pitch black outside from October - February. Luckily I'm in Chicago so there are plenty of street lights, but these don't make me any more visible to cars (bike lanes just mean more space for them to attempt u turns) and there's tons of construction so I'd love to see the road more clearly to avoid bumpy damaged spots. I have been looking at NiteRider Lumina, but I have no experience in buying lights and want to make the best purchase. A good mounting system, bright wide beam, and decent battery life are my main focuses. Easy mounting and unmounting would be a plus, because I ride two different bikes depending on if it's snowing/rainy or clear outside.

SylvainG

I have a CatEye Volt800 and like it. I had before (still use a spare, which you should have if you plan on doing night riding) a 150 lumen but it's not bright enough when road is unlit or cars coming in the opposite direction blinds me. I also bought before a cheap '3000' lumens chinese light which was closer to 500 lumen and a light pattern that made drivers mad at me. Two features I like of the Volt are its 'HyperConstant' mode which gives you a constant 200 lumen/800 lumen pulse and the ability to switch to high output by a double press of the power button. A single press of that power button brings you back to its previous mode. You can buy extra mounting brackets and the light is very easy to install/remove from the bracket. In Hyper/Constant mode, the battery is rated to last 7.5 hours and 2 hours in full 800 lumens. The battery is also removable so you can increase running time by simply swapping batteries.

Hub Spanner

alan s 

crazyravr

I have bontrager ion 100R/Flare R front and rear lights always on, always blinking and I have cygolite 1100 and hotshot in the back steady on to see where I am going.

BobbyG

Cyclist should be using two types of lighting, "See" and "Be Seen" lighting. THat is, lighting to see by, and lighting to be seen by.

To see, I use a NiteRider MiNewt500, which is supposedly 500 lumens, and I'd like it to be just a little brighter. However, I like the pattern, which is a bright spot, plus a fair abount of curb-to curb illumination. It clips to my handle bars and I attach it to all three of my bikes.

To be seen I rely on some LED blinkies, an LED flashlight and reflectors and reflective tape.

One thing I read about on bikeforums, and it really seems to work, is to have "be seen" lights up on your helmet, where they can be seen above many vehicles in traffic. I prefer lights with 180-degree or more visibility.

Also , adding a little reflective tape to your helmet, bike and bags (if any) really helps. And a reflective vest or sash, or clothing.

Here is my lighting setup from 2016. Since then I've added LED Monkey-Lights to the front wheel, and I now own a pair of LED sneakers (I ride with toe clips, so any shoes work).


I highly recommend front and rear

Skipjacks

I like the Cygolites. Granted they are all I've ever tried, but I feel like I found the winner the first time and now I have 4 of them.

I have 'BE SEEN' lights. While my 460 lumen Cygolite headlight can be used as a "see where you're going in the dark" light...that's not it's strength. It's not bright enough and the beam isn't focused enough. But I don't ride in the pitch darkness much so it's fine for me. At high noon on a bright sunny cloudless day, you can see that light blinking from a mile away. (not an exaggeration)

Brightness is important for a 'be seen' light. But blinking is just as important. The blinking will catch a driver's attention quickly.

Cygolite headlights have a feature that keeps the light on as a headlamp, but has it flash brighter ever second so it's both a constant light and a blinking light from the same light.

If you'r eon well lit streets and can see where you are going, the Cygolite Dash 460 in front is enough. If you are riding in the dark, get a brighter one.

In the back I have a Cygolite Hotshot 150. Again, bright enough to be seen from a LONG way back in the bright sunlight. At night it's overpowered. But you can only see it straight back as it's very focused.

I also have Cygolite Hotrods in the front and back. (Red 50 in back, white 100 up front) Neither is good enough by themselves in daylight. You CAN see them. But they aren't what you want. As a supplement though they are great. I have my bright lights blinking slowly so the batteries last forever. And the dimmer lights blinking rapidly so that once the bright light grabs a driver's attention, the dimmer light can keep it.

The Hotrods also have a much wider beam and can be seen laterally from much bigger angles. So they provide a little lateral protections as well.

At night the 50 lumen red Hotrod in back is plenty. But I keep the 150 on as well. I've tested it, and behind a windshield of a car, even at night, the extreme brightness of the Hotshot 150 isn't blinding to a driver. It's overkill, but not blinding.

Skipjacks

What do you have going on with the rear fender? Is that light or reflector?

MMACH 5

My kids got me a Light and Motion Urban 900 for fathers day. I'm super happy with it.

BobbyG

On my other two bikes I have used red and white reflective tape, and red and white striped reflective tape on the rear fender of my mountain bike based commuter. When I bought this bike I went to get reflective tape at the hardware store and saw the black and yellow caution tape and knew that would look slick on a black bike.

fietsbob

Hub Dynamo in front wheel will provide light as soon as you start moving..
On winter bike, for long dark nights and foul weather..
I like the German hubs better than the Asian ones there..

long daylight hours in the summer, then a battery light on that bike is sufficient ..

in that category, NiteRider is a good company .. made in San Diego Cal.
Their Customer service after the sale, has been good ..





being seen in town lights cost less than see the road in the dark with no other light , types....

..

cyccommute 

It depends on how much you want to spend, how long you need the light and how you feel about batteries and battery packs. The Lumina is a well built product but it is costly ($100 for a light), has only an hour run time on high...why would you use any other setting...and has a proprietary battery. It looks like you can get replacement/spare batteries but they would be difficult to change in the field. That's a lot of short comings for an expensive piece of equipment. I have the Cygo version of this light and use it only in the "shoulder" season when sunrise is too late for when I go to work but the sun rises before I get there. It's perfect for up to an hour of riding but still suffers from the same problems of expense and limited run time.


You could also go the generator light which solves the battery problem but adds in other problems. First and foremost is the cost...≥$200 for a new wheel and light. The light isn't easily swapable to another bike and, if you happen to have different sized wheels, the wheels may not be interchangeable. Additionally, if the wheel is turning, the light will go out. They have a capacitor for stoplights but that has a limited use. They also can't be taken off the bike and used as a flashlight if you need to change a tire or fix something. And, again, that $200 for a single light. But at least you don't have to deal with batteries


The best value in bicycle lighting...until the tariffs hit...is something like this. No, it doesn't put out 1200 lumens...it's closer to 800 which is still bright..., the mount is nothing to write home about and the quality may not be as good as the Lumina but at $18 per light, you can experiment without breaking the bank. You can buy one, two or 3 and mount them on your handlebars (2) and on your helmet. You can find these on Amazon or Fleabay...search for "Cree bicycle headlight". I would suggest looking at where the item ships from as the ones that come from China can take a while to get here. There are plenty of suppliers in the US, however. The quality, by the way, isn't as bad as some would have you believe. I've been using several for nearly 10 years now. They have lasted well but, occasionally, they do fail. At $20 to $30, I'm not out that much and just get another one.


Another aspect of the external battery light is that you can switch batteries easily to extend your range or you can get larger battery packs that extend the run time from about 2 hours to close to 6.


Finally, I'll agree that the rubber band mounting system these inexpensive lights use is pretty bad. I changed to a Marwi mount system that is detailed here. You can get the parts at his webstore. It added $15 to $20 to the cost of the light but it is still less expensive than anything else with comparable light output. The Marwi mounts are super solid and very durable. I have some that are over 15 years old and still going strong. One word of warning, however. The mounts can be a bit tight to begin with. Filing down the clamp mount will make them easier to put on and take off. You don't have to remove much plastic but a little bit will help.


Good luck.

RubeRad

Cycco recommended that magicshine clone, and that is indeed a great value. I have two of those at home, but they go on other people's bikes. I don't like the narrowness of the beam (even with the add-on diffuser lens, that just changes it from a tiny spot to a narrow slit).

I get great results from this light, attached to my handlebars with interlocking hose clamps. The one I bought claimed to be 1000 or 1200 lumens or something, I'm surprised this one claims only 400, maybe that's actually accurate. The zoomable head allows me to set a spot on the ground with a size I like (and all on the ground, not wasted on street signs and annoying people in their eyes). Recommend adding to that purchase one or two higher-quality batteries. I have two good batteries and swap them every time I charge (which for me is about once a week in the dark season). At this price point, the battery is where they're skimping.

SylvainG

The light you mention has a T6 LED, which at 2 amps produces a max of 692 lumens according to this Datasheet, so close to the 800 lumens you mentioned, but the light's description says its 5.2Ah power pack lasts 3 hours so drains it 1.73 Amps. At 1.5 Amps, the light gives out 551 lumens. With a bit of maths, at 1.73 Amps, the lumens is about 615 (half the specified lumens by the seller). Still pretty good for a $18 lights.

Skipjacks

I keep something like this

https://www.amazon.com/HAME-11000mAh...2Bbattery&th=1

in a top tube bag. (These comes in all shapes and sizes and weights. From a couple ounces for enough battery to charge a light to a 2 lbs brick that will charge a cell phone and all your lights twice.)

If a light goes down while I'm riding I keep a USB word with me and just plug it in right on the bike while I'm riding.

The only catch is this only works if 1) The light works while charging. I know Cygolites do. and 2) The USB port is accessible while mounted. My Cygolite Dash and Hotshot can be plugged in while mounted. My Cygolite Hotrods have the USB port on the back of the unit that pressed up against the handlebars. They can't be charged while mounted to the bike.

cyccommute 

The whole idea of the USB lights is to have clean lines without the external battery. I don't have a problem with external batteries but why spend the extra money for the USB's cleaner lines?

Skipjacks

It's a backup. It's nice to have in a pinch. I don't keep them plugged in all the time. In fact you don't want to do that as it will wear out the light's internal battery faster.

The clean lines of battery powered lights look and function great....until the battery dies. When it does, I'd rather have a wire for that 1 ride than not be seen by a car.

I only keep the larger battery so I can charge my phone if needed. If all you want is a back up for the lights, you can do it with a 2000mah backup battery that weights next to nothing.

noglider 

What you need depends on lots of factors. Just don't be cheap.

Three good brands of battery lights are Light & Motion, Cygolite, and NiteRider. I've used a few Cygolite lights, and they are well made and reliable. Customer service is also very good.

But generally, I use a dynamo powered system. Yes, it's expensive, but I love the reliability. I get full brightness every minute of every hour the bike is rolling. The only time my headlight stopped working was when someone -- I presume -- saw my headlight shining after I had parked the bike and "helpfully" switched it off. I never touch the switch, so I didn't think to look at it until I got home. Dynamo lights have capacitors to keep the lights on for a few minutes, so the passerby must have thought I was burning a battery.

Then again, I just got this $10 light as an experiment, and I'm impressed. It puts out a shaped beam like the European lights, and it's brighter than my dynamo light. The run time is genuinely two hours as per my test. I don't trust it yet, as I haven't had it long, but it could work out well.

no motor?

If you're in Chicago you're going to need more light to stand out from all the background light. I'm a big fan of having multiple lights, and the lights cycocommute are hard to beat for the money. If you put on of those on the handlebars and get a higher quality light for your helmet you'll have a backup and will probably find the benefits of the extra visibility that comes with a helmet light. I use an older version of one of these lights, on high on my helmet and the bar light on low at night. With both winter and more economic changes coming with the escalating trade wars it would be good to buy something sooner instead of later.

PaulRivers

I wish Phillips had stayed in the dynamo lighting market. They made some nice lights for their time, but they stopped producing bike lights, and then more advances were made in led lighting that let lights put out noteably more light. B&M does a decent job but Phillips used some really nice LED's and is seemed like they designed their bike lights with knowledge from their automotive division so they were able to make a shaped beam lights.

I end up in this awkward in between myself with lighting...I love the "don't even have to think about it" aspect of dynamo lights, but I also like the higher light output and better light quality of my best battery lights...leaves me really torn. I still value my dynamo lights and have them on my bike for short trips in the dark, unexpected need of light, and the comfort of knowing that if the battery runs out I'll still get home fine just a bit slower. But I wish I could cleanly only use my dynamo lights rather than often bringing one of my best battery lights with me. It's annoying.

P.S. I feel like I should mention, I've used a whole bunch of crappy inadequate battery lights throughout the years. I remember in one specific case I had a 200 lumen light, bought a 600 lumen light, the beam shape was absolutely terrible and I could actually see worse than with my 200 lumen light so I returned it. My dynamo lights are better than some of my battery lights...but not all of them.

noglider 

I had a Philips SafeRide dynamo headlight. Some people found it to be better than the B&M lights, but I found it to be equivalent. That's not bad.

I should note that I don't need a super bright light. Some do. A shaped beam with a cutoff is a big deal for me, and it doesn't matter to others. These are reasons dynamo lights work well for me. Another reason is that I can build wheels myself, so the cost of a new wheel is lower for me than for others.

PaulRivers

I bought the slightly brighter battery version of the phillips saferide. I had spent a lot of time looking at screenshots and thinking it was the same basically as my b&m cyo dynamo light...then I bought one and I was like...oh, no, I was wrong, the phillips is definitely nicer. My eyes really preferred the whiter more natural light put out by the phillips. It also had smooth light output whereas the b&m has artifacts in the beam of the light. The drawback of the phillips was it through weird bits of light off to the sides but I found it preferrable to artificacts in the beam itself. I was surprised to find myself greatly preferring the philips but I definitely did.

Thing is LED tech advanced since then, and the philips had a smaller battery, it didn't reach the width and brightness my best battery lights do today...but I if philips was still making lights no doubt they'd have updated it and they might make a light even better than what I have.

In a field where they sell $2,000 - $3,000 bikes, I find the "costs to much" argument a bit absurd...no doubt battery lights are cheaper, but I would I spend only $200-$300 on a light that acts like my car where I just get in and the lights always work? Yes, definitely. Some people spend $1,000 lightweight wheelset. Others can afford to own like 8 bikes. It's not like people aren't spending money for either convience or tiny improvements, it's just a matter of where you want to spend it.

The kind of lighting you need for your route is definitely a factor, and that's where it's right on the edge...my I had a Schmidt Edelux II which is the 2nd brightest dynamo light you can buy, and it...was almost bright enough to handle everything comfortably...but not quite...a battery light gets me like 20% better but it's a really enjoyable 20% improvement, so I end up torn on better lighting for the ride or no battery worries. I actually ended up just doing both, I already own the dynamo and light so I leave it on my bike, then bring the battery light with me. It's not exactly an affordable way to go, and for some rides I'm back to the battery hassle...so close...

My dynamo light is more than enough for biking in absolute darkness, or well lit, but it's not quite enough for those "bright lights, mixed with total darkness" areas we have along the roads. Actually let me rephrase that, it can handle it as long as I bike slower and more cautiously, but you know...I don't want to do that. :-)

SylvainG

Looking a lights from a site posted in another subforum, stumbled upon this one which is pretty similar to that Amazon light:

We Test Lights | Bright Eyes 1200 Lumen Test and Review

The site tests the claimed lumen against reality. So its 1200 lumens was actually... 353 lumens! That's a 847 lumens difference! Yikes!

well biked

+1 for Cygolite. Excellent lights, very dependable IME.

cyccommute 

While I will admit that the light output for the less expensive Cree lights is not 1200 lumens, I would question a result that says that the light only puts out 350 lumens. That's a very dim light and, in my experience, these lights are a lot brighter than that over several brands and models I've used. Perhaps they only tested it in the lowest light mode and either didn't report that or didn't know. The give away that there was something wrong is the run time. On full output, an 18650 battery pack will last about 2 hours. Theirs lasted 4 hours. Something is fishy here.

I have a Cygolite Expilion 850. We Test Lights has tested this light and says that the output is about 800 lumens. I have compared it side-by-side to several of the Chinese Crees and the Cygolite is somewhat dimmer than each one I've used it with, hence my statement that the Chinese Crees put out about 800 lumens.

There are about 10,000 Chinese Crees to choose from. Most of them are worth the money you spend on them and will give excellent service for very little money. They are way better...and usually cheaper...than any "be seen" light and are a pretty good way to find out if you want to ride at night without sinking a lot of money into lighting systems. If you find that you like riding at night, then you can certainly upgrade to more expensive lights. Personally, I tried the "upgrade"...that's why I have the Expilion...and found that the expense didn't provide me with better lighting. It just gave me a flatter wallet.