Good bike lights for night riding

Bombing around in the dark may seem like a mad thing to do, but night riding is great! Here's our rundown of the best mountain bike lights as rated by our expert panel of testers.

This article contains links to retailers. Purchases made after clicking on those links may help support road. Find out more about road. When the nights draw in, you need to make sure you've got a set of lights on your bike. It's the law in the UK and in many other places to run bike lights after dark, and they're a major safety aid about town as well as letting you see where you're going in the dark lanes.

Good bike lights for night riding

The brighter your lights are, the better your night riding experience is going to be. In this guide, we've focused on high-powered lights for mountain biking. Otherwise, check out our guide to the best bike lights for road cycling and commuting. If you're looking for more detail about what to look for when buying a mountain bike light, you can skip to our buyer's guide at the end of this article. Class-leading illumination, top-quality construction and clever tech make this all-in-one light well worth its high price tag. The Reflex mode senses movement, adjusting power output to the difficulty of the trail. Stop riding, or cruise along a smooth section of trail, and the light dims slowly so your eyes can adjust. Wiggle the bar or hit a bump and it switches to full power instantly. This works so well it renders manual modes pointless, so you can have an entirely hands-off experience. Plenty of light is projected downwards which also has beautiful hue. In 2,lumen Reflex mode, run time is a generous three hours. It lights up the trail and its surroundings with fantastic competence, making it a one-stop-shop for gnarly trail riding. Magicshine has updated this light over the original with the addition of software and hardware needed for the Bluetooth wireless remote control. There are 30 modes, with claimed run times starting at 32 hours for the lumen setting and dropping to one hour 30 minutes for the 8,lumen max-power mode, although it ran for slightly longer in testing. There are no bleached spots of light on the trails and the impressive beam pattern is broad and well-controlled.

To make the Flex, Exposure has basically taken the front end of a Diablo, lopped off the back, tigernet wired in a cable so that you can power it off your e-bike battery. Exposure Trace lights are a long term favourite in the Cycling Weekly office. Trek's Commuter Pro RT front light is well-designed to maxmise the lumens available.

Thankfully, with the help of a decent bike light, your time range for riding can be greatly extended before dawn and beyond dusk. Lumens are the standard unit of measurement for light output. When choosing bike lights for cycling in South Africa, it is important to consider the type of riding you will be doing and the lighting conditions knowing that our street lights are not the most reliable around. For road cycling, a minimum of lumens is recommended. This will provide enough light to see and be seen in low-light conditions.

We may earn a commission for purchases using our links. Learn more. If you are one of those people, having the right bicycle lights for night riding is crucial. Recently, many manufacturers have perfected their production of bike lights and have fixed any flaws they may have had in the past. In this guide, we have reviewed the top ten best bicycle lights for night riding, so make sure to keep reading if you want to find out more! It comes with two mounting options; front and rear. The front-mounting option is a robust and multi-purpose light with an output of up to lumens.

Good bike lights for night riding

The NiteRider Lumina was our favorite light overall from the models we tested. The competition was tight, but the edged ahead because of its bright beam and, more importantly, the quality of that beam. The Expilion lagged just behind because it casts a more narrow, tunnel-like beam compared to the Lumina's broad, even beam. This light is also very easy to remove from the handlebar mount when getting off the bike.

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With lumens, it puts out an enormous amount of light. Overall, the Mk16 Joystick is solid, rugged, beautifully made and performs brilliantly out on the trail or road, day or night. With more use what I've found is that it's different when using this light for truly long distance riding. The range of mounting options means that you can strap or bolt it to your bars or attach it to a GoPro-style mount under your bike computer mount or even your helmet for the best visibility. Sign in View Profile Sign out. And the light never budged, even when it was put to the test on a mountain-bike ride. Most road handlebars are Extra-wide beam: The primary reason for buying a dedicated bike light instead of a flashlight holster is to get a wide-angle beam that directs most of the brightness to the ground in front of you. Wider beam angles are better for being seen by other road users, while narrower beam angles are better for faster riding and providing brighter illumination of the road ahead. In theory, lights with both beam patterns are the best of both worlds. Image 1 of 5. Weight: g set. You could get away with less, but how suitable that is will depend entirely on how fast you want to go and how technical the trails are. Lights are rated in lumens but it's an imperfect measure because the calculation is based on the LED power and battery charge in ideal conditions. The exact wording of the laws varies from state to state, but the summation of it all is that between sunset and sunrise or in conditions of 'limited visibility' you must have a white light pointing forwards, and a red light pointing backwards.

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ReAKT effectively transforms the rear light into a brake light, while Peloton dims the light when shone with a bike light. The shape of the light means its beam spills out from the side, which will prove particularly valuable if you're commuting through busy city streets. Front bike lights come in two categories: those designed to help you be seen, and those intended for illuminating your path. A good light should withstand not just ride time but all of the aspects that go into owning, maintaining, and enjoying a bike. Reasons to avoid - Micro-usb charge port design is outdated. We reserve the right to refuse or cancel any Order prior to delivery. Three powerful LEDs make up the lighting array for this light. Both front and rear lights should also balance range and peripheral lighting. Designed primarily for the road check their Ion Pro RT for a few more lumens to take on some trail riding it focuses the light below the eye level of other road users and includes peripheral beams to make you more easily seen. Reasons to avoid - Exposure lights are usually more expensive than the competition but they do last. Band type: Allen key band clamp.