I bought the Garmin UT800 light for nighttime riding. I love it, and highly recommend it.

Stuff I like & learned about the UT800

• I chose it because I have other Garmin stuff and it connects to my Garmin stuff - I like integrated technology.
• 800 lumens is plenty for night riding-- I had more than enough visibility to see way up the road and avoid any dangers.
• The light will change its intensity and flashing based on ambient light and speed-- very cool.
• Mounting is so-so. Ideally the mount would be center of gravity so bumps do not affect aiming of the light much. Its quick-release mount is excellent.
• Battery life is more than enough for any dim or dark ride (If you do 3 hours in the dark, you started way earlier or later than I ever would)

There are many cheaper or brighter options (and maybe some cheaper and brighter). The Garmin check a lot of coolness boxes while scoring many of the must-haves.

Bontrager Ion Pro
https://www.trekbikes.com/...-bike-light/p/22466/

Rechargeable, multiple brightness levels, can be controlled with a Garmin/Wahoo to form a light network, and the included mount is stout.
I have this headlight and the Flare RT and they auto start and stop with my Garmin and I can also get battery percentages through the head unit.

I’ve been very happy with this one:

Cygolite Metro Pro – 1,100 Lumen Bike Light – 9 Night & Day Modes – Compact & Durable – IP67 Waterproof – Secured Hard Mount – USB Rechargeable Headlight – for Road, Mountain, Commuter Bicycles https://www.amazon.com/...oding=UTF8&psc=1

I got a GoPro mount adapter for it and a 2-in-1 computer mount with Wahoo mount on top and GoPro under. Easy to take off for charging and adjusting with GoPro mount.

It’s bright as hell and works great day or night. I’ve done plenty of 6 hour rides with it on the flash mode during the day and still has battery charge left.

1800 lumen. https://www.amazon.com/...le?ie=UTF8&psc=1
900 lumen. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0714NFJHJ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Wife and I have 2 of each of above.

We use the 1800 lumen ones primarily. Smaller 900 ones go on helmet (mount link at bottom). The 1800 has an ultra-dim setting, and a dim with strobe setting which is great for dusk when you don't need the light to see yet, but want to be seen better. We never use full boost 1800 mode. I use 1500 lumen when descending. I descended Mt. Lemmon at 2am at 40+mph through the bends at the bottom with that headlight. It's bright. The only time I've longed for even brighter is when I'm using it to spot night wildlife from my RV parking in the middle of nowhere :)

Most of the time I use it for the lower lumen settings and longer battery life.

Plus this mount system for under my Wahoo Bolt (or Garmin):

• https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SXGWR17/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
• https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MSL4OOM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
• https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SSXGZ1H/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Mount splitter if you want multiple lights onboard at once or a gopro:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07XQRX8C9/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This helmet mount:
https://www.amazon.com/...PBJ4GZ17H9N6VGJ0RJZ9

Pro-tip: if you purchase plastic or thinner aluminum out front mounts, they'll break, and your light will break when it hits the ground. Your Wahoo Bolt may not. If you send the broken light it to NiteRider they'll replace it. Can't remember if I told them I dropped it at 20+mph or not. I'm sure they didn't ask. Just asked for symptoms, and then I sent it to them and they shipped me a new one for free.

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The light and motion stuff is nice, backed up by a solid warranty and is Cali made.

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"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."
Hunter S. Thompson

Very happy with this one


https://www.amazon.ca/Wastou-Waterproof-Flashlight-Rechargeable-Included/dp/B07JFB4NJZ/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=bike+lights&qid=1617820613&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyOUdIVzNSODU4MzU5JmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNDEwMTc2MlZOR0EzT0hPWUhRNyZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMDI3OTU5Q0FCNTM4MkxaVVI4JndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==


Handlebar mount, rechargeable, 1200 lumen is very strong, 3 brightness levels plus 3 different flashing options. Had it for few years now.

I know you asked for handlebar mounted lights, but I recently tried a head mounted lamp meant for hiking (Black Diamond Icon) and really liked it. Maybe you could store it with your bike tools, or choose to mount it in some clever way with velcro to the bike at times.

I find the shadows cast by bike-mounted lights can add to confusion sometimes (from foliage in narrow MTB trails), but having the light source right near your eyes essentially casts no shadows you can see. The only issue sometimes is contrast or reach, but I think that only matters when trail running at night, to gauge uneven ground that may not have much texture, and not so much for cycling.

Something of high quality, reliable, and great support if needed ?

Can't beat Exposure lights. (British Co. Same folks as run USE who make stuff like carbon bars, extensions, seat posts etc.).

https://exposurelights.com/


Not cheap. That's the price of paying decent wages to adults in a 1st world country rather than kids or the oppressed in China.

But fabulous. And have customer support if there is a problem. Not just throw it away in the land fill.

Several models to go at.
The MaxxD is amazing. The 6-pack is like having your own portable sun on your handlebars. (I'm familiar with them via mountain biking, and also I use one of their 'joystick' lights on my helmet too for both mountain biking and commuting.

This.
Some might think $400+ for a headlight is overkill, but this light is awesome. I do most of my riding before the sun comes up, and this light can light up the darkest of roads. Lots of different modes/programs to make sure the battery lasts for your ride. Great customer support the one time I needed a new part. Far and away the best light I've used.

For the road, absolutely use something with a proper beam pattern. Nothing worse than high power dazzling bike lights shining in your face.

I just got a Ravemen CR500 which has a decent beam though the cutoff isn’t as good as my older Philips Saferide (which is a tank with excellent optics)

If I could afford half of it a Lupine SL AF7 would be up front...

Depends on the use. That's fine for commuting. But for something like a 24-hour MTB race you typically want way more than that.

Fair enough. You probably want a different beam pattern too-- one much wider than further out. My use case was a dark rails-to-trails road with a dense canopy and no moon. Utterly pitch black. 800 lumens gave me clear definition up the road for 23 MPH riding in a mostly straight line.

NiteRider has been my staple for a few years. I have the 1200 and the 1800. If you want to lights up the trail like a helicopter, Gloworm XS. 2500 lumens, mounts either helmet or bar and light can be modified to either broad beam or more focused ray. Only 2 hour run time on full 2500.

Where is the niterider gloworm?, I can't seem to find any info about it on the web or on the niterider site.

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I'll second the recommendation of the 1800. It really is a great light. I use it on the middle setting (of three brightnesses), and it provides plenty of light for my 4:30AM rides on country roads. And I'll typically get 3 - 4 hours of burn time on the middle setting.

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Mike Sparks


I have competed well, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

The good news is that really good, really bright headlights are super cheap these days. You can get a really good one with 750-1000 lumens for $65-$100. My favorite headlight I own is the Giant Recon 1100, which is a bit more expensive. That light has a great beam pattern and beam color as well as tons of power and a great build quality. I also like the similar power Bontrager Ion, the Cateye Ampp and Cygolite Metro. Friends of mine swear by Light and Motion. You can't really go wrong.


I use GoPro mounts under my computer mounts for lights. If you're not using that setup, one of the more important factors is the mount of the light. I think Cateye and Cygolite make the best bar mounts as they're very secure and easy to use.

Also, I tend to run all headlights on medium to get better battery life. As a result, I buy an overpowered light. I don't think you need more than 500-600 lumens on the road, but I typically get 1,000-1,500 lumen lights.

Any StVZO approved light. Germany has bike lights regulation, the lights should be designed not to blind / dazzle traffic in the opposite direction. This means the lights usually have better designed lens, resulting in less lumens needed in general.

I use Lezyne LITE DRIVE STVZO PRO 80, I see they no longer make it but have more powerful version. Can be easily mounted to garmin gopro mount or use the mount supplied by them. Wired remote is nice bonus.


https://ride.lezyne.com/collections/led-lights-stvzo/products/lite-drive-stvzo-pro-115-loaded-reverse


This is the pattern from my light. You can clearly see how the top is cut not to blind incoming traffic or people.
https://www.lezyne.com/images/product/Product-led-litepro80stvzo-y11-zoom4.jpg

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I eat bananas so I can go faster tomorrow.

GlowormXS is from a different company. It’s available through Jensen USA.

It won't hit the ground if the leash catches it if they fall off somehow.

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https://www.strava.com/...tes/zachary_mckinney

I've used the Nightrider lumina series for the past several years. Rain, Snow, Dirt they keep on working. One fell off one time while riding, I sent it in and they refurbished it no problem.

I use a handlebar mount for one, and a helmet mount for another while riding. The handlebar light shows you where the bike is going and the helmet lights up where you want to go, and flushes out critters in the bush.

I would spend the extra money for the OLED display, it shows how much juice it has for each individual light level.

db

Just make sure you use pretty well built (heavier/thicker metal or pretty strong plastic construction) computer mounts if you'd doing the double of computer + light attached to it. I've had 2 break. One a name brand associated with very high quality. Usually the 1000+ lumen lights have a heavy battery for decent battery life and these mounts weren't originally meant for that.... so I've found out the hard way.

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Dr. Alex Harrison | Founder & CEO | Sport Physiology & Performance PhD
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Anybody got any trick to locking the position of a handlebar light mounted with a Go-Pro style out-in-front mount? My Cygolite metro keeps tilting too low mid-ride, and if I tighten the locking screw on the mount any more, it doesn't seem to help.

Leash?? Do tell. Not heard of or seen such a thing.

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Dr. Alex Harrison | Founder & CEO | Sport Physiology & Performance PhD
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Needs to be tighter. And add loctite. Good luck getting the gopro mount off again though. I just decided to leave my gopro mount on permanently and use an all metal construction one and add green loctite (well, fake green loctite purchased on amazon, which I thought was loctite, but works the same). VERY tight. So tight I thought I was surely going to strip the threads.

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Dr. Alex Harrison | Founder & CEO | Sport Physiology & Performance PhD
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Basically something like https://hostevie.com/gopro-leash.html but wrapped around your handlebars. Your light/computer/etc. kind of needs to have a hole to run the cable through, but you can potentially also do a 3M sticky if there's enough of a flat surface (I did this for my Varia radar - works pretty well although I had to trim the plastic piece slightly)

Buying a used Exposure Race light was a complete paradigm shift for me concerning night riding. I had to work most of one winter down at Camp Pendleton near Oceanside and decided to ride at night a bit. I found an Exposure light on ST classifieds for $150 and it blew me away. I keep my on a three-setting mode. When I'm climbing it stays on low (which will last for 12 hours) and then on the downhills I kick it up to high (2 hours) and it will provide enough light to descend mountainous roads as fast as I would in daylight ... well, maybe close to normal (even off-road).
I like it so much that winter that I bought the Exposure rear light and I swear, I had fewer close calls in the dark than I do during the day.
If my Exposure ever broke or failed I would pay for another.

I am so with you. Many modern lights have all fancy software (apparently you can talk to some), but the reflector and beam shape are last century's technology.
I think it's offensive if someone blinds you with his MegaWatt trail light. 80% of the beam goes into space/into trees, or worst: Into oncoming riders/drivers eyes.
Can't believe there are no regulations on this. Plain dangerous.

I have the Busch&Muller ICON IQ.
http://en.bumm.de/...nwerfer/ixon-iq.html

The beam is where I need the light and there is little 'waste', with up to 5 hrs runtime in high mode. Regular rechargeable batteries.

It doesn't take voice commands, but maybe my German just isn't good enough.
.

Here you go, $9 shipped:
https://www.amazon.com/G-SAVR-Lanyard-Tether-Leash-Computer/dp/B01G6IUGBC?th=1

My man!!

You know I'll be getting the multipack though... can't possibly pass up bulk pricing.

That is... if it works for any of my components.

Does anyone know if this leash works for any of these? If so, how??

1. Wahoo ELEMNT Bolt
2. NiteRider Lumina 1800- or 900-lumen model.
3. GoPro 7 Black (maybe just through mounting case?).

I can't find a way to hook it to any of them. Might just have to go leash-free and stick with overbuilt mounts unless someone can help me here.

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Dr. Alex Harrison | Founder & CEO | Sport Physiology & Performance PhD
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I have a Lupine sl 7 (it‘s legal for german official road use) and it‘s a fantastic front light. Works flawless and you will never care for any other front light I will promise you.

Lots of good replies here. I like the cateye ampp lights. I use the 500 series on all daytime rides for visibility and the 800 model for dusk to dark rides. If you are riding in fully dark conditions without street lights, I'd suggest a light with 1500 lumens or more. I like the cateye volt 1700 for that option. All can be bar mounted or go pro mounted below an out front computer mount.

They all have a few modes, well thought out, perfect for cycling. 2 or 3 solid modes and 2 blink modes.

Excellent reliability and good combination of lumens, weight, and battery length.

I was looking at those, but are the cateye volts still made? The cateye website just shows the ampp series.

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https://www.cateye.com/...dlights/HL-EL1020RC/

I use the 500 ampp and 800 ampp more frequently. The 500 is always on my bike for every daytime ride on roads, similar to cars "dayrunner" lights. The 800 goes on day to dusk to early dark rides. And the volt is enough lumens for night rides. The lower lumen volt series has been updated by the ampp series and it wouldn't surprise me if the volt 1700 is updated, too. I have the 1100 ampp, but don't use it as much, as it seems a little heavy for the lumen output. That being said, they have been rock solid reliable and are well built.

Thanks for the link, but it looks like the volt 1700 is no longer available in the US, except on eBay for crazy prices.

What do you think of the brightness and effectiveness of the ampp 1100 (except the weight) ?

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There's plenty of regulations in Europe (and UK) for road going vehicles. Inc bikes (you all still have the reflectors on your pedals, handlebar and seat post haven't you ?? And not taken any of them off because they cause an aero penalty or look naff on a €10k bike ??)

Luckily the Stazi in the UK have not yet decided to take up on this.
Better to be illuminated than not.
Gives the dickhaed drivers fiddling about with their radio / phone / knob no excuses for not seeing the biker.
And irrespective of any lens shape, if the bleedin thing is not mounted pointing in the right direction and angle (often with a naff rubber bungee mount) then the lens shape is utterly irrelevant.

The good quality UK made lights from the likes of Expusure, Hope and lumicycle do have smart designs of lenses if you buy the right ones anyway to maximise useable light vs trying to illuminate the heavens - but see my 1st comment re. cheaper stuff from China made by kids or the oppressed.)

The 1100 is a very good light with a great beam pattern. Cateye's website lets you compare beam patterns side by side. It could work great as a daytime, daytime to dusk to night light. If you were to use it solely at night time on roads with traffic and little other ambient light, I still suggest having more total lumens. On rides started at night, I use the ampp 500 as a helmet mounted light. The 500 has a brighter spot, which is great for getting car traffic attention. The 1100 has a much wider, more spread out, no strong center spot, but a smooth usable light source for night rides. It has really nice optics. I should add all the ampp lights have side panels that allows the light to shine forward and can be seen on both sides. This is good for additional visibility of you from a car's point of view on side roads.

I have been doing night rides for over 10 years. I have a lot of lights from a lot of companies, niterider, light and motion, lezyne, dinotte, serfas, even high end German lupine lights, and I really like the cateye ampp lights when considering: reliability, clean mounting (I use a gopro mount), easy to swap different cateye lights between the gopro mount, lightweight, battery run time, beam shape, and very usable light patterns (so many lights have overkill light patterns of which I think many are useless). Also, I don't need bluetooth or remote switches. My lupines have these and I don't use those features. I like it simple.

I recently tried the Giant recon hl 1800 to potentially replace my volt 1700. The Giant was a little lighter, but inferior, in my opinion to the volt as it related to the light patterns and also battery run time was shorter than advertised. I ended up returning it.

Good luck in your decision!

What I was trying to say is: buy good light with good lens not to blind incoming traffic. I agree there are many options, but if you want to save some time and money you can aim for lights with certifications (like stvzo). I tried numerous lights in the past before noticing stvzo and I'm happy I don't have to anymore :)

Btw, not a 100% fan of regulations, I believe stzvo approved tail light must not flash so I don't use stvzo approved tail light.

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I eat bananas so I can go faster tomorrow.

I looked at the Lezyne light line as well. But I am wondering about the long-term gravel durability of the mounts, which are essentially just rubber straps. I wonder if there are alternatives? I have to use a handlebar style mount (I have a special mount for this coming from my fork crown), because I have aerobars on my gravel bike and those pretty much block any stem-based gopro or garmin type mounts ...

All ideas welcome.

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I have both the Garmin ut800 and an outbound lighting trail edition. I use the Garmin on my road bike and it's great since it turns on and off with the head unit.

The outbound light is much brighter though. However, I only use it off road. But they do have a road edition which has a sharp cutoff line https://www.outboundlighting.com/...series-road-edition/. Outbound lighting is a much smaller company as well.

I use this on my aero bars to hold my Garmin and cateye light. I passed on the rubber band option, as I wanted the light to be fixed exceptionally well. This Corki model is a very good product. I'd gladly pay 3x the price. I have the long and short models, but ended up using the long model, as it centers the light and computer better between my bars.

Where do you mount your computer, if you use one?

https://www.amazon.com/...TPKQ?ref_=ast_sto_dp

Thanks, that's a good option, I will see how that fits on my aerobars.


Uh ... my ... computer?

For my computer, I use one of these (cheap!, just $12) and I have a way that I have mounted just the head of it to the top of my stem.

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I have had 2 metal and one plastic mount fail. I have had zero rubber strap failures. Vibration and impacts are tough on stiff things. Rubber is less stiff. Hate the look & aero of rubber straps so usually opt for non strap options still.

N=1 of course. Ymmv.

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Dr. Alex Harrison | Founder & CEO | Sport Physiology & Performance PhD
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All good, this kind of feedback and input is perfect.

Thank you.

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Wow! Thanks for the heads up to Outbound lights. I've been researching something for Unbound (formerly DK) this year and that the Trail EVO looks great. I'd also use it for future bikepacking trips and I really like that it accepts pass through charging from a USB battery pack.

https://ride.lezyne.com/...o-115-loaded-reverse

Another vote for NightRider. I have a Lumina 1200 as well as a smaller one, I think maybe the 900. For night mountain biking I use the 1200 on a bar mount and the 900 on my helmet. For road riding I used the 1200 for a long time but never needed the brightest setting, so more recently I've switched to the 900 mounted to a K-Edge combination Garmin/GoPro mount. Nice clean setup with plenty of light for road riding on suburban roads.

The NightRider stuff has been super-durable and they hold a charge forever. Multiple brightness settings as well as daytime flashing modes. No complaints whatsoever.

Thanks, but what kind of mount is that? Will that work via a bar mount?

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A front stem gopro mount is pictured in the link. The light’s brightness level is 290 lumens. At $99.99, that is a very expensive light for those specs that reputable competitors will charge under $30. The mount is worth $15.

It's an upside down GoPro mount on the light itself. If you have probably any out-front mount that can accommodate a GoPro on the underside then you could attach this light to it.

As for price - it's a decently high power StVZO light. You can't rate it on lumens alone, 115 lux is great for the road and the beam pattern would be excellent. Compared to some round beam light, it wouldn't just sh*t on it from a great height, it would upper-decker it convincingly.

My Cannondale CAAD8 that I use as my touring bike..Lit up like a bloody truck.
I cut the bridge off a pair of shorty aero bars and attached them to the end of the drops.

If the above unit was too small, then this one can also be under-mounted:
https://ride.lezyne.com/collections/led-lights-stvzo/products/power-hb-drive-stvzo-500
Similar low-beam design, can switch to high-beam also.

I picked an Olight/Magicshine RN800. Nice portable light, used it mainly for daytime riding, but mighty capable for night time. Will do 800 Lumens for 2 hours.

I did a Youtube video review about it. You can check it out below.