Hello everyone,
I’m wondering what people can offer in terms of experience with various LED lights for cycling. I’ve wasted a fair bit of cash on lights that aren’t as bright as I’d like or don’t have enough battery life relative to a long ride.
I’m looking for something that is bright, flashes, and lasts a long time.
Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance!
_M
I’m wondering what people can offer in terms of experience with various LED lights for cycling. I’ve wasted a fair bit of cash on lights that aren’t as bright as I’d like or don’t have enough battery life relative to a long ride.
I’m looking for something that is bright, flashes, and lasts a long time.
Best all-around light I have found and have used for the past 3+ years the Bontrager Flare - https://www.trekbikes.com/ca/en_CA/equipment/cycling-accessories/bike-lights/bike-rear-lights/bontrager-flare-rt-rear-bike-light/p/23999/
Compact, easy to mount and take on and off, multiple modes, long lasting on charge, a super bright(You can see this light flashing from over half a kilometer away!!), and durable (ridden through several monsoon like rain sessions).
A bit expensive up front - but the one I bought over three years ago is still going strong!
Also has a front version as well.
Thanks Fleck,
I’ll consider that my front runner unless someone else has another idea. It looks like I can get it locally too.
Are you looking for something that is to be seen by, or to see where you are going ?
I do a fair bit of riding at night, inc off road.
I must say you can’t go wrong with Exposure lights (from the same Co who make USE components like carbon aero bars). Or Hope (of 2021 olympics GB track bike fame).
For being seen as ‘markers’ that flash, the Exposure Trace (front) and TraceR rear are great. Not the cheapest, but we’ll made. And the flash pattern is well thought out so you are not unlit at times (some light flashing patterns are dire and leave a rider unlit for too long between pulses).
Also they have a wedge shaped bracket available after-market for about $10 that suits aero seat posts, if needed.
For lighting the road, many of the larger Exposure lights are also fantastic. E.g. Maxx-D.
Or I use a Hope R4 light for both road and MTB, which is 1500lux actual measured output on max, with a quality lens design. and can get different battery pack sizes to suit different needs. (Max 1500 not needed much so a button press can drop it down and extend the battery life)
(I did a night tri last year in the V dark Scottish Highlands after midnight. The battery still had half charge or more left after close to 4 hrs (yeah slow… because A- I’m unfit and slow, and B- a mechanical for the last 10-15 miles robbed me of gears until I was down to none !!
Are you looking for something that is to be seen by, or to see where you are going ?
I do a fair bit of riding at night, inc off road.
I must say you can’t go wrong with Exposure lights (from the same Co who make USE components like carbon aero bars). Or Hope (of 2021 olympics GB track bike fame).
For being seen as ‘markers’ that flash, the Exposure Trace (front) and TraceR rear are great. Not the cheapest, but we’ll made. And the flash pattern is well thought out so you are not unlit at times (some light flashing patterns are dire and leave a rider unlit for too long between pulses).
Also they have a wedge shaped bracket available after-market for about $10 that suits aero seat posts, if needed.
For lighting the road, many of the larger Exposure lights are also fantastic. E.g. Maxx-D.
Or I use a Hope R4 light for both road and MTB, which is 1500lux actual measured output on max, with a quality lens design. and can get different battery pack sizes to suit different needs. (Max 1500 not needed much so a button press can drop it down and extend the battery life)
(I did a night tri last year in the V dark Scottish Highlands after midnight. The battery still had half charge or more left after close to 4 hrs (yeah slow… because A- I’m unfit and slow, and B- a mechanical for the last 10-15 miles robbed me of gears until I was down to none !!
x2 on Exposure. You get what you pay for. Better than the Flare in my experience.
For the rear, I recommend the Garmin Varia, mainly because of the car radar detecting feature. It’s plenty bright and lasts a long time. I’ve done century rides and never run out of battery, using the flash mode.
For the front, I also recommend the Garmin Varia (UT800 front light). It’s extremely bright and loooong battery life. I also have a Flare, and it’s not nearly as bright and the battery life is shorter. Which isn’t surprising because it’s so small. Small light means small battery.
There are plenty of other good front lights though. I also have a $30 no name light from Amazon that’s good. I think the key is big light = big battery life, generally speaking.
I have had very bad luck with flairs gone through a bunch. Bought a single clear in January will not charge now. Probably have 5 more that will not charge anymore. These are expensive. When they work they are great.
Are you looking for something that is to be seen by, or to see where you are going ?
I do a fair bit of riding at night, inc off road.
I must say you can’t go wrong with Exposure lights (from the same Co who make USE components like carbon aero bars). Or Hope (of 2021 olympics GB track bike fame).
For being seen as ‘markers’ that flash, the Exposure Trace (front) and TraceR rear are great. Not the cheapest, but we’ll made. And the flash pattern is well thought out so you are not unlit at times (some light flashing patterns are dire and leave a rider unlit for too long between pulses).
Also they have a wedge shaped bracket available after-market for about $10 that suits aero seat posts, if needed.
For lighting the road, many of the larger Exposure lights are also fantastic. E.g. Maxx-D.
Or I use a Hope R4 light for both road and MTB, which is 1500lux actual measured output on max, with a quality lens design. and can get different battery pack sizes to suit different needs. (Max 1500 not needed much so a button press can drop it down and extend the battery life)
(I did a night tri last year in the V dark Scottish Highlands after midnight. The battery still had half charge or more left after close to 4 hrs (yeah slow… because A- I’m unfit and slow, and B- a mechanical for the last 10-15 miles robbed me of gears until I was down to none !!
I’m looking to be visible to motorists. I don’t ride at night, but sometimes dark clouds come in or I end up in the rain. Otherwise, I’m often in the shade on some of our rural, tree lined roads and I want to be easily noticed.
Thanks everyone for all the ideas so far, keep 'em coming. I’m taking lots of notes here.
Hello everyone,
I’m wondering what people can offer in terms of experience with various LED lights for cycling. I’ve wasted a fair bit of cash on lights that aren’t as bright as I’d like or don’t have enough battery life relative to a long ride.
I’m looking for something that is bright, flashes, and lasts a long time.
Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance!
_M
I have an extensive collection of lights, have done night rides for years, and I like this one for my day runner purposes. It’s bright, lightweight, inexpensive, has a great day runner flash setting that goes between 500 and 250 lumens, while remaining always on, and lasts 5 hours in this setting. It has a 250 lumen flash setting that lasts 50 hours. I mount it GoPro style below my garmin, with the optional cateye GoPro accessory mount. It works well for my road, Tri, and gravel bike. I haven’t found a better light for this purpose and I have lights that have cost over $500. Many lights have crummy flash patterns. I also have the cateye ampp 800, 1100, and volt 1700, (and a ton of other brands) and like the 500 the best for this purpose. You need something brighter if you want a night time light,
For the rear, it’s Varia, hands down.
It’s not the brightest rear light, but once you start regularly using the radar feature which lets you literally see cars behind you (at least the dot on the computer!) while you’re riding, you’ll never use any other tail-light regardless of how much brighter/better it is.
And I’m the person who will argue that a super-bright taillight like a Dinotte is almost certainly wayyyy safer than a Varia as it’s highly unlikely you’ll be able to actually do an emergency evasive manuever even if the Varia tells you a car is suddenly back there. (Granted, the Varia radar isn’t for that - it’s for gradual warnings, particularly on low-traffic roads where you might be more comfortable in the lane rather than the no-shoulder, but do have to be aware of the rare rear cars - these are precisely the type of roads cyclists gravitate towards, so Varia is great for those.)
Trust me - even with the $$$ price, once you use the Varia for a week, you won’t consider any other taillight, and in fact, if you’re like me, you won’t even consider any other bike computer that doesn’t interface with the Varia.
I have a Cygolite headlight that has a very bright daytime flashing mode.
I think it’s the Metro 1100, so far I have been very happy with it.
It’s not the brightest rear light, but once you start regularly using the radar feature which lets you literally see cars behind you (at least the dot on the computer!) while you’re riding, you’ll never use any other tail-light regardless of how much brighter/better it is.
Maybe I’m the exception. I tried it for a few months, continually waiting for the a-ha moment. It never came. Now it just sits in my garage on the bench.
It’s not the brightest rear light, but once you start regularly using the radar feature which lets you literally see cars behind you (at least the dot on the computer!) while you’re riding, you’ll never use any other tail-light regardless of how much brighter/better it is.
Maybe I’m the exception. I tried it for a few months, continually waiting for the a-ha moment. It never came. Now it just sits in my garage on the bench.
Really?! You’re the first I’ve heard of!
What type of roads are you riding? If it’s a busy road with constant cars, yeah, there’s no point as cars are always back there. But on the more typical cyclist road, like Saturday 7AM where 1-5 cars will pass you every 15 minutes, or a country road where you can take the entire lane most of the time, once you have the Varia, it’s nearly impossible to not want it all the time.
What type of roads are you riding? If it’s a busy road with constant cars, yeah, there’s no point as cars are always back there. But on the more typical cyclist road, like Saturday 7AM where 1-5 cars will pass you every 15 minutes, or a country road where you can take the entire lane most of the time, once you have the Varia, it’s nearly impossible to not want it all the time.
All types, and I do see the value for “country roads” with little-to-no shoulder, where cars can come up on you pretty fast from behind. And I keep it around for those “epic country ride” situations. For all other roads, all the little lights are kind of a nuisance to me. I just tune them out. Taking the lane or not. In those situations, I prefer a camera-light to a radar-light.
The new Varia radar-camera-light is intriguing, though.
It’s not the brightest rear light, but once you start regularly using the radar feature which lets you literally see cars behind you (at least the dot on the computer!) while you’re riding, you’ll never use any other tail-light regardless of how much brighter/better it is.
Maybe I’m the exception. I tried it for a few months, continually waiting for the a-ha moment. It never came. Now it just sits in my garage on the bench.
Really?! You’re the first I’ve heard of!
What type of roads are you riding? If it’s a busy road with constant cars, yeah, there’s no point as cars are always back there. But on the more typical cyclist road, like Saturday 7AM where 1-5 cars will pass you every 15 minutes, or a country road where you can take the entire lane most of the time, once you have the Varia, it’s nearly impossible to not want it all the time.
I totally agree, would not consider anything other than a varia for the exact reason on roads where there are few cars it is a nice heads up. Particularly on gravel back roads where I may be in the middle of the road it is nice to know they are back there so I can move over.
Just an update - I picked up a Bontrager light at a local brick and mortar store. I’m happy with it, nice and bright. Thanks again for the ideas.