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Most Popular Bicycle Lights...
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What lights will work for me?
The first step in selecting a light is to decide how it will be used and how bright you need it to be. There are three main brightness classifications of lights. This short guide should help point you in the right direction.
Low Power LED Commuter Lights
These economical head lights are the most common type of light, and typically use disposable batteries.
Ensures you are seen
Provides some additional visibility
Good for casual use and evening rides
View basic bicycle head lights >>
High Power LED and Halogen Lights
These lights are bright enough to light the road at night and get you home safely. They typically use a rechargeable battery pack.
Ensures that you are seen
Ensures you can see the road
Good for regular commuters
View commuter light systems >>
HID & 24 Hour Race Lights
These lights are bright enough to light up a trail at night while you're going all out. They typically use a high-end rechargeable battery pack to ensure the longest burn times.
Ensures that everyone sees you
Ensures that you see as much of the trail as possible at the highest speeds possible.
Often used in 24 hour races
View racing light systems >>
Should I get a halogen or an LED light system?
LED bicycle lighting systems are becoming the standard for commuting light systems. The high powered LED systems, especially those with multiple LEDs are often as bright, if not brighter than most halogen systems. LED bicycle lights tend to be more efficient and have longer run times. The tradeoff is that the halogen systems are often less expensive. In most cases, it is often worth the extra investment for a high-powered LED system.
Halogen lights are almost always brighter than the low power commuter lights.
What are the brightest basic bicycle head lights?
If you’re looking for a bright basic commuter light, the brightest are going to be the full watt LED lights like the CatEye HL-EL530, the NiteRider Ultrafazer Max, or the Serfas SL-ONE. If you need something brighter than these, you will need to look at the some of the full light systems as the power requirements for brighter lights require more than disposable batteries can provide.
What about bicycle tail lights?
There are some very bright tail lights available now. One of the most popular is the Planet Bike Super Flash. It claims visibility up to one mile and if you see it, you’ll see that it’s not hype. The Serfas Red Stop Sign Light is also worth mentioning. It’s nice and bright, and doubles as CPSC reflector which may be required in some areas.
I’m confused by all of the lumen, candlepower and watt measurements. What do I need to know?
A lumen is measure of the “amount” of visible light at a given angle.
A watt is a measure of power input. It’s not a direct measurement on brightness, which will ultimately depend on how efficiently the lamp converts the energy into light, but it does indicate its potential brightness.
Candlepower is a measurement of the “brightness” of a bulb at the source of the light.
If you are comparing lights made by the same manufacturer, this is easy to use in finding the brightest light. However, if you are comparing lights made by different manufacturers, don’t expect to use these measurements. Almost every manufacturer favors a different measurement, and there are no guarantees of how any particular measurement was taken, making a cross comparison almost meaningless or impossible.
Plus, all of the measurements focusing on brightness really only demonstrate the power at the center of the beam. This completely ignores the importance of how well the beam spreads, and you may end up missing a light that has a nice, wide beam in favor of one that is only bright in the center. A good example of this is the CatEye Single Shot Plus – it’s not the brightest on the market, but it has a nice, broad beam which may actually give you more useable light.
Once you have narrowed your search down to a few lights with similar bulb types, that’s when you should really be looking at the light descriptions, any product reviews, and evaluating other factors like cost, battery run-time, product warranties, and whether you like the way one light looks.
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