Bike lights review

Visibility is vital when riding a bike at night, but which bike lights are the best?
 
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  • Updated:10 May 2011
  • Author:Rebecca Gatto
  • rateraterateraterate: Member rating
 

01 .Introduction

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The primary role of bike lights isn’t to help you see your way in the dark, but rather to make you visible to other road users. The more visible you are, the less chance of being overlooked by a motorist.

When you ride your bicycle at night or in low-visibility conditions, such as fog or heavy rain, the Australian Road Rules (which form the basis of state and territory road rules) requires that you have lights. These include:

  • A white light at the front.
  • A red light at rear.
  • A rear red reflector

The lights can be steady or flashing, and must be visible for at least 200 metres. Ideally, they should also be visible 50 metres from the side. The red rear reflector should be visible from 50 meters from the rear when light is projected onto it by a vehicle's headlight at low beam. Good head-on and angled visbility is essential - but durability, size, ease of fitting and removing, and battery replacement is also important to consider when buying a bike light.

Ride On, the Bicycle Victoria magazine, recently tested 50 bike lights, a combination of front and rear compact lights, dynamo lights and high-powered LED's.  See the full report report in their April/May issue.

Find out more about bikes and bike accessories

The test

The annual bike lights test brings together a panel of 10 industry experts from the cycling community to act as judges — including police, government, retailers, community groups and CHOICE. The lights are assessed at night on a suburban road with a popular cycle path, at a distance of 200m, and also at 50m with the lights angled at 45° (to simulate the bike approaching an intersection). The flash rate, where applicable, was also assessed. The lights were also assessed by a team of industrial design students from RMIT University in Melbourne, looking at ease of use and documentation, materials and components, construction (including weather resistance) and appearance.

Visibility ratings (out of 100) and industrial design ratings of aspects like usability, durability, waterproofness and value for money (out of 10) are combined to determine the overall score. Visibility is given the highest weighting (60%). 

 
 

 

What to buy

Illumenox Highpower SS-L1222W compact front light

5 Ilumenox high power

 

 

 

 

 

Tioga Dual Eyes compact rear light

13 Tioga Dual Eyes

 

 

 

Gazelle Medeo Plus Fenderlight incorporated dynamo front light

 Gazelle-Medeo-Plus-Fenderlight-incorporated-dynamo-front-light

Literover Trail Blazer high-powered front light

Light Rover Trail Blazer   

 

 

 

 

Instructions

Comparison table list

  • By default ALL tested products are listed. You can select up to five items to view in a side by side comparison.
  • Additional columns can be viewed by using the Next/Previous buttons.

Using the filters

  • Use the filters to show only products that meet your specific requirements or which have the specific features you're interested in. Selecting filters automatically updates the Comparison table list.
  • The number shown in brackets represents the number of products that will be shown if you select that filter.
  • You can view additional filters by selecting the Show more filters button.

Compare products

 
Table Allowing the user to select a number of products dependant on their filter options.
Items to compare

Select up to 5 items below.
Then click the compare button

 
Price ($)Overall scoreTypeVisibility (%)Useability (out of 10)Durability (out of 10)Waterproofness (out of 10)Value for money (out of 10)Standlight (minutes)Burn time (hours)Weight (grams)BatteriesContactBrand
               
Highpower SS-L1222W7981Compact front light7978109Ilumenox
Gekko bracket-less5072Compact front light6388108Knog
Flea 2.0 USB bracket-less6568Compact front light628887Blackburn
Boomer bracket-less5066Compact front light6061086Knog
Blaze 2W9065Compact front light688764Planet bike
Hybrid16963Compact front light5279106Cateye
1W8059Compact front light618294Smart
High Integrate6559Compact front light627753BBB
Spaceship3558Compact front light585864Portland Design Works
Flash bracket-less7957Compact front light4578105Exposure lights
Voyager bracket-less2048Compact front light465934Blackburn
Dual Eyes3586Compact rear light8588109Tioga
Eaglefly2582Compact rear light8874108S-Sun
TL-LD 610R5080Compact rear light808987Cateye
Red Zone 4 bracket-less9979Compact rear light7988106Niteflux
BLS-Highlaser bracket-less3579Compact rear light8474107BBB
1W Rear bracket-less2579Compact rear light816996Skully
Two Eyes4571Compact rear light687896Smart
Cherry Bomb3571Compact rear light6778106NiteRider
600 rear TCL542571Compact rear light816844Tioga
Blinky Superflash3571Compact rear light6578107Planet bike
Beetle bracket-less3571Compact rear light66510106Knog
Crocolight2970Compact rear light6758107Ilumenox
Long Red bracket-less3569Compact rear light6081096Fibre flare
Boomer bracket-less5066Compact rear light6681054Knog
Amuse Rear bracket-less1565Compact rear light6761064Infini
Flare bracket-less7957Compact rear light5358102Exposure Lights
Spok bracket-less2050Compact rear light525842Planet bike
Medeo Plus Fenderlight169972Dynamo front56109910Gazelle
E3 Pro Glare-free35066Dynamo front5588107Supernova
Edelux29966Dynamo front5388108Schmidt
IQ-Fly14965Dynamo front538799Busch and Muller
IQ-Cyo22959Dynamo front578845Busch and Muller
Oval Senso Plus10957Dynamo front496687Busch and Muller
SL620 power back up7742Dynamo front2866103Reelight
E3 tail seat-post mount13063Dynamo rear5088107Supernova
Seculite Plus6554Dynamo rear4655106Busch and Muller
SL620 power back up7749Dynamo rear4066103Reelight
D-Toplight XS plus6942Dynamo rear415444Busch and Muller
Trail Blazer19985High-powered front8497109Literover
Twin Sport26482High-powered front8079108Ay-Up
Mi-Newt.250 cable free30073High-powered front6499107NiteRider
Trion 600 cable free44973High-powered front6789106Cygo-Lite
Commuter 6 cable free19972High-powered front6759108Niteflux
Highpower28069High-powered front6388106BBB
Expilion cable-free19969High-powered front6278107Cygo-Lite
Joystick cable-free32067High-powered front618985Exposure Lights
Diablo cable-free45066High-powered front628984Exposure Lights
Twin Sport with red caps26477High-powered rear7179108Ay-Up
Tail Gator9969High-powered rear6947107Literover
 
              
 

Using the table

Overall score is made up of: Visibility - 60%, Useability (out of 10), Durability (out of 10), Waterproofness (out of 10) and Value for money (out of 10).
Standlight only applies to dynamo lights and refers to how long the light will stay on after you stop pedalling.
Burn time only applies to high-powered LEDs and refers to how long the lights will run for after charging.

Staying visible

  • Check your lights regularly; if they're looking dim, it's time to replace the batteries.
  • It's worth carrying a backup light or two on your bike or backpack - lights can fail unexpectedly, especially in the rain.
  • Wear light-coloured or reflective clothing, or a reflective strip or vest.
  • Steady lights are good for a rider's visability. However, flashing lights are more distinctive and allow other road users to see you better.
  • Most bike lights use LEDs rather than globes. Lights with multiple LEDs are usually brightest but a single LED can still be very bright if the light has a good reflector.
  • Ask the bike shop if you can test the lights before buying. Try the different flash rates – if the flash is too slow you'll travel further between each flash giving motorists an inaccurate judgement of your location. If it's too fast, it'll create a strobe effect, again distorting motorist's judgement of your exact location. 
  • Check the light is clearly visible when side-on or at an angle.
  • Light mounting brackets will fit most bikes but check they'll fit yours.
  • Ideally the light should use easily obtainable batteries such as AAs or AAAs.
  • Riders are easiest to see when their lights are mounted at handlebar height.
  • Helmet-mounted lights aren't ideal - they can overwhelm other riders.
  • Bear in mind that high-powered lights that are too bright can blind other riders and road users. Mounting them at the correct height should help to avoid this.

Dynamo vs. High-powered LED

Since 2010, dynamo lights and high-powered LEDs have been included alongside compact lights in the annual test.

Dynamos don’t require batteries – they’re powered by rubbing on the wheel or hub. Hub dynamos are built into the front wheel of the bike, which requires a wheel rebuild that can be a pricey exercise costing anywhere from $500. However, they’re silent, have little drag and are efficient. Cheaper options are bottle dynamos, which have more drag, are noisy and wear the tyres due to contact with the sidewall of the tyre. Magnetic induction dynamos may have no drag, noise or wear, but they’re heavy and don’t provide the same level of light as hub dynamos.

High-powered LEDs are great for being seen and are most useful if they come with a strobe function – without one their light can meld with the surrounding street and traffic lights. Some require a separate battery pack that is strapped to the bike, while others are “cable free” where the battery is incorporated into the light. For most batteries, simply plug the battery into the mains power with either a charger or USB to charge these lights. It can take two to five hours to fully charge them, and the light can run out in only a few hours, so look for one with a high burn time. If your light uses batteries (eg AAA), always carry spares so you never end up stranded.  

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