If you cycle to work year round, you need lights that you can rely on. Here are 15 of the best for commuters.
Front and rear lights are a legal and practical necessity for cycling in the dark. You must be able to see and be seen. Cyclists last century had to contend with feeble battery lights with filament bulbs or dynamo lights that went out when you stopped. Now we’ve got energy-efficient LEDs, lightweight rechargeable batteries, and standlights for dynamo lights that shine when we’re stationary.
Some bikes lights are as powerful as car headlights on full beam. They’re great for mountain biking in the dark but are overkill for commuting, where you’ll dazzle and annoy other road users. A less powerful front light with a better defined beam shape is fine for navigating even unlit roads. Under streetlights, you need much less light: being seen is what counts.
For cycle commuters the best lights are either rechargeable battery lights or dynamo powered lights. Rechargeables tend to be cheaper, can be more powerful, and can be swapped between bikes. Dynamo lights have a higher initial cost (because you’ll also need a new front wheel with a hub generator) but are then always on your bike, always ready to go. Front lights that use disposable batteries don’t make economic or ecological sense for commuters. Rear light use less power and can last for up to 40 or 50 hours on a set of disposable batteries.
FRONT LIGHTS
Lezyne Femto USB Drive Front RRP £17
Weighing just 22g, this 15-lumen light is easily carried around in case your main light fails or you get caught out by dusk. For streetlit cycling, it’s ample. It runs for up to 20 hours and can be USB recharged in 2.5 hours. There’s a rear one for the same price or you can buy them as a set for £31.
Exposure Trace Mk2 Daybright RRP £45
Despite its tiny size, the 35g Exposure Trace puts out up to 125 lumens. That’s more than enough to stand out in daylight, let alone at night, and there’s a DayBright pulse setting to maximise its conspicuity. There’s some sideways illumination to make you visible at junctions and it’s USB rechargeable – a ‘fuel gauge’ tells you when to do so. Run time is up to 24 hours.
Moon Meteor Vortex Front Light RRP £54.99
The Vortex has seven different modes, ranging from a 20-lumen be-seen setting up to a 1,000-lumen Boost mode that will punch a beam out to 200 metres. It’s a versatile light that’s equally at home under streetlights or on unlit lanes, and it can be handlebar or helmet mounted. It’s USB rechargeable, and the run time is up to 87 hours.
CatEye AMPP800 RRP £64.99
Higher and lower power rechargeable AMPP lights are available but this is arguably the sweet spot for commuting, with 800 lumens available for the lanes and 200 lumens – steady or flashing – for city streets. Run time is up to 4 hours on constant or 30 flashing. It comes with a handlebar mount but can optionally be fitted to a helmet or a fork crown.
Ravemen PR1200 RRP £99.99
What’s clever about this Ravemen light is that it has dual lenses. One has a beam cutoff, giving a ‘dipped’ light that illuminates the road and won’t dazzle, while the other is a ‘high beam’ that you can use when there’s no oncoming traffic. It’s easy to toggle between them. Output ranges from 100 to 1,200 lumens, run times from 2 to 13 hours. You can also use its battery to recharge your phone.
REAR LIGHTS
Infini Apollo Rear Carrier Light, AA battery powered RRP £19.99
The rear of a pannier rack is an ideal spot for a rear light as it won’t be obstructed by clothing or luggage and can be left permanently bolted in place. This Infini light fits racks with mounting holes either 50mm or 80mm apart. It’s a 10-lumen light that incorporates a large rear reflector. It runs on 2xAA batteries (included).
Moon Cerberus Rear Light RRP £35.99
The Cerberus is a really bright rear light (up to 150 lumens) with a 270-degree viewing angle. It should fit any seatpost, even aerodynamic ones, and has IPX7 waterproofing so it won’t die if your bike doesn’t have a rear mudguard. It has a battery indicator and charges to full in 2 hours. Run times range from less than 2 hours to 19.
CatEye Rapid X2 Kinetic RRP £39.99
The Rapid X2 Kinetic could be really handy in any city with lots of cycle commuters, such as London, as it has a brake light function. An accelerometer detects when you’re slowing down and automatically turns on high power mode. It’s a 50-lumen (max) rechargeable light that’s designed to fit to the seatpost, but there are optional brackets to fit it to the saddle rails or a rear rack.
Lezyne Strip Drive Pro 300 Rear RRP £52
On its highest setting – Day Flash 1 – the Strip Drive Pro 300 puts out a retina-burning 300 lumens. It’ll run for 5 hours like that. On its lowest setting (of 11!) it’ll last for up to 53 hours. A wide viewing angle of 270 degrees makes it particularly useful for commutes with lots of junctions. It fits to either round or aero seatposts and is USB rechargeable.
Exposure TraceR Mk2 ReAKT + Peloton £65
The rear version of the Trace above, with a couple of extra features. ReAKT means it both flares brighter when you brake and adapts to ambient light, for example getting brighter under streetlights. Peloton dims the light when it detects the front light of a cyclist following right behind you, making it ideal for group rides. The TraceR Mk2 is available without these features for £45, or £85 for a Trace/TraceR set.
DYNAMO LIGHTS (FRONT & REAR)
Busch & Müller Lyt BN Plus RRP £32
This is one of the simpler dynamo lamps from Busch & Müller. It’s nevertheless well suited to commuting: it has a standlight that comes on when you stop and a built-in front reflector. Unlike some inexpensive dynamo lamps there’s an on/off switch, so you don’t have to deal with “Do you know your light’s on?” queries from daytime passers by. It mounts to the fork crown and can illuminate up to 45 metres away.
AXA Blueline 50 Steady Auto RRP £52
Brighter than the Busch & Müller above, this AXA lamp will throw a beam 75 metres and can be seen from much further away. It too has a reflector and a standlight. There’s a light/dark sensor so it comes on as required, which is particularly handy for cycling through underpasses and shaded tunnels of trees. The lamp body design means some light is visible from the sides.
Supernova E3 Pro 2 RRP £225
It’s a lot of money for a lamp but this state-of-the-art Supernova E3 Pro 2 comes with a five-year warranty – and, being dynamo powered, its running costs are nil. The TERRAFLUX2 lens is cleverly designed, guiding over 90% of the light beam onto the road and providing well-defined illumination that belies the nominal 205-lumen output. The Supernova logo lights up too. The lamp has an on/off switch and a 5-minute standlight.
Busch & Müller Secula LineTec Rear Dynamo Light, Seatpost Mounted RRP £32
This version of Busch & Müller’s Secula is designed to fit a seatpost or (as pictured) a seatstay. There’s another Secula that fits to a rear mudguard, where a reflector would otherwise attach. That’s how small it is (just 38x55mm). Despite its size and single LED, it’s highly visible thanks to a ‘Linetec crown’ which shows up as a bright strip. The Secula incorporates a rear reflector and a standlight.
SON Rear Light for Rack Mount RRP £54.99
You’ll also see this small dynamo lamp referred to as the Schmidt rear rack light, since SON is an acronym for Schmidt Original Nabendynamo. Designed to fit a rear rack with holes 50mm apart, it’s strongly built from milled aluminium and is fully watertight. It has a standlight and comes fitted with a 190cm cable. A more expensive (£69.99) seatpost-mounted version is also available.
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