Your bike is not complete without the proper mountain bike lights. If you're spending so much money on the bike itself and other bike parts, you should also invest in the best lights. Besides, without it, you won't be able to use your bike when the sun goes down. So if you want to get the most out of your bike and value your safety while you’re at it, get the best bike lights you can find.
Are you still not sure which bike lights you should get? This review has different types of bike lights you may choose from. Read on to know more!
Throughout this article, you will come across the term "lumens." This is an important term when choosing mountain bike lights. Lumens are a measure of how intense the emitted light from a bulb is. It usually takes up a value between 10 to 20,000. Higher values correspond to higher light intensity.
When choosing bike lights, you should go above 100. Although 100 is a reasonably good number, it may not be enough for night rides. The lowest value for the lumens is around 250 to 400 lumens. These values should be enough for you to see the road ahead of you. Since night lights with higher lumens emit brighter lights, they also run out of batteries faster. So if you go on long bike rides at night, you should know how long your bike light's batteries will last.
Whether you're new to cycling or not, bike lights are a must! Investing in good-quality lights is essential, especially if you're an avid night-time biker. The lights allow you to see the road clearly and play a significant role in keeping you safe while cycling.
The brightness will depend on the lumens of the lights. This review includes brands of different lumen values, both for front and rear light placements. Check them out here:
Lezyne's Strip Drive Pro is a powerful bike night light with 11 different modes you can choose from. With its 5 LEDs, you can choose a day-flash mode with 300 lumens. Since there are many modes you can choose from, there's a perfect one for you which you can use with whatever riding conditions you're faced with. Among these modes, three are constant, six are flashing, and the last two are for daytime rides.
The Strip Drive Pro comes with an elastic strap which you may use to mount in your seat posts. Since the strap is adjustable, this bike light fits seats of all sizes and shapes. In addition, it will only take you 2 hours to charge this night 300-lumen bike tail light fully, and it comes with a built-in USB plug.
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Who's it for: If you're looking for affordable but good-quality rear bike lights, the Lezyne Strip Drive Pro is for you! This is also the perfect choice, especially if you're into biking in different weather conditions. Its 11 modes won't be too much for you since you can maximize them depending on the road's situation.
This Knog Blinder Road 600 front bike light has been around since 2012. Its design was remodeled over the years, and the final version is what we see with its 2020 redesign today. One of its biggest upgrades from the previous versions is the number of lumens included in these lights. As a result, this 600-lumen bike light is one of the most powerful and energy-efficient front lights you can see in the market.
It has two independent LEDs, which give off 400 lumens each. However, when both are turned on simultaneously, the joint calculated value is only 600 lumens. This value is still more than enough for a mountain bike's front light. The road will still be visible at night, may it be clear or raining when running at an average pace.
This bike light differs from the others as the left-hand side has a 12-degree beam, creating a spotlight effect. On the other hand, the right side has a 32-degree beam, giving more of a floodlight effect.
Although charging it is easy as it comes with a USB-compatible port, it will take 5 hours to charge it up to its total capacity. This amount of time is above average compared to other 600-lumen night lights.
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Who's it for: Choose the Knog Blinder Road front bike light if you're into long-haul rides! However, these bike lights might not be a perfect choice, especially if you're used to going at extremely high speeds on the road. The faster you go on the road, the hazier it will be. So you will need brighter lights to see clearly. But if you're taking in a reasonable amount of speed when cycling, its brightness is enough to illuminate your road properly.
This 5600-lumen bike light is an excellent front light that comes with a high-capacity 5,200 mAh battery. Overall, it is equipped with 4 CREE T^ lights which all give off a bright light when used together. You can choose three modes when using this bike light: high, medium, and low settings.
It comes with an extra-firm attachment that you may use not only for mountain bikes but also for other bikes such as road, touring, and BMX bikes. In addition, the mount won't wobble even if you go offroad.
What sets this mountain bike light apart from the others is its smart charger and adjustable headband. The charger is portable so that you can bring it for long-haul rides. If you're not cycling, you may attach the night light with the headband it comes with. Now, you may use it for other sports such as running, camping, or rock climbing.
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Who's it for: The Extra Bright 5,600-lumens bike mount is the perfect addition to your bike—whether it be a mountain bike or a BMX. If you're into doing other sports aside from cycling, it doubles as a headlight when attached to the free headband it comes with too! Choose this if you're looking for a versatile bike light.
There are not a lot of 15000 lumens bike light choices out there. So this particular device from etrade2global will be such a steal if you are looking for very bright night lights. It has 9 CREE XM-LED, which is one of the most popular LED lights in the market today. The nine individual LEDs give off a total of 15000 lumens which is bright enough to be considered as a "super torch."
As mentioned before, the higher the number of lumens of the lights, the brighter they are. With 15,000 lumens, this is on the pretty high range value for bike lights. But since it comes with a 12,800 mAh battery capacity, you won't have any battery life problems with this value. The size of the bike light is just right for its features—it's not too big nor too heavy, so it's very easy to attach to your bike handles.
There are three working modes available, namely high, middle, and strobe. Although this model doesn't have many modes available, these three are enough for biking under different weather and road conditions.
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Who's it for: If your cycling schedule usually starts early in the morning or ends late at night, you will need brighter front bike lights. This particular product of etrade2global is more than enough to use under these riding conditions at 15,000 lumens. This is a pretty good and bright bike light, especially if you're looking for a device that can have a high battery capacity to last for long bike hauls!
Fifteen thousand lumens might be too bright for some cyclists, but 6,000 may not be enough. If you find yourself looking for something in between these two, you should consider Magicshine Monteer Galaxy. It comes with 8,000 lumens, 5 CREE LEDs in it, with the top angling at 32-degrees which serves as its floodlights, and the ones in the bottom are at 21 degrees, serving as spotlight LEDs.
Like most bike lights, this particular device comes with three modes—one of which is flashing. Compared to other brands wherein you have to press the button once to change the mode, this bike light requires two push-to-shift modes. However, it's still pretty easy to change settings even with the added click.
It comes with a 10,000 mAh rechargeable battery, which lasts for 1.5 hours when it's fully charged. Charging won't be a problem since it has a USB-C port, so you can bring a power bank with you and charge it while you're on the road.
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Who's it for: If you're not really into biking for an extended period, say around 1 to 1.5 hours, this is the perfect bike light for you. However, given its fairly limited battery capacity, it may not be enough for long-haul cyclings. However, if your rides range between this time, the Magicshine Monteer Galaxy bike light is a good buy!
When you're looking for the best bike lights for you, make sure you know the type of weather conditions you're going to use them in and for how long. If you're going to use it for longer routes, you should choose bike lights with around 6,000 lumens. Although you also have to assess if this is bright enough for you. Brightness is subjective and will depend on your eyesight.
If you have bad eyesight but want to go on long rides, it would be best to choose a bike light with higher lumens that may be charged with a portable charger.
These are the things you should consider when buying mountain bike lights. There's no particular way you should choose yours—it varies mainly on your personal preference. With that said, you should assess first what you need and go from there. It may be overwhelming to be presented with so many options, especially if it's your first time buying one. Narrow your selection down with the number of lumens, and it will be easier to take it from there.
