Tips For Choosing The Best Light For Your Bike

 

Riders experiences with that of bike lights are dated all the way to the days of the Eco-Challenge. This presented them with the opportunity to readily have not only a strong light but also a reliable one which could withstand their journey through out various terrains. In those good olden days, many riders turned to the trusted NiteRider brand since it was pretty strong and readily stored either 6 or 4 D-cell batteries. However, that particular light was quite heavy and with continued engineering ingenuity, there are now countless cost effective, efficient lights which are all easy to use.

 

In today’s society, countless individuals ride to and from work, they ride as a hobby or even professionally. Riders typically come out early in the morning or late in the afternoon, and they have all appreciated a front light on their bike which aids them in seeing what is ahead as well as even highlighting them for vehicles and other riders. In our article we will feature several tips to aid you with choosing the best light for your bike.

 

What To Look For?

Rider Mark LaLonde from Planet Bike has readily stated that when it comes to choosing a headlight that is right for your bike that it is quite a “daunting task”. This is mainly due to the variety of lights featured on the markets today as well as their varied purposes. In order to determine what suits your needs, you’ll need to think about the following such as, how much you are willing to spend, are you interested in rechargeable batteries, what do you expect the light to do and last but not least, do you want to be seen by cyclists or motorists or do you prefer to be able to see with the use of your light.

 

How Do You Measure Brightness?

Brightness is measured by lumens. A simple illustration can be seen from the following, if we were to look at a Mako 1 Watt in the NiteRider brand, it readily has a rating of 100 lumens, and their high-end MiNewt 600 Cordless light has a rating of 600 lumens. This simply means that the higher lumen rating would definitely be much brighter than a lower rating. It is important to note that when a particular light is being considered, the initial distribution of the light’s rays should be considered.

 

As far as distribution goes, riders have given their personal experiences. According to the professional triathlete Torsten Abel who is also a huge fan of the Nova Star which readily emits a cool 540 lumens has suggested that powerful lights can actually shine on a horizontal plane and therefore act as a spotlight and however does not brighten your surroundings. In addition, the marketing manager of Cateye, Liz Weiss has suggested that the different modes on a light and their individual beam pattern can indeed aid a rider as they are looking into the darkness or into fog.

 

How Long Can the Light Hold A Charge?

In addition to the brightness of a light, the power source of a light is also extremely important. Generally, a bike light gets its power from that of your standard battery type, however, some can also be powered by rechargeable batteries which require a USB to do so. As our article progresses, we have reviewed some of the most affordable as well as some high-end lights, and compared their life from a single charge which ranged from as low as 1.5 hours to an outstanding 320 hours.

 

NiteRider MiNewt 600 Cordless

First on our list is the NiteRider MiNewt 600 Cordless which goes for around $150. A simple precaution measure which should be taken into consideration is that when the lights high beam setting is activated, the user should not directly stare into the light. This particular light was the brightest that was tested and rated a whopping 600 lumens. however, for the light to run at such a high rate, the battery only lasts for 1.5 hours. So, in case your ride is significantly less than 1.5 hours, you can easily recharge at your destination, or if you economize on your lights setting such as that of a lower intensity, you can easily get 4.5 hours.

 

Nova Star

Second on our list is the Nova Star which goes for sells for $135. When compared to the NiteRider, this light is quite bright and can last for approximately 4 hours when it is set on high beam which measures 540 lumens. However, on its lower setting, you can get a whopping 10 hours from using its 180 lumens setting. This light features a mountain strap which makes it easy to attach to your helmet, and is one of the industry’s newest addition, and it is being widely talked about by long time users of the trusted Nova brand.

 

Cateye Nano Shot

Third on our list is the Cateye Nano Shot. This light is extremely lightweight and features a powerful beam with a rating of 250 lumens, and it is also rechargeable and sells for $100. However, due to its state-of-the-art opticube technologically advanced lens, the light appears to be brighter. In addition, Cateye also produces the HL-El 135 which has an extremely long battery life between 80 hours and 320 hours.

 

Planet Bike Blaze

Planet Bike readily supports bikers on a public level. It should be noted that their products are not only economic when it comes to cost but they are down to the point and extremely user friendly. The Blaze 1W sells for $46 and was tested and its range was that of 76 lumens, and the charge lasted anywhere from between 7 hours to 20 hours. This particular light is simple to attach and detach and is an excellent choice for an everyday use.   

As we conclude, we have just given you some of the best tips for choosing a light for your bike. We have also discussed what riders need to think about when considering a light as well as the importance of a light’s brightness. In our article we also featured four brands of lights from Outboundlighting.com which have proven to be the best in the biking industry, all that’s left for you to do is select the light which fits your individual needs and head out for a ride!