We all love riding late into the evening on warm summer days, but what about when things start to turn dark and grey? We’ll run through some things to consider when choosing a light so you can carry on riding all year round while staying safe, and without breaking the bank.
Lumens? Runtime? Batteries?
Some of the terminology around bike lights can be confusing but the two most important things to look at when choosing a light are Lumens and Runtime. The Lumens number on the light is simply how bright it is, this is typically in the range of 20-2000lm and is the difference between being seen and seeing where you’re going. For town and city riding on lit roads and paths, up to around 100 lumens will get you seen, anything above that will cast a visible light on the ground for you to see where you’re going, perfect for unlit roads or off road trails. If you’re mountain biking or gravel riding you should consider a second light on you helmet to easily spot corners without having to turn your handlebars.
Your light’s runtime is just its battery life, but this is related to its power (lumens). Most lights will have different power settings, such as low, medium, high, etc, but the brighter the setting, the quicker the battery will run down. Your 1000lm light might only last 2 hours in full power mode but you could get 4 hours in a lower, less bright power setting.
A great set of lights to get you seen riding on lit roads: Trek Ion 50 R/Flare R Metro
Perfect for Darker commuting or night time trail riding, the 1300lm Bontrager Ion Pro RT
Long gone are the days of scrabbling through the kitchen draw for an AA battery, all good lights are USB rechargeable now so you just need to remember to plug them in next to your phone at the end of the day.
Be hard to miss
Lights aren’t just for riding in the dark, especially with the gloomier days as we head into winter. Running a flashing rear light during the day makes you up to 2.4x more noticeable than a rider using no lights at all (and up to 1.4x more noticeable than a rider using a light in steady mode). Being seen on your bike is half the battle to staying safe, so think about multiple lights, especially on longer rides where one might run out.
Bontrager Ion 100 R/Flare R City
Keep it Clean
With a few accessories on your bike, the handlebars can start to look a little cluttered, thankfully most Trek bikes come with the Blendr System to mount your lights cleanly and securely. Blendr uses integrated mounts on the stem and saddle to bolt your lights directly to the bike rather than with a band on mount. Trek even offer a helmet mount option for Blendr lights to make it even easier to be seen.
As always if you have any questions about lights and which ones would work best for you visit us in store in Ashford or Folkestone. You can browse our selection of lights here.
