There are more powerful lights than the Magicshine but the beam pattern produces a nice usable balance. Russell Burton / Immediate Media Every cyclist should have a set of reliable bike lights. When shopping for the ideal lights to fit your needs, the vast market can feel confusing and difficult to navigate. From lumens to side visibility, there are lots of factors that must be considered when selecting bike lights. With 350 lumens, it puts out an enormous amount of light. The payoff for this is a short run time in static mode, lasting only a few hours. Easy to fit, with lots of mounting options (including a seat rail mount, which is very good at this price), the Comet X-Pro also impresses with its intense output at full power.

Halfords Advanced 1600 Lumen Front Bike Light review Halfords Advanced 1600 Lumen Front Bike Light review

For most lights above we've quotes a battery life range. All lights will have multiple modes, so the range is from the most intense to the most economical option. Landing in the middle ground price wise, they're well designed and have good functionality. Perfect for a lightweight, versatile, good-looking, commuter light set with a very useful daytime mode. While the oversized bar mount is certainly a plus, the design of the mount itself doesn’t appear to have been updated. The clamp itself works well and the design is intuitive, but the interface between the light and the clamp is less than secure. This made our tester less than confident in rough or off-road conditions.

Best light sets for bikes 2023 as rated by our expert testers

The clamp mechanism is well-designed and keeps the light secure on a wide range of handlebars. Our tester was disappointed to find that the mounting platform is fixed with no ability to rotate. The light will also gather data to learn behavioural characteristics and respond accordingly, with the light changing output based on movement and ride style. Our tester had two of these lights, one for commuting and one for club rides. The commuting light became more reactive than the club ride light, which has presumably grown used to more consistent riding.

Bontrager Ion Elite R Front Light - 1000 Lumen | Evans Cycles

For easily dimming the light while riding, a handy wired remote button allows you to change modes without having to move from your riding position on the handlebar. Brightness is good, but reliable brightness is better. A bike light with 600 lumens and excellent battery life may be a better buy than a light with 1,000 lumens and low battery life. Of course, this all depends on your riding preferences. You’ll want a solid 600 lumens from a forward-facing light so that you can see and be seen; (photo/Miya Tsudome) Front Lights vs. Rear Lights The rear light puts out a slightly middling 75 lumens at full power, but does offer an impressive 270 degrees of visibility. The Toro has deep cooling fins and front-facing slot vents around the three LEDs. David Caudery / Our MediaA powerful light may be good a choice if you prefer technical gravel riding. David Caudery / Our Media The light is beautifully made and it comes with a CNC machined alloy mount. The downside is it is heavy and takes up a lot of room on your handlebar. The Magicshine Seemee V2.0 is a bright rear light offering a maximum of 60 lumens in constant mode and 200 lumens in its day flash mode. Side visibility can be an important factor to consider, and some lights rate higher in this category than others. When riding through busy streets, improved side visibility can help prevent accidents before they happen. Battery life depends on many factors including the type of battery, the type of LEDs in the light, and the light’s settings.

LEZYNE LITE DRIVE 1000XL | LED BIKE LIGHT LEZYNE LITE DRIVE 1000XL | LED BIKE LIGHT

It’s not a particularly easy subject to explain, and they’re not directly convertible units. But simply put: as long as you buy decent quality bike lights, fit them properly, and remember to switch them on, the law shouldn’t be a problem. Bike lights and the US law What does US law say about bike lights? Bright enough to use as a daytime running light, this latest version of Lezyne’s Strip Drive features a new wide-angle lens to provide around 270° of visibility. For urban commuting, 200 lumens should be sufficient. We would suggest a front light with a minimum of 400 lumens for riding on unlit roads.The Magicshine Allty1000 also has the longest battery life when shining on full. On the downside, it does charge with Micro USB rather than USB-C. The battery indication is more basic than the previous two lights, with a simple green LED changing to red and starting to flash as you get to 30% and 10% charge, respectively, which isn’t so helpful for power management on longer rides.

Best bike lights 2023 | Front and rear lights for road Best bike lights 2023 | Front and rear lights for road

In use, the strength and pattern of the Commuter Pro RT’s beam meant that I was happy tapping along at Tempo / Zone 3 down unlit roads, although a solid Threshold / Zone 4 effort and seated VO2 Max intervals were a bit fast for the amount of road you can see ahead. Magicshine says the light has a 20-lumen maximum output. In reality, it feels brighter and there’s a variety of modes to help you stay seen.

Halfords Advanced 1600 Lumen Front Bike Light performance

Both front or rear lights can be flashers, but if so they must emit at least four candela. “But bike lights tend to be rated in lumens or Watts, what’s a candela?” we hear you cry.