However, we didn’t notice this dropoff (from max) while riding with the light, as we usually ran it on medium rather than max. Beam shape and the effect of the light lens can make a huge difference — we’ve seen lights of supposedly lesser power trounce rivals when it comes to real-world performance. The rubber straps on the Ion attach tool-free to almost all handlebars, making it easy to remove or swap to a different bike. We put 12 high-power front lights to the test that should let you head to the hills after night falls to discover a brave new world of riding. It’s a similar thing for the bar clamp - Exposure’s split-clamp system is exquisitely designed, with two CNC machined pieces of metal slotting together to make the hinge and clamp.

Lights, Tools, Accessories - CECO Bicycle Lights, Tools, Accessories - CECO

Although I’d sacrificed crucial bar space – especially important if you mount a GPS on the bars – the light stayed put even over the roughest terrain. But the need for an Allen key and its fiddly nature means that this isn’t so easy to swap between bikes. Even when riding during daylight hours, a blinking rear light can help improve a rider’s visibility to approaching cars.

The beam pattern is very close to a spot, but there’s enough light thrown to the side to feel comfortable using this light on the road. We mixed commuting miles with night rides on mountain bike trails and on the road, using the lights for intended and unintended purposes. For a commuter light, rather than one for post-work training rides or long-distance winter epics, this is perfectly sufficient. There are more innovative products appearing all the time, so do enjoy exploring the world of cycle lighting. Run time on full power was slightly lower than claimed by Knog, but at 1 hour 40 minutes was nevertheless good for a 75-lumen rear light.

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

Trek looks to mix off-road and road use with its Kindbeam tech, designed to avoid dazzling other road users (although not StVZO-compliant). The light will run for three hours, 30 minutes on full-whack and its switch indicates the charge level. It also has a USB charging cable that can be used to turn the light into a power bank to charge other devices, via two USB ports covered by rubber plugs. Pretty much all modern cycle lights use LEDs rather than old-school bulbs, and such has been the advancement of technology, these can be blindingly bright. However, while the outright lumen count of most rear lights won’t come close to the front, the spec is just as important.This isn’t necessarily a problem in itself, but many road cyclists won’t want something overly large to spoil the sleek looks of their road bike or clutter the handlebar. Lights must be able to emit at least four candela (another unit of light intensity), which is comfortably exceeded by modern lights. PDW’s Lars Rover Power extends its beam further than Trek’s Commuter Pro RT, but it doesn’t ‘fill’ the road ahead quite as well. In an ideal world, you would be able to have a mounting system that is perfectly simple, lightning-quick to install and remove, totally secure and infinitely durable… But in reality, there’s usually a bit of a compromise between those various characteristics.