There is a lot to take into consideration when choosing a light setup for your next night mountain bike riding adventure. Between the burn time, the lumens, and the different ways it can attach to your bike, there is a lot of variation that you can choose from. Whatever your preferences are on those other things, however, you definitely want a light that will last for a long time and will do what you need it to do reliably.
Here’s what to look for when setting up the best night riding lights. Both helmet lights and bar-mounted lights are essential parts of night riding, but there are some features that are more optional. A remote that lets you change your light settings is one optional feature that some bike lights have. Another one is a fuel gauge that lets you see how low the energy is from which you can usually estimate how much more time you will have light for.
Due to a push for more compatibility there are new lights on the market that can be charged with a regular car charger and, while bike lights can take hours to charge and you are not likely to be driving for that long, it can be a great way to top off your light. To help you out, here are of few of the best options out there for lighting your path on your next night riding trip:
Bright Eyes Waterproof – 1600 Lumens – 5 hours
This light is an extremely versatile one and thanks to its design can be either used as a handlebar-mounted light or a helmet light. It has a two-piece design, with the light being attached to the handlebars or helmet by two o-rings for extra security and the battery being attached with a Velcro strap to either the back of the helmet or the frame of your bike.
It has five different settings you can choose from: high, medium, low, slow strobe, and fast strobe. The high setting works great for riding the trails, with the lower settings being perfectly suited to riding on public streets. On high it lasts around five hours but that time is more around 15 hours when it is on its low setting.
It also comes with a lot of perks including: a headlamp harness so you can wear it without attaching it to a helmet; an extension cord so that you can attach the battery almost anywhere you want to; a beam diffuser and instructions on how to use it to widen your beam; and a small rear light which has different settings of its own.
This model also has an indicator button on the back of the light that will change colors when it is getting low, however this is not quite as good as a bar indicator since you won’t be able to guess by looking at it how much more time you have before the light will go out. The other downside is that this one doesn’t swivel and can possible get jostled if you are going over really bumpy terrain since it is not clamped down.
Night Rider Pro 1800 Race – 1800 Lumens – 1 ½ hours
While this option does have a shorter run time when on the highest setting, it makes up for this in other ways. The clamp-on grip does a great job of attaching it firmly to the handlebars and, like the other option mentioned above, it also comes with a helmet mounting bracket so that you can use it on either spot.
The medium setting of 700 lumens is a good amount of light for a helmet light and the high setting of 1,800 of measured lumens does a great job of lighting up the forest from your handlebars. The 400 lumens setting is great for riding on public streets and can last for six hours and the lens is made out of a fairly new material called Borofloat which is made to be particularly unbreakable.
This option is also a two-piece with the battery being separate and attached by a piece of Velcro to your bike or helmet. The connections are all gasket sealed to make it both water and dust resistant – a good thing to have whether riding through rain or through a sandy or dusty area. Best of all it has a battery gauge that won’t leave you guessing how much light you have left.
Nitecore BR35 Dual Beam – 1800 Lumens – 1 hour
This option is one of the more expensive on the list, but it comes with almost all of the options that you could want in a light on your bike. It clamps down firmly onto your handlebar and has two lights, one of which points further down the trail and the other one which points down closer to right in front of your front tire. This really cuts down on any blind spots and makes it possible to go without a helmet light.
It has eight different programmable modes and settings to choose from and a wonderful display system that actually has a countdown timer that lets you know without any guesswork exactly how much time of light you have left. On top of this, the remote even has a plus and minus so you can manually tell it to get just a little more or a little less bright.
It is completely waterproof and its anodized finish won’t rust over time and, while it does weigh a little more than some others, its aircraft-grade aluminum is durable enough to last a long time. This durability helps it to be somewhat impact resistant in case of accidents. Finally, its USB charging cable will let you charge it in anywhere, which can be a very handy feature to have.
Victagen Super Bright Headlight & Taillight – 2400 Lumens – 3 hours
This option is an all in one that clamps down securely onto your handlebars. The rear light is extra adjustable and can be attached to backpack, helmet, or anything else if you don’t want it on the back of your bike. It can be charged anywhere using a USB port and thanks to its all in one design it will have no hanging wires to get caught on things.
This also makes it easier to dismount the light when you are done with your ride so that it won’t get stolen. Or you can take it off to use just like you would a regular flashlight if you get a flat on the trail. It has four different headlight modes: high light, medium light, low light, and strobe. The taillight also has different settings: high, fast flash, and slow flash and is also USB rechargeable as well.
The low setting, at around 600 lumens, is perfect for riding on public streets with and lasts closer to 16 hours. This option is also waterproof and in addition has the ability to rotate nearly 360 degrees, allowing you to point it anywhere you need to see. The clamps are shock resistant and made mostly of aluminum alloy so that it will last almost as long as your bike.
Shenkey Bicycle Headlight – 1000 Lumens – 2-3 hours
With a light beam specifically designed for riding at night, this option may not have as many lumens but it gives a little more burn time than many others. It only has three modes: high, medium, and flashing and like most of the other options on my list today it can clamp down either onto your handlebar or attach onto your helmet. The clamp is adjustable and so can be made to fit most bike handlebars and it also comes with a battery powered tail light.
Its all in one design paired with its chargeable USB port means that it is easy to charge anywhere and equally easy to use it as a flashlight if needed. Technically speaking this one will even allow you to use it while it is charging, thereby letting it keep running for much longer times if you can figure out how to plug it in and have it pointing in the right direction.
The light can be rotated to point more up or more down but this one does not move side to side, however it is rare that a handlebar light needs to shine to the side anyway. When the battery starts to get low the light will get dimmer, which is its only way of letting you know the battery is getting low since this option doesn’t have any other indicator.
Another thing that can be a mild problem with this light is the fact that it uses a touch sensor instead of an actual button when turning it off or on and this does not always work very easily when wearing gloves. However, this feature can be useful if you are putting it in a backpack as a spare, since the absence of a button means that nothing can accidentally hit the on button to turn in on without you wanting it to.