Some Guides about Lights for Night Riding

I'm kind of tempted to start riding at night this winter so I'm thinking about investing in a decent front light for riding unlit roads. I'm being tempted by some of the deals that are springing up on the Lezyne Mega and Xeccon after having seen what they can do using the comparison page. Does anyone have any experience of these lights they can share? I'm open to suggestions of other lights as well if anyone has any?

-----From road.cc

Due to lack of time and sunshine duration change in winter, more and more people plan to do any riding at night. Lights are so important to make you visible to others than actually illuminating your way.

Whether you use a handlebar mount or helmet mount is a matter of preference. I have found that riding with both is nice because you can use the helmet light to see where you want to go, not where the bike is pointing. It's also real handy when you flat or break down at night and need to see to work on stuff.

Before buying bike lights, you should ask youself some questions.

Outputs: What are Lumens?

In simple terms lumens are the unit of how bright a light is to the human eye. Modern lights range from about 5-100 lumens for rear lights. Front lights start at about 10 lumens and go into the hundreds for commuting lights and right up into the thousands for serious road and off-road lights. 

Batteries: What are my options?

You can still buy lights that run on disposable alkaline batteries but most lights now feature built in rechargeable batteries. These are smaller, lighter and more powerful than disposable alkaline batteries making them perfect for bike lights.

Light mounts: how do they work?

Here are 2 popular mounting systems that you will see more of as you read our lights buying guide.

Most rear lights and safety lights use a strap mounting mechanism that you can easily wrap around your seatpost or handlebar. One of the key advantages of  using a strap

mount is that it's very convenient to remove quickly and easily - this is ideal for commuting! A popular mounting mechanism for some front lights is a bolt on bracket. While some front lights also use strap mounts, the more powerful models feature a bolt on bracket due to their heavier weight. This is ideal especially if you mountain bike or ride over rough terrain.

What’s the run times?

It's essential to know that your light's battery life can last the duration of your bike ride. If a light stops working while you're riding at night it will be a major safety risk for you.

Weight: It’s heavy or light?

A heavy light can add weight to your frame and overall bike weight. This may be a negative factor when climbing or riding your bike at speed.

My suggestions for lights

For me, I have used Xeccon Spiker 1207 for several years. The Spiker 1207 includes a well-appointed kit, and this is obvious from first opening the storage case.

Laid out the kit of parts consists of the Spiker 1207 light unit, battery pack, mains charger, handlebar clamp-mount, handlebar block and band mount, head/helmet mount, cap/clip mount, cable tidy strap, extension cord and instructions.

The spec: • LED: 2*Cree XM-L2 LED• Max Output: 2200 Lumens• Running Time: 4~11.6 hours• Mode: Low - Mid - High• OFF Mode (Hold 2 seconds) / Strobe Mode (Hold 3 seconds)• Material: 6061-T6 Aluminum alloy• Surface Treatment: Type III hard-anodized• Battery Pack: 8.4V 7800mAh Samsung Battery• Charging Time: 5.5 hours• Waterproof Level: IP65• Weight (w/o Battery): 108g• Dimensions: 49.6(L) x 51.8x(D) x 31.9(H)mm• Package: 1 x 360 degree swivel mount, 1 x Helmet mount and 2 x Rubber O-ring

The Spiker 1207 is outputting a true sustained 800lm output, but it has never suffered from any overheating. The dual lens light head design results in two 400lm lights which have easily dissipated the heat generated. In the runtime, a small USB fan was running, and with this the temperature of the light head never exceeded 35°C.

One should always have at least one more light, ideally a head-lamp, when riding totally unlit trails (I ride with a minimum of three lights and spare batteries), and even with the Spiker’s low battery warning, and subsequent critical battery warning, the low battery protection can still plunge you into complete darkness when it shuts down the light. However, what it does give you as a trade off, is a regulated output maintaining the full 800lm for the entire runtime.

This light has been turning a lot of heads long before they can see what it is. Around town, the full 800lm is too much really and not fair to subject lines of traffic to. The strobe is a fantastic attention grabber and has had vehicles acting very cautiously around me. As the strobe runs at full output, which again means this can be almost too much, but will stop the ‘sorry didn’t see you mate’ excuse all too many drivers use.

Side by side with a car, the Spiker 1207’s beam appears brighter than the car’s headlights. No longer does the bicycle rider have to hope their feeble flickering light can be seen by other road users, the Spiker 1207 puts the rider on an equal footing and completely opens up unlit trails for exploration at speed.

The Spiker 1207’s styling may be a matter of taste, but like it or hate it, what the 1207 does is to perform!