Unfortunately I’ve noticed the need to carry lights with me when I’m riding in to the evening. Gone are the long summer evenings, winter is coming and I’m seeing far to many people without lights! And Helmets, but this blog is about lights!
I am a big fan of gadgets, innovations, great product design and I’ve been commuting through London for years in all conditions. Here are some of my lights that I use day in day out.
My approach is you can’t have enough lights, I run 2 lights at the back and 2 at the front. In my opinion one light flashing gives an opportunity for the light to be missed if it isn’t flashing fast enough. Put two lights flashing front and back and you are an attention seeking annoying bike rider in the opinion of car drivers….but at least they noticed you and you got home safe.
I am a huge fan of Beryl Lights their pixel is great because it can be both a front or a back light at the press of a button, it also clips on to a bag or belt as easily as it fits on to your bars or seat post. Its a must have accessory light. Beryl are famous for bringing to market the lazer lights you see on the 'Bozza' bikes around London. I run one of these on my own bike, its great for stopping pedestrians walking out on you, letting other riders know you are passing them because you've got a much better FTP than them, and most importantly gives you an extra point of vision for cars that it seems want to run you over!
Then you've got the Burner lights, great batteries, great visibility, great engineering quality.
Images below: Pixel > Burner > Lazer
Along with the Beryl lights I also use Lezyne lights, a small Bontrager rear light and Knog lights.
The Lezyne front Light I use is one of the micro drives its a super powerful front light but the downside is it's very directional. Around London I want to be seen, there are enough lights that I can see where i'm going and what pot hole i've got to avoid. What I want from a light in urban riding is visibility. If I run this light I have a much more noticeable light running to compliment it.
The Lezyne rear light I use is a strip light, it's great, battery life is good, it has a daytime running light option which is good for when it's not quite dark but its getting there. The battery life is super good and I've had it for years with no issues.
Bontrager Flare: rear light
I spotted this on on a ride through the lanes during the day. It was super bright and I could see it a mile off in the middle of the day. I burnt some matches chasing to the guy who had it on his bike to find out what it was.
The battery life is really good, theres no indication of what the charge level is but it's never actually run out on me. It's super visible and super discrete, I would highly recommend at a mere £23
Knog Lights (AVOID)
I have the Blinder front and back. When I saw them in the shop they looked smart, were super punchy and bright and had good flashing functions. In reality the battery life is poor, they turn off without warning when they run out of battery, the amount of times I got home and realised my rear light was off means I only keep them as last resort spares. Basically, DO NOT BUY THEM! I'm not even going to show you a picture, it's simply not worth it. I've put this paragraph at the bottom of the blog, if you have read this far congratulations because you will now know not to buy Knog lights!
I have the Blinder front and back. When I saw them in the shop they looked smart, were super punchy and bright and had good flashing functions. In reality the battery life is poor, they turn off without warning when they run out of battery, the amount of times I got home and realised my rear light was off means I only keep them as last resort spares. Basically, DO NOT BUY THEM! I'm not even going to show you a picture, it's simply not worth it. I've put this paragraph at the bottom of the blog, if you have read this far congratulations because you will now know not to buy Knog lights!
If you would like me to review any other particular lights or products then feel free to reach out and contact me
Here's a short video I did a while ago for the Huffington Post reviewing some of the lights mentioned above
