Bike Light thread, what are your lights?

Soldato
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5 Aug 2004
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I'd like to know what everyone is using for their bike lights, what weather you ride in and how long the lights have lasted.

I bought the Cycleafer set from Amazon Sep 2022 and 11 months later found the back light was dead, from Oct 2022 to Feb 2023 I was using my car because constant rain and near or sub zero temps so during the main rainy season I didn't even use the lights so at what point and how many rainy days the lights were exposed too I don't know. After a back and forth with Cycleafer they refunded me and listened when I gave my thoughts on the product, so I ordered another of the same set of lights based on dealing with their rep. After that they offered me anything from their Amazon store for free but I declined as I wanted lights and already bought them. I had one morning of drizzle, one evening of heavy rain and one evening of moderate rain, the next morning I'm leaving for work, in the dark and my rear light is dead, the same as before but now I know it lasted three days of exposure and even looking at the light I can see moisture inside.

So I'm not buying that brand again and am once more looking for bike lights and everything just seems so naff or unreasonably priced. My Cycleafer lights claim IP5 but tapped out almost immediately when wet and looking at brands like Cateye they're potentially worse at IP4 and double the price. I've done basic Google searches like best bike lights 2023 or best bicycle lights for rain and I get the same results so I'm not too trusting these articles gave the lights a decent use.
 
I use Exposure bike lights, they last years of use in all weather. My road bike lights have been used through winter for the last 4-5 years and sill working fine. Battery life is still holding up well on them even in very cold conditions bar my Diablo MTB helmet light I use when MTBing that will need a new battery soon but Exposure offer a service for this which isn't too pricey.
 
Judging by half the cyclists I’ve seen in the dark mornings taking my son to work at 6:45 am, at home or still sitting on a warehouse shelf somewhere, yet to be purchased. One guy, all in black, not even a helmet or high vis anything, single weedy front light, not even a rear one of any sort.
 
Exposure everything now. the Trace and TraceR are fantastic whilst there is still some light and then move to axis and race once it gets proper dark. Great battery life and take a good beating.
 
I splashed out and went with Four4th lights, got a Holy Moses with green LEDs. Silly powerful.
British designed and made, best lights I've used and amazing service I've asked recently about a replacement mount and they just sent me one after many years.
 
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I use the Cats eye rear light and exposure Maxx D and joystick. Rear light is cheap and lasts ages, gets covered in mud and rain no issues. My riding though is about 3 hours of dark across woods, tracks and fields though.
 
I bought Lezyne 1300XXL that came in a set with a 300lumen rear strip light back in June.
Both totally water proof and usb rechargeable

On the higher end modes it's way too bright for roads and would blind oncoming traffic, but at 450 lumens the battery lasts for 8 hours, or if you were off road on 1300 it lasts for 2.5hours.
Been really good for me so far, I had a smaller version on my old bike I think it was around 400lumen, I never had any problems with it in many years of use
 
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Had a good find yesterday morning just as it was getting light `omega evo nitelink rear`
Was flashing away on the side of the road in a wood,some poor sod must have had it drop off Sad for them good for me....maaaan it is bright and rechargeable
 
I have a set of rechargeable usb Lezyne lights which are great, both are bright but not so much the dazzle and battery life is good.

So meny out at the moment in the dark with nothing. It's just stupidly.
 
Since getting the E-bike I've been doing a bit of winter night trail riding.

Started out with a cheap Amazon Nestling brand light, which to be fair is okay for the price as long as you keep it dry.
The cable into the light is a weak point and I found the external battery pack a pain.
I think these lights are okay for road, but not bright enough for trail use and the waterproof-ability is questionable, as are the batteries and LED's.

After some research, I decided to go with torches, specifically a Wurkkos TS22 for the flood beam and a Sofirn C8L for flood/spot.
Both of these torches can sustain a high level output, good battery life with on board charging, IPX8 waterproof (can be submerged up to a meter), cheap (readily found on sale for under £30 each), and will likely outperform specific MTB lights twice their cost.

Downside is you'll still need to find a decent rear light.
I made my own bar mounts as well, but Olight (FB-1 bike mount) make a universal mount that will work with both.

If I start doing more night riding I might add a Wuben X1 which is a flood torch and can sustain 2500 lumens for 3 hours without stepping down. Similar performance to the Magicshine/Exposure lights but a fraction of the cost, but thats a crazy amount of light and I'm not sure I'll need it as the current set up is bright.

If you're doing a lot of road riding a dedicated cycle light with proper high level diffuser maybe better for you, and drivers, but I can't offer much help there other than my brother got a Sigma Aura 100 and it seems very good.
 
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That's great @famas . I looked into LED torches too as they seem to be better built, brighter, longer battery life, cheaper and most important for me they have better waterproofing. The "cyclist tax" is working overtime on bike lights. I didn't have time to devise a mount for torches though so went with a cyclist rear light, I use a saddle bag so put my light on the hoop.
 
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