Bike Lights Buyer’s Guide 2022-23: Be safe on the road!

Having bike lights might be the easiest and most important way to be safe whilst cycling. For those on a road bike, a mountain bike and the fast commuters it’s not only important to be clearly visible, it’s also crucial to be able to see the road ahead well. Whether you’re on your mountain bike, your road bike or commuting: there is proper bicycle lighting available for every situation. But, how do you know which light is suitable for your situation? We've listed it all for you in this Bike Lights Buyer’s Guide.

What are the legal requirements for bicycle lights in the UK?

In the UK, it is mandatory to have a front and rear light, as well as a rear reflector. Here's a list of the requirements laid out by the UK’s Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations (RVLR) body:

• Bike lights are mandatory when cycling on public roads between sunset and sunrise.
• You must have a front and rear light, as well as a rear (red) reflector.
• Front light must be white. Rear light must be red.
• Bike lights must be fitted to your bike and not your helmet.
• Lights may not be higher than 1,5m above the ground, so if you wear a helmet-mounted light for MTB-ing, turn it off on public roads.
• Complete bikes must be sold with reflectors on the front and rear of the bike, as well as both the front and rear of each pedal.
• Flashing lights are permitted but it is recommended that cyclists who are riding in areas without street lighting use a steady front light.

Bicycle lights with the German StVZO approval

In Germany they have a strict standard for bicycle lighting, the StVZO certification. More and more manufacturers have one or more lights that meet the German standards for bicycle lighting.

The most important characteristic of these bike lights is that the beam is flattened at the top. This prevents you from blinding the drivers of oncoming vehicles.

However, it is exactly because of this that bicycle lights with the StVZO quality mark are less suitable for off-road disciplines, like mountain biking, where you want a wide and higher beam of light to see everything clearly.

Which light is suitable for you?

Nowadays, there is a wide range of bicycle lighting available. Safety on the bicycle has become more and more important for many cyclists. Road cyclists, mountain bikers and commuters increasingly choose good bicycle lighting, even though they are not on fast bikes like pedelecs.

But how bright does your front light need to be? Do you want to go for maximum brightness or do you prefer to have an extremely long battery life? We will set out the pros and cons of the different bicycle lights for you. But first a little bit of theory about how the intensity of bicycle lighting is determined.

What does the number of lumens say about your bicycle lighting?

The light intensity of many bicycle lights is measured in lumens. The number of lumens represents the strength of the light emitted. It gives you a reasonable indication of the power of a light, but it says nothing about the beam width or side visibility. The number of lumens of a bike light therefore does not tell the whole story.

Is the beam too concentrated and therefore too small? Then you see a very brightly lit small area. The width of the light beam is nowadays adapted for the intended use with many bicycle lights.

The width of the beam is therefore suitable with most good bicycle lights, so you can further compare bike lights by looking at the number of candela or number of lux.

What is the difference between lumen, candela and lux?

Very occasionally, candela and lux are also referred to as bicycle lighting. With candela, it specifies how many lumens are emitted at a specific angle. One candela is the light intensity of one standard candle. This is a more precise measurement method than just the number of Lumens.

The amount of light that is cast on a surface is called illuminance, and is measured in lux. This can be thought of as light intensity within a specific area. One lux is equal to one lumen per square meter (lux = lumens/m2). The higher the number of lux, the higher the total luminous flux emitted by the bike light. With bicycle lighting, it is also important to look at how wide the beam of light radiates. If a light emits a lot of light, but does so over a large area, you will see light everywhere, but not very much.

To put all this information into practice, we have divided our headlights into the following categories:

• Visibility (be seen) in an urban environment
• Light up the road surface and surroundings
• Light up unpaved paths

Bicycle lighting to increase your visibility in an urban environment

Lights in this category are very suitable for illuminated urban environments because they have a light intensity of up to 400 lumens. In an urban environment you will also encounter a lot of other traffic, so it is important that you have lighting that you can be seen with. These lights are therefore also clearly visible from the side.

Bicycle lighting for in a well-lit environment (city)

Bicycle lights for quiet rides with moderate light

Bicycle lighting with a power of between 100 and 400 Lumen is already a lot better. This makes you really visible, and in darker places you can see quite a bit yourself.

This lighting is great for the city bike. But you can also use these bicycle lights on quieter rides on the road bike in a moderately well lit or unlit environment.

Bicycle lighting for a moderately well lit environment (city/town)

Bike lights for faster rides or dark conditions

Cycle lights with a light intensity between 400 and 800 lumens ensure that you see the road surface and the environment well. With these lights you can easily cycle on unlit bicycle paths. Ideal for racing bikes or mountain bikes – inside and outside built-up areas.

And the cycling commuter - with a speed pedelec - who cycles through wind and weather every day, can easily go out with a bicycle light from this category. Thanks to the considerable light output, you can see how the road is changing, even at higher speeds, and you can see larger obstacles well in advance.

Bicycle lighting for an unlit environment at higher speed

Bike lights for the darkest and fastest rides

A headlight that delivers more than 800 Lumen is intended for racing cyclists and mountain bikers who ride at high speed in the pitch dark. But someone who rides their speed pedelec in a very dark environment can also use such a strong bicyce light.

For mountain bikers who ride single tracks, we do recommend a headlight with a wider light beam. For mountain biking you need to be able to see the bigger picture.

Bicycle lighting for high speed (MTB) unlit environment

How many lumens do you need for which cycling environment?

To give you an overview of how many lumens your bicycle lighting should have in which situation, below is a handy overview.

Situation	< 100 lumen	100 - 400 lumen	400 - 800 lumen	800> lumen
Well lit area (City)
Relatively well lit area (Small town/ semi-rural)
Unlit area/ no artificial light (Rural)
Unlit area, high speeds
Unlit, High Speed/ Technical Terrain

Battery life of bike lights

The battery life with bicycle lighting is sometimes quite difficult to estimate. This is an important point to pay attention to when purchasing. When in doubt, always take a larger battery than you think you need.

You can set almost all bicycle lights to different positions yourself, from a weak light to the maximum setting. It goes without saying that you can considerably extend the battery life on a softer setting.

So you can choose to cycle with a super good bicycle light - with a large battery - but in the battery saving mode. There is a good chance that the battery will last for many hours!

Daytime running lights for cyclists

Daytime running lights are a new form of bicycle lighting that has been on the rise in recent years. Daytime running lights for cyclists are especially useful for roads where the cycle path lies on the carriageway, without any separation.

The main feature of the daytime running light is that it flashes brightly and often irregularly. This makes you a lot more visible to all other traffic.

Daytime running lights for cyclists

Bike taillights with traffic radar and other smart lighting

In addition to daytime running lights, smart bicycle lighting is now indispensable. Garmin was the first here with the Varia Radar. That's a taillight, with built-in radar.

With the latest version, it can even inform you in real-time on the screen of your bicycle computer whether there is traffic behind you. And if so, how close. And if the car or truck near you, the light will burn brighter! Ideal right?

Some tail lights also have a built-in light sensor that turns them on automatically when they detect movement. So you can never forget to turn on your taillight.

There are also rear lights with a brake light function. When you brake with this, the light starts to burn brighter thanks to an integrated motion sensor.

Smart lighting

Our favourite bicycle light sets with headlight and taillight

We have put together a number of affordable bicycle lighting sets for you. We have a handy combination of rear light and headlight for every type of cyclist.

Our recommended bicycle lighting sets