Mountain Bike Lights Reviews
Silva Spectra A
The Spectra A is an astounding headlamp that turns night into day, delivering an incredibly strong light output of 10 000 lumen. The headlamp holds 8 high power LED lights and is accompanied by a powerful 96 Wh battery. The lamp can be mounted either on the helmet or handlebars of the bike. Price: 799 EU / GBP 669 The product...
MagicShine Monteer 8000 V2
The Monteer 8000 V2 is Magicshine’s top level MTB light. Equipped with an external 10.000 mAh battery and a remote control, it bursts out a whopping 8000 lumens. Price: 419 USD About the brand Magicshine is based in Shenzen China and has been in the light making business since 1999. Besides bike specific lights, they have a wide range of...
Ravemen Lights TR300
Night riding feels like an arms race to put as much firepower on the front of your bike as possible. Lumens now number in the thousands and lights can burn the retinas from any unsuspecting nocturnal animals on the trail. What is sometimes forgotten is something pointing the other way, especially if you intend on using roads to get to,...
Ravemen Lights PR1600
Perhaps not the most familiar name in mountain bike lights, Ravemen produce a range of lighting for road and off-road use. With 1600 lumens, it not going to blow the competition away on pure power, but a competitive price, innovative tech and a sleek package all combine to make the Ravemen 1600 worth a closer look. The packaging may look...
Gloworm Lights XSV
Kiwi light company Gloworm offer a range of lighting solutions for the nocturnal mountain biker. Their latest lumen blaster has a mighty 3400 lumens on offer and is designed as a bar mounted powerhouse to illuminate your night time trails. It's powerful, and is housed in a CNC's case and features an external battery which is attached separately onto the...
BBB Cycling Scope 1500
BBB Cycling started out as a small company in 1998, and has since grown to an international scale. Their ambition is to provide quality products, while keeping modest prices in mind. The Scope 1500 is the first light that BBB have designed that is intended for off-road use; it is the perfect companion on technical terrain, with a mammoth 1500...
Fenix BC30R
The BC30R is a new bike light from the illumination brand Fenix, they have been making torches for years and have recently been creating some decent bike lights too. This model is their first to offer a digital display which can tell you the mode and also the runtime as well as the battery status. The light features five modes,...
Gloworm Lights Alpha 1200
The Kiwi-born company Gloworm has been on the go since 2010 and has grown from a small New Zealand business into a global brand with distributors in 10 counties and a main office now based in Europe. Their aim is to offer more affordable lights for riders who want to get out at night, but aren't prepared to spend an...
Exposure Lights Diablo MK8
There is no denying that Exposure occupies the upper echelons of bike lights, with lofty price tags and highly desirable technology. The Diablo has been part of the range for many years, gradually growing in power from 3 figure lumen numbers to what we have here, a full 1400 lumens of compact power. We are now on the Diablo MK8!...
Exposure Lights MAXX D MK9
In the rather high tech world of Exposure lights, you'd be forgiven for thinking the MAXX D MK9 is the biggest and baddest weapon in their arsenal. With 2350 lumens, and up to 3200 with Reflex (we'll come back to this) it's hugely powerful, but there is also the Six Pack M7, which blows it out of the water with...
Exposure Lights Diablo Mk7
For years I struggled with a helmet light with a battery pack, getting cables wrapped around my neck or strapping batteries to my helmet. I longed for a simple light with no cables, but still with enough power to ride with. The Diablo has been doing just this for years, and now at Mk7, it's become a very refined piece...
Exposure Lights MaXx D MK8
The stats for this light certainly make for impressive reading: 2600 lumens, 300grams, adaptive lighting and a cable free design, this is one serious piece of hardware. With 2600 lumens to play with this is incredibly powerful and feels like mounting a weapon onto your bars. It's incredibly sturdy and looks like it will burn the retinas out of any...
Hope Technology R4+ LED
Hope needs no , renowned for high-quality engineering and manufacture; they have been making lights alongside all their other products for many years. The R4+ represents the latest version of their 2000 lumen (1500 measured) light. The light unit is a beautifully machined piece, with 4 Cree LEDs held within a solid and fantastically detailed case, with etched logos, plenty...
Mapdec Cycle Works K20 CREE 2000
A small British company, Mapdec was born from a love of racing bikes for very extended periods. Be it endurance, 24hr or adventure races, these guys love spending an enormous amount of time in the saddle, and as a result end up riding through the night more often than most. Add in some poor weather for which the north of...
Hope Technology Vision R1
Hope launched the R1 as a smaller sibling to the very popular R4 light, which we tested last year. The R4 boast an impressive 1000 lumen output and the R1 comes in at 500 lumens with a 2 cell instead of a 4-cell battery. It’s smaller and lighter than the R4, and comes with bar, helmet and a head mount...
Gloworm Lights X2
Designed in New Zealand the Gloworm X2 is designed to be as inconspicuous as possible, until you turn it on. It is a tiny unit, about the size of a matchbox and it is hard to believe it can pump out a whopping 1200 Lumens! The light attaches to a Lithium Ion battery in a hard case that uses high...
Exposure Lights Diablo Mk6
We’ve been fans of the Diablo range of lights for some time, last year the Diablo Mk4 was a clear favourite amongst the test team and this year the Mk5 instantly got whisked away from the office as soon as night fell. The build of the light is the same as last year, but this year there are 1100 lumens...
Exposure Lights MaXx-D Mk6
Exposure have been producing excellent lights for some time now, their knowledge and experience shows with this latest edition of the MaXx-D. Aimed at the serious XC racer looking for long lasting power, or just the casual rider who likes to be able to turn night into day the MaXx-D packs a lot of power into a small package. It’s...
Lezyne Micro Drive Rear Light
This rear light from Lezyne means business with a maximum of 70 lumens when in high-visibilty Daytime mode. Your mates will certainly be able to keep track of you when they’re following through the trees! It’s not compulsory to be a beacon of light though as there are a total of 6 modes with Flash 1, Flash 2, Pulse and...
NiteRider Solas 2 Watt USB Rechargeable Tail Light
This rechargeable tail light is a new offering from NiteRider for the 2012/2013 season. The Solas features a 2 watt LED, as the name suggests, which is fairly retina destroying for a rear light when in the high-level flash mode! NiteRider have put some thought into this aspect of the light however, and created ‘Group Ride Mode’ which is a...
Light & Motion Seca 1400
Light and Motion have been at the forefront of light design for some time now, they offer a large selection ranging from the popular Stella Light System to the top of the range Seca System. In the Seca line up there are three models, graded on their output. The 1400 is the middle of the pack, an 800 below it...
Lezyne Power Drive XL
The Power Drive XL is one of the flagship lights from Lezyne aimed at the rider looking for something light small and powerful. A newly launched big brother in the form of the Mega Drive tops the billing for performance boasting a 1000 lumen output while the Power Drive is a more modest 400. However, this little light can still...
Lezyne Macro Drive Front Light
Lezyne have been synonymous with quality since their very inception, and the Macro Drive very much upholds that tradition. Aimed essentially as an all-singing, all-dancing rechargeable commuter light we feature it here as we know many of you ride other bikes, but also because, for it's size, it packs a very impressive punch. In a world where 1000 lumen light...
Lezyne Femto Drive Front and Rear Set
This light set from Lezyne is a very neat offering with a compact design and simple silicon rubber strap for connecting to your handlebar and seat tube. The CNC machined aluminium body is weather resistant and hard-wearing, in your hand you can feel and see the quality of their construction. The front light punches out 15 lumens, which is notable...
Knog Boomer USB Front and Rear
The majority of Knog products are initially striking with their quirky designs and funky colours, and the Boomer USB light set is no different. Once you start to look a little closer, (and realise that it’s not in fact an asthma inhaler, but a bike light) you notice the attention to detail, high-quality build and ingenious features that the brand...
Knog Blinder 4 GT Stripe
The Knog Blinder 4 GT set of lights do exactly what they say on the tin and quite literally blind you should you make the mistake of looking directly at them! With 4 bright LED lights on both the front and rear offering an LED rating of up to 80 lumens and 44 lumens respectively, coupled with a range of...
Hope Technology Vision R4
The R4 from Hope has been around for a year or so now, and has had plenty of time to prove itself in the field and out on the trails. There are, as ever, many happy customers and, as fans of the previous incarnation, we were keen to see how the Vision R4 performed. First up, it is tiny in...
Exposure Lights Flare Rear Light
Shaped like a miniature lollipop it’s almost possible to describe this rear light as ‘cute’, in fact Exposure themselves refer to it as ‘dinky’. Don’t let this fool you though as the Flare is a well-constructed and solid bit of kit. The light is powered by a single disposable Li-ion battery as the standard option, or you can chose to...
Exposure Lights Diablo Mk4
Exposure are a UK company who have been at the top of the light game for some time now. They specialise in all-in-one units, meaning the battery is housed within the unit, so there is no need for cables or wires. The advantages are obvious, especially when it comes to looking at lights for your helmet. The headlight is arguably...
Fenix LD20
It wasn’t long ago that Fenix were the choice of budget light seekers, for night riding, everywhere. In recent years bike light technology has come on leaps and bounds and also dropped in price. However, the Fenix is still a popular choice and with good reason. They are well made, available from UK retailers, very bright and they won’t break...
Hope Technology Vision 4
One thing you know you will get with a Hope product is quality, and with the Vision series of lights that is ever present; neatly packaged and beautifully machined the Hope Vision 4 really is one of the daddies in the lighting business. This light has 4 stationary beam settings and an additional flash setting. The static settings: low, medium,...
Nukeproof Reactor Light
The first thing that struck us about this light was the packaging! We know you can’t judge a book by its cover, but it undoubtedly had us ‘oooh-ing’ over it! A circular, brushed-silver tin and when you lift the lid there’s a bright yellow and black nuclear reactor hazard sign staring back at you before you uncover the carefully padded...