How to choose which light is best for you.
So how do we choose which is best for our use? There are many hundreds of bike lights available and they range from £5 to £500+. Determining which is the most appropriate is not easy and depends on a number of factors - we've taken the most commonly used of these to help you to narrow the selection down.
How much do they cost? - How much we have to spend is, of course, the most important factor.
How bright are they? - There is a lot of confusion over the brightness of bike lights and this is partly due to maufacturers using different means of determining brightness (lumens, lux, watts, candelas etc etc). We have decided to simplify this by putting all front lights into approximately equivalent lumens bands. You will notice (if you look carefully) that the brightness of any light is usually reflected in how much it costs. It's like cars; the faster they go, the more they cost. For rear lights where there is less focus on th brightness we have broken them into just two bands - Average and Very Bright.
Who makes them? - Lots of manufacturers to choose from; mainstream commuter bike light makers (Cateye, Smart etc), specialist 'hardcore' superbright lights (Exposure et al), fun lights (Knog). There is a big disparity in quality with the various manufacturers but, again, this is usually reflected in the price you pay.
What powers them? - from standard batteries (AA's and AAA's) to high-tech Li-ion USB rechargeable batteries and dynamo power. The choice is yours!
Are they reflective? - Not very often a consideration, but there are a number of manufacturers who have incorporated reflectors in their light products - and the law does say that we need to have reflectors!
What is their colour? - No, this doesn't refer to the colour of the light...whilst most bike lights have black cases there are a few exceptions.
We do hope this helps, but if you still have questions please call the Pedal-Pedal team on 0203 176 5313. Otherwise take a look at the bike lights we sell here.
