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Bicycle Lights: Eternal Shine of the Spotless Ride

By Adam Marsal

Even though autumn articles about cycling lights are a tad cliché, there’s simply no ride without light. We picked five remarkable torches that will guide you through the darkness of this year’s last months. It’s true, you can buy much cheaper models, however, with those you are not only visible but you can ride almost like in the daylight.

Exposure Light Diablo MK9 SYNC

Up to 1,500 lumens that will light up your trail and connectivity with your smartphone via Bluetooth – these two things make Diablo MK9 SYNC a great choice. Sync technology helps the light to achieve efficient and effortless mode changes and the wireless remote control leaves you with a free hand for riding. The application enables you to adjust burn time and lumen output to your ride. This year, Exposure tweaked the design programming, resulting in more brightness and power than before. The device is available as a single unit or with an external battery. Except for the light, the box comes with both the helmet and handlebar mount.

Price: 300 EUR

Lupine Blika

The brand new light from these German “illuminates” is dedicated to any kind of outdoor adventure. Aside from cycling, you will find it handy when climbing, jogging or even fishing. You can rely on a massive light output of 2,100 lumens, red and green light, a gentle reading light, and a newly modified front-click system. With a new operating system consisting of two buttons, which you can set as you like. This gives you an instant access to all intensities of lighting and functions needed for any kind of situation. Selecting process would be simply done through the Lupine smartphone application. You can save your settings, create custom profiles for different kind of activities, and use them according to your needs. Although the light looks and works awesome, it’s pretty expensive, which seems to be the only drawback.

Price: 370 EUR

LED Lenser XEO 19R

LED Lenser took it seriously with developing a versatile light for all kinds of users. In a padded case, you can find a three-strap head mount with a battery pack on the back. Cyclists can choose either a helmet or a handlebar mount. Each of two monster LED lights can be operated independently or together and each beam can be adjusted separately. Depending on your needs, there are options such as single low beam, high beam and flashes. With the low output of 300 lumens, the torch would work for about 20 hours, while it takes about four hours to completely run out its rechargeable battery when setting it to a maximum 2,000 lumens of clean, clear, and powerful light, which turns your night ride through the woods into visiting a Luna Park.

Price: 250 EUR

Lezyne Deca Drive 1500XXL

Since 2013, Lezyne has been teaching us that even bicycle multi-tools may look sexy. Even their front and rear lights come now in hot designs. This XXL version of Deca Drive with up to 1,500 lumens light output torch has a wonderful CNC machine construction. You can choose between Overdrive and Economy modes. It has a memory of saved modes after being turned off. This is definitively the light at the end of the tunnel as the light beam resembles a cloverleaf. However, it’s a little bit complicated to set the torch to its maximum output, which is hidden under the column “race” mode. Still, the design and price make Deca Drive one of the best options on the market and a perfect choice for those who want to feel confident riding at night.

Price: 160 EUR

Knog PWR Trail

Manufactured by Australian-based company Knog, the 1,000 lumen torch comes with a sleek black body. The designers claim it’s not just another bike light. The most remarkable thing about this high-end torch is that the battery could be used separately as a power bank for other electronic portable devices. Since there’s a USB port, no additional adapter is needed. The company’s tests show that half of the battery capacity will recharge a couple of iPhones 7. On an Eco Flash mode, the torch can run for about 300 hours. It can be mounted either on top or beneath the handlebar or on top of your helmet. Switching on and off is done simply by twisting the light head and, similar to some other torches in this list, its brightness and runtime can be programmed in a special smartphone application. It takes five hours to fully charge.

Price: 120 EUR

Good to know: Lumen is a unit which measures the visible light emitted by a source. It’s calculated according to a human eye’s sensitivity to various wavelengths. A 23 W spiral compact fluorescent lamp emits about 1,400 lumens.