Harper L
With technology rapidly improving, more and more new bike-specific products are flooding the market. The days where local riders would smash the home trails at night using only their camping headlamps are long gone as new BRIGHT and CONVENIENT lights become available and more affordable.
Bike lights come in arrays of brands, LED types, power, mount types, sizes; you name it. Oftentimes you will step into a shop and notice the wall is covered with similar-looking products of different brands and different prices – How to choose the one that you need?
Now each rider is different and, as in everything about biking (is 26’ dead? Are you riding flats or clipless? Tall socks?), there are individual preferences for lights.
From retail and riding experience gained over the years, one can use this simple logic as a starter and come to very good conclusions about the type of light one would need.
TO SEE VS BEING SEEN
The first thing to sort out is the type of light needed, which can be answered with a simple question: As a rider, do I only need to be seen by incoming cars or other road users, or do I need to actually see where I am going? The former will require a less powerful light than the latter.
The human eye has evolved to quickly spot a moving target, and the speed at which an object is seen increases if the object is bright, hence the use of a flashing light when the sun goes down.
Thus, road users will quickly spot a flashing light from afar.
Additionally, lights used to be seen do not need to be the most powerful as their main purpose will be to attract another road user’s attention, not to see far ahead of the front wheel.
As such, if a rider only needs to be seen, then they can choose a light with less than 1000 lumens such as one from the Magicshine ALLTY series.
The ALLTY is a versatile light series that comes in a range from 400 to 2000 lumens.
The first of the series, the ALLTY 400, is bright enough so that when in use it will be seen early by road users, which will keep the rider safe even during daytime.
For more power and increased brightness, the ALLTY 600 and ALLTY 800 will be seen from even further away at maximum power, and will provide the rider with a larger range of brightness so the rider can tune the light according to the ride’s duration. For longer commutes, tune the light to a lower power and it will last longer.
Moreover, the ALLTY 1000, ALLTY 1500, and ALLTY 2000 are bright enough that if a rider gets caught in pitch black, the light will provide a powerful beam that shines far enough ahead of the front wheel so that the rider will be able to safely get back home without slowing down too much.
Now when a rider needs a light so that they can see, then a more powerful light is recommended.
The main reason is that the further up ahead of the front wheel you see, the faster you can ride. In other words, a light that isn’t powerful enough, such as below 1000 lumens, won’t light up the road far enough to allow you to see incoming obstacles (potholes, cracks, squirrels, …) when riding over 20 km/h. Obviously, one may be enjoying chill rides below 20 km/h, for which a 400 lumens light might very well provide sufficient power.
WRAPPING UP
Finally, it can be useful to pick a more powerful light than what one could get by with. Why?
More power means larger battery. A light will realistically run for about 1.5 to 2 hours at maximum power, such that if you are going for longer rides, you will need to use less power, so the battery lasts the whole ride. A strategic choice would then be a light that, when used at 75% or 50% power gives you sufficient illumination AND ample time for a long ride plus a 30-minute buffer just in case.
In the end, making a good choice only requires a little decision making.
- First describe your needs: see or be seen
- Then describe your use: road casual, road fast or gravel riding, or mountain biking
- Think about your cruising speed, skill level, and comfort zone
For years, I have felt that the Magicshine lights were the best bang for the buck in bicycle lighting. My ALLTY 2000 is so bright that I run it at lower power and get the same illumination but longer run time.
Buenas tardes deseo una luz trasera para recorridos diarios cuál me recomiendan gracias
Hi Rider,
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Have a lovely day!
Magicshine online store.
I have a bikelihght from Magicshine.It has two ledlights and a lens for videorecording – to a storage card. I bought it on the shop XXL in Moa(ålesund, Norway.The 4 pin conectors between the charger and the battery and the lanp is broken so i have bought a neww battery. Now is the conector to the the lamp broken. I have been looking for a new lamp, the same or a similar one. But inwain. Are you not produsing the lamp with the videorecorder any more?