18.09.2019 | Reading time - 45 min(s)

Best Bike Lights - Staff Picks

Written by Edinburgh Bicycle Cooperative

Posted in: Accessories, Reviews, staff reviews, bike lights

Investing in a set of decent bike lights is a must if you want to cycle after dark – it’s not just for your safety, it’s the law in the UK. There are plenty of bike lights to choose from but knowing which ones will last, have great features and ultimately do what you need it to do, can be time consuming and confusing. However, our helpful bike experts from our Aberdeen, Canonmills, Bruntsfield, Leeds, Newcastle and online stores have recommended the best bike lights around!

BEST FRONT BIKE LIGHTS

LEZYNE HECTO DRIVE 500XL FRONT LIGHT – £40.00

“The Lezyne Hecto Drive 500XL Front Light comes in a nice unobtrusive form factor sitting on your handlebars taking up very little real estate. This is especially impressive considering it has 500 lumens with 20 hours of claimed battery life. Another feature is that it includes a USB charger hidden neatly behind a rubber cover, so you don’t have to worry about another charger cable.”

Recommended by Oliver, Aberdeen

KNOG LIL COBBER RECHARGEABLE FRONT BIKE LIGHT – £44.99

Recommended by two staff members!

“I love Knog. Their forward thinking, quirky designs really grab my attention. So when I lost my Knog Chippy a while back, the new Lil Cobber was the only way to light up my world again.

When you ask yourself – what do I want in a “be seen” light? – the answer must be – to be seen without being loathsome! Right? Right!

So a light with 330º of non blinding awareness, fits the bill. I love mine. I love that I can see my rear light is on, just by looking down at the in-seam of my jeans (the beam is that wide!!). I love that there is no need for a USB charging cable – just plug the light directly into the USB port. And as a proud Aussie, I love the thought of my light being a lil’ Cobber.”

Recommended by Cliff, Edinburgh Bruntsfield

“If your goal is to be seen – in town; at busy junctions; navigating roundabouts; fighting for visibility, Knog’s Cobber lights set the standard. Quite simply, they offer 330 degrees of light output, and shine just as bright from the side as they do head-on, so no matter what direction road-based stupidity comes at you, you can advertise your presence. The Lil Cobber Front boasts 110 lumens and is compact enough to fit on most head tubes or steerer tubes. Magnetic mounting and no cable required for charging add to the light’s functionality. If you want to be really fancy, use Knog’s app to customise the light’s modes and beam patterns. What a time to be alive.”

Recommended by Neil, Edinburgh Canonmills

KNOG COBBER MID FRONT LIGHT – £59.99

“Offering an extremely generous 330-degree beam angle the Knog Cobber Mid is a light that allows you to be seen from all parts of the road. In addition to this you get a powerful 320 lumens enough to not only be seen but also to see with. The biggest strength of the light is the amount of different flash patterns you have access to courtesy of the unique three panels of LEDs. If your looking for a front light that offers a different aesthetic to your standard torch style light, look no further than the Knog Cobber.”

Recommended by Oliver, Aberdeen

CATEYE AMPP 800 RECHARGEABLE FRONT BIKE LIGHT – £84.99

“The CatEye AMP800 is a sleek, fully weather proof and easy to use light that inspires confidence on even the darkest of roads. With a bright 800 lumens on its highest mode, it will keep you completely visible wherever you ride, be it city streets or country roads. In lighter areas you can make use of its low power and flashing modes, still shining 200 lumens worth and extending the battery. Paired along with an easy to see battery life indicator, no matter how long the ride you have confidence knowing you will have light to guide your way.

Easy to use along with the smooth aluminium design, it will make a fine addition to any commuter or evening rider’s kit.”

Recommended by Jack, online

LEZYNE MACRO DRIVE 1300XL RECHARGEABLE FRONT BIKE LIGHT – £85.00

“This is the Lezyne Macro Drive 1300 XXL.

The brand Lezyne has been around since 2007 but since then has found itself a strong place in the cycling market with products ranging from workshop tools to lights and cycle computers. Their slogan from day one was always Lezyne engineered design, and you can see that this is still important today.

Myself and a few other colleagues in the Leeds shop use this light or similar lights in the Lezyne range. We all recognise and love the build quality of the Lezyne lights, they are always designed to be strong and robust due to their CNC machined aluminium body, while still being light enough to mount on your bars or helmet without effecting comfort.

Unlike a lot of beam style front lights this is designed for side visibility too, the side openings on the face while narrow definitely allow for side visibility at junctions, the beam of light also spreads well to give maximum visibility whether on the trail or road.

Like we see with most lights now, Lezyne use a rubber strap to secure the light, meaning it will stay in place and wont spin round with vibration, this also allows for quick and easy removal when leaving bike locked up.

My favourite aspect to this light would have to be the “pulse” mode because it allows you to see with a constant stream of light yet still draws attention to yourself from drivers.

In conclusion, this light is brilliant value for money, and is incredibly durable.”

Recommended by Alex, Leeds

EXPOSURE SIRIUS MK8 DAYBRIGHT RECHARGEABLE FRONT BIKE LIGHT – £100.00

“Exposure Lights is a British company specialising in extremely well designed and engineered lighting products. Exposure cater for the needs of all cyclists and their discipline specific requirements from trail to urban commute.

The Sirius MK8 at £100 is a typically beautifully engineered stick of CNC machined aluminium housing at 84g and pushing out 750 lumens of the bright stuff. The light isn’t all thrown forward however with 180 degrees of side illumination keeping you visible at junctions. To further increase visibility the DayBright pulse pattern can ensure you’re visible from up to a kilometre away even on the brightest of days. The Fuel Gauge feature helps you to never be caught out unexpectedly, that said with a run time on the lowest output setting of 36 hours you’ve plenty of time to finish that commute!

In use, the light is simple and intuitive to use with a single, easy to locate button to cycle through modes and operate with thick gloved hands when the weather sets in.

With use of an additional ‘Exposure Boost Cable’ from the lights ‘Smart Port+’ the Sirius can be used to power mini and micro USB devices boosting versatility yet further. It also comes with a 2 year warranty and a lifetime guarantee on the LED. As Exposure’s pedigree in the lighting game this is the ideal companion for the urban commuter and road rider.”

Recommended by Shaun, Newcastle

BEST REAR BIKE LIGHTS

KNOG LIL COBBER RECHARGEABLE REAR BIKE LIGHT – £44.99

“An innovative new idea from the Melbourne based light specialists in the aptly-named Knog Lil Cobber 330, referring to the impressive angle range of the light from its curved LED array. This certainly should be the shape of things to come, where too many brands don’t consider lateral visibility at all. Safer and more versatile, reducing the need for you to get extra lights or reflective gear to cover all bases, this light should provide you with that all important peace of mind that you can be seen on your winter commute be it day or night.

Mounting versatility, accommodating for the now common if not ubiquitous aero or non-standard seat post. Though on the pricier side, there’s a lot of Knog know-how and design packed into this simple-looking light.

This particular rear light provides 30 lumens, with an illumination time varying from 1.4hr on Max (giving an impressive 800m of visibility – for a rear light!) to an impressive 40 hours on a lower power Eco mode, with 3 other modes in between. If the modes provided aren’t to your liking, then you can get creative with Knog’s mode maker, where you can adjust the constant brightness, tailor your own flash pattern, or select one of Knog’s modes from their existing library. If 30 lumens isn’t enough for you, why not try the Mid Cobber or Big Cobber – they are all 100% waterproof and for further peace of mind, they are warrantied for two years. ”

Recommended by Jonny, Newcastle

BEST BIKE LIGHT SETS

KNOG + RECHARGEABLE BIKE LIGHT TWINPACK – £31.99

“Knog, if you didn’t know are an Australian, Melbourne based design company who have a vision to design urban-flavoured ‘un-boring’ things. The Knog + light is the natural evolution of their original Frog light that hit the bike light market in the early 2000’s.

The defining feature of the Knog Plus is its versatility. It can be fitted almost anywhere on the bike due to its integrated wearable clip which allows you to fit it on the bike, on a waist band, shirt/jeans pocket, headband, rucksack, pannier, helmet anywhere!

The rear has 20 lumens of powerful light, the front has output of 40 lumens! This is delivered via 6 modes (Solid, Pulse, which is my favourite, Strobe, Fancy Flash or Eco) and is easily controlled by the touch of a single button.

They are super easy to charge (4hr charge time), using the in built USB spear, simply plug in to the laptop, charger plug or PC and away it goes. It turns off automatically once it is fully charged. This coupled with 100% waterproofing makes it an idea urban commuter light set that I use on a daily basis both in the day light and dark!

Be Bright, Be Seen.”

Recommended by Paul, Leeds

BEST HELMET BIKE LIGHTS

EXPOSURE DIABLO MK11 – £215.00

“If you’re serious about your night riding the Exposure Diablo MK11 is a piece of kit that you should definitely consider. It is small enough to be mounted to a helmet but bright enough to outperform anything of a comparable size. At 1,750 lumens you will be able to see the road or trail in front of you even in complete darkness and with the ability to connect auxiliary lights, remote and battery pack you can tailor your set up to suit your riding needs. The light also boasts a very impressive battery life with its 3400 mAh Li-ion battery offering up to 24 hours run time. Exposure lights are designed and built in the UK for UK conditions.”

Recommended by Oliver, Aberdeen

SHOP ALL BIKE LIGHTS

Tagged: lights, bicycle lights, bike lights, exposure, front lights, lezyne lights, moon lights

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Best Bike Lights - Staff Picks

BEST FRONT BIKE LIGHTS

LEZYNE HECTO DRIVE 500XL FRONT LIGHT – £40.00

KNOG LIL COBBER RECHARGEABLE FRONT BIKE LIGHT – £44.99

KNOG COBBER MID FRONT LIGHT – £59.99

CATEYE AMPP 800 RECHARGEABLE FRONT BIKE LIGHT – £84.99

LEZYNE MACRO DRIVE 1300XL RECHARGEABLE FRONT BIKE LIGHT – £85.00

EXPOSURE SIRIUS MK8 DAYBRIGHT RECHARGEABLE FRONT BIKE LIGHT – £100.00

BEST REAR BIKE LIGHTS

KNOG LIL COBBER RECHARGEABLE REAR BIKE LIGHT – £44.99

BEST BIKE LIGHT SETS

KNOG + RECHARGEABLE BIKE LIGHT TWINPACK – £31.99

BEST HELMET BIKE LIGHTS

EXPOSURE DIABLO MK11 – £215.00

SHOP ALL BIKE LIGHTS