Bicycle Lighting: It's Time To Think About It

Here in North America we’re rapidly approaching the end of Summer and if you’ve been riding your bike in the evenings like I have then you’ve no doubt noticed that sunset is coming sooner than it was at the beginning of the month. In fact, we’re losing a minute of sunlight each day while the Blokes and Sheilas in Australia are gaining a minute. I did a long evening ride a couple of weeks ago and felt I could have used a light then so I thought now would be a good time to talk about bicycle lighting.

Think this cyclist needs a light?

Why use a bike light?

First and foremost, you’ll want to use a bicycle light for safety. As the sun begins to set earlier each day our evening rides stand a very good chance of concluding in civil twilight (the sun has set but it’s not quite dark yet). There’s enough light to see but it is becoming more difficult due to lack of light and shadows. If you’re having a hard time seeing then other folks are probably having a hard time seeing you. In this instance, a bicycle headlight and/or tail light will make you more visible to other riders approaching or overtaking you and, probably more importantly, you’ll be more visible to car drivers who are feeling the effects of decreased light as well.
Not only do bike lights improve safety so you’re more visible to other riders and drivers but you’ll be doing yourself a favor by using a headlight to illuminate where you’re riding. The area I ride is in pretty good shape but there are spots on the trail where an improperly illuminated rut, hole, or seam could see me injuring myself, another rider, and/or damaging my bike. A good headlight or helmet light will help illuminate the path you’re riding.

Another reason you’ll want to use bicycle lights, and often forgotten, is that in most cities it’s required by law to have a light if you’re riding during darkness. Check your local laws but, even if there isn’t one, you should still have lights due to the safety concerns above.

Things to consider when choosing bicycle lighting

What type of riding do you do? If you’re a road cyclist you may not need as robust (tough) a light kit as a mountain biker.

How long do you ride in the dark? If you ride for long periods of time in the darkness you may need bike light options that offer long-life batteries or generators.

Are you environmentally conscious? If so you may chose lights with rechargeable batteries or a generator over bike lights that require replacement of dead batteries.

Is it very dark where you ride? If you’re a trail rider or ride in areas where there is no street lighting you may need bicycle lights that are very bright.

Are you on a budget? Simple lighting systems for bikes can be very affordable where more advanced lighting options can put a strain on the bank account.

What kind of power source do you need?

Standard Household Batteries. A lot of the smaller head and tail lights for bicycles use two to four double or triple A batteries for power. These are convenient and due to the small size (and power output) of the lights you can get run times upwards of 60 hours or more depending on the mode (constant light versus flashing) used.

Rechargeable Batteries. Like a lot of electronic devices these days, you can get bicycle lighting that uses rechargeable batteries for power. Not only is this convenient, it saves money, and helps the environment. Battery options include Nickle-Metal Hybrid and Lithium Ion.

Power Generation Systems. For those looking to have a lighting system that is not only super environmental friendly (no batteries required) but can last a long time (as long as you pedal it works) then this could be what you need. These lighting systems are run off a generator that’s attached to your wheel and makes electricity as long as you’re moving. Some have battery backups or reserves for when you’re stopped.

Halogen, LED, or HID?

The type of bulb you choose can have a big impact on the quality of light emitted. The type of bulb itself doesn’t generally drive the cost of the lighting system up as much as other components (type/size of batteries and accessories) but your higher quality lighting systems are generally LED or HID with rechargeable batteries. The bestselling lighting systems are typically household battery powered LED units with 3-5 LEDs.

A halogen lamp is an incandescent lamp in which a tungsten filament is sealed into a compact transparent envelope filled with an inert gas and a small amount of halogen such as iodine or bromine. The halogen cycle increases the lifetime of the bulb.

Light Emitting Diodes (LED) are an electronic light source. LEDs have many advantages over traditional light sources including lower energy consumption, longer lifetime, and smaller size. LED bike lights are very popular and what I use.

High Intensity Discharge (HID) lamps are a type of electrical lamp that produces light by means of an electric arc. HID lights give a greater amount of light output per watt of electricity input than incandescent lights.

What to get?

As you can see above there are lots of options available but choosing a basic bicycle lighting system (a headlight and a tail light) isn’t hard. Find a balance between your needs and budget. You can easily find a good LED headlight/tail light combination that will fill your basic needs and meet safety and legal requirements. If you need something with a little more power or rechargeable batteries you can go that route as well. In addition to Amazon.com, Real Cyclist also has a good collection of bicycle lighting or you may find what you’re looking for at your local bike shop. It really doesn’t matter where you get it. Just make sure you have some kind of bicycle lighting if you’re going to be cycling while it’s dark.

http://blog.jasonkearney.net Jason Kearney

Great article on bike lights. If you don’t mind, I’d like to add my thoughts on the matter.
Lights are important all year long. Sure, they’re vital during the winter months when the sun sets so early, but I have found that by running my lights day and night, I am much more visible to cars. I’ve actually had motorists roll down their windows at intersections, thanking me for running my lights–some have told me they could see me from a mile away. Too many cyclists assume that lights are only important at night.

Also, I would say that the vast majority of lights available in the marketplace are worthless. Oklahoma law requires that lights be visible at least 200 feet away. When I first started commuting, I ran Cateye lights. They were worthless in daylight, and not much better at night.

I broke out my checkbook and went to Dinotte Lighting’s website. Yes they are expensive. But they turned out to be an investment in my own safety. I’m sure there are other lighting manufacturers out there who make lights as bright as Dinotte, but I don’t know who they are. Dinotte has been a great company to do business with. Very customer friendly.

You won’t believe how brightly lit I am. It is a good feeling to know that I am so visible out there on the road, day and night. Spend the money. Get decent bike lights. It is as important as buying a good bicycle.

I hate to make a shameless plug, but on my site, I’ve written a couple of reviews of my lighting. In the sidebar, click on “commuting,” and you should be able to find it.
http://bikingtolive.com Bryan

Thanks for the comment Jason and I have no problems plugging links on your site. I had never heard of Dinotte Lighting which goes to show you that I still have a lot to learn. It looks like they do make some nice lighting systems, but like you said, can be very expensive.

Great point about needing lights year round. I didn’t mean to infer that we should only use them during the winter darkness hours but will admit that I’ve never given much thought to riding with a light during daylight hours (probably because I don’t ride in vehicular traffic much). Doing so reminds me of daytime running lights on cars and makes sense.
http://www.wirewd.com/bike/ wirehead

Ah, I’ve got a whole section on my site devoted to lighting too:
http://www.wirewd.com/bike/hardware/lighting/

Although now that I think about it, I should probably also take the already written article for my photo site about batteries, lop off the camera-specific sections, and post it there. I have some of my lights using rechargeables.

I didn’t get the Dinotte setup. I’ve got two battery powered lights in each direction and each of them is a single fairly bright LED. Collectively, the two front lights are good enough for a decently fast ride at night. Although, I wouldn’t necessarily argue against getting something like the Dinotte setup. Sometimes I make things harder on myself just b’cause.

I suppose I could take one or both of them off during the daytime rides that I don’t expect to be riding at night, but it’s honestly too much hassle.

I also will sometimes ride with my lights on in the day. Generally, my thinking is that if it’s one of those cases where I might surprise a car, I’ll turn them on in blink mode.
http://roadtobikeacrosskansas.com Jackie

For a newbie rider this was a great article. I didn’t even know what all was available as far as lights go. At least now I have a great starting point to begin searching for lights for my bike.

Thanks.
http://bikingtolive.com Bryan

@Jackie: Again, glad you enjoyed it. I’m trying to re-focus my posts to be more helpful to the newbie riders. If you have a particular topic you have questions about please let me know and I’ll look at doing an article on it.