Best front and tail light?
 

Hi fellows,

It will be dark both-ways when I commute with my winter bike to work and home. What are you recommending as the best front and tail lights for a bicycle?

Thank you in advance :)

Canuckophile

Look in the Electronics and Lighting section. There are a lot of different comments.

Lately I've been using little silicone "frog" lights on the rear. Very cheap. I've given a few away. Don't worry too much if they get stolen.

Silicone LED Bike Light Front Rear Wheel Flash Strobe Lamp Waterproof Red

I have an 8.4V "CREE" light for the front. The separate battery pack is both good and bad. A bit of a pain to strip the lights every time I stop, but easy to carry a spare, and to recharge the battery pack.

MINI 2000Lm CREE L2 LED Front Bicycle light Bike Lamp Headlamp+8.4v Battery Pack

The one above has 3 brightness modes, plus a LED halo, and two LED flashing modes. I've had troubles with the battery cable coming loose on a couple of lights, but so far this one has been OK. I usually ride with it dim, and turn the halo on for city riding, then off for country riding.

Other lights to look at would include the REELIGHT induction lights. No battery required. Especially for tail lights. As for the front, it depends on whether you are mainly wanting "be seen" or "to see" lights.

https://www.reelight.com/en/products/

Dinotte 400R taillight-expensive safety device (Recommend DesignShine DS500 if you can find one)
Bontrager ION 700R or 800R $80/$100
Cateye Volt 1200, $200 list, on sale at Sierra Trading Post for $84. Some heavier than ION but a lot more light for the money!
https://www.sierratradingpost.com/ca...ateye-light%2F

The "best" and most powerful lights will dazzle oncoming people and bicycles.
You don't want them if you ride in town.
Some of them have low power modes, though.

The four I am considering now are as follows:

https://www.amazon.ca/Cygolite-Tride...e+TridenX+1300

https://www.amazon.ca/Cygo-Lite-Trid...+1300+Xtra+OSP

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00E1NPPXE/...I3M37JPLVRZJLO

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01IO12LCQ/...=IN8ZZ12D4ZAPM

Your taillight is a good choice. I have that one.

For the headlight, I use this:
https://www.amazon.com/Dash-Pro-450-.../dp/B013FIYLTE

I love the (led only feature)...really extends the battery life.
You can essentially run it LED's only, LED's + headlight, and flash any combination or those or leave any combination of those on steady.

Yep, I have to tilt mine down towards the road when in town or when encountering a oncoming car and it cost less than $30 on ebay. It is not so bad when on flash mode but even on constant low power the cars flash their high beams at me. For a tail light there are a number or good inexpensive lights.

I use a Bontrager Flare R for tail light. Happy with that, now I'm trying to select a good headlight like yourself.

https://www.amazon.com/RioRand-Bicyc...bike+headlight

These lights are sold by a number of different companies on Amazon. I have them on 2 of my bikes. I chose this add because it had the most reviews. Look for name brand batteries in the battery pack. Some have usb charging and this might be convenient if you use your computer a lot.

Different sellers boast widely different lumen output. I Don't think you need anything over 500 lumens. The higher the output the longer the battery will last and if they say they have 2000 lumens they are probably lying. These lights really light up the road. They will need a day to fully charge and then should give at least a couple hours light at full brightness, more at dim or flash.

When they run out of juice they will stop working abruptly so be sure to keep them fully charged. On my bike I have a small frame bag attached just behind the stem in which I carry the battery. This has a zipper and it is easy to take the battery out to charge it. Also helps protect it from weather.

Best might be to get one complete light kit and buy a separate second battery. Then you will always have a fully charged batt as a back up.

If you are handy you might want to try to mount the light low down on your fork. This will mean less chance of blinding an oncoming driver.

rear .... cygolite

front ... cheap chinese Cree ... use the headmount strap, and put the battery in your jacket pocket

Query: What if you don't end up with the best, whatever that means?

The Cree XM-L2 is the latest cree in its class. The other Trident is just the older XM-L

For the money, I would try the Cycolite Metro Pro 1,100. Lots of light for less than the Trident types.

If you're using lights on a regular basis, consider a dynamo hub. No worries about dead batteries leaving you in the dark.

Lots of good replies so far.

But if you don't have something meaningful to contibute, don't bother.

I use a Light and Motion urban 250 and Urban 500 and charge them via USB. At high power they work for even unknown roads and on low I can get about four hours or more of constant light (a couple good rides or three ... however long that is.)

I am sure the cheaper Chinese options are just as good and cost less, though .. that is what i will investigate next.