The Lezyne Lite Drive 1000XL front and Lezyne KTV Pro Drive 75 rear lights are super well-made. Immediate Media The V2.0’s predecessor, the MagicShine Monteer 8000S Galaxy, also scored a full five stars last year and is worth consideration. The rear light puts out a slightly middling 75 lumens at full power, but does offer an impressive 270 degrees of visibility.

Bright Mountain Bike Light Throwdown: From 1600 Lumens to Bright Mountain Bike Light Throwdown: From 1600 Lumens to

A minimum of 1,500 lumens will provide enough light for well-lit riding. You can get away with less, but if you ride fast or on technical trails more lumens is better than less. With 1,000 lumens at full power, Lezyne’s Lite Drive 1000XL provides more than enough brightness and beam spread for riding on unlit roads. You’ll only get around 80 minutes at this power, but dropping it down to the second highest output (which sits at 500 lumens) provides just under three hours of run time, which ought to be enough for even the longest of commutes.

While power feels less than claimed, it’s ample to ride gnarly trails with confidence, although a better beam spread would be helpful in tight turns. Obviously, if the LEDs push out lots of light, more battery power is required. All of our lights have at least one-hour of run time at the 1,500-lumen minimum requirement, but most offer considerably more burn time at their max output, so it’s unlikely you’ll get caught short.

2000 Lumens | Knog PWR Lighthead | 2000 Lumens | Knog

With 2,600 lumens peak output, a 9,000mAh battery and a wired remote, along with an LED display of mode and battery life, the Moon Rigel provides plenty of illumination from its six LEDs. It has an out-front mount to push it ahead of the bars. There are 30 modes, with claimed run times starting at 32 hours for the 400-lumen setting and dropping to one hour 30 minutes for the 8,000-lumen max-power mode, although it ran for slightly longer in testing.Cyclists riding in lit urban areas, who don’t need lights to illuminate the road ahead, may only need a unit with a few hundred lumens – but if you venture on to unlit roads or paths, that’s unlikely to be enough, so you’ll need something more powerful. Wiggle the bar or hit a bump and it switches to full power instantly. This works so well it renders manual modes pointless, so you can have an entirely hands-off experience. Lights that flood their output illuminate more of the trail’s surroundings, giving a better sense of where you are and highlight details easily missed with a more focused beam. This wider beam spread means it’s easier to see around turns, too – something that needs to be considered if you’re not running a dual-bar and lid-mounted setup. It’s a beautifully made light, if expensive, although there are lower-priced options that don’t include the AKTiv tech. Most road lights are all-in-one units that include the battery, but more powerful lights will usually have a separate battery. Alex Evans

Bike Lights Set, Super Bright Bicycle Light 2000 Lumen LED

The Gloworm XS Adventure Lightset (2.0) has customisable output and optics. Ian Linton / Immediate Media Battery life is impressive and although the mode and battery indicators are a bit vague it’s an easy-to-use unit overall. The big problem, however, is the price. It’s an expensive light and at this price point you might fancy a little more power. It’s not the most powerful light we’ve ever tested, but the Hope R8+ puts out enough light to illuminate everything in front of you and then some. Side-to-side flooding is very good too, and is in fact wide enough to spot lines even when it’s not pointing directly where you want to go. A helmet light helps spot the landing when the bar light is shining up in a tree somewhere. All-in-one Options This isn’t necessarily a problem in itself, but many road cyclists won’t want something overly large to spoil the sleek looks of their road bike or clutter the handlebar. Likewise, some commuters will want lights that are small enough to be stuffed easily into a work bag.

Moon Meteor Storm Pro light review

Some of these lights are even brighter than high beams on a vehicle, but it’s still a good idea to pair with a second helmet or bar light. You’ll be able to see what’s ahead even when your handlebars aren’t necessarily pointing there, and as an added bonus you’re statistically less likely to get stranded in the dark. Gloworm XS 2500 and X2 1700 The middle LED of the XS has a diffusing lens that complements the spot lenses on either side. The X2 can be mounted on handlebars, but I mostly used the GoPro mount. The light will also gather data to learn behavioural characteristics and respond accordingly, with the light changing output based on movement and ride style. Our tester had two of these lights, one for commuting and one for club rides. The commuting light became more reactive than the club ride light, which has presumably grown used to more consistent riding. As a relatively inexpensive high-powered light, the Meteor Storm Pro is best suited to riders not looking to get too rowdy on the trail – we’d say it’s perfect for people who dabble in night riding rather than those looking to go out on regular epics. How we tested With five LED lights and a whopping 6,500 lumens total claimed output, the Magicshine Monteer 6500 is a seriously capable unit.