Rechargeable lights come with green credentials and are wallet friendly, saving you from having to keep replacing the batteries. There is a downside though, in testing, they don’t tend to last as long as bike lights that use standard, non-rechargeable batteries.
With that in mind, we’ve summed up a handful of our favourites from the low, mid, to high-end price range.
Oh, and two caveats, before we look at our selections:
- We’ve only discussed rechargeable lights here and not dynamo hub lights. We’ll cover those in a separate post.
- As posted by Amoeba in the comments in a previous post titled “Are cyclists using dangerous bike lights?” since 2005, flashing lights are legal on bikes. Just make sure you are using common sense to not blind fellow cyclists or drivers.
VeloChampion Bike Lights USB Rechargeable Front & Rear Set £29.99
This model is designed with the typical urban commuter in mind. The charge won’t last as long as some, but if you need these full beam for a two hour commute or less then they’re a fantastic, cheaper alternative. They also come with lithium ion batteries, which are the longest lasting available on the market (and can’t be ‘overcharged’ either). Though slightly less versatile than the Lezyne, I could still clip both the front and rear lights to my helmet (as well as handle bars and back of saddle). For the price, it’s a great value option; it satisfies way beyond the basics and performs really well, too.
Lezyne Zecto Drive LED Light Set £40-45
I mentioned these in an earlier post (here) but the Lezyne are a great model so deserve another plug. Lightweight, tough, and waterproof, it’s a set that will really weather the storm. With 180 degrees of visibility and multiple side LEDs, you can feel confident of your road-presence at night. It also comes with a versatile, easy-fit bracket that can clip to pretty much anywhere on your bike (and person). Plus you can charge it from any USB plug – though worth noting that for those who require longer duration on the battery lights, you’ll need to recharge reasonably frequently.
Cateye Volt 300 / Volt 50 Front & Rear set £80
The Cateye set sits at the higher end of the price spectrum and goes a step further, with more power, sturdiness and versatility overall. The Volt300 (headlight) contains five modes: High, Normal, Low, Hyper Constant and Flashing. The Volt50 (tail light) contains four: Constant, Flashing, Rapid and Pulse. Combine the two and you can be sure nobody’s going to miss you. The batteries last an impressive amount of time, and both the rear mount and front mount strap are incredibly secure on the bike.
You can opt for just one of the lights if your budget doesn’t stretch to the set; both are sturdy and bright with multiple modes, so it comes down to personal preference. Commuters might opt for the tail light, off-ride cyclists might prefer the headlight.
If your budget’s more sizeable, then an option to consider would be the Blaze bike light. This is made by the same manufacturing company producing Apple products (as is evidenced by its sleek design).
At £125, it’s not cheap, but you won’t skimp on quality in the long-run; the nifty silver-bullet has a bracket made of marine-grade steel. Meaning? You’ll never lose your light to bike rust. The lights are rechargeable via a magnetic USB so no need for rubber bungs or caps to unscrew either, which would compromise the waterproofing.
The real USP is the fact this model offers two visibility products in one – a white CREE LED front light and a laser projector. These increase your visibility, so you’re far more apt to be seen in typically low-visibility areas at night; whether that’s by large vehicles, parked cars or distracted pedestrians wearing headphones. And if you’re a fan of the Apple aesthetics, it looks pretty swish too.
The Volt 50 is an outstanding light, but the mounting bracket shipped with it is an issue for a lot of people: it doesn’t fit if your saddle is mounted forward on the seatpost, is difficult to combine with a saddlebag and is also rather heavy. You can buy a better mount separately, but it is pricey….
I see a lot of people commuting with a decent rear light which is obscured by their coat, skirt, bag etc. Do any of these fit elsewhere on the bike than the seat tube? E.g. a rear rack if present, or slightly lower/further back on the rear frame?
I have a fantastic brake / bike light from Lumicycle ( http://www.lumicycle.com/accessories/tail-lights/insight-brake-tail-light.html) – it’s gets instantly brighter when you brake and gives me great confidence I an be seen from behind and it alerts drivers when I’m braking.
But putting it in the seatpost with a rack and bag is useless so I bought a small extender for £4.99 that fixes this problem: Maddison mount for bike racks http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/madison-universal-light-mounting-kit-for-madison-pannier-racks-prod26342/
Hope this helps. Best Regards, Guy M.
blaze laser light still gets admiring looks from other cyclists, pricey but it’s already paid for itself in being seen!
Andreas > the Lezyne are a great model so deserve another plug
Those lights are nice* , but their gummy bands aren’t: After a few months, both are broken and I’ll have to find a way to fasten them to my bike after the very last bit goes:
http://s15.postimg.org/l4ap9gcnf/Lezyne_lights_gummy_bands.png
* To be seen in the city; They’re not meant/bright enough for use on non-lit roads
I have knog blinder on the front that has been going for a few years now.
I live in central London commute about 3 miles and back everyday winter and summer
I have used the Blackburn Flea 2.0 front and rear USB rechargeable lights on my commute for the past five years. They are lovely and small yet bright enough for my needs (40 lumen front light). The fact that I can easily remove them and charge off the laptop at work or at home with the the included USB adaptor is great. They have a visual colour change indicator on each unit to show you battery levels. Various operative settings like steady, flashing etc. Various Velcro attachments for bike or helmet mounting. Big on/off button for ease of use with gloved hands. The biggest benefit I enjoy is that they come with a manufacturer lifetime warranty. I have sent each original unit back once to the retailer I bought from at different points as they wouldn’t hold their charge. After a week I had new unit returned. Nice.
That’s nice, Blackburn have a warranty, do they? :/
I bought one (Mars – rear light, similar to the Flea).
Then the clip on it broke, which it shouldn’t have done (hey, London roads are potholed and gnarly, but that should be designed-into ANY light design manufacturing quality standard, not my problem). It hit the floor due to this sudden failure. Was OK, but when fixed (they sold new clips, strangely enough) and repeatedly happened, the light itself broke. I thought this is a design flaw… Plastic was too brittle on the clip mount.
Then I found out that the Blackburn Lifetime Warranty is ONLY APPLICABLE IN THE USA AND CANADA.
F88K Blackburn – I had to open the packaging to find this out – the outside of the packaging said “Lifetime Warranty”.
Legally, in the UK, the shop is held to that. Oh look, Blackburn lights not so popular at UK retailers, these days: funny, that…
The newer Mars designs changed the clip so I think they agree with me on the design issue.
Oh and one of Blackburn’s mini pumps helped snap a presta valve-inner on me when I was on a cycle tour in the middle of the countryside. DESIGN (I am a cautious sod by nature, too cautious even, so I’m sure it was my lack of care not the lame design).
Cateye TD rear lights aren’t bad, but when dropped, are still not well-built enough, mine split around the join and needed gaffer taping back together.
Cateye cheapest front AA battery light is too poorly-manufactured to join together properly – this is only noticed when batteries are inside, not when empty.
I took it back to the shop complaining about inevitable waterproofing issues… the replacement was exactly the same, different shop same company.
Smart Lunar 25 and Lunar 35 I like for price-performance ratio, but they break WAY too easily when dropped (they crack around the circumference of the join between the battery compartment and light component). I got mine for £15 for a front and rear set, or something similar, so I’m not too offended, but I just wonder how easy it must be to get a design job these days?! Or what drugs they feed the designers…
The Smart mount is WOEFUL – stupid design with just a couple of mm square, holding the light on. The splines along the base of the light body are BRITTLE plastic (see a pattern of poor choice of materials in the design here?) thus crack over time.
Due to this poor design it loosens more than it might otherwise as there’s nothing to hold it on and the mount is made of NON-brittle plastic, the good stuff – ABS is it? – but the load-bearing part that stops the light sliding off the mount is just 2mm x 2mm x 2mm approx! A little nub poking up into the light body. Which then gets worn away, chipped-away a bit, as time goes on.
Cateye’s front bracket design is better.
Some of my experiences. I cycle London streets, and you NEED to see the damned surface in DETAIL to avoid hammering your rims too much, so those who think that a tiny “be seen” LED joker light is OK, are noobs. No freedom to go out into the countryside (the pubs are a million times more characterful). I like my country-lane -capable lights.
Note – every single one of the Smart Lunar lights hit the ground at some point, due to the poor bracket design. Or I dropped it onto the floor from 1-1.2m height. That which should be built-into the design to tolerate, as it is inevitable at some point.
I love reading “Designed In California” – what where it rains little and the roads are thus far less damaged? Good thing to advertise in a bicycle equipment manufacturer – lack of experience designing to real-world standards…
I have the above Cateye front with the flea rear. Brilliant and trouble free
I am a big fan of the Exposure Trace and TraceR lights and combine them with the Cateye Volt at the front for extra forward illumination.
Any suggestions for solutions for mounting rear lights on pannier racks?
See message above in this thread..ive just posted a solution.
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/pdw/rear-light-cargo-rack-bracket-ec035228
I’ve just bought a Blackburn Mars 4.0 rear light and was more than surprised to find out that it includes a nifty adapter to fit to a rear rack. It’s an old model now but you can still find them around. I picked one up from Halfords this month on promotion at around £7 which I reckon to be quite a bargain.
http://www.blackburndesign.com/mars-4-0-rear.html#.VTa79CFViko
I have the Cat Eye Volt 300 and love it. Very bright, lasts a good while and uses the standard Cat Eye flex tight bracket which means I can swap the light between my bikes which all have same mount. So far (almost a year) very resistant to the weather.
On the back I have the Cat Eye TL-LD610 (£15), a basic AAA battery light which last for ages, and also uses a standard mount.
I also have a TL-LD1000 which gives great side visibility.
The thing about the Knog-style elastic strap lights is that there’s little opportunity to alter the angle of them – seat posts aren’t all at the same angle, and of course those fixing offer little options for racks, child seats etc.
The Knog Blinder is by far the best rechargeable light i have come across… http://www.cyclesurgery.com/pws/UniqueProductKey.ice?ProductID=CKNO0039RR&gclid=CJ3snPOY6cQCFaSWtAodXSUAfg&gclsrc=aw.ds
Fly6 rear light and HD video camera deserves a place in this list. Particularly now we have made it available in the UK via Wiggle for £99 http://www.wiggle.co.uk/cycliq-fly6-integrated-rear-light-with-action-camera/
+1 for the Exposure Trace and TraceR, but I also highly rate the Smart Lunar R1…using rechargeable AAA batteries…
So what you suggest where to buy them Chain Reaction, Evan Cycles, Ribble? I like Cateye Volt 300 amazon showing ts price £66.98. I think they have reduced its price.
Best lights I have every used for all round visibility has to be the See.Sense bike lights.
I find traffic is riding around the beam them through out on the road and not around me.
The best part is they get brighter when a cars headlights come in contact with them. Really fills you with a lot more confidence out on the roads. http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/see-sense-2-0-front-160l-rear-95l-light-set/rp-prod120898
I’m with Thomas – See.Sense lights are fantastic. Backed them on Kickstarter for the original version, very pleased (also liked the way they upgraded my light for free to higher spec). Nice British company with very clever ideas. They really do respond to my movements, turns, in/out of dark places. And last a long time between charges.
It’s got to be Sparse lamps – cool as anything and securely fixed with great performance from the USA – get them via http://nrg4.co.uk/lights/Sparse-fixed%20lights
See.Sense lights! I can’t rate them highly enough because cars definitely give me more space on the road when I’m using them. I’ve been riding for years and used all types of lights and these are by far the best. Not sure how they can work out when I am at roundabouts, road junctions, filtering in traffic etc. but they do!
As in today’s market, technology also play an important role, you might want to check out
htttp://www.magniclight.com/MagnicLight/
Very well done.
Now that cycle lamps can compete with car headlamps it’s time that some regulations on beam pattern was brought in. I use an Exposure Torus at the front for country lane cycling at night and it is good enough to see the potholes with enough time to avoid them at up to 20mph.
However, after repeatedly being flashed by on coming cars I have fitted a lamp dimming button on the side of my brake lever. What is really needed is a dipping button.
The source size of LED lamps is not super small, something that would allow good beam profiling without a large lens/mirror and its associated drag.
Have to agree with the guys above regarding the See.Sense lights.
have used many lights over the last 25 plus years cycling and these have somehow gained me the most respected from other road users.
I really love the auto on off feature, I can fit them after a full charge and not touch them again for 1 – 2 weeks depending on how much cycling I will be doing. They turn themselves off after a couple of minutes if my bike is sitting still and when I came out the next morning, just jump on my bike and boom there back on again like magic.
The side visibility on these is second to non. Any other lights I have used over the years become near invisible from side on but my seesense lights are nearly just as bright from side on.
Love them!
The start of the article begins with “Rechargeable lights come with green credentials”. This is the same promotional strategy used to promote electric bikes and electric cars and hybrid cars.
There are upsides to rechargeable lights, less landfill (from batteries) but it is usually overlooked that energy comes from somewhere, it could be coal, perhaps nuclear or a renewable energy source.
While a bike light is a fairly small product, cyclists have to resist and criticise green-washing. A viable strategy is for each product (from a light, to a bike, to a car) which is rechargeable, that there is also a commercial and perhaps political obligation to shift energy production to renewable energy.
Back to the lights, interesting that the knog rechargeable lights didn’t make the cut, they have probably been out-priced.
Hi a light that I used for the whole of last winter that is extremely bright. Is by solarstorm they are really bright and are now really cheap off of eBay. So bright nearly as bright as my cars headlight.
Great info thanks
Barry
I have used the Lezyne Zecto Drive LED Light Set. Really, a good quality set of lights. Lightweight, easily chargeable, perfect for my bike. They feel well made and give out a bright light. I liked its feature “state of charge” LEDs down the side of the lights which is very handy. You can clip them onto clothing or rucksacks and the rubber band gets fixed to the handlebars or the seat posts.
Thank goodness that now we have these rechargeable bikes, it have served me well I the past, I don’t know how I would have made it from work , where I live have no bus service neither any cab, I couldn’t afford much at that time.