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Jul 30, 2023

The 8 Best Commuter Bike Lights of 2023

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After our most recent round of testing, we have new picks for headlights and taillights alike.

Although you could strap a flashlight to your handlebars to illuminate your path home at night—people do it!—a good set of bike-specific lights will help you see and be seen in all riding conditions. After testing more than 110 lights over the past nine years, we think Portland Design Works’ City Rover 700 USB Headlight outshines the competition with its combination of brightness, run time, and value. We also recommend Cygolite's blindingly bright Hotrod 120 taillight to help you stand out in traffic, night or day.

We prefer headlights with glowing side cutouts—these provide more visibility, which is especially important at intersections.

The best taillights now use chip-on-board LEDs, which are brighter and cast a wider angle of light than the older type of LEDs.

A headlight with a flashing mode will help you stand out against visual urban clutter in the daytime.

Bright lights can overheat. A good thermal-management system dims a light slowly; a bad one shuts the light off with no warning.

Bright and affordable, this headlight has good side visibility and a long-lasting battery—better than other lights we tested in its price range. Its quick-release mount is sturdy and easy to use but lacks a functional swivel.

You could, of course, spend a lot more money on a bike light that's brighter or has a longer run time. But we think Portland Design Works’ City Rover 700 USB Headlight offers everything most commuters need (and nothing they don't) at an excellent price. When choosing a good bike light, we consider battery life to be a top factor. And though few city commuters may need to use this light at its full, 700-lumen strength, its medium setting has longer-than-average run times (four hours at 350 lumens), as does its low setting (eight full hours at 200 lumens). That medium setting should be bright enough to cut through urban light pollution and to illuminate the occasional dark alleyway. Plus, after the low-battery indicator comes on, the light automatically dims itself to its lowest setting, where it stays for an additional 15 minutes to allow for a last-ditch sprint home. The City Rover 700 also has generously sized sidelights, for visibility at intersections; we found them to be more eye-catching than those on many other models we tested. There are some trade-offs that come with the affordability: The City Rover 700 is water-resistant—not waterproof—but its most vulnerable point (the charging port) is tucked under the light and fitted with a snug rubber cover to keep out water. The body is made of plastic, rather than more-durable machined aluminum (as on our upgrade pick, the Lezyne headlight). Finally, though the City Rover (which uses a quick-release mount) stays put over rough terrain, it can swivel only a few degrees in either direction (limiting your ability to adjust for differences in handlebar angles). And we should note that its beam was not the widest of the beams on the other lights we tested.

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This light's mount is more adjustable than that of our top pick, and the battery life is comparable. However, its beam is dimmer, narrower, and yellower, and the side visibility isn't as good.

With its yellowish-tinted beam and somewhat complicated cam-hook-style mount, the Serfas E-Lume 600 Headlight differed from the rest of the headlights in our test in both functionality and design. We did come to appreciate the mounting system: It incorporates a bracket, thumb lever, cam hook, and rubber strap, and it allowed us to direct the beam where we liked. And the light never budged, even when it was put to the test on a mountain-bike ride. The narrowly focused, yellowish beam was not as bright or as wide as that of the PDW City Rover 700, but its 600-lumen output never wavered for the duration of its promised run time of 2¾ hours. And its low-flash mode runs for 90 hours at a highly respectable 100 lumens, with an easy-to-gauge color-coded battery indicator. The E-Lume 600 is less water-resistant than the City Rover, but it does have a durable, heat-dissipating extruded-aluminum housing. And though its ¼-inch side cutouts are not as attention-grabbing as the City Rover's ¾-inch cutouts, they are larger than those on our upgrade pick.

This plastic light is small and sturdy, with a swiveling strap, and it has decent side visibility too. It's bright enough for urban riders with short, well-lit commutes, but it's not suited to longer or darker routes.

If your commute is short or lightly trafficked, the NiteRider Swift 300 may be all you need to see and be seen on the road, and it's nicely priced. A tiny headlight that's about the size of a nail polish bottle, it will kick out 300 lumens for up to two hours and flash for 12. The Swift 300 has an all-in-one swiveling rubber mounting strap (rather than a quick release, like on our top and runner-up picks), and it adjusts to fit most sizes and shapes of handlebars. But it's not quite as easy to remove once you’ve reached your destination. Despite its low price, this plastic light includes many features found on our top and runner-up picks, such as side cutouts for visibility, a low-power indicator, and a lock-out mode that prevents it from accidentally turning on in your bag. Of the five modes, the lowest one (aptly named "walk") produces only a feeble 20 lumens.

This well-built, waterproof light is brighter than our top pick and has a wider beam, thanks to side-by-side LEDs (which make it great for unlit roads). This headlight shines in every way, except side visibility and price.

If cost weren't a concern, Lezyne Micro Drive Pro 800XL would easily trump our top pick, the PDW City Rover 700. Its slightly brighter, 800-lumen beam is created by two side-by-side LEDs, and this wider beam lets you better see the full road ahead of you (without significantly decreasing battery life). Its machined-aluminum body is sturdier and, frankly, more aesthetically pleasing than that of our top pick. We also liked the integrated cooling fins, which help keep the light cool while you’re in motion. Still, the Micro Drive Pro 800XL is normally about $25 more than the City Rover 700 (that savings could almost buy you a top-rated taillight to accompany your headlight), and its side cutouts are merely a nod to lateral visibility. If you’re an all-weather commuter, or you have a partly pitch-black ride, this light's higher price might be worth it: Its 800-lumen "overdrive" mode will light up the darkest rural route for 1¾ hours, and it has a fully waterproof exterior. Like our other picks, the Micro Drive Pro 800XL has a color-coded battery indicator and a mode memory option (which remembers your last-used setting, so you don't have to click through all eight modes of operation).

With an excellent price-to-lumens ratio, this light is bright and waterproof, and it may be the best choice for riders with very long commutes.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $64.

When we first started testing bike lights, in 2013, the brightest light we tested was just 500 lumens. Ten years later, you can buy a light that boasts up to 2,500 lumens. But brighter is (often) not better for the urban commuter, who shares the road with others who also need to see the road in front of them. We capped the maximum output of the lights we tested for this guide at 1,500 lumens, and we ultimately decided that anything over 800 lumens was overkill for most riders—and a danger to other users’ eyes. However, some riders may benefit from stronger lights, including those with very long commutes, which often start or end in the dark. These riders need a very bright light that can switch into lower modes once the sun has risen and they’ve reached busier streets. And they likely also need fully waterproof lights, since longer commutes bring more chances of being caught in inclement weather. The Blackburn Dayblazer 1000 can run for 90 minutes at 1,000 lumens, a very respectable three hours at 500 lumens, and 5½ hours at 350 lumens. That last level provides enough time—and light—for riders commuting long distances to get safely to work or school and home again. Any longer than that, and you’re looking at an externally powered headlight (which we didn't test for this guide) or a dynamo setup. Like the Lezyne Micro Drive Pro 800XL, the Dayblazer 1000 has a machined-aluminum body with integrated cooling fins to disperse the (substantial) heat the light generates. And it has an attached rubber strap that swivels to accommodate handlebars of various shapes and sizes. Its beam, however, is narrower than that of the Micro Drive Pro 800XL (which would be our choice for emptier rural routes).

Small and easy to mount, this taillight is extremely eye-catching, thanks to a cluster of 20 extra-bright LEDs housed in a transparent, domed enclosure. This means the LEDs are visible from the side as well as the rear.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $42.

The Cygolite Hotrod 50 was our top taillight pick in the previous iteration of this guide. And we’re still impressed by this small taillight's ability to stand out on the road as well as from its competitors. The 120, the latest version of the Hotrod, goes from 50 lumens to 120 lumens, and it has an extra mode with extremely fast pulses that Cygolite refers to as the Bzzz Flash. Although we prefer the SteadyPulse mode (a steady beam overlapped by pulses that help other road users gauge your distance from them), all of the seven modes on this taillight are truly arresting from a wide variety of angles. That's largely due to the light's construction. Instead of one large LED, the Hotrod 50 and 120 both feature a cluster of 20 tightly packed chip-on-board (COB) LEDs—all protected by a clear domed enclosure—that emit impossible-to-ignore light. (It's kind of how pavé diamonds catch the light better than one big solitaire diamond.) In fact, even though we could tell the difference in brightness between the 50 and the 120 when looking at them head to head, we’d say if you already own a Hotrod 50, there's little reason to upgrade it. The detachable (and versatile) silicone mounting strap we’ve praised in the past remains the same, and the battery run times are roughly comparable (they’re slightly lower on the 120's brighter settings). The Hotrod 120 is water-resistant, with a well-fitting USB charge port cover on the back that snugs up against your seat post (for extra protection from the elements).

An attention-grabbing light with a fun flash pattern, the 100-lumen Blinder V is waterproof, unlike our top taillight pick. But it's not as bright, and its mount feels less sturdy.

The most important job of a taillight is to help you be seen, but if a light is also fun to use, that's a bonus. The Knog Blinder V taillight's "Bolt" version (the one we tested) has eight modes, six of which feature a lightning-bolt pattern that cuts through urban light pollution simply because it's different. (The other version of the Blinder, the Traffic, has a less whimsical, bar-shaped pattern.) While the Knog Blinder V is not as bright as our top-pick taillight, it too features a mass of COB LEDs (189, in this case) that grab attention in the same way. We preferred this light's Low Flash mode, which flashes that lightning-bolt pattern on top of a steadily lit background. This mode is just 50 lumens, but the combination of the flashing bolt and the always-on background helps with depth perception while simultaneously catching other road users’ attention—and it lasts for 16 hours. Unlike the majority of the other taillights we tested, the Blinder V is waterproof—a compelling feature for diehard commuters or those who frequently ride through puddles. Yet Knog taillights still fall short when it comes to mounting hardware. The Blinder V attaches via a single silicone band (you can get different sizes to match the diameter of your seat post). And though this mount design is sturdier than that of its sibling, the Knog Cobber, it still feels flimsy compared with the Hotrod 120's wider, stiffer rubber mounting strap. It also uses an integrated USB fin, which can be hard to plug into a crowded bank of USB ports.

Although it's not as eye-catching or bright as our other taillight picks, this nicely priced light has good lateral visibility and includes a belt-clip option.

A true workhorse for the price, the Blackburn Grid 2’Fer toggles between red and white lights with a double-click of the power button. That means you can run it as a modestly bright (175 lumens) headlight or a quite bright (55 lumens) taillight. While the headlight option wasn't strong enough for us to include it in our standalone headlight test, we were impressed with the decent battery life, color-coded battery warning button, and visibility of its taillight mode. Like the Cygolite Hotrod 120 and the Knog Blinder V, the Grid 2’Fer features COB LEDs that make it stand out in traffic. And it has an "eco mode," which kicks on automatically if you’re in pulse or strobe mode and nearing the end of the battery's charge, giving you an extra two hours of run time at a dimmer setting. The Grid 2’Fer doesn't offer a dizzying array of mode options; there are four for red and four for white, and we nearly always ran it on pulse mode, which has the always-on background we prefer. But it does have an amber ring that boosts lateral visibility. With its chunky construction and plastic housing, this light doesn't look as sleek as our other two picks. However, it features a belt-clip attachment, which can be used in tandem with the wide silicone strap mount or removed for a slimmer profile (if, say, you use this light only on your seat post). It's also more water-resistant than the Hotrod 120, and it has a USB-C port, which is still a rarity in bike lights.

Bright and affordable, this headlight has good side visibility and a long-lasting battery—better than other lights we tested in its price range. Its quick-release mount is sturdy and easy to use but lacks a functional swivel.

This light's mount is more adjustable than that of our top pick, and the battery life is comparable. However, its beam is dimmer, narrower, and yellower, and the side visibility isn't as good.

This plastic light is small and sturdy, with a swiveling strap, and it has decent side visibility too. It's bright enough for urban riders with short, well-lit commutes, but it's not suited to longer or darker routes.

This well-built, waterproof light is brighter than our top pick and has a wider beam, thanks to side-by-side LEDs (which make it great for unlit roads). This headlight shines in every way, except side visibility and price.

With an excellent price-to-lumens ratio, this light is bright and waterproof, and it may be the best choice for riders with very long commutes.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $64.

Small and easy to mount, this taillight is extremely eye-catching, thanks to a cluster of 20 extra-bright LEDs housed in a transparent, domed enclosure. This means the LEDs are visible from the side as well as the rear.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $42.

An attention-grabbing light with a fun flash pattern, the 100-lumen Blinder V is waterproof, unlike our top taillight pick. But it's not as bright, and its mount feels less sturdy.

Although it's not as eye-catching or bright as our other taillight picks, this nicely priced light has good lateral visibility and includes a belt-clip option.

Freelance journalist Lindsay Warner, who wrote the most recent edition of this guide, has covered cycling, health, and design for Outside, Bicycling, Dwell, EatingWell, and other national publications. She first started bike commuting when working for The Bulletin newspaper in Philadelphia, and she regrets to admit that she often rode home after her 11 p.m. deadline without lights. These days she lives in Vermont, where bike lights (and warm clothes) help her ride year-round. In addition to testing beam patterns, battery life, and light functionality on paved and dirt roads, she also tested mount sturdiness and design on Vermont's rooty and rocky singletrack, to simulate the everyday hazards of urban commuting.

Michael Zhao, who wrote the previous version of this guide, is a daily bike commuter who has been building and riding bikes since he was 13. This guide also builds on the work done by Hannah Weinberger, who has been an all-weather bike commuter for much of her adult life. We also conferred with Darlene Edewaard, a graduate student at Clemson University (at the time of the interview) who conducted research (through a partnership with Trek Bikes) that explored how well drivers responded to rear lights. We benefited from explanatory essays on light construction and beam qualities, especially those written by bike-industry veteran Peter White of Peter White Cycles, a custom-build bicycle and lighting-system shop in New Hampshire. We also talked to Daniel Emerson, CEO at Light & Motion (and CEO of the very comprehensive testing database We Test Lights) about his team's conclusion that approximately 70% of bike accidents happen at intersections; we also discussed his theory on the best flash patterns to boost visibility and safety.

All cyclists should use lights when they’re riding in gloomy or dark conditions. But this guide's focus remains on commuter bike lights that are intended to be mounted on a bicycle and generally used in the presence of streetlights or other ambient light. You could just strap a flashlight to your handlebars (people do it more often than you might think). However, even though flashlights are designed to help you see, they’re not created to help you be seen. The best headlights assist riders in seeing ahead of them and in being seen from all angles, thanks to wider-angle beam patterns and side cutouts that aid with lateral visibility in intersections. People riding on road bikes (that is, drop-bar bikes) and e-bike riders may need something that's brighter and thus capable of keeping up with their faster pace (many of our picks have brighter modes suitable for these purposes). Mountain bikers, on the other hand, are likely to prefer something with a taller, circular beam that can illuminate branches and other low-hanging trail obstacles not found on the road. And they sometimes supplement that with a helmet-mounted light, for better depth perception.

Lights can also help during the daytime. Over the years, multiple studies have shown that using daytime running lights (DRLs) on cars can significantly lower crash rates, which is why many countries (but not the US) require all new cars to use them. Although the issue hasn't been studied as extensively for cyclists, a Danish study from 2012 found that cyclists who used lights all the time had a 19% lower incident rate compared with those who didn't. That's a convincing argument for running lights every time you throw a leg over the seat—no matter the time of day. For that reason, we tested only lights with long-lasting daytime flash modes.

As always, we began our research by taking a look at what our colleagues at other publications had already established in their reviews and testing. Road.cc, a British publication, maintains a regularly updated database of tested lights, complete with a beam-comparison tool. When it comes to understanding how bike lights work and what to look for in a great light, The Geeky Cyclist's review is second to none. Bicycling magazine published a fresh comparison-test review in 2022.

Additionally, We Test Lights is an indispensable resource for comparing manufacturers’ claimed specs against their lights’ actual performance. Its data on brightness and battery life is based on controlled testing conducted by engineers using equipment calibrated to the ANSI FL-1 standard. Light & Motion's internal testing staff operates the We Test Lights website, but Light & Motion's own models don't fare any better (or worse) than other brands’ lights. In the name of transparency, all of the raw data is published directly to the site.

Finally, a note on those Amazon lights that are so cheap they seem too good to be true. After testing numerous Amazon best-sellers over the years—including the brands Blitzu and Ascher—we’ve concluded that they’re only as good as their price would lead you to believe. Spend just a bit more, and you can get a very good light from a reputable company that comes with a decent warranty and helpful customer service. To us, that's worth it.

In some ways, not much has changed since Wirecutter published the first version of this review, in 2013. We are still looking for a headlight that can maintain over 200 lumens of brightness for at least 90 minutes, with a mount that stays put. And we’re still looking for a taillight that delivers at least 35 lumens and that lasts at least three hours at that strength between charges. The difference now is that almost every bike light available fits those criteria, so it takes a bit more for a light to stand out. However, while headlights continue to get brighter and longer lasting on a predictable curve, the introduction of chip-on-board (COB) LED technology (first used in commercial lighting in the early 2010s) has significantly improved visibility and run times for taillights. Nearly all of the taillights we tested featured COB LEDs; even in lower modes, these clearly outperformed the sole light we tested that used only traditional surface-mounted-device (SMD) LEDs, the Planet Bike Shiner 70. According to Grayson Mendivil, an industrial designer at Bell/Blackburn, COB LEDs are brighter and more efficient, and they emit a wider-angle beam than traditional SMD LEDs. So they’re a good choice for situations where riders are looking to be seen on the road. As the price for COB LEDs continues to fall, we expect all taillight manufacturers will convert from SMD to COB LEDs.

All-in-one torch style: Bike lights that rely on separate power sources (such as an external battery pack or a dynamo generator hub) can be brighter and last longer. But for commuting use, a torch that has a built-in rechargeable battery makes the most sense because there are no cables to fuss with, and you can easily put it on and take it off to avoid theft.

Battery life: The brightest bike light out there is the best option for you only if it lasts as long as your typical ride. While you can't always predict when a ride will turn into an unexpected adventure, lights adhering to the ANSI FL-1 standards should perform predictably when it comes to claimed battery life. This will let you choose the right light to get you to and from work—and maybe a bit farther, depending on your needs.

Price: You can pay more than $250 for a high-powered light for your bike—but you certainly don't have to. We found some very nice lights in the $60 range. And you can spend as little as $35 for a light with a reasonable battery length, enough lumens to get you around the city safely, and a secure mount. Riders with longer, darker commutes may opt to pay a bit more for longer run time, a wider beam, a sturdier mount, better waterproofing, or all of the above. The lights we tested ranged from $30 to $100.

Secure mount: A bike light that gradually (or suddenly) migrates downward is of little use when you need to see the road in front of you. Bike mounts have gotten far better since we first started testing them, in 2013, but some designs are still superior to others. We found that the sturdiest mounts were often initially the hardest to attach—but the best had quick releases that made removing and reattaching the body of the light a cinch.

Side cutouts or lights: Models with cutouts or additional LEDs on either side of a headlight provide more visibility from more angles than those with a single wide beam alone. That's important because, according to 2019 data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (PDF), 70% of car-bike crashes and 27% of car-bike fatalities occur at intersections.

Battery-life indicator: This doesn't have to be anything fancy, just a way of letting you know when to charge the light. Most lights we tested have an LED indicator on or near the power button, and it glows red when there's less than 20% to 25% charge left. The best battery indicators are color-coded green, yellow, and red to indicate exactly how much battery life is left—but we rarely needed that level of precision.

Daytime visibility: Although the evidence that daytime running lights may help prevent accidents is far from conclusive, it's hard to deny the arresting effect some of these lights’ daytime running modes can have when you see them in person. We found that a light of about 200 lumens was bright enough to be noticeable during the day, and flashing modes were more conspicuous than solid or pulsing modes.

Water resistance: In past editions of this guide, our criteria called for waterproof ratings of no less than IPX7 or IP67—that is, protected from full water immersion for up to 30 minutes. For this guide, we loosened our criteria to include lights with an IPX4 or IP64 waterproof rating (protection against water splashed from all directions), concluding that only a fraction of commuters need a light that works underwater. If you live somewhere particularly rainy, though, we suggest a light with an IP rating that ends in the number 7 (which indicates that it's waterproof). As a quick reminder, "IP" stands for "ingress protection." The last number in each rating refers to the level of protection offered from moisture, and the first number or letter refers to the protection offered from dust. (For instance, the "X" in a rating of IPX4 indicates that the company didn't pursue certification for dust protection; this doesn't necessarily mean the product can't keep dust out.)

Flash patterns: Having a solid-beam mode to light up the road in front of you is essential, but we also evaluated flashing modes for use as daytime running lights. All of the headlights we tested had flash modes for daytime use. But we also noticed a growing trend of headlights combining a steady, always-on beam with a simultaneous flashing pattern—to help you see and also be seen at night in urban environments (where bike lights compete with street lamps, house lights, LED advertisements, and other sources of light pollution). There's also some evidence to suggest that these kinds of lighting modes boost rider safety. In an interview, Light & Motion's Dan Emerson cited this Ford Motor Company report (PDF), saying, "The data show that flashing lights create awareness but they destroy the driver's ability to judge distance to the lights."

Extra-wide beam: The primary reason for buying a dedicated bike light instead of a flashlight holster is to get a wide-angle beam that directs most of the brightness to the ground in front of you. This helps you see ahead without blinding oncoming traffic or needlessly lighting up the trees above you.

Last-mode memory: Having more modes is good for versatility but annoying when you have to shuffle through a dozen settings just to get to the one you want. Thankfully, most lights automatically remember and default to their last-used mode, so you don't have to do this every time.

Lock-out mode: If you frequently remove your light while it's not in use, consider a light with a lock-out mode, which prevents it from accidentally turning on in your bag. Headlights—and particularly high-powered headlights—get very hot when powered on in an enclosed space. Most of the lights we tested had cooling fins built into the housing, but they’re of little use without the airflow generated when you’re riding.

Overheating: As headlights get brighter, they also get hotter. It's always a good idea to activate the lock-out mode on any light to preserve the battery while it's not in use, but that becomes imperative as lumens creep up toward 1,000 (and above). Most high-lumen headlights include thermal management systems, which automatically lower light output to prevent any harm to the electronics. But many of these lights can get hot to the touch when you’re not in motion. The best thermal-management systems lower light output so gradually that you hardly notice; the worst will shut off without warning.

Some other nice-to-have, but unnecessary, features include GoPro mount compatibility and multiple attachment-point options for taillights; this could be useful if you’d like to strap a rear light to a rear rack or seat stay instead of to your seat post. And if you’ve fully embraced the swap from micro-USB to USB-C, you might want to consider USB-C charging, which cuts down on charging time and lets you juice the light using the same charger you use for your phone or tablet. We also appreciate user manuals that are available online. Most lights operate in a predictable fashion, but it's helpful to be able to refresh your memory on how to engage lesser-used features (such as lock-out modes or special "boost" modes) without having to keep manuals.

As for stuff to avoid, pay no heed to smart features. If things like programmable flashing modes or being able to check your light's battery life on your cycling computer screen appeal to you, this guide probably isn't for you. These kinds of features can be convenient, but they don't make lights any brighter or more visible, and they aren't worth the premium for most commuters. Also, while some lights we tested had up to nine modes to cycle through, we found that you really need only about four: high, medium, low, and flashing. Anything else is just overkill.

All-angle visibility: Taillights aren't meant to light the road behind you. They’re intended to be as conspicuous as possible—without being annoyingly bright to those who witness them. As such, pure brightness doesn't matter as much as the ability to be seen from more positions. Newer taillights with chip-on-board (COB) LEDs emit a wider-angle light than traditional surface-mounted-device (SMD) LEDs, and that makes them more visible than ever before. The best taillights feature clear or red-translucent casings that allow light to spill out in almost every direction, or they have wraparound designs to provide greater than 180 degrees of visibility.

Battery life: We consider battery life to be a top factor in choosing a taillight. Rear collisions are all too common (and often quite serious) in car-bike accidents, so we’re willing to pay a bit more for a long-lasting battery that won't blink out unexpectedly during a ride. We also found that taillights set to a flash or pulse mode attract attention and conserve battery power better than when they’re set on solid mode. For example, the Cygolite 120 taillight burns for just 1¼ hours on high steady, but it will flash for up to 70 hours.

Versatile and easy-to-use mount: You can find many capable taillights that feature a hard plastic quick-release mount, but we are slightly inclined toward those that mount with hooks and a rubber strap. It's quite common for various bike accessories (or objects you might put on top of a rear rack) to block the intended mounting point for a hard plastic mount (typically the seat post); by contrast, a strap mount gives you the flexibility to move the light to an unimpeded location on the seat stay or a rack stay. The one downside: If you frequently take your light on and off, detachable rubber straps are easy to lose. That said, they’re also fairly cheap to replace.

"Bright enough": These days it's possible to buy a taillight that puts out as much as 350 lumens. Taillights this bright are intended to make you more visible in daylight, but that degree of brightness doesn't come cheap, and it can be downright dangerous at night. (Most lights that get that bright also include ambient-light sensors, to prevent them from blinding fellow road users in dark settings.) For a red taillight, we found that 50 lumens was more than enough to stand out during the day, and 30 lumens or so was already very bright at night—particularly if powered by COB LEDs. We tested—and liked—taillights up to 150 lumens, but we concluded that for visibility, flash pattern was ultimately more important than lumen count.

Solid, strobe, and pulse modes: A great taillight should at the very least offer a low and a high solid mode, some kind of visually arresting strobing or flashing mode, and an oscillating glow. This variety allows you to choose between maximum visibility and total courteousness, with shades of gray in the middle. We took into account research that suggests a flashing mode against a steady background light commands attention while aiding depth perception, so we slightly favored rear lights that had this option.

Here are some other handy features to look for: water resistance, some kind of low-battery indicator, and a clip for attaching the taillight to clothing or a bag (when there's no good place to mount it on a bike).

After poring over user reviews and specs for 43 different headlights and taillights with the above criteria in mind, we settled on 21 lights to test (seven taillights and 14 headlights).

We Test Lights and Road.cc already publish independently verified figures on brightness, battery life, and beam patterns for many of the lights we considered for testing; we consulted these, of course. Additionally, many of the lights we tested already claim to comply with ANSI FL-1 standards. With that in mind, we did not see a reason to replicate existing testing only to come to the same conclusions. We did, however, test each light's actual run time on high against manufacturers’ claims; we pitted fully charged lights against a stopwatch to confirm they lasted as long as the manufacturers said they did. Most of our taillights passed this test, but several headlights (and particularly the brightest ones) automatically switched from their brightest setting to a dimmer mode before achieving their claimed run time. That's due to thermal-management programming set by each company as a safety precaution against overheating. If you’re using your bike light as intended—that is, generally moving forward and thus generating airflow—you shouldn't notice a discrepancy between the manufacturer's claimed run time and actual run time. And even if you pause your ride long enough to trigger an overheat protection mode, the light should power back up to its original mode once you start moving again.

With the exception of the aforementioned battery-life testing, our process focused on usability and the experience of riding with the lights ourselves. This process included installing and removing each mount, checking quick-release functionality where it existed, evaluating the color and spread of the beams while we were in motion, checking visibility from all angles (including during daylight hours), and soliciting feedback from fellow riders about brightness and visibility while riding in a group. We also tested mount design by riding many miles on Vermont's notoriously rugged singletrack. And we put lights through their paces at cyclocross practice, to simulate some of the gnarlier elements you’re likely to encounter in urban riding, such as curbs and potholes. Finally, we tested mount designs by pitting them against the rigors of daily bike ownership: loading bikes (with lights installed) onto roof racks and hitch racks, popping them into repair stands and on bike hooks, carrying them upstairs and down, and loading them into the backs of cars and trucks. A good light should withstand not just ride time but all of the aspects that go into owning, maintaining, and enjoying a bike.

Bright and affordable, this headlight has good side visibility and a long-lasting battery—better than other lights we tested in its price range. Its quick-release mount is sturdy and easy to use but lacks a functional swivel.

We tested—and liked—several headlights that were brighter or cheaper or that had longer-lasting batteries than the Portland Design Works City Rover 700 USB Headlight. But we chose this light as our top headlight pick for its combination of above-average qualities coupled with an excellent price.

Battery life is one of the first things we consider when testing bike lights. All of the fancy features in the world are rendered useless the moment a light unexpectedly blinks out, leaving you to navigate your way home by the feeble glow of your cellphone. Because We Test Lights (the project run by the Light & Motion team) hadn't yet tested the City Rover 700 to see whether its claimed run times matched its actual data, we put the City Rover 700 through our own tests. And we discovered that this light was an over-performer, running at the highest setting for more than the two hours the manufacturer claimed. That said, 700 lumens is overkill for most urban commuters. We found the City Rover 700's sweet spot to be its 350-lumen medium setting, which burns for four hours and easily cuts through the visual commotion of busy city streets at night. Finally, the procrastinators among our testers appreciated the additional feature that gives you a 15- to 20-minute time bonus after the low-battery indicator comes on to urge a quick sprint home (this is a longer warning than many other lights provide). And the City Rover 700 has the largest side cutouts of any light we tested, with a full ¾ inch of light broadcasting your location as you move through intersections.

Though we consider battery life and visibility to be top features in a bike light, we also prioritize usability and day-to-day convenience. Bike lights are easy targets for sticky fingers, so we tend to prefer quick-release mounts that let you speedily remove the most expensive part of your light and slip it into a pocket or bag. (Of note: This light does not have a lock-out mode to prevent it from accidentally turning on when not in use, but you do have to press the power button for a full second to turn the light on. Still, if your headlight spends a lot of time bouncing around in a backpack or purse, you might want to consider another model.) The City Rover 700 combines an unobtrusive mount design with a plastic track on the light that emits a satisfying "click" when it's fully engaged on the mount. And while the mount is one of the simplest quick-release designs we tested, it held up to five-plus miles of bumpy mountain-bike trails without the light slipping down or prematurely releasing.

The City Rover 700's IP66 rating indicates the light can withstand powerful jets of water, but it can't survive immersion. This is a bit of a head-scratcher, considering that the company is headquartered in a place that gets 36 inches of rain per year (that would be Portland, Oregon). We have noticed that light manufacturers—including PDW—have gotten better about placing charging ports under the light body to reduce exposure to rain, and they frequently fit these vulnerable areas with snug rubber or plastic covers. Still, water damage isn't included under PDW's warranty, which covers manufacturing defects for two years from date of purchase (batteries are under warranty for one year). Although the City Rover 700 survived a 4-foot drop test without issues, the housing and mount are made of plastic, not machined aluminum (like some others in our test), which feels more durable and is better at dissipating heat. This light also lacks a functional swivel mount; paired with the relatively narrowly focused beam, this could cause problems for riders of bikes with unusually shaped handlebars or other accessories competing for handlebar space in their cockpits. If this is you, look to our runner-up headlight, the Serfas E-Lume 600.

This light's mount is more adjustable than that of our top pick, and the battery life is comparable. However, its beam is dimmer, narrower, and yellower, and the side visibility isn't as good.

Due to the unusual mount design of the Serfas E-Lume 600 Headlight, it's easy to pick this light out of a lineup—even one as large as our 14-headlight testing pool. The E-Lume 600's mount attaches via a thumb lever/cam-hook combination that quickly and securely clamps the light down without excess fiddling. (By contrast, the other lights we tested feature either an all-in-one rubber strap mount or a quick-release mount for the light's body, with a strap or thumb screw to secure the mount itself to your handlebars.) What we like best about this mount is its tool-free micro-adjustments. By moving the bottom half of the strap up or down a series of rungs, you can dial in the fit to 1/16th of an inch in about 10 seconds, without using a screwdriver. If you’re frequently moving lights between bikes that have different handlebar dimensions, you won't need to keep track of rubber inserts or fiddly little screws or find the correct tool. And because it's so quick and easy to fine-tune the strap, there's no excuse for riding off with an improperly tightened mount that might slip. Once we had the mount dialed, we found it was impossible to shake loose, even on Vermont's rocky and rooty mountain-bike trails.

The E-Lume 600 is usually a few dollars cheaper than the PDW City Rover 700, and it runs for about 45 minutes longer on overdrive, at a negligible difference of 600 versus 700 lumens. But the E-Lume 600 has a decidedly yellow-tinted beam that's even narrower than the PDW's, and that's what caused it to slip into the runner-up category. Though the beam still lit up the road in front of us, observers could easily pick the Serfas light out from its competitors, due to its ochre center and purplish outer ring (a feature that became more obvious as we rode into darker, less-illuminated terrain). On dark back roads in Vermont, this was downright distracting. This light also falls short on its lateral visibility, with its ¼-inch side cutouts, versus the City Rover 700's generous, ¾-inch side cutouts. Still, the E-Lume 600 has a daytime full-strength flash mode that lasts for up to 75 hours (nearly three times longer than the PDW City Rover). And it has a low (100 lumens) flash mode that runs for up to 90 hours. It also has an easy-to-read, color-coded battery indicator built into its power button; solid blue indicates the battery life is above 61%, solid orange means it's between 60% and 21%, and flashing red indicates it's at 20% and below. Finally, the light swivels a full 360 degrees on its mount, giving you more control over its beam.

Though we may have had a few beefs with the E-Lume 600's narrow beam and yellowish hue, we were impressed with its durability and construction. One tester accidentally dropped this light onto concrete from about 6 feet up (so, half as high as our standard drop test), and it didn't even leave a mark on the light's extruded-aluminum housing. Also, aluminum's high thermal conductivity means it dissipates heat faster than plastic. This becomes increasingly important as your lumen count gets higher, making the light hotter during use. (This is also why the E-Lume 600 and many others we tested have lock-out modes to prevent them from accidentally turning on in your bag or pocket.) That said, you reap the cooling benefits of aluminum only when you’re moving, a factor Serfas addresses in its user manual, warning riders of "the many factors that can cause [this light] to get too hot, [such as] inadequate airflow, mud, dirt, walking up that hill." When the light overheats, the E-Lume 600 will automatically switch to its 150-lumen mode; this is a feature we noticed while photographing the light at a standstill but never noticed while riding.

The E-Lume 600 has an IPX4 rating (the X here means it wasn't tested for protection against dust, and the 4 means it's protected against water splashed from all directions); this rating is one step below the City Rover 700's IP65 rating. It also lacks a wide-angle beam, so all-weather commuters may prefer our upgrade pick, the Lezyne Micro Drive Pro 800XL, with its IPX7 rating and side-by-side beams. And the battery is covered by the warranty for only one year, though Serfas offers a replacement battery for purchase.

This plastic light is small and sturdy, with a swiveling strap, and it has decent side visibility too. It's bright enough for urban riders with short, well-lit commutes, but it's not suited to longer or darker routes.

For urban commuters, brighter is not necessarily better. In fact, a too-bright light can sometimes be downright dangerous to other users on the road. If your commute is relatively short (say, under an hour) or takes place largely within well-lit city limits, the NiteRider Swift 300 may be all you need to see and be seen on the road. And it's about half the price of our top and runner-up headlight picks.

As with a base-model car, with a headlight you trade some features for a lower price. You won't find a mount with micro-adjustments, extra-long battery life, or machined-aluminum housing here. But this little light easily achieves our minimum battery/lumen benchmark, running at 300 lumens for two hours and providing 12 hours of daytime flash. The Swift 300's beam is about the same width as that of the Serfas E-Lume 600 (if less bright). And with half-inch side cutouts, its side visibility falls between that of our top-pick and runner-up headlights. So during intersection crossings, this light is more visible than many other, more expensive models we tested.

The Swift 300 has no quick-release for the head itself, but the light is small enough to tuck in your pocket. And it doesn't take up a lot of space on your handlebars, thanks to its pared-down plastic housing and simple mounting system. Plus, though the housing and simple rubber strap don't feel as over-engineered as those on some pricier lights, both are sturdy enough and well executed. The light's body has cooling fins and a tucked-away USB port, to minimize water ingress. And the swiveling strap snugs onto a front basket as easily as it wraps around an oversize handlebar.

The Swift 300 also sneaks in some nice-to-have extras, including: the low-power indicator, which is built into the on/off button and turns from blue to red when the battery life is under 20%; the lock-out mode, which prevents it from accidentally turning on in your bag; and five modes of operation. As with most of the lights in our test, with this one it was a little cumbersome to operate the power/mode button with gloves on. And you need to hold the button down for three seconds to access the flash mode. Also, avoid dropping it in a puddle, since you trade full waterproofness for IP64 (protected from water spray in any direction).

NiteRider offers a lifetime warranty against manufacturing defects and a one-year warranty on its rechargeable battery cells.

This well-built, waterproof light is brighter than our top pick and has a wider beam, thanks to side-by-side LEDs (which make it great for unlit roads). This headlight shines in every way, except side visibility and price.

If you’re the type of rural or exurban commuter who throws a leg over the saddle no matter the weather—and who commutes a significant distance on a regular basis—you need a light that's reliable, long-lasting, bright, and waterproof. You also need something that emits enough light on its own to illuminate the whole road—with no help from streetlights—and that stays put as you toggle through modes. And finally, you need to know the status of your battery. During testing that took us from city limits to remote dirt roads, we consistently found the Lezyne Micro Drive Pro 800XL to be up to the challenge. This light usually costs $25 more than the PDW City Rover 700. But you get a brighter, sturdier headlight, with a wider-angle beam, and it's totally waterproof and looks good to boot.

Although we run all of the lights we’re testing through rigorous off-bike challenges (drop tests, brightness comparisons, mount checks, timed battery run-time tests, and so on), sometimes the best test is a simple popularity contest: If all of the lights in the test are charged up and ready to go, which light do you reach for first? Answer: the Lezyne Micro Drive Pro 800XL. For a 14-mile commute that started on unlit dirt roads before dawn, our Vermont-based tester chose this headlight over 13 others. For the first part of the ride—a one-mile gravel descent down an 18% grade that tests both brakes and nerve—we appreciated the blindingly bright, 800-lumen "overdrive" mode (max possible run time: 1¾ hours), which illuminated potholes and fallen branches. Once on paved (but still unlit) roads, we tapped into the 400-lumen "blast" mode (max run time: four hours) until we reached the streetlamp-lined commuter highway; there the 150-lumen "pulse" mode (max run time: nine hours) projected a steady beam interrupted by eye-catching flashes to help you see and be seen. We didn't bother to check the rain forecast before leaving (the Lezyne is waterproof). And we knew exactly how much battery was left along the way, thanks to the color-coded LED built into the power button, which projects battery life (more than 50% is green; less than 50% is yellow; less than 10% is red; less than 5% is flashing red). A lock-out mode prevents accidental power-ups in your bag; this is necessary since the power button is among the easiest to operate of those we’ve encountered. Also, mode memory remembers your last-used setting, so you don't have to cycle through all eight modes.

Its sleek, machined-aluminum housing unit with integrated cooling fins is aerodynamic and aesthetically pleasing, with two side-by-side LEDs that project a wide, bright beam onto the road in front of you. The swiveling silicon mounting strap is simple but functional, with a removable rubber insert that makes the light usable on handlebars with a narrower diameter than the standard 31.8 mm.

We really had only two complaints about the Micro Drive Pro 800XL: the barely there side cutouts (which are larger than on previous models but still a mere nod to lateral visibility) and the price. The warranty is also slightly underpowered, with a two-year warranty on manufacturing defects and a six-month warranty on the batteries (most others are 12 months).

With an excellent price-to-lumens ratio, this light is bright and waterproof, and it may be the best choice for riders with very long commutes.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $64.

At 1,000 lumens, the Blackburn Dayblazer 1000 is the second-brightest headlight we tested, outshined only by the Planet Bike Dual Blaze 1500. For a fairly reasonable price, the Dayblazer has a lot to offer: waterproof construction, a sturdy and versatile (but not overly complicated) mounting system, good side visibility, a fuel gauge built into the power button, and a long run time (90 minutes at 1,000 lumens, three hours at 500 lumens, and 5½ hours at a respectable 350 lumens). The main reason this headlight isn't our top pick is that we think it's just too bright for your average urban commuter, whose ride will be at least partially illuminated by street lights. Riders primarily navigating city streets or well-lit bike paths will inevitably be sharing their routes with others who also need to see the road in front of them, making a 1,000-lumen light overkill—or just plain dangerous. For that reason, we recommend the Blackburn Dayblazer to smaller subsets of users: riders with very long daily commutes, who need a few hours’ worth of bright-enough light; those whose daily rides include significant stretches on unlit roads; and those who commute outside of typical hours (before 6 a.m. or after 9 p.m.), when traffic is lighter and streets may be darker (rendering the 1,000-lumen "blitz" mode necessary and reasonably safe). Riders with longer commutes (or those who live in more rain-prone zones) will also benefit from the Dayblazer's IP67 rating, which makes it impervious to rain showers (and technically capable of being dropped in a puddle or a city fountain, although we don't recommend that).

Long-distance commuters can also benefit from this light's battery-level indicator, which is built into the on/off button and glows green when the battery is above 75%, orange between 75% and 25%, and red when the battery is less than 25% (giving riders the option to dial down the lumens for longer run times). For casual riders with short commutes, such precision may be unnecessary, but for suburban dwellers riding into the city, it could mean the difference between a safe, well-lit ride home and navigating via the light on their cellphone.

Regardless of their commute time or length, all riders can benefit from the Dayblazer 1000's smooth beam optics, generous quarter-inch sidelights, and no-frills mounting system that swivels and accommodates handlebars 22 to 35 mm in diameter. If you frequently ride in below-freezing temps, though, you may prefer a headlight with a quick release. That's because the Dayblazer's all-in-one rubber mount requires that you over-stretch the rubber strap to attach or detach it from your handlebars, which is something we found challenging in cold weather and while wearing gloves.

Small and easy to mount, this taillight is extremely eye-catching, thanks to a cluster of 20 extra-bright LEDs housed in a transparent, domed enclosure. This means the LEDs are visible from the side as well as the rear.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $42.

The Cygolite Hotrod 120 taillight is our top pick due to its bright, attention-grabbing row of 20 LEDs (which are visible from almost any angle), its slim profile, and its highly adjustable silicone-strap mount (which attaches to seat posts, seat stays, and rear racks alike). The only thing that's changed with the Hotrod 120 (versus the Hotrod 50, previously our favorite taillight) is its brightness—120 lumens instead of 50. And it has an additional mode with extremely fast pulses, which Cygolite calls the Bzzz Flash.

Truthfully, we couldn't see much of a difference between the 50-lumen Hotrod and the 120-lumen Hotrod when we pitted them against each other in the "broomstick comparison test." For this test, we lined up every light on the handle of a broomstick and then powered each one on at similar modes, to gauge brightness and an ability to catch the eye. Both the Hotrod 50 and the Hotrod 120 bested the competition handily in this visibility test, thanks to a long strip of tiny chip-on-board (or COB) LED lights; they are cluster-mounted to shine in unison and encased behind a plastic dome to increase visibility from almost all angles. Though we tested a couple of taillights that use traditional surface-mounted-device (SMD) LEDs, all three of our taillight picks feature COB LEDs. Lights using these densely packed LED chips easily outperform the traditional SMD lights they’re replacing—this is important when your primary goal is to be seen (as is the case with taillights). Plus, better efficiency equals longer run time (which is another argument for updating to a COB LED taillight).

The Hotrod 120 and our runner-up pick, the Knog Blinder V, both harness the best attributes of COB technology: They present a literal wall of light to capture other road users’ attention, and they have a generous handful of flash patterns to choose from. However, the Hotrod 120 edged out the Knog Blinder V with a sturdier, less fussy mounting system. The Hotrod uses a versatile ladder-style silicone strap, which snugs this slim, low-profile taillight up against any part of your frame or rear rack. (The Knog light has a silicone band that felt less robust to us, and it has a cam-hook–style attachment that's meant to cover an integrated USB fin.) Plus, the Hotrod 120 is a touch cheaper, and it often goes on sale.

Out of the seven flash modes offered, we preferred the SteadyPulse mode, since fellow riders noted that the steady beam paired with intermittent pulses helped them gauge distance while simultaneously grabbing their attention. However, we also liked the plenty-bright "group low steady" mode, with its longer battery life—70 hours—and its slightly dimmer beam (which felt more courteous when we were riding with others). For daytime riding, we cycled through the truly arresting High Flash, DayLightning, and Bzzz Flash modes. But if you already own a Hotrod 50, there's no need to upgrade to get the Bzzz Flash mode.

The Hotrod 120 lacks a color-coded battery gauge to indicate how much run time is left. Instead, to indicate it needs to be charged, it flashes quickly about 10 times when you turn it off. That's okay, but it warns you the battery is low only if you happen to power it down before it runs out of juice. It's also a fairly vague indicator compared with our budget pick, the Blackburn Grid 2’Fer (which has a color-coded battery gauge), or our runner-up, the Knog Blinder V (which lights up a red ring around the on/off button when it's low on battery). Also, like its predecessor, the Hotrod 120 is rated at IP64, so it's less resistant to water than our budget or runner-up picks. Even so, in our testing, it has yet to fail in the rain.

An attention-grabbing light with a fun flash pattern, the 100-lumen Blinder V is waterproof, unlike our top taillight pick. But it's not as bright, and its mount feels less sturdy.

Like our top pick, the Cygolite Hotrod 120, the Knog Blinder V Rear Bike Light features chip-on-board (COB) LEDs to create a wall of light that's brighter, more widely angled, and more visible than traditional LEDs. However, at 100 lumens, the Blinder V is not quite as bright as the Hotrod 120. And, more importantly, its mount feels far less secure than the wider, sturdier, harder-to-detach ladder-style silicone band of the Hotrod 120. The Blinder V comes with three thin silicone bands of various sizes to help you dial in the fit, but all feel underpowered relative to the size and weight of the 1-by-3-inch light.

The Blinder V—like several other Knog lights we’ve tested in the past—falls short in its mounting system. But its engineers made good use of its relatively large size, harnessing the grid of 189 densely packed LEDs into a lightning-bolt pattern, which makes this fully waterproof taillight a bit more fun to use than your average taillight. Although the Blinder V also comes in a bar-shaped pattern, called the "Traffic," we tested the "Bolt." And while going down the road, we derived just a bit more joy from the six modes (out of eight total) that featured lightning-bolt patterns. Plus, viewers noted that the unusual pattern grabbed their attention more than a traditional taillight might, even though the Blinder V isn't as bright as our 120-lumen top pick. However, since COB LEDs are cluster-mounted and brighter than traditional LEDs, you can get away with running them in lower modes. We actually preferred the 50-lumen Low Flash mode, which intermittently projects a lightning bolt on top of a steady background, for better depth perception at night. You can extend run time up to 50 hours using the 20-lumen Eco Flash mode, but we disliked how long the light remained completely off between flashes in that mode.

The Knog Blinder V is rated IP67, making it one of only two taillights we tested that are fully waterproof (the other light is also a Knog). If you live somewhere that's particularly rainy, that may be enough to boost this light above the Hotrod 120, which is rated IP64. We also preferred the Blinder V's battery gauge to the Hotrod 120's. There's a red ring around the power button that illuminates when it's time to charge, compared with the Hotrod, which flashes while powering down when the battery is low. The Blackburn Grid 2’Fer is the best of all: Its color-coded battery indicator provides much more precise information on remaining run time, and you don't have to peel the light back from your seat post to check it (as you do with the Blinder V).

We were also disappointed that this version still includes the integrated USB fin that we found so clunky in previous tests; this makes it difficult to plug the light into a bank of USB slots because you can't detach the fin from the taillight. In addition, the fin should ideally be covered with the detachable plastic cam-hook clamp that comes in the box. While you can still attach this light without using the cam hook (if, for example, you lose it), we worry that doing so would leave the USB fin vulnerable to water or breakage. Without the USB fin, you won't be able to charge this light. For that reason, we far prefer the traditional USB port found on the majority of the other lights in our test.

Although it's not as eye-catching or bright as our other taillight picks, this nicely priced light has good lateral visibility and includes a belt-clip option.

At 55 lumens, the Blackburn Grid 2’Fer isn't nearly as bright as the Cygolite Hotrod 120 or the Knog Blinder V, and it doesn't have as many modes to choose from. But this attractively priced light was easy to pick out from surrounding traffic—from behind and from the side—thanks to a transparent amber ring that runs around all four sides for lateral visibility. Blackburn's 2’Fer lights have been available since 2015. And if you have an older version, it's worth upgrading to the 2022 version—now called the Grid 2’Fer. It features 18 COB LEDs, so it's brighter, more eye-catching, and longer lasting than the original. The 2’Fer still toggles between white and red modes when you double-click the power button. However, at 175 lumens, the headlight mode wasn't bright enough to compete with the other headlights in our test.

The Grid 2’Fer is a relatively chunky, 1½-by-2-inch light with a 1¼-inch depth (if you keep its detachable belt clip on). It isn't as sleek or aerodynamic as the Cygolite Hotrod or Knog Blinder V, both of which tuck closely into your seat post. Yet it outperformed both of those lights with its battery monitor. A color-coded fuel gauge light built into the power button tells you exactly how much life is left in the battery (green is 100% to 50%, orange is 50% to 25%, red is 25% to 0). So you can run this light until you’re in the red. And that's good, since the solid mode (55 lumens) eats up power at a fairly rapid rate, lasting just 1¾ hours. However, the light runs on a 35-lumen pulse mode for six hours, and it runs in the 20-lumen strobe mode (our preferred setting, since some portion of the light is on at all times during the cycle) for 6½ hours. Additionally, the Grid 2’Fer automatically switches to an "auto-eco" mode at the end of the pulse and strobe modes, to provide a bonus two hours of run time. The auto-eco pattern was our least favorite because the LEDs turn completely off for a brief period of time (less than a second) before blinking back on. But it's far better than having no light at all, and it also serves as a very generous wind-down to complete darkness.

Even though the Grid 2’Fer has only solid, pulse, strobe, and eco modes—no dizzying flash patterns or fun lightning bolts here—we found these to be sufficient and bright enough to stand out from urban light pollution. Carrying an IP65 rating, the Grid 2’Fer is more water-resistant than our top pick, but it's not fully waterproof, like our runner-up, the Knog Blinder V. However, it's the only one of our top picks that features a belt or bag clip for more versatile mounting options. You can remove the clip for a lower-profile fit if you plan to use the light only on your seat post, but (speaking from experience) it's far too easy to then misplace the clip entirely. If you think you’ll want to use the light as a clip-on accessory in the future, keep the clip on and simply stretch the silicone strap around it to secure the light to your seat post.

If you have a very long (or very dark) commute: Consider Planet Bike's Dual Blaze 1500, which tops out at 1,500 lumens and has side-by-side lights that cast a wide beam across the road. Both features make this light a good option for commuters traveling on unlit roads in the countryside—particularly since it runs for 2½ hours on its brightest mode and up to 12 hours at 400 lumens. We liked its Quick Twist mount (Planet Bike's name for its quick-release mounting system) and its generously sized side and bottom cutouts for lateral visibility. But we ultimately thought most commuters (and the commuters around them) would be better served by dimmer, smaller-profile headlights that took up less space on the handlebars and cost less. Plus, due to its brightness, this headlight heats up quickly while not in motion.

If you ride ultra-long distances for fun (or you don't have a way to charge your lights at work or school): Take a look at Light & Motion's Rando 500. It has an impressively long battery life (three hours at 500 lumens and 12 hours at 125 lumens) and trickle-charge capability (which means you can charge it while using it). You’ll need to be hooked up to a dynamo hub or carry an external battery pack with you to take advantage of this feature. But if you frequently go on extended adventures, the higher-than-average price (currently $90) of the Rando 500 may be worth it.

If you’ve ever ridden a bike-share bike and wondered how its lights manage to stay charged, it's because they don't need charging: Such bikes almost all use dynamo lighting setups, which use a special hub to convert rotational energy from the front wheel into electricity. Their lights never run out of battery power because they don't need batteries.

When we say "dynamo," we’re not talking about those little doodads that look like a hot-sauce bottle and rub against a bike tire's sidewall to generate a modicum of barely usable light. Modern dynamos are integrated into the hub of a bike's front wheel, and the best ones rotate almost as freely as a regular wheel. As long as you’re moving (above 5 mph or so), the hub sends enough power to the light to produce a visible beam. Most lights also have capacitors that store energy and allow for about five additional minutes of illumination after you come to a full stop.

When paired with a high-end light, a dynamo system can generate more than 700 lumens of steady output to effectively light up the road ahead for several car lengths. Moreover, because the light is useless without the hub it's wired to, and the hub is built into your wheel, thieves have little incentive to mess with your stuff.

The downside to dynamos is that they’re complicated to set up and fairly expensive. If you can find a bike shop willing to help you out, you can expect to pay at least $400 for a new front wheel, which will likely need to be custom built. Add to that the cost of a decent set of lights and the labor to get everything working. Otherwise you’ll need to do some research to determine what kind of wheel you need, what your mounting choices are, and which light(s) you’d like to use. And then you’ll need the skills to splice wires, swap tires and tubes, and mount bolt-on lights to your frame.

If you’re a dedicated commuter without access to a charging port at work or school, a dynamo setup is worth considering. Otherwise, there are plenty of excellent battery-powered options available that are less expensive and easier to install—as long as you don't mind plugging them in occasionally.

The Blackburn Dayblazer 550 only narrowly missed out on being our budget pick for headlights; with 550 lumens and an IP67 waterproof rating, it's a little brighter and more waterproof than the NiteRider Swift 300. And like the NiteRider, it's pocket-sized and has a sturdy strap. However, the battery lacks staying power, burning for just one hour at 550 lumens, while the NiteRider runs for twice that time on its bright-enough 300-lumen mode.

We tested two similar-looking headlights from Light & Motion's Vis line: the Vis 500 and the Vis 700 (the latter of which we’ve tested in the past and recommended buying, if you could find it on sale). Not much, if anything, has changed in the body style. The Vis headlights still feature a quick-release mechanism that is prone to pre-releasing if you don't install the included screw-in security pin. They still feature a plastic charge port that will snap off if you’re not careful with it. And they’re still fairly expensive (though they’re also fully waterproof and have good side visibility). Between the two, we preferred the Vis 700 for its lumen-to-run-time ratio (700 lumens for 1½ hours). However, both headlights (and Light & Motion's Rando 500, which is built with the same body style) have a too-narrow beam. And it's accentuated by an overly focused bright spot in the center of the beam, so it spotlights—rather than illuminates—the road ahead. Lights with side-by-side bulbs (like our upgrade pick, the Lezyne Micro Pro 800XL) provide smoother, wider-angle optics.

The Cygolite Dash Pro 600 has four small lights across the top that remain on (or flash) while the main headlight toggles through various modes; this helps other users gauge the rider's distance and speed. However, the run time (1.15 hours at 600 lumens) is too short for most users. It also has a flimsy-feeling all-in-one mount that slipped downward during testing. We also retested the Cygolite Metro Plus 800 USB—previously our top headlight pick—which still features a durable, easy-to-use quick-release mount. But we were perplexed to discover that it no longer has a waterproof rating, and its 800-lumen "boost" mode runs for just one hour, rather than 1½ hours (as do previous models we’ve tested).

The Lumina Micro 900 from NiteRider is bright and easy to use and has a sturdy mount, but it lacks side visibility—which is a dealbreaker. Plus, though WeTestLights has not yet analyzed the Micro 900, we noticed that its battery performance was consistent with that of some other NiteRider lights (but not the Swift 300), in that it almost immediately started dimming while in use.

The Planet Bike Blaze 600 SLX is the first headlight we’ve tested that uses Planet Bike's proprietary Clean Beam technology (which is supposed to avoid blinding oncoming traffic by capping the light's upward glare with a special horizontal lens design). However, it didn't pass our run-time test.

With its 330-degree wrap-around style, featuring nearly 200 densely packed chip-on-board (COB) LEDs, the 170-lumen Mid Cobber light from Knog has the best lateral visibility of all the taillights we tested. But it has one of the worst mounting systems we’ve encountered on a light of this caliber and at this price. Relying on a single silicone band anchored by plastic loops to hold it in place, the relatively beefy 2½-by-1½-inch Mid Cobber feels wobbly when it's mounted on your seat post—even if you install one of the other two (included) thicker bands designed for smaller-diameter bars or seat posts. The system also has a quick-release insert, which pre-released—twice—while our tester was loading it onto her rear hitch mount. That's a shame, since the Mid Cobber's lateral visibility is head and shoulders above that of its competitors.

One of the few taillights in our test using traditional LEDs (rather than COB LEDs), the Shiner 70 from Planet Bike was easily distinguished from its competitors for its noticeably dimmer beam. It's 70 lumens—so it's technically brighter than our budget pick, the Blackburn Grid 2’Fer. But in reality, taillights with COB LEDs shine brighter at lower lumen levels, and they have longer run times. So the Shiner 70 seems underpowered and outdated in comparison.

With decently long run times (up to 25½ hours in low steady mode), the NiteRider Vmax+ 150 taillight seems like a good choice for riders looking for a COB LED taillight that converts from a seat-post mount to a belt clip. However, it's not as inexpensive as our budget pick, and it's not as eye-catching as our top two picks. Also, its mount feels far sturdier than its plastic belt-clip attachment points. For those reasons, we prefer our other picks.

Finally, we tested a new taillight from Thousand, a company best known for its distinctive bike helmets. This is Thousand's first foray into the world of bike lights, and the Traveler Magnetic bike lights are a neat concept: A rubber mount wraps around your seat post, and the light (composed of COB LEDs circling a traditional LED) attaches magnetically. However, its dial-style mode-switching design is unreliable and difficult to use. It's also too easy to accidentally detach the light from its mount, and the run time wasn't as long as the manufacturer claimed.

This article was edited by Eve O’Neill and Christine Ryan.

Hisham Mirza, The Best Bike Headlights to See and Be Seen on the Road, The Geeky Cyclist, June 21, 2022

David Tolan, (directs all testing for We Test Lights), chief technology officer, Light & Motion, phone interview, November 17, 2022

Peter White, The Perfect Dynohub Headlight, Peter White Cycles, April 23, 2014

Darlene Edewaard, graduate student at Clemson University, email interview, September 17, 2017

Dan Emerson, CEO of Light & Motion, most recent email interview, October 21, 2022

Tara Seplavy and Dan Chabanov, The 13 Best Bike Lights for Every Kind of Ride, Bicycling, July 19, 2022

Michele E. Krajicek and Raquel M. Schears, Daytime running lights in the USA: What is the impact on vehicle crashes in Minnesota?, International Journal of Emergency Medicine, March 26, 2010

Harry Lahrmann, Tanja Kidholm Osmann Madsen, Anne Vingaard Olesen, Randomized trials and self-reported accidents as a method to study safety-enhancing measures for cyclists—two case studies, Accident Analysis & Prevention, March 9, 2018

Dave Atkinson, Best front bike lights 2023 — light up the road, trail or path with our top picks of the best front beams, Road.cc, December 27, 2021

National Center for Statistics and Analysis, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Traffic safety facts: Bicyclists and other cyclists: 2019 data (PDF), Traffic Safety Facts

Grayson Mendivil, junior industrial designer - Bell/Blackburn, Vista Outdoor Inc., phone interview, November 30, 2022

Tad Osada, senior product developer - accessories, Vista Outdoor Inc., December 5, 2022

Lindsay Warner

Lindsay Warner is a freelance writer reporting on cycling gear for Wirecutter. She has written for such publications as Dwell, Outside, National Geographic, and Forbes, and she also works as an occasional copywriter for Ben & Jerry's. She lives in Vermont, where she enjoys mountain biking, cyclocross, boat camping, and Nordic skiing.

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