Lights for road bike

I’m after getting some new lights for my wife to use on her road bike (was thinking of something like the Lezyne Macro Drive or Cateye Volt) but as I don’t tend to ride on the road myself i’m not sure what’s a good brightness. Her commute is usually from the peak district into Sheffield so a mix of unlit country lanes, A roads and well lit city streets. What would would people recommend? I’ll probably get her a new rear light as well to stop her stealing mine!

Just got a Lezyne macro drive – not been on a ride yet but it’s more power than the one I used to be happy with with much more runtime. Single clip on and off unit is much more convenient than separate batteries, especially if commuting. Get one, won’t be disappointed. USB chargeable at work too.

I’ve got an Exposure Strada. Not cheap but it has a road specific beam and the remote high/low switch acts as a dipped beam feature. Bright enough to ride as fast as you dare on unlit roads. One of the best bits of cycling kit I’ve ever bought.

I also have an exposure strada, the 1200. Had it a couple of weeks and it really is astonishingly good. Full beam is very rarely needed so if you wanted to go for the strada you could go for the lower powered model.

The 1200 is under £200 at Evans right now. Great light 🙂

The Macro drive on the other hand is £60.

B&M Ixon IQ Premium, about £65 from Rosebikes. Mount it at the fork crown if possible (needs an additional mount). My commute is 12 miles each way, almost all unlit, it works well on this, and uses AA batteries.

I do also have a Strada, this probably gets more use on easy off road than on road – I don’t find the road lighting any better than the Ixon, and I suspect it’s more annoying to people coming the other way.

molgrips – Member
Just got a Lezyne macro drive

Do you know if you got the 600 or 800 version?

I also have an exposure strada…Full beam is very rarely needed

This is what i’m trying to suss out, i can’t see the point in a high powered light (the Lezyne drive lights go up to 1500 lumen!) if she’s never going to use it. The 600 and 800 are £60 and £100 respectively (including a rear light) which is a lot of extra Christmas presents over the Exposure light. Maybe if she was using every day but it will only be 1 or2 times a week

STW you’ve let me down.

You all know the OP needs to build a dynamo front wheel….

Not a recommendation for a light, but for the company. On Monday I returned a 3 year old Sirius Mk2 Front Light that had developed a fault back to Exposure. Today it arrived back with me, fully working and no charge. Simply outstanding customer service.

Will she use it to ride a couple of miles on lit streets, or for 20+ miles on very dark unlit country lanes?

I have a 1200 lumen light I use for ‘proper’ road rides in the dark, but for my commute which is street lit I use a 360 lumen light.

ianbradbury – Member
BandM Ixon IQ Premium, about £65 from Rosebikes

Annoyingly they use Lux so it’s near impossible to understand how the output compares to the others. Also…

According to German road traffic regulations (StVZO), this light is only approved for road bikes under 11 kg when used with non-rechargeable batteries. When used with rechargeable batteries, this light is approved for all bikes.

How the hell do you correlate battery type and bike weight?

I also have a lezyne 900. It’s ok but the beam is nowhere near good. Lumens are only part of the story here. Beam profile is everything.

The leyzyne beam is better than the Chinese x2s etc but nowhere near as good stuff exposure is putting out at the moment.

Pays yet money etc etc

To be honest I’ve no usefull idea how the numbers compete, except that the Strada puts out a lot more light, but much of that light goes above horizon, whereas almost all the ixon’s output is below. All I can say is that on road I’m happy with either, but any forest track or similar I’d prefer the Strada. The service from both companies is excellent.

I don’t worry about bike weight, just use rechargeables (Eneloops) except in dire need. There is an explanation for this weird regulation, but life is too short.

This is what i’m trying to suss out, i can’t see the point in a high powered light (the Lezyne drive lights go up to 1500 lumen!) if she’s never going to use it

I do use high, but not very often. I’d rather have it available than not.

That’s a great price from evans, very odd that a brand new light is on ‘clearance’.

Ixon Premium here. Great beam for the road, like a car headlight, but not dazzling like off road lights can be. Was disappointed with mine at first after a MaxxD but then realised it was all I needed and have got used to it.

on and on – Member
I also have a lezyne 900. It’s ok but the beam is nowhere near good. Lumens are only part of the story here. Beam profile is everything.

I agree, and its annoying that manufacturers tend not to give away much information about beam profiles and just go for the headline lumens figure. That’s one of the reasons why i’m after recommendations from people who’ve actually used them.

As above I’d say it depends on how far she rides on unlit roads, and how fast.

I tried a Specialized Flux Expert and a Strada 800 but they just didn’t give enough throw to avoid potholes. Just ordered the Strada 1200 from Evans, hopefully that will do the job.

I’ve got a Trelock LS950 and an Evans on FWE500 lumen job on my commuter, bot are similarly bright, the Trelock is eye friendly enough for ze germans, but I’ve had no complains about the FWE either.

The helmet mount for the FWE is ace, and is gopro compatible, the trelock battery last AAAAAGGGGEESSS. The FWE is cheap @ £35.

Ultimately I’d recommend both/either.

Exposure Strada here. Use it a lot. Like it. While it does have a road specific beam it does need setting up properly. Most of the time it’s on the lowest setting. Highest setting is nice to have though for high speed twisty bits. I use it with a Red Eye at the back. Though annoyingly you can’t use both the remote and the red eye at the same time.

Only part complaint (and part compliment on their customer care) is that it has had to go back to Exposure a couple of times. Once for a firmware problem, and another time a problem with the button. They did sort it out quickly each time though.

If I was buying a new light I’d have a look at the Garmin one. Road specific, reacts to light levels, and focus of the beam changes with your speed. I’d be curious to know how well this works. Road.cc seem to like it…

The headlight is undoubtedly the best light I have used for lighting the way, and the smart element is fantastic for when you are moving at speed in the dark.

(Think the review is a bit unfair on price I think as they factor in the cost of a Garmin GPS unit, which are pretty ubiquitous. One to consider if you already have a 520, 820 or a 1000.)

a Strada 800 but they just didn’t give enough throw to avoid potholes. Just ordered the Strada 1200 from Evans, hopefully that will do the job.

😯 Quite surprised by that. I think my Strada is the older 600 and I’ve never found it lacking on full power even downhill at 40+mph.

Is the road.cc beam comparison tool still there? Shows beam patterns really well and bigger range of lights than the Evans one.

Strada front, Moon Nebula rear

Pricey but as good as it gets.

I commute everyday, all winter.

I think wiggle also have a comparison tool?

That’s a great price from evans, very odd that a brand new light is on ‘clearance’.

That is a ridiculous price! I was considering this light already as I know my Maxx D is a bit dazzly on the commute. Rude not to considering it’s cheaper than the old one! Don’t forget your quido for about a fiver cashback.

Do you know if you got the 600 or 800 version?

800. I haven’t ridden it yet, but based on the fact that I was more than happy with my L&M urban 500 in full, I think it will be good. I used to use the L&M on low (150lm) or medium, ridden all over the dark unfamiliar countryside on many many nights.

On low it was also my backup light on the last couple of hours of trans Cambrian way where it was entirely usable.

M8nimum cateye volt 500xc

To keep scotroutes happy:

The Freedom of Infinity

OP,

The lux/lumens thing is only half the issue, the other half is a cut of beam vs a symmetrical one. For the road a cut of beam measured in lux makes more sense. FWIW a few years ago a mate and I decided that my 60lux Cyo was equivalent to his Toro on medium, whatever that is in lumens. Naturally the Cyo isn’t putting out as much light, but it’s putting it in the right place, ie not wasting it on the clouds and not ending up with a hotspot close than you’d like. For the road, fewer photons with a usefully shadows beam is better than ALL TEH LUMENZ in a cone shape, IME.

I have the lezayne 800 and I’m not that impressed. On full power it doesn’t give as much illumination as my 600lm joystick and when you want to change modes you have to go through all 7 settings including the flashing ones. Not great when you just want to change from low to high when going up or down hill to extend run time.

On my Lezyne (can’t remember the model), if you turn it on with a really long press, it goes into a mode where a click just alternates between high and low. I almost always use that mode.

I recently bought the lezyne macro drive 600x and am very happy with it. Hold it for 5 seconds and it has a simple high and low mode has been good so far when I have chance to use it! The high mode is spot on for fast downhill sections.

Fair enough, that’ll teach me for not RTFM!

😳

Lezyne macro drive 600xl here too, also run it in the high / lowish 2 mode option too, try to use lower mode most, lit roads or climbs, if I hit a quicker unlit section it’s a simple quick button press to toggle to high mode. Can’t imagine needing any more than that high mode on the road.

Run it with a lezyne strip drive pro on the rear, super bright.

Both USB rechargeable so can charge at home or work as needed. Great lights I think.