just started a new job in the countryside (finally kicked the London habit) and have a country lane commute and as the evenings are shortening I’m going to have to get myself lit up.

ive got an old exposure maxxD so I’m all set for the front. But for the back I’ve just got a cheapo single LED light (£1 from Planet X…) so need something better.

what do you guys use and what other advice for country lane night time rides? My wife thinks its a bad idea generally…so want to set her mind at rest!

Two lights, one constant and one flashing. Even better with three, and one of them being up on your helmet.

FWIW, I use two Moon Shields ,and they’re faultless. Also, good effective ankle bands, such as Respro, make a massive difference. The movement is obviously a bike, and they work from all angles as well.

you don’t need megabright lights IMO.  Several smallish output ones are probably better for visibility when it’s dark (after all, there’ll be a massive pool of white light in front of you too).

(Summer’s the time for superbright flashers IMO)

Reflective (not just fluoro) top (reflective at the back, obvz) will make your wife happier I bet

Remember that your front light will affect oncoming vehicles (which are about to pass you on a narrowish road) so learn to dip it.  A lot more than you think you should.

assume the lights will break, you can see when the front fails, but not the back, so always run multiples.

I find ones that are USB chargeable easier, I just recharge at work.

(I also have mine fixed to a shortish length of plastic pipe that I strap to the back of my rear rack – one on each end of that hopefully makes me look wider and encourages a wider overtake*)

*zero evidence offered

I hate riding on roads best of times and especially along dark lane. Depends how busy it would be I guess regarding how happy I’d be to ride it every day.

But for my commute in winter I was running a lezyne 1100 lumen front light, a Cree 1000 lumen spotlight on my helmet, then a rear LED light on my seatpost (forget the name) with a back up on my back pack, and a rear reflector, plus hi vis backpack and vest.

When the front lights are used at full power it’s more than adequate for pitch black paths or roads.

(I also have mine fixed to a shortish length of plastic pipe that I strap to the back of my rear rack – one on each end of that hopefully makes me look wider and encourages a wider overtake*)

*zero evidence offered

A bit like this?

https://www.amazon.com/CRSWING-Safety-Wing-Cycling-Reflector/dp/B003E6L2SQ

Similar ride here, Exposure link on helmet and Tracr on the back.

Both on pulse.

Be very wary of the MaxxD – even on the lowest settings, they are like sodding floodlights to oncoming drivers and cyclists, even if you point them as low down as you reasonably can. I’ve learnt not to dazzle/annoy other road users.

One steady and one flashing, front and rear. On the front I run a B&M Ixus Premium rechargeable – few years old, not sure what the current version may be called, which is plenty bright enough for country lanes even downhill at 25-30mph, coupled with an Aldi £14.99 rechargeable set on flash front and rear, and last years Aldi rear light on steady – getting dazzled by a cyclists rear light, flashing or steady, is as annoying as the front one.

I also have an Exposure Link on my helmet, flashing on the lowest setting, so I’m visible above other traffic when I get into town.

Between those three (front and rear) I’m going to always have two working well enough to see on the unlit sections of my commute

I’d go for multiple lights, flashing and constant. One on your helmet too. LED lights are super bright, but only if viewed directly square, if off at an angle their brightness seems to drop off quickly, so having a few lights that are pointing in slightly different angles improves your changes of being seen as early as possible.

But just as important is reflective clothes and don’t forget actual reflectors on the bike. they’re extremely effective and if your lights battery is starting to drop off before you notice and replace it/charge it then reflectors will aways be there. You can’t be lit up enough in my opinion.

I tend to disagree with scaredypants. You can get away with lights that are not superbright if it is a perfectly clear night and perfect visibility….alot of the time it isn’t. The earlier you are noticed the safer you are…the more time the approaching driver has to make sensible decisions about how they’re going to pass, for example if there is also an oncoming approaching car on the other side of the road.

Its about derisking things, you can only really do something about what you can control and the only thing you can control is how you make yourself as visible as possible. The rest is in the hands of others.

Be very wary of the MaxxD – even on the lowest settings, they are like sodding floodlights to oncoming drivers and cyclists, even if you point them as low down as you reasonably can. I’ve learnt not to dazzle/annoy other road users.

Yeah I cycle a lot along the Bridgewater canal to Manchester and you get many oncoming riders in the winter who are totally oblivious to their lights dazzling oncoming pedestrians and cyclists. It’s like they are complete morons.

And you do get a handful with very bring 2000, 3000 or more lumens like a floodlight and making no effort to turn them down or dip them. It’s complete ignorance.

Dynamo set with a proper road beam rear light and reflector,  couple / few cheapo flashers as well.  Amber reflectors on pedals are hugely obviously a bike as well.  As much reflective stuff a you can

A proper road beam light is so much better than using an mtb one even if you cannot go to a dynamo setup

Exposure traceR on rear , usb rechargeable good battery life and very visible with different settings.

You can get away with lights that are not superbright if it is a perfectly clear night and perfect visibility

You need to be able to light your own way though or else you might go over a deep pothole and suffer an injury.

It might be the case that the route is well lit with street lights but there are country lanes and bridleways near which are pitch black at night.

Moon Shield is a very good rear light, so bright it’s useful in the daytime. At night you only need it on low. However beware the new version which is the Shield-X. Not only does it have an annoying auto mode they are not as reliable due to water ingress and are being sold off cheap.

these are the original

Ditto the comments above about front lights. Bright is good up to a point, beyond which you become dazzling and less visible. Need to see where you are going obvs.

Hi-viz FTW. Blackburn do some good lights with side visibility and generally well designed.

See.sense Ace on the rear. What a superb little light. The old, ‘wonder how much charge is left’ has gone now with the phone app. So glad I did the Kickstarter on this.

Nice little Lezyne Lite Drive on the front, won’t go wrong.

Lights without a proper beam shape are a total PITA for other road users. Try B&M, they put light on the road and not other people’s eyes

Supplement the front with a flashing job too, I also have a cheap LED on the front of my helmet to look at car drivers with.

On the back I too subscribe to the more is better principle. I’ve got 3 of various kinds, 1 constant and 2 flashing, 1 on the outside seatstay and 2 on the seat post. I also have a small flasher on my helmet.

Exposure Revo / Redeye combo running off a hub dynamo here. Also run a cateye rapid mini on the rear and sometimes add a cateye volt 300 to the front.

Its about derisking things, you can only really do something about what you can control and the only thing you can control is how you make yourself as visible as possible

I agree, but I think the important word in there is YOURSELF, not your light.  When my commute’s properly dark (ie when the clocks change) I’ll be in a fully reflective gilet and may well shine a couple of little lights on myself.  I want to look like a human, not a sun

A pissy little ten quid light will be visible from hundreds of yards away on a country road with no other light sources to “lose” it in so you don’t need BRIGHT rears there at all

I use a lensed road-beam light as TJ suggests for the front, so I can see the road without blinding oncomers and don’t need to dip it

I use a dynamo, + Busch Muller Cyo Premium Front + Linetec Rear

I’d also recommend these , people will know you are a bike straight away…

https://www.cyclesurgery.com/p/cateye-orbit-lightset-P5134055.html

And also some kind of bar end lights make you seem wider.

All depends on the road. I used to commute the long way down a dark rural lane but it was pretty busy with blind crests and no amount of reflective tops and lights prevented utter stupid driving, generally overtakes giving me plenty of room but nearly hitting the on coming vehicle. I don’t go that way any more.

Commuting down dark lanes in Highlands, and I’ve been round quite a lot of the possible choices. What I’ve arrived at is reflective bands and strips both on the bike and low down on me, a stvzo-compliant front light such as Ixon Premium (and a spare) and a couple of stvzo lights on the back ( such as Sigma Stereo). In properly dark conditions really bright lights don’t particularly help, and may just dazzle and annoy.

I’ve got a couple of Knog’s on the back, one gives a nice flood or red light on the floor and the other flashes makes a lot of good light around me

For the back I have a Light and Motion Vis 180 pro, its got a pulse mode and flashing amber side lights. Mine is 5 yrs old now, used weekly for half an hour or so and I don’t think the battery life has dropped off massively. The newer versions are brighter. Worth a look IMO.

One thing to consider as well is the front light. I’m not sure what the solution here is, but I once pulled out on a cyclist when turning right out of a junction on a pitch black unlit country road. I pulled out ahead of some approaching cars and as I pulled out I just saw a cyclist ahead of the string of cars who’s stupidly super bright Xenon front lights were totally drowning out the cyclists LED light, which stood no chance amid millions of lumens of bright white dazzling light from the string of cars behind. These Xenon lights really are not good for road safety. Luckily he was far enough out for me to stamp on the throttle and get out of his way quick smart, but probably gave him a bit of a scare. That’s why I think you really want multiple lights at different levels. If he had a light on his helmet I probably would have seen it because it would have been higher than the cars headlight level. Maybe a different coloured light on the front too, like a blue or orange one might help in this situation.

Slightly counter-intuitively but the darker /more remote the roads, the LESS brightness you need on the rear. In town when it’s lost in amongst dozens of other light sources the yes, go for a bright flashy thing but on roads where you’re likely to be the only red light visible, you want something that is not going to nuke a motorists eyeballs as they close on you and overtake.

See.Sense is a good call and the new Exposure Tracer lights have various sensitivity modes that’ll flare up under braking or brighten/dim depending on light behind them:

https://exposurelights.com/products/bike/rear-lights/tracer-mk2-reakt-and-peleton

I’ve got a couple of those, one on pulse, one constant at different heights (one on the saddle rails, the other at the bottom of the seatpost.)

Reflective stuff on your ankles/feet will really help to supplement the lights as well.

Commuting is all about reliability and making things as easy as possible for daily travel, so I think a dynamo is the best option (if you are happy to spend the money, but full built dyno wheels from the German shops are actually not too pricey). No more battery charging to bother with, and lights that are designed to light the road properly.

On the rear, I would get a dynamo standlight supplemented with at least one battery flasher. I think they are all much the same these days, but I’d choose a USB rechargeable one because they are sealed. Most of my rear LEDs have failed over the years because water eventually gets into the battery compartment, and my current rechargeables are the longest lasting rear lights I’ve ever owned.

Always found something flashing on the front gets me seen. Don’t care if annoys the **** out of drivers, it gets me seen and thats what counts.  This is what i use on flash

https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Xeccon-Link-300-Rechargeable-Front-Light_99845.htm

My front light is a moon 360lx, yes only 360 lumens but seems fine even for high speed stuff, it also has a remote switch so I can dim easily.

I got a reflective helmet from planetx so I don’t haveto use my posh road one. It’s very comfortable, and cost £25.

I find a Lezyne 600XL is sufficient on the front, you don’t need much light on a dark lane, not once you know the road anyway. I have a Moon Comet on the back.

I also have a front + rear set of Lezyne Zecto Drives in my saddlebag for backup. And reflective, especially on wrists so that hand signals are clearer.

Hi ibnchris, like you I cycle a lot on dark quiet country roads ,lanes and paths where the only light available to light a safe path is what you have on your handle bars.  I use the maxxd also and its perfect.  I angle it down and use the remote switch on prog 6 to safely switch to low power when confronted by on coming or over-taking traffic.  For the rear I use a cateye rapid mini which is very bright.  I carry a rear lezyne zecto drive as a back-up but to be honest the cateye has never let me down as long as I charge it up every 4 – 5 hours of use.  The maxxd is worth every penny when you are alone in total darkness in the middle of nowhere 🙂

Exposure TraceR is a cracking rear light. I also have a small Evans USB-rechargeable LED one that mounts on the back of my helmet. I also carry a back-up rear on the seatpost just in case the first one fails.

Remember that your front light will affect oncoming vehicles (which are about to pass you on a narrowish road) so learn to dip it.  A lot more than you think you should.

This comes up frequently. Your best option is a German-spec light with a cut-off to avoid dazzling other drivers. They concentrate the light on the road where you need it and don’t dazzle anyone coming towards you. You can tilt big floody lights downwards as much as you like, but the shape of the beam means they’re always at risk of dazzling others. If you tilt them down enough for that not to happen, they’re pretty much useless to you.

The Exposure Strada isn’t a bad compromise with its sort of ovalised, flattened beam. Works okay if you tilt it slightly down and to the left and team it with a remote so you can reduce power for oncoming traffic.

I’ve used one of the German-style Supermova lights combined with a Joystick linked to a bar remote before now. Use the Joystick when there’s no oncoming traffic, switch it off when there is.

But I’d echo what Crazylegs says. In complete dark, half decent lights and dose of reflective make you very visible in most situations, arguably more so than in daylight.

If you’re not sure about how dazzling your lights are, get a mate to ride the bike towards you with your head at car driver height and see how it looks. If you’re forcing oncoming traffic to slow down because they can’t see where they’re going, that’s not a good thing.

MaxxD as a front for the road is less than ideal (I own one). Have you thought about making a shroud out of some opaque plastic to cut down the dazzle? I’ve seen folk do that and seems like a smart solution.

I used to have an unlit road commute. Set of B&M dynamo lights were the business. Perfectly shaped beam, ultra reliable. Backed up with a helmet light.

They’re not expensive at all for the performance.

My tuppence:

In order of priority.

Prologue: Ride defensively and pick your route. There’s no point being 5 minutes quicker on a road bike and taking the busy A-road if you can take a longer slower cycle path route on a commuter / hybrid / gravel / mountain bike, it’s just not worth the agro, stress or danger of dying however right on you may be and however much angry youtube footage you can record. If you’re not there then you don’t need a bazillion bits of safety equipment to avoid being hit in the first place.

1) Focus more on what you’re wearing than your lights, lights get lost in the general melee of suburbia (even in the country villages), a high bis jacket is harder to ignore. Altura night vision jackets are great in that respect, although there are other good options as well now. No one thinks the Rapha Ninja look is cool except other Rapha Ninjas*.

2) Reflectors, make sure your bike has the full complement of reflectors (wheels, front, rear and pedals). Shine a car headlight on them and they’re brighter than even a bright LED lamp, and they cost pennies. In fact double up on them where possible. Then think about reflective stickers, they’re not as good, but still cheap and require almost no effort beyond wiping them clean once in a while.

3) Multiple lights, gives both spatial perception to other road users and redundancy when the batteries fail or water gets into them (it happens, even on expensive lights, usually when it’s -10 and horrible). At the moment I have a Lumenator and 2x cheap silicone LED’s on the front, and a Smart 1/2W and 1 silicone lights on the back, and one on my helmet. Planning to swap to some mid range B+M lights (there’s one thats ~£35 and 90% as good as the £100+ ones, can’t remember which of the impossible to understand model names it was though).

*I’ve actually made a conscious effort in the last year to cycle more in normal clothes, I reckon I get less close passes in (riding) shorts and a (technical) T-shirt than I do in cycling gear. The more you look like the kids the Pajama Mum in her SUV just dropped off at school the more human they treat you.

Have you thought about making a shroud out of some opaque plastic to cut down the dazzle?. 

Funny, I’ve seen some really bright lights on bikes on the road, but I’ve never been “dazzled” by one. Not anywhere near as much as I’ve been dazzled by car headlights, that’s for sure.

(Talking about when I’m driving)

Dynamo front and rear, B&M. Just excellent, as good as everyone says.

Mini flashers on the bars and fork leg. Cheap replaceable watch battery type from Aldi.

At the back, a cheap mini flasher tied into my lid, one on the back of the seat and a Moon something on the rack pack, along with the B&M on the rack.

Mudguard reflector, tyre reflectors too.

Still doesn’t feel like enough.

I cycle a lot on country roads, most single lane ish, where two cars have to slow right down when passing.  I’ve tried many combinations and settled on… A german front light (cyo premium at mo), two rear led lights and starting about this time of year a massive floodlight (lumenator-17 at mo).

I run the massive light because sometimes I can go 2-3 miles and have nothing pass me or come towards me, so switching on the big light on full dazzle angle lets me see more and often wildlife, barn owls fly along beside me often, see bats and deers, it great.  Then when I see cars coming, which usually have full beam on, I can switch off or dip the big light, leaving the proper german light.

Also don forget a small headtorch, fixing your bike in the middle of nowhere in the pitch dark is someting you only do once without one.

I also use ankle reflectors as these seem to me to work well as they move.  I find car drivers pass safer in the dark than in the summer, but depends on commute, my last 2 miles are urban and then its a different ketlle of fish

Some good dynamo wheel package deals at Spa cycles at the moment.

The next most visible thing is the plastic reflective tubes that clip to each spoke. They form a spinning disc visible from all angles. And German beam pattern (down wash) front light also lights them up.

Funny, I’ve seen some really bright lights on bikes on the road, but I’ve never been “dazzled” by one. Not anywhere near as much as I’ve been dazzled by car headlights, that’s for sure.

My experience is the complete opposite: an unlit cycle path became borderline unusable last year because of dazzling lights coming the other way.