Joined in 2023 
82 
63 About this deal
The Bontrager Ion 200 RT is another option for when you aren’t looking to see but need to make sure others see you. Despite a similar focus as the Thousand light, this use case is very different. This unit is less about cruising around a city and more about being seen while riding long distances on open roads. The BC26R churns out an impressive 1,600 lumens with a claimed 65-hour run time — though that’s on its lowest 50-lumen setting. At full power, riders will have approximately 3.5 hours of run time. Charging time is slightly longer than other lights at 4 hours via USB-C cable, but that doesn’t take away from its excellent battery system. The handlebar mount for both lights is excellent, albeit somewhat difficult to manage with large thumbs. Having logged a ton of gravel and dirt miles with this light, our tester felt extremely confident about the light staying fixed in place and experienced zero issues. While the oversized bar mount is certainly a plus, the design of the mount itself doesn’t appear to have been updated. The clamp itself works well and the design is intuitive, but the interface between the light and the clamp is less than secure. This made our tester less than confident in rough or off-road conditions.
Brightness is good, but reliable brightness is better. A bike light with 600 lumens and excellent battery life may be a better buy than a light with 1,000 lumens and low battery life. Of course, this all depends on your riding preferences. You’ll want a solid 600 lumens from a forward-facing light so that you can see and be seen; (photo/Miya Tsudome) Front Lights vs. Rear Lights
In This Section
On this list, the Garmin Varia is an excellent road-riding light. Road cyclists that will be sharing the road should also have a bright rear light with plenty of battery life for long rides. Mountain Biking
Garmin does make a standalone unit, the RDU, to pair with the Varia, but they are increasingly hard to find online, and you are probably better off just putting that money toward a Garmin computer. Ultimately, this unit is meant to be used in the Garmin ecosystem, and while it is certainly possible to make it work with your phone, our tester found that the user experience is best with the full Garmin kit. On the lighting side of the equation, you get a max 400 lumen light. The real purpose here though isn't lighting and if you turn down the power on the light to the flash mode for visibility, you can stretch as much as 6.5 hours of battery life out of the unit. In other areas, the Ion Pro falls just a little short of its competition. Its 1,300 lumens aren’t quite as bright as other lights and its 1.5-hour run time isn’t especially impressive. The real drag for our testers was the 7-hour charge time. Every time you deplete the battery, you have to bring the light in and charge it overnight. This light is pretty high maintenance for folks who prefer to set it and forget it (that’s us, too).
How to Change the Batteries
On its lowest setting at 400 lumens, the Ion Pro will run for approximately 6 hours, and at full blast (1,300 lumens), you’ll get about 1.5 hours. The night and day flash modes last 26 and 22 hours, respectively. Bontrager claims the Ion Pro is visible up to 2km away, making it an excellent choice for safety-minded riders. We’d tend to agree — this is a great light busy roads.
Another, perhaps less complex, way of looking at this question is just as a matter of what form the bike lights should take. In that case, a white front light and a red rear light are what you will want. Add more if you’d prefer extra visibility. What battery type is best for a bike light? Ultimately, the brightness of a bike light is a product of the lumen count, beam width, and beam angle. A light with a super-high lumen count is great, but only if it has been designed to use its brightness effectively. Editor’s note: We updated this guide on September 26, 2023, to include new lights from Fenix, Garmin, and Bontrager, along with details about how we test and choose our favorite bike lights. The Best Bike Lights of 2023Balancing those features against your needs, you'll need to know what sort of riding you'll be doing, whether it's going to be daylight, street-lit, or totally off-grid in the dark. The latter will require more brightness up front so you can see where you're going. You'll also know how long you're riding for - it's no use having a two-hour battery life if your ride lasts three. Every cyclist should have a set of reliable bike lights. When shopping for the ideal lights to fit your needs, the vast market can feel confusing and difficult to navigate. From lumens to side visibility, there are lots of factors that must be considered when selecting bike lights.
Great Deal 
New Comment