Best Bike Lights for Safe Biking Even at Night

Key Features:

• 500 Lumens
• Rechargeable with an included cable
• Flat Beam
• Four modes to choose from
• Six inches in length

Cycle Torch Shark 500 Review

Toeing the line between cost and value can be quite difficult, and the Shark 500 does a reasonably good job of it. For example, the rear light that comes with the package is made of machined aluminum and feels pretty premium. On the other hand, the headlight is made out of plastic, and yet it feels pretty solid and well built.

Speaking of the 500 Lumens headlight, it’s actually pretty interesting. Whereas most headlights tend to go for a rounded light which isn’t always super useful, the Shark 500 goes with more of a trapezoidal beam, which keeps the light where you need it.

I accomplish this using shrouds, although because they aren’t mirrored or have a reflective surface, a lot of that light isn’t being used, which is a bit of a waste.

Thankfully mounting is relatively simple and should be reasonably easy on any bike, especially with the different harness sizes it comes with.

Unfortunately, there is a little bit of vibration when going over bumps or bumpy roads, although they aren’t that bad and for the price you’re paying, they can certainly be worse. I should also mention that neither of the lights has a soft shell or rubber coating, so you might end up getting scuffs if you aren’t too careful.

Operation is pretty straightforward for these lights, with a press on the rear light switching it between settings. The same goes for the front light, although for that there’s a button you can press which makes it easier to deal with. The front light also changes colors to indicate power, so that’s certainly a handy feature to have.

The only real downside is that the rear light is not bright enough for day use, so not a super-great option if you commute to your work with a bike. On the other hand, the front light is 500 lumens, just as advertised, so that’s good.

Overall, the Cycle Torch Shark 500 is an excellent product for its price point, doing a good job being both cheap and good quality. Mounting is easy, and so is operation, although you might need to keep an eye out for mounting and vibrations scratching your bike. If you aren’t a heavy biker, then this is probably a great option for you.

Key Features:

• 1600 Lumens
• 5-hour charge on the highest setting
• Fully waterproof
• Comes with helmet attachment

Bright Eyes Fully Waterproof 1600 Lumen Review

If you’re a heavy-duty biker that needs the most light they can possibly get, then the Bright Eyes can probably meet any situation you might run into.

As you can tell from the name, this light can hit 1600 Lumens with its CREE T6 headlight and lasts around 5 hours if you use it on that strength. You can also bring it down to 800 Lumens, which is still quite powerful and lasts for around 10 hours. Finally, you can set it at a pretty low Lumens of 350, which can last 26 hours, although I don’t really see much use case for this.

In terms of the actual light, you get around 500 feet of solid light and a whopping 3,000 feet of more diffuse light. You also get a diffuser if you would prefer to just generally have more diffuse lighting (such as if you’re using this in a city with). The whole shebang also comes with a super-rugged 6,400 mAh battery which fits snugly and securely to the crossbar. 

Speaking of lights, you also get a rear light if you want, although this uses its own CR232 batteries, rather than draw off the rechargeable one. The light output is ok enough, and I’d mostly use it for backup along with another light if you can.

The only real issue with the light is that the mounting isn’t that great, mostly using Velcro straps, so you’re almost certainly going to have to add some more to that.

Similarly, the radius of the mount might not fit most crossbars that aren’t 1 inch in diameter, so there’s going to be a bit more jury-rigging. That being said, the head harness is reasonably good, so you shouldn’t have to worry about it too much.

One thing that I do particularly like is that it’s fully waterproof, so you can use it in pretty much any weather without any worry. 

The Bright Eyes 1600 Lumen is an excellent bike and general light at an excellent price. It has a pretty long-lasting battery, especially if you go with the medium setting. It does have an issue with the mounting, but it’s not an insurmountable issue and is certainly good enough.

Key Features:

• 800 Lumens
• Rechargeable front and rear lights
• Five light settings
• IPX4 water resistance

AUOPLUS Bike Lights USB Rechargeable Review

A great option if you want to get something on the cheaper side but that isn’t necessarily budget, the AUOPLUS is a great option.

Much like the other lights on this list, it comes as a package of two lights: the front light and rear light, each using a different set of rechargeable batteries. Thankfully, both batteries are pretty good, with the rear light lasting you ages before needing a recharge.

The front light, on the other hand, can last around 4 hours on the highest setting, and 40hours on the lowest, although with an 800 Lumens light, the low setting might not be useful beyond certain specific applications.

Mounting is a relatively painless process, with the front light having a bit more adjustability in terms of the crossbar (up to 28mm). Unfortunately, one of the problems here is that the front mounting isn’t that great, and it might start failing after a few months of use, which is unfortunate, but fair enough for the price. 

Similarly, the AUOPLUS is IPX4 water-resistant, which isn’t super great but should be enough for the majority of the weather outside of heavy rain. Either way, if you live somewhere that has torrential amounts of rainfall, then I’d suggest you go with the fully waterproof Bright Eyes. 

All in all, the AUOPLUS is a great overall bike light package, with front light and equally good rear light. Granted, it does have some issues with the mount, but it isn’t necessarily a deal-breaker at the price. Battery time is great, it recharges reasonably quickly, and it’s also relatively small, so it’s easy to carry around with you if you need to. 

Key Features:

• 390 Lumens
• Includes tail-light
• Rechargeable batteries
• Good usability
• IPX4 Water-resistance

BLITZU Gator 390 Review

On the other hand, if you’re looking for a pretty great budget version for your bike, the Blitzu is a pretty good option. Of course, the first thing I’d probably mention is the 390 lumens, which isn’t much compared with the other lights on here, but it’s pretty adequate for the price.

You do get four different lighting modes, with the highest light level giving you around 2-3 hours of battery usage before the front light dies out (although the rear light can last a bit longer). Again, it might not seem amazing compared to the heavy hitters above, but for a budget option, it’s actually pretty impressive.

What’s equally impressive is that it’s IPX4 water-resistant, so it can handle quite a bit of adverse weather without potentially running into an issue. 

I should mention that the rear light is probably around 40 Lumens or so, therefore don’t expect a super strong light being shown off, although it’s more than enough to show up at night and warn drivers of your presence.

Similarly, the front light isn’t that strong either, and while it doesn’t have a super far throw like the more expensive lights, it’s enough for 300 feet and to see where you’re going. Unfortunately, just like the AUOPLUS, the Blitz does have a bit of an issue with the mounts, although for just under $20, that’s to be expected. 

There’s not much else to say about the Blitz except that it’s probably one of the best budget bike lights out there. 390 lumens may not seem like enough, but 300 feet of visibility isn’t’ bad for under $20, plus you get a rear light and IPX5 thrown in. If you don’t do a lot of biking and don’t want to spend a lot of money on lights, this is a great package.

Key Features:

• 120 Lumens each
• Rechargeable
• 650 mAh battery for each light
• Four different light modes
• IPX4 water-resistance

Ascher USB Rechargeable Bike Light Set Review

Sometimes, you don’t necessarily need a powerful light to see in front of you, especially if there’s a light of background light in the sky. As such, these small bike lights can be super useful and don’t require you to drop too much money on something fancy and expensive.

While the lights aren’t super powerful, at a lumen rating of 120, that’s reasonably good for the price your paying. Since ideally, you want to have as much light as you can, you could consider purchasing two of these sets, for a total of 240 lumens, plus it offers an extra layer of redundancy if one of the lights stop working.

Speaking of which the battery should last you around 3-4 hours on a full charge and on the highest light setting, which isn’t too bad considering how small they are.

What’s especially impressive is that these lights are IPX4, which for the price, they don’t really have to be. That means you don’t need to worry too much about the weather and causing wear and tear on the lights. On a similar note, since the lights are light and easy to mount, you can probably use them beyond just on your bike (a stroller in a city comes to mind).

Over the Ascher bike lights are really good at what they are: cheap lights. Yes, the lumens rating isn’t the greatest, but for just under $12, it’s not a bad proposition. That being said, if you are going into very dark areas, then you’re better off getting lumens of at least 600-1k.