Bike lights are an essential accessory for every cyclist, enhancing visibility and safety during all riding conditions, whether you're commuting at dawn, riding trails at dusk, or pedaling home at night. Aero Tech Designs offers a carefully selected range of high-quality bike lights designed for reliability, ease of use, and maximum visibility. Choose from front headlights that illuminate your path with powerful brightness, taillights that increase your visibility to drivers and pedestrians, or comprehensive light kits for all-around protection.
It's the law in most states to have one front and one rear bicycle light on your bike. Please use the following features as guidelines to purchasing bicycle lights, ones that will provide you with the most protection for your cycling needs.
Effective front lights are a must-have to see the path ahead. Objects can take you by surprise at night, so a front bicycle light that casts a wide spread of light is important.
Rear bicycle lights are necessary so that a cyclist can be seen from behind. They are extremely useful for cycling groups, enabling riders to see and follow the rider in front. They should be seen from at least 600 feet away.
High-quality, helmet lights can be helpful too. These allow the rider to shine light where it is needed simply by a turn of the head. But they are not a substitute for front bicycle lights; they are for only adding visibility.
Your bicycle lights should have a simple mounting system that make them easily to assemble and transferable from one bike to another. Most are mounted with a combination of plastic clips, brackets, or hand screws. Your rear safety light should be mounted onto your seat post. You can add additional rear lighting by clipping more into back pockets or backpacks.
Lumen ratings are a measurement of how well the light illuminates a subject at a certain distance. Different lights can offer different ratings, but don't assume that the more lumens equals the brighter the light. The lens and bulb housing design also affect bicycle light brightness. Some bicycle lights provide a focused narrow beam, which illuminates a smaller area at greater distance. Others provide a wider beam, which improves your peripheral vision.
Some bicycle lights offer multiple lighting modes, such as high intensity, low intensity, and blinking strobe. In these cases, the light should list a different max battery life for each setting. The lower the light intensity, the longer the battery will last. Some lights feature a charge indicator that lets you know exactly how much life is left. If the bicycle light uses standard batteries, stash extras in your seat bag.
There's no reason to let a little darkness stop you from enjoying your commute or a ride in the woods on your bike. Just be sure to include a good bicycle lighting system part of your cycling gear that will keep you, and those around you, safe. We recommend you keep your bicycle lights clean and check that they are fully charged before heading out on a ride.
