✨Sponsored by MagicShine ✨If you want to keep riding outside now that it is seemingly forever dark, proper bike lights are essential. But what is the ultimate setup?
Liam Cahill guides you through the tech that can make life a little easier, how many lights to use, what lumens you’ll need and how to make sure you don’t run out of battery.
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00:00 Intro
00:26 Tech Features
03:15 How Many Lights?
05:10 How Many Lumens?
06:16 Battery Range
07:06 How to Mount Your Lights To Your Bike
08:42 Beam Shape
09:28 Summary
#cycling #tech #bike #bikes #night #technology #lights #light
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if you want to keep riding as the summer finishes well you’re going to need lights but how do you get the ultimate setup straight away I’m going to show you so I’m going to start with some really cool Tech but also cover all of the buying considerations that you need to make but before we do that I want to say thank you to Magic Shine for supplying all the lights that we needed and sponsoring this video gone of the days of bike lights being pretty dumb bits of tech you can now get all sorts of clever features and a lot of them are quite useful so when you’re buying new lights do bear these two in mind on front lights it’s really useful to have a remote control somewhere up on the bars that’s because just like in a car you should dip your headlight when something is coming the other way on a narrow road I really don’t want to Blind an oncoming driver or another cyclist that’s just dangerous for everyone but reaching to the light itself to do this isn’t ideal especially if you’ve got the light mounted under your head unit with some lights you can add a wireless remote with magic shine’s FTR Tech I can turn the front and rear lights on and off with one press of a button but with this new Evo 1700 SD there’s an even cleaner solution I can hook this thing up to a Shimano di2 system allowing me to use the hood buttons to control the light so just a click of the button and I can toggle between high and low beam that’s excellent I appreciate that this is limited to Shimano and a di2 system at that but with electronic systems coming to ever more affordable group sets and swam getting auxiliary Hood buttons on the latest red access group set I see this level of integration being useful to more and more people in the future and then at the back end radar systems have become really good now to the point where a a lot of riders just kind of won’t go out without one of these running they simply alert you to the presence and position of a car behind you and some systems then show it on a compatible head unit now that potentially is going to let you know that the car is there before you’ve heard it but why is that useful well electric cars are becoming quite common these days and they don’t make much noise so it can be really hard to know when one is coming up behind you my take is that the best way to keep myself safe is to kind of know what’s going on around me so a radar system is well worth considering some rear lights also have integrated Tech such as automatically dimming the lights intensity when it senses another cyclist behind you or sensing lighting conditions and breaking forces the C50 v2.0 I have here has Pelon sync flash now this mode syncs with other compatible lights around it to flash together together helping everyone in your riding group to be more visible when it comes to setting up your rear light it is important to check if you have any of those extra functions available to have the best night riding experience whilst ensuring maximum [Music] visibility lighting yourself up like a Christmas tree might be tempting but too many lights are going to Dazzle drivers and other cyclists so this is how many lights I’d recommend for the ultimate setup and yes that is four first things first you’ll need a front and rear light mounted to your bike now this is the law here in the UK so if you don’t have this while riding after dark not only are you putting yourself in physical danger you could get pulled over by the police and fined naughty naughty once you have them I’d suggest having two smaller lights mounted to your helmet again one rear and one front and these are going to do two jobs the rear light will increase your visibility while the front light also gives you better Vision when cornering what works best for me for a mix of urban and rural rides is to have the lights on my bike running a constant beam that’s going to sort my vision up front and give me a constant rear light point to help drivers judge distance I know that when I’m driving it’s much easier to pass a cyclist when they have a constant rear light on but it’s also much easier to identify a cyclist when they’ve got a flashing rear light so my solution is to have the helmet mounted light on flashing mode that way you’ve just got the best of both the front helmet light meanwhile can be used kind of either way in the city I like to have it on a lower powered flash just to catch the eye of a driver that might be pulling out of a side street when I’m riding faster on Rural Lanes I’ll switch over to that constant mode for the extra cornering visibility but how powerful do you need to [Music] go well when it comes to lumens don’t just go out with your light on full power all the time again you’re going to Dazzle everyone else which isn’t safe for anyone and you’ll probably run out of power before you get home but that is a separate Point instead consult this handy table as the roads you’re riding get darker we want more power as your ride speeds increase we want more power for rear lights it’s a slightly different story mostly because you’ll need the most power when riding during the day at night red rear lights are pretty easy to see so powers between 100 and 200 lumens will be more than enough for most Riders but if you want a daytime rear light you’ll be looking at anything up to 450 lumens at the front I go for 1,200 lumens because I commute on relatively fast country roads with absolutely no Street lighting that means that I’d go for something like this magic shines ulti 1500s it tops out at 1500 lumens so plenty of power but my trick is to buy more power than I actually need and it’s all to do with one crucial consideration and that is battery range Let’s do an example I could make do with the ulti 1500s but I’d rather have the ray 2600b or the Evo 1700 SD that’s because on the 1200 Lumen setting I’d actually run my light at these two bigger lights with their bigger batteries will last Way Beyond my usual commute time now that is important because running out of power with even a kilometer to go is not good you’ll be forced to walk home and that kilometer feels like an awful long way when it’s cold and dark and raining not to mention it could be quite dangerous so look at the battery life before you go by and check that the mode that you’ll use the most is sufficient for the time that you want to [Music] ride there are a few places to mount your front light could be on the bar on your computer Mount or my preference underneath it so clean so uncluttered and if you were born this side of 2005 very demu but how you mount the light is really important because we want to maximize light going on the road and minimize light blinding people coming the other way so here’s how prop your bike against a wall or something so it is roughly straight then take 10 big steps forward that’s where the center of your beam needs to be for City riding and SE speeds if you ride unlit roads and faster speeds make it 15 to 20 steps you should also point the light a fraction towards the curb if you can that is the left for me in the UK now I might sound like a broken record but the idea here is once again to optimize your view of the road without blinding others that is literally the definition of the ultimate light setup the only thing to be careful of is mounting these things the way they’re meant to be that’s because the lens will probably feature anti-glare Tech at the top Edge to deflect the beam down towards the road if you mount the light upside down your light isn’t going to work as intended to ensure optimal setup magic shine actually makes two versions of some of its lights this LT 1 1200 for example comes in a standard and a special U version for mounting underneath the bar which is very clever so have a think about where on the bar you’re going to want this and buy [Music] accordingly beam shape really matters a good bike light beam has a widespread lighting up not just what’s straight ahead but also the Sid of the road this is key for spotting obstacles and staying aware of your surroundings sun beams are too narrow giving you like a tunnel vision effect which is honestly no fun terrifying in fact others might be too scattered Wasting Light in every direction and making it harder to focus the ideal is a focused yet broad Beam with a nice cut off at the top so it doesn’t blind oncoming traffic so make sure you get yourself a light with a well-designed beam it’ll mean you can ride just as fast as you do in daylight so in summary look for Tech that is going to help you make sure you get a light bright enough for the riding that you’ll be doing and make sure the battery will last for the duration of your ride set it up properly so that you don’t blind everyone else and make sure the beam pattern allows you to see well and with that you should be good to go safely through the winter now if you want to continue your Enlightenment on this lovely Journey just click up here to watch this video thank you to Magic shine before we go remember to like And subscribe and we’ll see you next next time
26 Comments
Hey😊
Despite all the innovations of bicycle lights we still need to remember your lights , regardless of the number of Lumens or mode settings need to have constant beam at all times. Of course if you have more than one front or rear light you can apply any settings you want as long as it doesn't hinder other road users.
Handy when you own a di2 setup.. but 105 still king with me..
The German lights are really good for beam pattern as its the regs there I really like my Busch and Muller front light (Dynamo) as the beam pattern is really good.
what about turn lights?
lezyne Period…
Though I understand the sentiment on running the front light on slow strobe mode, I personally find it annoying from a rider POV.
5:21 don't duzzle the driver but be sure he will duzzle you😂.Isn't against the law to have a front light on helmet?
BikeRadar wrote this: " The Ultimate Bike Light Setup Is… "
Weight Weenies saw this: "The Ultimate Light Bike Setup Is…"
excellent video… the last 10 years I am using an extra rear light at my helmet. It's a led that is very bright and a lot of times, other bikers mention to me that I was visible from 1 and more klm… keep batteries fully charged all the time
in the traffic only the helmet light is clear visible
Bought the Magic Shine Allty 1200U earlier today. Wanted one to mount under my Wahoo out front mount (GoPRo mount), wireless remote, USB-C, decent running hours at around 400Lm for normal use, with scope to crank it up much higher when needed. That was the best choice I could find.
Great video it has shine some light on the subject.
StVZO setup is the way to go. You won't dazzle or annoy anyone and you'll see what's going on ahead.
LOL, who freaking needs a remote control? the damn button is located right next to the light that has a button already on it! The insanity of modern technology. I've been riding with lights for 50 plus years and never once said to myself, "gee, I wish I had remote control!" And I bet no one else has either! If your lights are aimed correctly you're not going to blind anyone.
Electric cars have one thing in common with gasoline cars, they have tires, those tires are rolling on pavement, and as they do they make noise, in fact EV tires are louder than non-ev tires because they're made of a harder rubber compound to get the most amount of miles out of a charge, those harder tread compounds are louder. I can hear a car coming up behind be from at least 1/8th of mile away, and I'm 73 years old!
A radar system is another technological waste of money, I've never had the need for one in over 50 years and still don't see the need it, I know when there is a car coming up behind me, I don't need a set of idiot lights to tell me that.
This guy basically took stuff I've been saying for years on cycling forums right down to the letter as far as how to use lights, with two exceptions.
I don't think 100 lumen taillight is bright enough for daytime use. I tested a 100 lumen light with direct sunlight hitting it and I could barely tell if it was on when I walked a half a block away and looked at it, no where near bright enough to attract the attention of a motorist. When I found that out I bought a 300 lumen light, retested it and that one I could see easily even a block away.
The second exception is, I think 1700 lumens for a headlight is overkill, I think 1,200 lumens is plenty, but just like him, I rarely exceed the middle setting which on my brightest light would be 750 lumens, at age 73 I can see just fine with that setting, and I still have 2 more settings to go, a 900 and a 1200 should for some reason I need that much more power like in a dark rain storm. Keep in mind, this is road biking, for a mountain bike and riding offroad you will need at least 2000 lumens. No matter the lumens you need to aim that light as the video says.
4 X 26650 battery pack 36,000 mAh with 1800 lumen 3 output level headlamp .
3:50 – bike lights and the law in UK: it's no joke – unlit bicycles are terrifying for pedestrians and other cyclists. Now I'm 69, most of my friends and relatives have reduced vision, hearing, reactions such that an unlit bike can make them almost jump out of their skin with surprise, then fear, then all the post shock reactions, then fear of going out. It's not just unlit and inadequately lit bikes on the road but also those on the pavement (illegally) and jumping traffic lights, bombing through zebra crossings, etc. When I walk back from central London to our home on Shooters Hill, I see many examples of criminally reckless cycling. It all spills over into collective hatred of us.
What rear light do you use on your helmet and how do you mount it to your helmet? Are there universal mounts that can be used to mount rear lights on helmets?
It's all well and good setting up a bike light to point down to the road and slightly to the left, to minimize dazzling drivers, but you've got a light on your head doing exactly that. A front light on a helmet should be banned on roads.
Bontrager do a nighttime mode – constant which increases luminosity to a non dazzle moderate flash then back to constant on. Works well enough.
2:20 Most modern ICE vehicles (internal combustion engine) have engines that are very quiet. There is often more noise from the car’s tires than from the engine. Frequently the biggest obstacle to hearing a car coming from behind is the wind rushing past one’s ear — created as a result of the moving bicycle.
This a paid advertisement not an independent review. But I guess you all knew that.
Aim your lights down and if you’re still worried about blinding an oncoming cyclist you can just shield your light with your hand. No need to turn your light off.
I've been an obsessive about good bike lights for a decade, at least, and this is a GREAT guide. Practical, safe and respectful.
I just mounted the Philips Ultinon Drive 5000 Series 3" LED flood light with 2450 lumens. The separate battery run time is 5 hours. If you want information feel free to ask.
i'm about to buy lights for my bike. thanks for a tip with lumens.
What are the mounting systems you used for the helmet lights?