Our test unit’s thermal throttling was quite sensitive, and after two minutes of being stationary with the light on max power in 14°C temperatures, it reduced output to the middle setting. The matrix display shows battery life, which mode the light is in and how charged it is when plugged in. Alex Evans It’s a beautifully made light, if expensive, although there are lower-priced options that don’t include the AKTiv tech. Trek looks to mix off-road and road use with its Kindbeam tech, designed to avoid dazzling other road users (although not StVZO-compliant). It still offers 1,000 lumens for trail riders, although illumination isn’t as effective as a dedicated MTB light.

Bright Mountain Bike Light Throwdown: From 1600 Lumens to Bright Mountain Bike Light Throwdown: From 1600 Lumens to

It’ll last three hours in high-power mode and all day in lower settings, which are more than adequate after dark. Switching through the modes is intuitive. In the same way that claimed battery life, weight and a host of other things vary from their real-life measures, the number of lumens a manufacturer claims their light has, compared to how many it actually has, can vary significantly. The Volt 6000 is perfect if your shuttle vehicle is a Porsche. Kidding. Get this beast if night riding is life and you want a super wide beam angle that makes it impossible for sneaky bears to jump out at you from the side of the trail.The Titan 4000 doesn’t force buyers to choose between brightness and battery life. Get the 8-cell battery and have both, you greedy SOB. The Magicshine Magene Seemee 508 Radar Tailight is, as the name suggests, a radar bike light. This means it can detect vehicles approaching from behind and notify you via a range of cycling computers and smartwatches. The Moon Rigel Enduro front mountain light gives a good mix of spotlight and wide-angle illumination. Ian Linton / Immediate Media

RN 2000 Bicycle Front Light 2000 Lumens | Olight UK

At maximum 5,000 and 4,000 lumens modes it’s an astonishingly powerful light, but we were also impressed by how this power is put to use. The two spot LEDs illuminate the trail ahead brilliantly, while the three flood LEDs provide unrivalled side-to-side and forward visibility. These two measures of light are related. Lumens is the total light emitted by your bike light. Lux is the brightness divided by the area it covers. Don’t be fooled into thinking that the lumen rating of a bike light is the only thing that matters, though. A super-bright light that only has enough battery power to put out that headline figure for half an hour isn’t likely to be particularly useful, especially if you’ll need to use the most powerful setting for extended periods. The Ravemen PR1200 has a nifty high/low beam setting, similar to that seen in a car, which can be used to avoid dazzling oncoming road users.The light will also gather data to learn behavioural characteristics and respond accordingly, with the light changing output based on movement and ride style. Our tester had two of these lights, one for commuting and one for club rides. The commuting light became more reactive than the club ride light, which has presumably grown used to more consistent riding. There’s an ambient light sensor that puts the light in standby mode during the day so you don’t burn through the battery while it’s still light, and you can choose to vary output continuously rather than via the eight set modes. It casts a wider spread of light down the trail than its MK11 predecessor and the LED’s hue is beautiful. Being very fussy, the beam’s spread could be wider closer to its source.