Bike light Database

Maybe people just like to boast about how much they spent on their lights, but to me, the major brands are a waste of money. You can buy brighter lights at a fraction of the cost. They are just as reliable, and if you ever need to replace a battery or any other part, they are much cheaper too.

Below are a selection of lights from the top brands, and cheaper alternatives.
To enable direct comparison of brightness, all beam photographs on the road are taken at: 3200 iso, f2.8, 1/4 sec
All beam photos on the wall are taken at iso 1600, f2.8, 1/15 sec. Any higher exposure results in whiteout with the most powerful lights. This does not show the lower power lights off to their best. Anything above the Cateyes and Niterider Ultrafazer produces half decent illumination.


Click on the images to enlarge.

Cateye Uno - maximum lux at 1mt: 540
 

Beam pattern     

Very poor light output. Does not illuminate the road, and not bright enough for a commuter light:

At around £15, a complete waste of money.

Cateye EL530 - maximum lux at 1mt: 4,880

 

Beam pattern

Bright hot spot throws well ahead, but it's tiny and of no real use. Puts a little light ahead of the front wheel, but not enough to see anything. It would be a half decent commuter light if it had a flashing mode :

At around £25, you could buy something twice as bright with a better beam pattern for less.

Niterider Ultrafazer 5 - maximum lux at 1mt: 542

Beam pattern

Spreads the light wide. Has a flashing mode, but  would need to be a bit brighter  to use as a commuter light:

At around £20, it's probably the best value of the major brands. 

Torchy B01 - maximum lux at 1mt: 17,900

Beam pattern

A small but incredibly bright spot that throws far up the road, and decent illumination in the near to medium distance: 

At around £30, it's better than anything Cateye has to offer.

Big Light Q5 Zoom Focus - maximum lux at 1mt: 15,620

 Beam pattern-Wide

Beam pattern-Spot

Versatile zoom focus lens allows the beam to be adjusted from a moderate wide angle to a small spot, and anything in between.

At around £25, it's a decent off road light at the wide setting. At the spot setting, it out performs the Exposure Joystick.

Exposure Spark - maximum lux at 1mt: 2,410

Beam pattern

Not a light to illuminate your way, only to be seen by other road users.

 At around £65, I would want at least a moderate amount of light on the road.

Exposure Sirius- maximum lux at 1mt: 5,390

 

 Beam pattern

Produces the usual Exposure large bright spot with little illumination at the edge of the beam.

Fitting between the Spark and Joystick in the Exposure range at around £75, the Sirius looks a much better option than either of the other two. Looks as bright as the Joystick for around half the money.

Moon X Power 300 - maximum lux at 1mt: 3,870

Beam pattern

A Large hot spot with a good spread of light across the beam.

At around £50, it makes it's going take a lot of business away from Exposure, Hope and Niterider. Looks well above the claimed 300 Lumens.

Fluxient R5 Zoom Focus - maximum lux at 1mt: 8,950

Beam pattern-Wide

 Beam pattern-Spot

 A wider and brighter beam than the Q5 zoom focus, with the same flexible beam adjustment.

At around £30, it makes more sense than an Exposure Joystick.

Hope Vision 1 (2013) - maximum lux at 1mt: 4,360

Beam pattern

New plastic body feels cheap and doesn't inspire confidence that the threads won't strip after a few removals of the end cap. Looks brighter than the original model though.

At around £60, there are better options out there. Snap up one of the originals while you can.

Niterider Lumina 350 - maximum lux at 1mt: 4.490

Beam pattern

A narrow beam with a decent throw and decent illumination from near to mid distance. On the road, it puts the light just where you need it. A bit narrow for off road.

At around £80, it's a better alternative to the Hope Vision One. Rechargeable and compact size give it the edge.

Exposure Joystick Mk5 - maximum lux at 1mt: 3,850

Beam pattern

 

Looks good, until you turn it on. Pretty similar beam to the Hope Vision 1, but considerably more expensive:

At around £125, it's a real disappointment. It has the looks, but not the performance.

Led Lenser B7 - maximum lux at 1mt:12,660

Beam pattern - wide

 Beam pattern - spot

Peculiar lens design produces an excellent spot beam, but pretty useless wide beam, with not enough light in the centre:

At around £30, a better bet than the Hope vision One or Exposure Joystick Mk5, but there are better lights at a similar price.

Torchy XM-L T6 Zoom Focus - maximum lux at 1mt:9660

 Beam pattern - wide

 Beam pattern - spot

 At the wide setting the illumination is very even (and bright) across the beam. Zoomed in, a large very bright spot is produced with a little light spilling into the wide areas.

At around £30, you have to wonder why anyone would want to spend five times as much on an Exposure Joystick.

 

Light and Motion Urban 300 - maximum lux at 1mt: 1,799

Beam pattern

A nice even spread of light with quite a wide angle. Side vision panels raise visibility to other road users.

At around £110, this light is greater than the sum of the parts.
The data doesn't look too impressive on paper, but on the road this is a first class little light. The "Urban" name is misleading, it sounds like it is only good for nipping down to the shops. This light is adequate for use in any situation.

Niterider Minewt 600 Cordless - maximum lux at 1mt: 4,690

Beam pattern

Usual Niterider narrow beam gives good illumination from near to middle distance.

At around £120, you get double the lumens of the Light and Motion Urban 300 for only an extra tenner. The narrow beam is probably only going to suit use on the road.  
 

Fluxient U2 Mini - maximum lux at 1mt: 3,510

Beam pattern

10% brighter than the T6 Mini that it replaces.
A wide spread of light and a decent spot. Gives good illumination from near to middle distance and beyond. Impressive output from such a small package.

At around £50, gives the best spread and level of light for this size and price of light. The kind of performance the Exposure Joystick should be aiming for. 

Fluxient XM-L  U2 - maximum lux at 1mt:13,500

 Beam pattern 

Ultra bright spot that throws as far as you could want, and really bright ahead of the front wheel. Good gradation from near to distance (the reflective cone is at 50m):

At around £80, one of the best value lights available. 

Magicshine MJ-808E - maximum lux at 1mt: 10,160

 Beam pattern

The slightly wider beam of the Magicshine seems to spread the light a bit thin, with a noticeable dark area  around mid distance.
Noticeable that Magicshine don't state whether they use the T6 or T5 led. I would guess the lower rated T5:

For around £70 I would want more than the 180 days warranty offered by Magicshine on the battery and charger, particularly with their history of poor quality in this area.

Hope Vision 2 - maximum lux at 1mt: 5,860

Beam pattern

 

A neat little lamp head housing 2x l;eds, and a nice size bright spot. Could do with a bit more spread of light. 

At around £160, it produces a similar beam to the Lupine Wilma, only brighter, at a third of the price. Doesn't match a good single XM-L T6 light.

Exposure Diablo Mk3 - maximum lux at 1mt: 6,740

Beam pattern

The Usual Exposure beam of a large central area of illumination and not much else.

At around £180, with only 1 run time hour on high, it is a lot of money for a light that can only really be used as a backup, or as a spot to augment a wider beam light for off road. 
  
Exposure Toro Mk3 - maximum lux at 1mt: 6,921

Beam pattern

 

More or less identical beam to the Diablo Mk3.

At around £250, the Toro gives three hours run time on high.Makes more sense than the Diablo. A decent output for road use, but it will need a wide beam light with it for off road.

Niterider Pro 1500- maximum lux at 1mt: 7,880

Beam pattern

Very bright wide angle beam. A big improvement in the Trinewt which it replaces.

 At around £300 for the Race version, it produces plenty of light for off road, and even illumination from a small compact lamp - look out Hope Vision 4.

Magicshine MJ 816E - maximum lux at 1mt: 5,920

Beam pattern

Now with a T6 centre light and 2x R2 side lights, the MJ-816E still throws a wide beam.

At around £100, the MJ-816E is a bit pricey compared to similar lights on the market. 180 days warranty on the batteries and charger doesn't inspire confidence.

Magicshine MJ-880 - maximum lux at 1mt: 8,510

Beam pattern

According to Magicshine, the light has one spot beam and one wide angle beam. I have to say they both look the same, as you can see above. Regardless, it produces a decent beam, but probably not wide enough for off road.

At around £120, the end product seems to be less than the sum of the parts. The output looks short of the 2000 lumens claimed (theoretically the 2.5A current will produce 1600 lumens max.), and 2 hours 20 minutes run time from a supposedly 6600mAh battery is a bit short. Also has the same heat problem as the MJ-872, steps down the power to cool down. And there is the usual gripe - 180 days warranty on the battery and charger. 
 
Moon X Power 1500 - maximum lux at 1mt: 10,200

 Beam pattern

Wow! Take the cool looks of the Magicshine MJ-880 but add real performance and you have a pretty impressive light. Even illumination from near to distance. 1500 lumens my arse.

At  £200, it looks like a cross between the Light and Motion Seca 1400 and Magicshine MJ-880, but outperforms both by a mile . I think this is the first time a manufacturer has under stated the lumen output of a light.

Hope Vision 4 - maximum lux at 1mt: 3,740

Beam pattern

A wide spread of light with limited throw. The benchmark for off road lights for the last few years.

 At around £250, starting to look a bit dated compared to the opposition. Still a strong performer for off road. 

Magicshine MJ 872 - maximum lux at 1mt: 4,340

Beam pattern

The heavily textured lens scatters the light wide, and probably prevents the leds throwing out the maximum lumens. An even spread of light in the near distance, but doesn't throw far enough:

At around £90, a further throw and brighter beam would be expected (and a longer warranty than 180 days on the battery and charger). Has a real problem with heat and keeps stepping down to a lower setting until it cools down. Even with a decent airflow the problem still persists.

Fluxient 4x XP-G R5 - maximum lux at 1mt: 6,170

Beam pattern

The polished aluminium lamp head looks fantastic, and fotunately the performance matches the looks. A bright, even spread of light with plenty of forward throw:

At around £95, the best looking light on show, and excellent performance too.

Light and Motion Seca 1400 - maximum lux at 1mt: 8,700

Beam pattern

A different approach from Light and Motion. 3 leds produce the throw and 3 leds produce the spread. And the result is pretty near perfect.

At around £400 for 1400 lumen, it appears a bit expensive. But either Light and Motion are being accurate while others exaggerate, or they manage to put every lumen to good use. Either way, this is a very nice light.

Exposure Maxx-D Mk3 - maximum lux at 1mt: 10,390

Beam pattern

A large bright spot combined with a wide spread of light. Even illumination from near to far.

At a shade under £300, Exposure succeed where Lupine fail.
Pros: The best performing of the big brands. 
Cons: A large, heavy unit to mount on the bars. Price? (not compared to Lupine)

Troute Liberator - maximum lux at 1mt: 4,040

Beam pattern

Six leds with three different types of lens give produce a wide spread beam giving even illumination from literally under the front wheel to mid distance.

At around £300, it is one of the coolest looking lights, with probably the widest spread of light on the market.

Exposure Six Pack Mk2 - maximum lux at 1mt: 15,450

Beam pattern

Usual Exposure beam, large central area with good throw.

At around £400, it is a bit brighter than the Maxx-D, but is it worth the extra? Lumen junkies will go for it, the more practical will settle for the Maxx-D. 
 
Fluxient 3x XM-L U2 - maximum lux at 1mt: 18,920

Beam pattern

The same as the Fluxient 3x T6 with around 20% more light output.

At around £140, Fluxient have taken hints too far. Nobody needs this much light, but that's not the same as saying a lot of people don't want this much light. Probably matches the Niterider Pro 3000 for output.

Niterider Pro 3000 - maximum lux at 1mt: 16,300

Beam pattern

If you want the brightest light on the market, this is probably it. The beam pattern isn't all that important when you have this much output. It illuminates as far and as wide as you could wish for.

At around £500, it's better than anything Lupine has to offer, but can you justify spending that amount on a light?

Lupine Betty 12 - maximum lux at 1mt: 6,490
Beam pattern

Throws a big pool of light into the middle distance. Not really bright enough in the near or far distance.

At over £700, the money would be better spent on one of the lights around £90, or the Exposure Maxx-D if you want a brand. Think of what you could do with the money you would save.