Feeling the need to be lit up like a Christmas tree is one of the unfortunate realities of riding on the road in Britain these days, but you don’t need to spend a fortune – and you don’t need thousands of lumens for your lights to be effective, either. If you’re like me, and you hate having a really cluttered bike, then Bontrager’s tiny but powerful lights are ideal for getting you through the darker days and, well, all year round really. The lights I use are as follows:
- Bontrager Ion 200 RT front bike light
- Bontrager Flare R City rear bike light
They’re both powerful enough to be used as day and night lights in my experience, particularly in urban areas. The only time I feel like I need something more powerful on the front is if I’m going to head off-road or on country lanes where you know potholes are lurking and it’s pitch black. In those cases, something bigger like the Ion Comp R(which has an output of 700 lumens) might be more up to the task. But for most riding, they’re ideal.
In terms of rear lighting, I have doubled them up in the past with one Flare R City on my helmet, and one other light on the bike. But if I’m honest, I prefer the compactness of the Flare R City to the other light I used, and the battery lasted a lot longer. I can often go a week or so without needing to charge the two lights, and that’s using them mostly on a daytime flash setting but with some constant beam usage.
There even great to use when time trialling, with front and rear lights now a requirement for Cycling Time Trial (CTT) events. The rear Flare R City sits neatly behind the seatpost, and even on my aero seatpost on my road bike I use for time trialling it doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb. I’m sure the aerodynamicists will tell me otherwise, but I can’t say I’ve lost any sleep over any extra watts it takes me to ride a respectable 10 miler because of it.
They’re also weatherproof, which, in Yorkshire, we all know is key to any bit of kit lasting more than a month. The USB charge port is on the underside of the light and is protected by a flexible cover which does a good job of keeping mud and debris out. Mounting the lights is really easy, either to the bars/seatpost, or your compatible helmet, with the Quick Connect bracket, or a silicone band.
Overall these lights are small but mighty and a great option for those not wanting to spend hundreds on a durable, bright set of lights.
Want to see these and more? York Cycleworks has the full array of Bontrager lights
See the full range of Bontrager Lights
