What You Need to Know About Bike Lights

As the days become short and daylight savings time kicks in, it's important to figure out how to keep riding, even in the dark. Luckily, one of the biggest advances in technology in the bike industry over the past several years isn't in carbon fiber composites—it's in lighting.

If it's minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit outside and the roads are covered with glare ice, it might be best to stay inside anyway. But, if you're someone who can tolerate a little bit of cold and feel good about your technical riding skills, riding in the dark during the winter isn't as scary as it may seem. All you need is the right reflective clothing and a good set of lights.

More: Why Bike Lights are Important...Even in Daylight

Be Safe

Clothing is a key component for winter riding, but without proper lighting it doesn't matter what you wear. It's unsafe to ride in the dark without lights.

You can verify this yourself by watching pedestrians on poorly lit streets. They are almost invisible, even in light colored clothing. In order to be safe in the dark, you need front and rear lights as well as reflectors.

Reflective Clothing

Reflectors are the easy part. Many of the new styles of riding jackets and pants have reflective stripes sewn right into the clothing. There are also new products that put small reflective strips on each spoke of your front and rear wheel that can significantly increase your visibility at night. If you don't have reflective cycling clothing, it'll be worth the investment to get a cycling-specific jacket with reflective piping in the seams.

More: 6 Safety Tips for Bike Commuters

The more reflective you are the better.

Improvements in Technology

Choosing the right lighting combination can be more complicated. Not so long ago, if you had a bright light, that meant your battery only worked for a short amount of time or you had to carry a battery that weighed 3 to 4 pounds. Not only were the lights and batteries energy inefficient, but charging the batteries took hours.

More: How to Choose the Best Bike Light for You

New technologies provide batteries that are lighter, carry more charge and can be recharged in 1 to 2 hours. The old nickel-cadmium (Ni-Cad) batteries had a memory effect. If you didn't let the battery fully run out of juice, re-charging the battery shortened the overall charging capacity. It was a lose-lose situation.

And light sources have seen just as many improvements. Halogen lights were all the rage a generation ago. These days, LED's are the option of choice. They're brighter than halogens, use less energy and won't burn out the way halogen lights do.

Cost Versus Convenience

The only drawback to the new battery technology is that they can be pricey. Many manufacturers offer two solutions. For the budget minded you can get an LED-based light, which runs off of standard 'AA' or 'AAA' batteries. The initial cost is cheaper, but you end up paying a lot for batteries over the life of the light.

The other more expensive option is the new Lithium-Ion batteries. They're rechargeable, and because recharging them leaves none of the 'memory effects' of the old Ni-Cad batteries, you can keep your battery fully charged on a daily basis to get maximum life out of your light.

More: 10 Tips From Hard-Core Bike Commuters

And, just like your smartphone, most of the charging options use a USB-based system. You can plug the light into a wall socket or computer and it'll be fully charged in one or two hours.

Just as with cars, a white light should be used in the front and a red light in the rear. Blinking lights are more visible, but a blinking light in the front makes it hard to see the road. It might be a better option to use the blinking red light in the back and one single, bright LED light on the front. This will allow you to be seen by motorist approaching from behind and provide ample light to the road so you can see where you're going.

In the next article, I will provide tips for safer riding at night.

More: 4 Tips for Cycling at Night