Best Head Light for the $

Equipment
12

A few thoughts here:

  1. Where are you mounting it? Bigger headlights with “single-unit” design with the battery on board bounce more than the split unit setups.
  2. MTB/gravel needs more light spread than road. Both road and MTB need throw. Something that’s a lot brighter on center, will just make it impossible to see the off-center, so balanced lighting is important.
  3. Given the above, the super light bulb isn’t the solution as much as the thoughtful lens is. You can do well with a 100lm bulb and just adjust to the darkness ( https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/equipment/bike-accessories/bike-lights/bike-front-lights/bontrager-ion-200-rt-front-bike-light/p/23709/?colorCode=black ) - this works until someone else has a bright light around you. You can beam 2000lm on a single spot and only see the spotlight.
  4. Don’t short the mount. It is as important as the light. If you need to mount a battery, this can be a hassle. You might need to tighten your light down super tight on your existing go-pro mount.
  5. Blinding people control is all about tilt. Again, a dimmer light will make it easier to see the bright spot and the unlit areas.

I’ve had good luck with the following:
This is a solid be-seen light and backup light. https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/equipment/bike-accessories/bike-lights/bike-front-lights/bontrager-ion-200-rt-front-bike-light/p/23709/?colorCode=black
This is a solid road light, but I found it hard to use riding gravel at night, finding some surprise holes that hurt. It also vibrates a bit, which is distracting. https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/equipment/bike-accessories/bike-lights/bike-front-lights/bontrager-ion-pro-rt-front-bike-light/p/22466/?colorCode=black
Tried this… seemed like it needed more work as it overheated and died . It was also not stable on a standard go-pro style mount. Hangover Bike Helmet Light -- Outbound Lighting
I almost bought this -https://www.amazon.com/Magicshine-Headlight-Waterproof-Rechargeable-Mountain/dp/B08RBL32Q1
Ended up with this. Great light, lasts forever, tunable lenses, battery housing is difficult to mount on bike and USB-c cable is stiff and hard to keep tidy. https://www.glowormlites.co.nz/product/gloworm-x2-lightset-g2-0/

I’ll still use the Bontrager headlight on the road, but the bigger light is better offroad.

1 Like