Being passionate about biking means that you are required to invest in additional accessories, especially the ones that concern your own safety. If you’ve purchased a helmet, it’s now time to find an appropriate light that can be mounted on it. Some people prefer to have their light mounted on the handlebars of the bike, but a helmet mounted light means that the path before you is lit as you move your head around, providing extra visibility when needed. But how can you be sure what type of light you actually need?
Table Of Contents
The Top 6 Best Bike Helmet Light Comparisons
Brand | Details |
|---|---|
 Topside Bike Helmet Light | |
 Maketheone Bicycle Light for Helmets | |
 BLITZU Bike Helmet Light | |
 Serfas Helmet Light | |
 Bright Eyes Bike Headlight | |
 SIGEM LED Safety Lights |
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Important Bike Light Info
A bike light fulfills two simultaneous roles. First, it helps you see the road ahead in low light conditions, as well as in poor weather ones. Don’t underestimate how invisible you can become for drivers when there’s heavy rain pouring outside or when mist falls heavily before you. That’s leads to the second role of a bike light: it helps other traffic participants see you.
Lumens
There is one very important term that you have to be acquainted with before going bike light shopping: lumens. Leaving all technical explanations aside, a lumen is a unit that measures the brightness of a light.
Batteries
The second thing to pay attention to is batteries. Cycling lights will often run on disposable batteries, which automatically means that you should be travelling with spares at all times. However, more modern options have integrated the power of rechargeable batteries. Most of these batteries are either lithium polymer of lithium ion and they are more powerful compared to disposable batteries.
There are some bike lights that can be charged with an USB cable, which provides you with additional power sources, just as a portable charger, a laptop or a computer. The most modern bike lights have integrated battery warning features, to let you know when a battery is dying and requires a recharge.
Types of Bike Lights
In order to help cyclist in discovering which types of lights are more suitable for them, these lights have been divided into categories that depict the cycling habits of bikers.
Urban
The first category of lights is dedicated to urban use and communing. This means that it’s super important for the biker to be seen by other traffic participants. In this case, it’s important to choose a tail light that makes you visible for the obvious safety reasons. If you are an adventurous commuter, you will also need a powerful front light. Any light above 200 lumens should do the trick, because urban biking means that you also rely on street lights to be seen, so there is no need to purchase the most powerful bike light there is.
Rural
The next level covers unlit roads. If you often find yourself taking rough paths, a powerful front light is very important. It needs to be bright because you cannot rely on street lights anymore. In this case, you should opt for light that goes above 600 lumens. In addition to that, you also need to choose your lighting mode carefully, but also use your battery juice wisely. Another important trick to keep in mind is to look for front lights with a concentrated beam.
The advantage of concentrated beams is that they provide more power for the road ahead, so you can see exactly where you’re going. The disadvantage is that concentrated beams are less visible from the side. As you can imagine, having a tail light on unlit roads is essential. Whether it’s mounted on your helmet or fixed underneath your seat, don’t leave this light out of the equation.
Off Road
Last, but not least, we have the extreme biker, the one who enjoys off-road pedaling. As you can imagine, bike light investment is taken to a whole new level, especially when you’re going down roads you’ve never explored before. The power of the front light is essential, as you will need perfect visibility that your commuting light surely won’t be able to cover. Anything above 1,000 lumens should do the trick. These powerful lights are often characterized by a wider beam, providing you with more depth and visibility.
The Top 6 Best Bike Helmet Light Reviews
In order to help cyclist in discovering which types of lights are more suitable for them, these lights have been divided into categories that depict the cycling habits of bikers.
Topside Bike Helmet Light
To begin our series of mini reviews for lights that are compatible with bike helmets, we’ve chosen the Topside model as our opening number. Made from Lumen Cree LED lights, the Topside comes with many features to empower the safety of cyclists. The dual headed light will illuminate both the path ahead you and signal the others behind you, warning other traffic participants about your presence on the side of the road. It takes 3 hours to fully charge the light and you’ll get about 18 hours of juice on a full charge. The light hosts an USB port, so you can conveniently charge it while you’re checking your emails.
There are 5 different lighting modes for the top flash: fast flash, constant rear flash front, constant, double flash and constant front flash rear. There is a battery indicator that will notify you once you have about 25 minutes of battery power left, so you’ll never be caught by surprise and left stranded. To mount the light on your helmet, use the 2 available mounts, straps and ties to secure it in place. It can also be used as a handlebar light if it’s more convenient for you. You can pick either of the 2 mounts included, depending on what works best with your setup. To fix the light onto the mount, place the latter on a flat surface and slowly pushy the lights in.
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Maketheone Bicycle Light for Helmets
Moving on to a more sophisticated option, we’d like to present the Maketheone helmet light. The versatility of the product allows the user to mount the light on the handlebars of the bike or on the cycling helmet, but it can also be used as a handheld flashlight. This light is as bright as 1,200 lumens and features 5 different lighting modes: SOS, strobe, low, medium or high. This zooming light is backed up by a red silicone one. The backlight comes with its own set of 4 lighting modes: highlight, strobe, slow flash and off.
By ordering this product, you will receive a kit that also contains a battery smart charger, a rechargeable battery, a red LED silicone rear light, one front light mount and an adjustable helmet mount. The included Velcro strap allows you to attach the light to your helmet’s airflow holes. Depending on the lighting mode you choose, the battery’s life also varies. For example, if you like to pedal with the lights on steady bright mode, you will get about 2.5 hours of battery juice, while the strobe mode should keep the batter alive for about 5 hours.
Pros
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BLITZU Bike Helmet Light
The first thing that makes the BLITZU light stand out is its super lightweight. But there’s more to it than just the 0.3 ounces. The Cyborg 168T light can be charged via your laptop or computer’s USB port and it takes less than 2 hours for a full charge. The 260 degree beam angles will make sure that the street in front you is visible at all times.
It features 6 different lighting modes that are changeable with a single press of a button. You can opt for steady high, steady medium, steady low, flashing high and low and strobe. Depending on the selected mode, the battery life will vary. For example, using the light on low mode will provide you with about 6 hours of run time, while setting it to a higher intensity will ensure about 1 hour and 30 minutes of battery power.
Since it’s waterproof, it can withstand harsh weather conditions without suffering any damage whatsoever. Thanks to the variety of mounting options, you can place the light on your helmet, handlebars, bike frame, scooter, wheelchair and more. When set to high, the light intensity is about 168 lumens, while the lower mode provides about 45 lumens.
Pros
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Serfas Helmet Light
The Serfas rear light is a pretty basic and straightforward product, for those looking for something that will alert the other traffic participants of their presence on the road. It covers the basic aspects of what a rear helmet light is supposed to do. It comes with 3 different lighting modes: chase, flash and steady. As expected, the battery power depends on the mode chosen. In consequence, you’ll get about 95 hours of power when the light is set to steady 130 hours when set to flash and about 130 hours when you opt for the chase mode. That’s pretty effective when you’re looking at a long cycling trip.
The Serfas light requires 2 lithium CR 2032 batteries to operate, both of them being included in the package. Thanks to the built-in belt clip, the light is also suitable for runners and can easily be mounted on your pet’s collar if needed. As for the bike helmet, the light is mounted on the back side, as long as your helmet has ventilation air passages. There is a rubber spacer included alongside the Velcro strap. The rubber spacer is pretty easy to install, as all you have to do is align the cylindrical post located on the back of the light to the matching sole of the rubber piece and press them against each other.
At the center of the triangular light lies the power button. Aside from switching the lights on and off, this button is also used to shuffle between the 3 different lighting modes that we mentioned earlier.
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Bright Eyes Bike Headlight
Even if the title implies otherwise, this bike headlight can also be mounted on your helmet. This waterproof light is as bright as 1,600 lumens and features 3 different lighting modes that also add or take away from the battery’s juice. By setting the light to high, you will get about 4 hours of power. The medium setting will keep the battery alive for nearly 6 hours, while setting the light to low mode will provide with 16 hours of continuous use. The light includes a head strap, with a mounting piece that can be removed so you can easily attach the light onto your helmet using Velcro straps or ties.
Aside from the actual light, the package also included a diffuser lens, 4 heavy-duty O-rings so you can mount the headlight on your handlebars, a rechargeable battery pack and a wall charger, a head harness, Velcro ties and a LED silicone tail light. The head light comes with a lifetime warranty period, but there is also a 1 year warranty included for the battery.
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SIGEM LED Safety Lights
This is yet another basic, but very useful pack that features 3 compact lights. You can opt between 6 different light configurations or buy them all in the same red color. Each of the light features 5 ultra-bright LEDs that are powered by 2 small batteries. They can provide you with enough light to last about 100 hours.
Aside from the batteries that are pre-packed inside the lights, the kit is also delivered with some extra goodies: like 2 more batteries, a mini screwdriver and 3 adjustable Velcro straps that aid cyclist in attaching the lights to pretty much whatever they want. Due to their compact size, the SIGEM lights are suitable for several types of biking helmets, but they can also be used on scooter, leashed, wheelchairs, baby strollers, and more. They are good for bikers, jogger and even hikers.
You can opt between 3 different lighting modes: steady, flash and fast strobe. Each light has a clip attached to its back side, to make it easier to secure the light on your belt, if needed. Since the lights are water resistant and not waterproof, they will be able to withstand moisture and a little bit of rain, but completely submerging them into water or using them under heavy rainfall could cause damage.
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The Bottom Line
In order to determine which of the aforementioned lights is better for you, you should assess what type of cyclist you are. If you only want a light for commuting and helping you stay visible in traffic, the Serfas should do a pretty good job in keeping you covered. The generous battery life makes it a viable option for other types of cyclist, provided that they use it as a secondary safety light.
However, if you’re more of a hardcore cyclist rather than one who just likes to ride the bike in a park on a Sunday afternoon, you will need that extra lumen power so you can see and be seen. For you, the Maketheone helmet light is a much better option. With 1,200 lumens in power and the capacity to zoom the light to get a narrow or a wide beam, this helmet light seems to have everything you need to be fully aware of what the road as in store for you. Upon ordering, you will receive a very generous kit that contains other useful items, such as the red LED silicone rear light and mounts for both your helmet and your handlebar.