Standard Bike Lights

Light & Motion Vega, $150 street price. 

The Vega has the most light output of any backup light we tested, and lasted just short of the estimated 8 hour battery life when operating in the brightest mode.  The built-in rechargeable batteries may have some advantages, but you lose the convenience of just keeping a few spare batteries in your pack or transition area.  Product specs boast a flashing mode that will last 24 hours, but it lasted for 8.5 hours when we tested it.  We've been told (but haven't confirmed) that L&M will revamp your light without charge to have a slower blink that will actually last 24 hours.  The mount is a standard L&M bracket, which has always worked fine for us, but draws plenty of criticism from some for being hard to remove and too easy to accidentally redirect.  If you have $150 to blow and can live with 8 hours of light, the Vega will throw off enough light in a pinch to ride challenging terrain as a sole lighting source. (Another review here)

Cateye HL-EL-530, $45 street price

The Cateye EL-530 is the newest addition to the Cateye outstanding line of lights.  It produces a remarkable 90 hours of reasonably bright blue/white light, and at 1,500 candlepower, it is 33% brighter than the EL-500, adequate for use on moderately technical single track with no other light sources.  When riding with a team, with one person using an HID and the other members using the EL-530, it provides more than enough light for almost any conditions.  

 

 

 

Cateye HL-EL-410, $30 street price

The Cateye EL-410 is a smaller and less bright option for supplemental or emergency lighting.  Its main advantage is the compact design, which allows it to sit under a bar mounted map board.  However, the light output is fairly low at 180 candlepower, making any technical riding a bit of a challenge.  One solution is to mount two of these, a reasonable option given the low cost and low weight involved; however, even the double mounted EL-400 doesn't measure up to the EL-530 in light output.  Cateye promises 60 hours of light before a battery swap is required.  As a true backup light or a source of ambient light while riding as a team, the light does perfectly well.  We also have seen it used as a headlight, but there seem to us to be better headlight options available.