How Many Lumens Should A Bike Light Have

In the rear you must have a red reflector that can be seen from 600 feet away.

How many lumens should a bike light have. There is no fixed agreement on how many lumens you need for a bike light as it depends on the type of cycling you are doing. Daytime running lights to be seen in daylight 100 lumens. Lighting is all about lumens. Lux is the measure of the intensity of light on an area or surface most commonly this is measured at a distance of between one and ten meters.

Like a rear light is usually between 5 and 100 lumens while a front light can be from 10 to 1000 lumens. Generally if you ride on decently lit city streets a 400 500 lumen front and a 50 lumen rear light will. When we move into high end commuting or mountain bike lights notice the addition of lumens to the product description. For reference the average car s headlight has an output of around 200 lumen but its beam is far wider than that of a typical bike light.

If you are unclear about the intensity of lumens let s make it easy for you. The very best commuting lights will be rated at approximately 250 lumens while on upper end mountain bike lights you will see lumens figures in excess of 1000 1200. You may add a rear red light that is visible from 500 feet to use with the rear read reflector. Lumens are different depending on lights used for.

A lumen measures the amount of light that comes from a bulb. That said there isn t a simple answer to this question. The law in illinois about bike lights is rather peculiar. You need a white light that can be seen from up to 500 feet on the front at nighttime.

Lights are usually measured in lumens which is a unit that represents the light output of the setup. The more lumens your lights have the brighter they will be. I bought a magicshine mj 872 1600 lumen rechargeable led front bike light last winter for cycling along unlit country roads on my commute. 60 watt bulb 800 lumens.

Keep in mind though that the integer on the label is usually a light s maximum setting which fittingly uses the maximum amount of battery life. As a rough guide we say that. Very easy to change the setting and it feels like moving from full beam to dipped. A standard 40 watt 40w bulb is equal to 400 lumens.

400 lumen test photo courtesy of light motion. We can compare 1 lumen with the full moon on a clear night. If you imagine that lumens represents the total amount of light emitted by a bike light lux measures the amount of that light that gets transferred onto. The light is great for road vision without even using the top setting.

More powerful lights say 800 lumens or higher often have an external lithium ion battery that can be strapped to your bike s top tube or slipped into a jersey pocket. Typically the higher the wattage the higher the lumens and the more light output. So how many lumens do you need for outdoor lighting. Urban commuting lights to be seen in town 50 to 200 lumens.