Bike Products:

Cycling Lights

There are two general catagories of bike lights out there, according to our collective wisdom:

Lights that allow you to be seen:

• are small, lightweight, unobtrusive and mount easily to handlebars or seatpost
• typically run on AAA or AA batteries with long-lasting LED bulbs
• are available in white (front) or red (rear), both with static and flashing modes
• are inexpensive

These LEDs are meant to announce your presence to motorists at dawn, dusk and in the great deep darkness of night. A flashing front and rear light are very important because they demand (with their incesent blinkiness) that drivers see you. Swaddled in a comfortable womb of air-conditioning, thumping tunes and soft leather, it is difficult for some drivers to avoid slack-jawed inattention. Blinky modes are the best defense in urban areas rife with lots of fast metal. Cyclists switch to the steady mode on the front light when riding through darker residential neighborhoods or streetlightless rural roads. You can get a pricey ticket in Tempe if you are found riding after the sun departs without a front light by a police officer. Don't get stuffed with a Justice Sandwich for such negligence!

We carry: Blackburn, Planet Bike, Knog and Cateye commuting lights.

Lights that allow you to see:

• have significantly larger beam patterns and brighter bulbs that illuminate the road or trail
• run on heavier, rechargable lithium-ion or nickel-metal-hydride batteries
• utilize halogen, HID, or high-powered LED bulbs with 2 to 6 hour burn times
• are more costly

What do you get with a bigger battery and beefier bulb? You get as close to daylight as you ever will on a bike at night. Rechargable lights allow the rider to see a far greater patch of distance than their commuter-bred bretheren (see above), casting a beam both wide and deep that allows for nighttime trail riding. Depending on preference, they can usually be handlebar OR helmet-mounted, although the best riding systems should involve both for best depth perception. With the right recharable lights (and a certain base disregard for life and limb), you can rage the National Trail on South Mountain on a moonless February night. Road cyclists who are riding in areas without ambient light also prefer these systems for their grand illumatative qualities.

We carry: Niterider rechargable lights.