EXTREME LIGHTS ENDURANCE+ LIGHT

If you want to ride your bike at dawn or dusk, and especially if you want to ride through winter, you need a good light. This one’s a winner. It’s been designed for non-technical mountain-bike riding (jeep tracks, dirt roads), but works just as well on a road bike: the hotspot in the middle fades to nearly 180° of coverage, giving you great visibility. On maximum brightness, the light pumps out 2 100 lumens; there are also settings for 750 lumens and 200 lumens, plus a pulse mode. It’s not the brightest light in the Extreme Lights range (that would be the retina-busting 3 000-lumen Ultimate+ Trail light), but it offers excellent performance for the price. It’s plenty bright enough to see where you’re going – and to alert others on the road of your presence. The battery lasts a claimed 2.5 hours with the light on maximum brightness, and up to 40 hours with the light on low. Flip between modes depending on the road or trail conditions, and you should be able to get home with lots of juice left. The handlebar clamp won’t shake loose if you hit a pothole or ride over some corrugations, and the compact battery comes in a neat neoprene pouch that straps to your frame snugly, without damaging the paintwork. Best of all, the wiring between the battery and the light has been shortened, so you don’t need to wrap the wire around your stem eight times to keep it out of the way. There’s even an optional wireless remote that allows you to switch between settings without having to move your hand from the bar. It’s a quality product, and the customer service I received from Extreme Lights made me smile.