Bike Lights - How Many Lumen Do You Need?

Bike lights are rated in Lumens. A Lumen is the measurement of the total visible light emitted and is commonly used for all kinds of bulbs.

One thing worth noting is that most lights advertise their headline rate. Packaging may say 1000 lumens. Reading the small print they might only do that for an hour. That light may run 500 or 600 lumens for 2 or 3 hours. So it's worth buying a light with more lumens than you need to get decent running times.

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. As a rough guide we say that:

• Daytime running lights = 100+ Lumens
• Urban commuting lights = 50 to 200 Lumens
• Rural riding lights = 400 to 600 Lumens
• Trail riding lights = 600+ Lumens

Trek made their first bikes in 1976 in a barn in Wisconsin. Now they’re one of the biggest bike brands in the world. Trek bikes cover everything from professional-level road and mountain bike race bikes to commuters, hybrids and kids bikes. There is a strong heritage of racing at Trek and many Trek bikes have a strong race influence. They take a very scientific approach to researching bike and human performance and then make the fastest and most efficient bikes they can.

It doesn’t stop their attention and passion for cycling flows through everything they do. Since the 1990s, Trek has supported Places for Bikes. Places for Bikes is an advocacy organisation in the USA that gets more people on bikes more often! Places for Bikes ethos falls in line with the companies mission statement to:

Build only products we love. Provide incredible hospitality to our customers, and change the world by getting more people on bikes.

Please note: Manufacturers can sometimes change the specification of the products from time to time.