Best Rear Bike Lights

We like to think of ourselves as a hardy bunch here at Westbrook Cycles, and most of us have racked up plenty of miles on dark winter roads and mountain bike trails, so we think we know what a set of bike lights need to do. Bike lights not only need to be bright enough to be seen, but need to have decent battery capacity - all wrapped up in a tough and durable package, which is designed to provide years of use in the elements. In this post, we look at what we think is the best rear bike lights available on the market, as we as looking at exactly what a rear bike light needs to provide to make it onto this list.

First and foremost, a rear bike light is a legal requirement when riding on the roads in the UK during darkness hours. Now we know it’s a legal requirement to have one, it makes sense to buy one which is brighter than the minimum requirements, in order to keep you as safe and as seen as possible on the roads.

All of the back bike lights that we supply have been extensively tested, and have proved to provide reliable and good levels of performance. All of our rear bike lights are LED lights - LED’s have been around for some time now, and they are perfectly suited to the task in hand - providing bright and efficient lighting on the rear of a bike.

Again, thanks to advances in battery technology, almost all of our rear bike lights are rechargeable and these can be charged via a dedicated charger, or a standard USB type charger which powers your phone.

Rear bike lights will also typically have a number of different power modes, including various flashing modes - whilst flashing red light is usually the most obvious mode to use - we think it’s best to run these lights with a continuous red light, this allows other road users to easily monitor and track your location with no interruptions.

We also recommend using these lights as lights to run during the daytime - much in the same way that most vehicles now have daytime running lights, you can use bike lights in exactly the same way. Below, we will run through some of the best rear bike lights for different reasons, we will have a look at budget options, smart options and also premium options - allowing you to choose the best bike light for your exact requirements.

Garmin Varia RCT715 Rearview Radar Camera And Tail Light

Back bike lights don’t get much smarter than this - this bike light has been designed to cover your back, allowing you to concentrate on the fun part, what’s going on in front of you. This light continuously records your ride, and in the event of what the light believes to be an accident, automatically saves footage from before, during and after the event. Designed to work closely with your Garmin bike computer, the mobile app also alerts you of traffic conditions as you ride.

There’s three different modes to choose, which helps optimise both performance and battery life - the modes include ‘always on’ lights and radar only, or radar activated mode, which switches the camera to record when a car is detected.

Battery life is impressive, with four hours with radar and tail light on solid high or night flash, five hours on solid low and siz hours on all day flash - with camera recording. This bike light is ready to go out of the box, and really does represent the very best in bike light technology.

Lezyne KTC Drive Pro+ LED Rear Light

The Lezyne Drive Pro+ is a compact bike light, providing up to 150 lumens, which can be used across six different light output modes. The daytime flash mode is really impressive and there’s 20 hours of max runtime. The wide angle lens provides 270 degrees of visibility, this light is durable and is waterproof to stringent IPX7 standards. The light has an integrated USB stick which allows you to charge the unit without needed a cable.

As an added bonus, this light is also compatible to be fitted to aero seatposts. This is the perfect light for cyclists looking for a simple, reliable and effective light.

Syncros Campbell 100 Rear Light

This bike light has been designed specifically to be used with Syncros Saddles - there’s an integrated mounting system which provides a variety of options, allowing you to pair the light with a saddle bag, a fender, or on it’s own. There’s five different riding modes, with these modes covering every possible riding situation, from mountain biking on the trails, to city commuting on the roads.

This light also has a smart element to it, a light sensitive mode - this light sensitive mode senses the light outside, and allows the light to run in the most efficient way possible for the conditions, so you can trust that you are not only being kept visible by the light, but you are also saving on battery life.

There’s a USB C Charging port for rapid charging, and on light sensitive mode, this light can run for up to 16 hours.

Moon Sport Helix Sense Red LED Light

The Helix Sense 450 is without doubt one of the most impressive back bike light’s we have had our hands on. The unique sense mode has a braking function, which means that the light provides increases when the bike is slowing down. This mode also automatically adjusts brightness levels to light levels, and also has a parking mode - which automatically turns the light onto a standby mode when no motion is detected.

Rear Bike Lights

Ultimately, all of the rear/back bike lights that we supply are good enough and reliable enough to use on any bike. Where they differe is their features, battery life and brightness levels - we recommend investing in a decent bike light, one which can last for many years - especially if you are commuting during the hours of darkness, and on busy roads.

You can view our complete range of back bike lights here, and as always - please get in touch if you have any questions about the range.