I don’t use my Raveman for anything other than to be seen…certainly not to see when it is dark out. Great safety light, though.
For road: Anything with a cut off light. Currently using a generic AliExpress light that uses a replaceable 18650 cell. Bright enough to see on hazards in urban areas without blinding cars
Mountain/Gravel: Outbound bar + headlamp (single track) or just the bar light for gravel.
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Garmin Varia UT800 headlight. It’s got a nice random-ish flash during the day, and it works great at night for me. As a bonus, it and my Varia RTL510 radar turn on automatically when I push start on my Garmin computer. It’s the little the things that are nice.
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I use a few Magicshine lights, the Allty 1500 for dark rides on the MTB and Gravelbike and the allty 400 on my commuter. You can also find them branded as Xand. They are very well built, use a garmin mount and the leds are high quality, but the 1500 is kinda small for a 1500 lumen light so the battery only lasts a few hours, for me no problem as I wouldn’t want to ride in the dark for much longer.
As a helmet light I use the BBB adventure strike 600.
I also have a few Lezyne lights but I don’t use them often.
Would want to try Exposure lights but they are so expensive and big.
Another vote for son dynamo and edelux ii. Has been amazing on my surly. Exposure rechargeable rear. Would definitely recommend Moon lights as well. They make a range of really good front lights for different needs.
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Only night riding I do on purpose is bikepacking adventures, so I’m a vote for the Son hub with Sinewave front light and a B&M rear, which I keep the system on all the time so I have a rear light on always… unless I’m charging a battery during the day.
For the road I run a Bontrager Ion, the large one. So in the fall when I go past sunset the head unit turns the light from blinking to a beam and it’s good enough to get home safely.
Exposure Revo Dynamo powered light and Exposure Strada Mk 10. Revo on the gravel bike with SON dynamo hub. Strada is on other bikes without a dynamo hub.
I also really love the Lezyne lights I can swap them between bikes because they have straps that work on different handlebar diameters. Because they are so easily removable, you can take them off when you go shopping with your bike at night- lock your bike without worrying that your lights will be stolen. Also very easy to charge with USB-C.
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Easy: Bontrager Ion Pro RT. Not cheap but also not overly expensive and does everything I could possibly want from a light.
Bright, great battery life, can be charged while it’s running, I can switch it between different Garmin mounts via a quarter-turn go-pro adapter or mount it to a stub on the side of my fork for bikepacking when the cockpit is occupied by bags, all while being controlled via my Garmin over ANT+.
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Another vote for Exposure lights (I’m also uk based). Been really happy with my Exposure Strada for overnight Audaxing and Exposure Joystick as a backup.
I’ve had one issue with my Strada, but with Exposure being uk based it was super simple to send it off to them. They then fixed the light with no qualms and sent it back no fee, so can say I’m very happy with their customer service.
They’re very popular in the Audax community with people running a dizzying array of models dating back years.
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I’ve had good luck with my Olight RN 1500. Before it I would go through a new light every couple years, none of which were durable, but this one has seemed to survive. The Garmin mount is very handy, the battery is decent, and it’s bright enough to do intervals at night with.
Love my Exposure Diablo!
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I recently got a Lupine SL Grano as a luxurious gift and love the solid, sturdy metal body, automatic dimming/brightening depending on the light. I also like its and long lasting battery. It’s a bit on the heavy side.
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Still no response back from Outbound….just sent a second message.
As a Dutch guy with some friends in the UK Audax scene I obviously went for an Exposure Strada. Love it for my normal evening rides but even more - just like you mentioned - overnight rides. 24 hours battery life in program 7 on low is awesome. And low is still a decent amount of light.
They are difficult to get on Europe main land since brexit, at least the latest models but I ordered directly from them. I wouldn’t go for anything else anymore.
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For road/multi-use paved trail, I am fan of ANY properly-aimed front light that has a cut-off to prevent blinding oncoming road/trail users. I recently bought a MagicShine EVO 1700 that is designed to be mounted under the out-front bike mount. The light intensity is fully configurable in the app and the beam pattern has a very clear cut-off. It’s quite a bit heavier than my old Bontrager Ion RT 200 and it’s not ANT+ compatible, but it should last much longer and won’t be glaring other road/trail users.
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SON all the way for bikes where weight is a second thought. Exposure for everything else.
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Lupine for their excellent lamps and customer service. Repairs are usually done within a day, they repair 10 to 20 year old lamps (usually for free) and every battery still fits every lamp. I own an old Tesla, a Neo (more for running) and a Blika. In the dark its mainly offroad, so I use one at the bike and one at the helmet.
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Lupine and SON. Invested heavily in 2 light lupine system over a decade ago for long distance stuff. All lamps use the same battery interface, bluetooth remotes, an app to control all output settings, ability to charge devices from the batteries, bright lights, great customer service. I have since gone the dynamo route for my drop bar rigs (still use a Lupine Piko on my helmet when needed) with SON/Sinewave combo. Any one figured out how to wire a Varia rear radar light to their dynamo set up?
I really like the beam shape and cutoff of the STVZO compliant Busch and Muller Ixon. What I like less is the slightly fiddly mounting mechanism and the fact that I’ve had a couple of them brick on me (the first was my own fault for using with a higher ampere charger than the manual specifies).
Now on Magicshine allty 400/600s and some AliExpress similar models - got a load of them for the family fleet of bikes, big fan of them using the Garmin 1/4 turn mount. Although I also had a Magicshine light brick on me which they did replace under warranty.