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Good bike lights UK
It’s no secret that Argos sell a great range of bikes and bike kit. But are their bike lights any good? I decided to take a look at the best of the best from Argos and compare them to similar quality bicycle lights from Amazon. The results may surprise you – they certainly surprised me.
Make sure you read right through to the end of my article because I’ve got a great YouTube video showing just how awesome a bike can look when it’s fully decked out in lights!
Let’s take a look at Argos bike lights vs Amazon and see who’s the winner.
Quick Answer: Nestling Front and Rear Bike Light Set
Best road bike lights UK
I’ve compared three different sets of bike lights so you can get an idea of how the two retailers compare overall. The sets are as follows:
- Front bike light
- Front and rear bike light set
- Additional fit-anywhere lights
Let’s take a look at the three types of bike lights now.
Challenge 2 Piece Silicone Bike Light Set
I’m a big believer that the more lights you can have on a bike, the more you’re likely to be able to see and, more importantly, the more likely to be seen.
That’s why I like sets of lights like this from Challenge. This is a set of two lights – one white and one red. With the silicone straps, you can wrap them onto many parts of your bike, or your helmet, or your rucksack, or virtually wherever you can think of.
They do, however, have a number of downsides. First up, they’re not that bright. Great as a form of secondary lighting but not to be used as the main light. They also use the little flat batteries that you get in many watches. Cheap enough to buy replacements, which is a good thing as you’ll get through quite a few with these lights.
Let’s take a look at an alternative on Amazon.
This is great lights set that does everything that the Challenge one does and more.
Firstly, you can fit this twin pack anywhere with the rubber strap. Though make sure you have the white light facing forwards and the red light facing backward. They’re much brighter than the Argos equivalent and have a variety of flashing and steady modes.
The best thing for me though is that they’re USB-rechargeable. Use the supplied cables to plug them into a USB socket on your laptop or a suitable wall socket and you can have them fully charged and ready for use when you need them. I don’t know whether you’ve ever had to track down those little flat batteries at a moment’s notice, but it’s not an easy task. If ‘USB-Rechargeable’ was running for parliament, I’d definitely vote for them.
This is a front light also from Challenge and available for sale at Argos. How can I sum it up…? It’s just a bit pants really. I get that it’s a ‘budget’ bike light so it comes with a cheap price, but it’s really not very good. Why?
Two main reasons. First up it uses non-rechargeable batteries. I hate non-rechargeable AAA’s with a passion (and so does the planet) and this one takes four of them at once.
But does it deliver on the main thing a light has to deliver on? Giving off light…? Well, sadly, not really. Those 5 LEDs apparently give off around 20 lumens. That isn’t very much and is unlikely to illuminate the road in front of you, let alone alert drivers to your presence.
Amazon has a much better product available.
A fantastic front light from Nestling with an external battery pack.
This is more expensive than the Challenge light but sooo much better and, in my opinion, definitely worth the extra.
Let’s take a look at the main criteria first – illumination:
Challenge – 20 lumens
Nestling – 1200 lumens
Wow! Now that’s the kind of light we need! Super-bright light with a good shape beam that lights up the road in front of you and let’s other road users coming towards you know you’re there.
The separate battery pack is USB-rechargeable – have I mentioned that I love this feature…? And with a full charge on 100% brightness this light should last 4 hours. Which is more than enough riding for my legs.
Rolson Front and Rear LED Bike Light Set
Here we have a set of front and rear lights from Argos. It’s a good price but other than that it’s not exactly an exciting product.
Looking at the lighting power, the front light gives out a measly 100 lumens (not really enough to light up the road for you) and the rear light gives out only a paltry 13 lumens. Added to that problem the set takes 5 AAA batteries to power it.
Not great for your bike, not great for the planet.
Can Amazon do better? Well, yes it can.
You might have noticed by now that I’m obsessed by lumens… but with good reason! Well, this front light from Nestling is an absolute monster, giving out a whopping 2400 lumens! As one reviewer says, if they got two fitted on their bike they could be seen from space. Ha!
The front light is great, the additional rear light is also powerful. Both can be fitted anywhere on your bike, with the external battery pack fitted to your bike frame with the supplied fixing strap.
What else am I as obsessed about as lumens…? Well, that would be USB recharging! Does the battery pack recharge? Yes! Woohoo!
Sorry, I apologise. But, you know, I really really like this light set from Nestling.
The more (lights) the merrier
With some things in life, less is more. Makeup on teenage girls and aftershave on teenage boys being two examples that, as a dad, I’m all too familiar with.
On the other side though, there are many things in life that are better in abundance. Lights on bikes are a great example. Don’t believe me? Well, take a look at this video and see just how cool bikes can look when they’re literally wrapped in LEDs. Then go and book your plane ticket to Venice Beach.
Best bike lights for commuting UK
Thanks for joining me to look at the bike lights available at Argos and Amazon today. I hope that this article has given you some useful info to make a choice as to which bike lights to go with.
There are some fantastic bike lights out there, but it can quickly get confusing when you look at loads. Hopefully, this guide has helped you to narrow down the options.
Have fun and stay lit.
**Please note that our reviews are based on customer reviews, star ratings, and online complaints. Therefore, Bicycle Volt are in no way liable**
