Lights - front

At £40 and with two AA batteries kicking out 200 lumens for 7 hours the Niterider Mako 200 front light looks like it should be a cracking little light. Sadly the truth is that it's crude and underwhelming.

What we have here is quite a chunky commuter light in sturdy black plastic. The whole front end unscrews, no bolts or screws required, to reveal the batteries. That's neat and very easy to use, even in the dark with gloves on.

The Lezyne Macro Drive front light's versatility and construction quality make it very good value indeed. At this price, there aren't many other lights that can match it.

A sleek CNC machined housing holds a Cree LED providing a claimed maximum output of 300 lumen. The 18650 Li-ion battery is integrated into the housing eliminating the hassle of power cables and separate battery packs. All in (minus mount) weight is a very respectable 94g which, combined with the small form, makes for a very unobtrusive light once on the handlebars.

The Electron Pico Super 2 front light is incredibly bright at the price and size, and as for battery, gives an impressive 117 hours in flashing mode. My only minor niggle was the sensitive switch.

It's a super bright, single watt design, identical to its equally potent rear sibling right down to clothing clip and resin mounting bracket, that seems strong, although the screws seemed likely to round off without taking care.

It's the purity of delivery that separates Cateye's Rapid 3 front light from a wealth of similar blinkeys. I don't like watts as a measure since it's concerned with consumption, rather than output. However, ours has saved my blushes (possibly my life too) when a high power main system packed up ten miles from the nearest stretch of street lighting, let alone my front door.

The Moon Meteor front light might only have half the output of the Moon XP500 we reviewed recently, but it punches well above its weight and costs half as much.

First impressions are that this is a very smart little light. It's dinky wee but looks purposeful and business-like. According to Moon it will kick out 200 lumens for 1 hour and 50 minutes, which is quite impressive for such a small unit.

The Blackburn Super Flea commuter light is the latest incarnation of the brand's small but mighty lamps, delivering an impressive 120 lumens from an hour's charge - perfect for clipping to work in the early morning gloom.

Knog's Blinder front LED light certainly lives up to its moniker. 88 lumens sound distinctly average by this season's standards but the choice of lighting patterns seems to grab the attentions of approaching traffic faster than conventional blinkies.

Dropping its podgy medical grade silicone in favour of anodised aluminium/sturdy resins has bolstered its build quality too and it's been the only USB plug in that I've been bold enough to hosepipe test at close range, let alone fully submerge!

Pumping out a very respectable 550 lumens in top mode, Silva's Pavé Sport bike light is the sort you can scoot around the suburbs in standard/flashing before clicking into top and indulging in some seriously spirited back road scratching. Not impressed? Well, how about 183g for the whole shebang-battery n' all?

Putting its cards on the table from the outset, the Electron Terra 3 front light is described as an off-road light. The previous range-topper, the Terra 2, is still available and - confusingly - is a rather different beast with a separate battery pack and two individual light units. On test here, the Terra 3, an all-in-one light with three Cree XP-G R5 LEDs giving a claimed 800 lumens on high-power.

The Blackburn Flea Solar 2.0 4 LED USB front light is perfect for touring and audax since it can be charged using the sun's energy - but has a USB option, an absolute godsend in dwindling daylight. However, despite these gizmos it's starting to feel dated, dare I say impotent alongside the latest generation of eighty lumen plus rivals.