LED cycle light

The Light and Motion Stella 150 N sits toward the lower end of Light and Motion's very successful Stella range. Starting with the 120 (denoting its output measured in Lumens) a few years ago, the range has now moved on to include a 300, and indeed a 600 Lumen light (well, actually the 600 is a pair of 300s supplied in a set).

Hope's Vision One is a self-contained wire-free light with a claimed output of 240 lumens from a single, large LED emitter. Hope's reputation is built on CNC machining things out of lumps of aluminium, so it's no surprise that that's exactly how the Vision One is made. It's rather nicely done, too, with a ridged outer surface, laser-etched logos and a choice of colours. It's quite large but not all that heavy, with a claimed weight of 110g (not including batteries).

These CNCed bar plugs from Like-Bikes feature red LEDs for additional visibility in the dark and low light conditions and they work well.

Each light is held in place with a rubber expander in the middle. You twist the business end of the light so the expander is the right diameter, push it in place and that's job done. It takes seconds and holds secure.

Operation could hardly be easier. You press the cap and the two LEDs inside glow steady. Press again and they flash. Press a third time to turn them off. Simple.

The Moon X-Power 500 looks neat and compact and feels pleasingly chunky yet light.

Mounting the light was easy, the mount is easy to adjust and fitted very solidly to the bars, and stayed firmly in position without having to be cranked up stupidly tight. It has some horizontal adjustment too, so you can point the beam towards the verge and make sure you're not going to dazzle any oncoming traffic. The release switch is easy to locate and operate, even in gloves.

Lupine make some of the most serious (and expensive) bike lights going and this Piko is the baby of the bunch. It comes in three flavours, Max (which we have here) Mini and Ultra.

The Piko Max is a small torch style unit aimed squarely at the booming all-in-one market that the likes of Exposure have helped to create. It's a pleasing little slab of metal and fits onto the bike with a simple o-ring. I found it a bit of a struggle to squeeze onto oversized bars and users with a weak grip or small hands might have a hard time.

I've been combining Lezyne Super Drive with other high-powered and helmet lighting for regular nocturnal blasting. It's another of the super-commuter plus lamps with plenty of presence and reasonable round town economy but don't just save it for suburbia-liberate those 450 lumens for some serious open road training.

Blackburn's Voyager Click Headlight mightn't be leading the pack in the lumens race but rather like horsepower or megapixels, figures are only half the picture. Thirteen measly pounds buys two ultra bright LEDs, fiendishly user-friendly switch, battery sipping run-times and no quibble lifetime warranty.

The thing that comes to mind when picking Light & Motion's Urban 300 up for the first time is how small it is. Weighing in at just 114g it barely makes its presence felt at all, until it is switched on that is.

The Urban 300 is the middle light in Light and Motion's, new for this year, Urban lighting range, aimed at the road rider and commuter.