Your ultimate guide to bike lights for road cycling — see and be seen with our selection of the best for your bike

The third generation of the Fly12 Sport from Aussie brand Cycliq is easy to use with quality footage and almost everything you'd want for an 'incident capture' camera. 

The light is slightly less powerful than the previous generation, but it's still fine for road riding at 400 lumens, and this means the Fly12 Sport is now lighter and more compact than ever, at just 151g. 

Mounting above or below then handlebar, mounting is easy and operation is simple enough via three side buttons. It comes with a 64GB card for storing footage, and you can also take photos with the touch of a button as well as record your footage. 

The run-times and battery life aren't outstanding, but if you want a camera to record your rides and capture any incidents, the Fly12 Sport is among the best out there currently. 

The Recon HL is an improvement over its predecessor, the very good HL 1600, and has even better usability and some improved features that include a 200-lumen power bump, a more compact size and some Garmin head unit integration. It's also decent value at under £100 if you shop around. 

There are five modes, and on the brightest setting our reviewer could get almost two hours out of it; you will get much more on lower beam settings, of course. 

The bracket is secure, and you also get a GoPro mount if filming is your thing. Our review concludes: "If you're after a single unit/compact front light that can handle the darkest of conditions and impress in practically every measure that matters, it's hard to see past the Giant Recon HL1800."

The ES Pro 2 hasn't really changed in a decade, and neither should it: this is probably still one of the most reliable dynamo lights we've come across, and if you're into long-distance bikepacking or audax riding it should be high up your wishlist when choosing a light that works off your own steam. 

The beam is a German road-legal one that directs 95% of the light downwards to avoid blinding oncoming traffic, and once you're over about 5mph the beam holds steady. We found the beam pattern to be more or less ideal for road riding, with the majority of the light concentrated directly ahead of you but still enough throw for picking out turns and suicidal rodents in the verges.

If you don't care for worrying about whether or not your light is charged, this is a great option. 

The Giant Recon HL 350 is a brilliant front commuter light to 'be seen' while also delivering a decent level of brightness on its highest setting. The light really comes into its own in towns and suburbs but the full-power beam is sufficient to see even on dark roads if you end up going the long route on your commute home. 

It has three steady modes and two flashing ones all with good run times. Full power at 350 lumens lasts close to two hours, the lowest steady mode of 100 lumens lasts around 6 hours and flashing mode takes it up to about 12 hours. 

The Recon HL 350 is USB rechargeable, IPX7 waterproof and mounts to the bar with a straightforward strap. Side windows spill light for visibility at junctions too, all in a compact lightweight package. 

If you are often negotiating roads with lots of side streets and weaving around traffic, then the Moon Cerberus offers "best in class" side visibility according to our reviewer. 

The three-sided COB (chip on board) design supplies outstanding side visibility, and is genuinely as bright from the left or right as it is down the middle. An innovative hinge system makes it compatible with all shapes of seatpost, and there's a dimmer function that allows you to fine-tune your output and battery life. Charging is via USB-C, it weighs just 35g and as it works with aero seatposts too, this is a solid choice for time triallists as well as the rest of us. 

While 450 lumens might be too bright for a rear light, the Cateye Viz 450 is only this powerful on the daytime 'Hyperflash' setting, and has plenty of other moes with decent run times. 

The unit is well made, easy to use and has an extremely bright beam if you want to deploy the high settings. It combines the all-round visibility from Cateye's earlier Rapid models with a focused beam that should mean drivers can see you from hundreds of metres away. 

You'll get up to 65 hours of run time in the 40 watt flash mode, and the light only weighs 45g. Overall, this is a very impressive, super bright rear light option. 

This simple, slimline light works really well and, although it's shown mounted to a seatpost as standard here, you can also wear it as the name suggests. A strong clip on the Wearable X allows you to mount it pretty much anywhere, such as your rear pocket, on your bag or on the back of your helmet. 

The beam pumps out 35 lumens at full strength, which is quite a lot for a rear light, and it's not particularly blinding either. There are six modes in total, and to switch between them it's simply a case of pressing the single button until you find the setting you want. It also has a memory function to remember the last setting you chose. Battery life is from one hour in high mode up to 30 in flashing, which is more than reasonable. 

The Recon 200 is niether cheap nor too pricey, and kicks out a huge 200 lumens on the max setting. You get 270 degrees of visibility thanks to two strips in the side of the light unit, ensurig you're visible to motorists approaching from side streets. 

Charging is via USB and you can mount the light vertically or horizontally. There are seven modes to choose from, and you can get an impressive six hours on the high flash mode. It weighs just 51g in total. 

This is a great little light with lots of power. If your budget is tighter or you don't feel like you need this many lumens, we'd also highly recommend the Giant Recon TL 100. 

For considerably less money than Garmin's Varia rear smart light, the Bryton Gardia R300L does an impressive job of detecting cars from an impressive distance away, and the beam is decent. 

As well as these featurrs, you get extras such as a simple smartphone app and smart light capabilities. The unit pairs with most head units and should detect vehicles up to 150m away. Our reviewer found it could pick up from even further away than that, about 180-200m on straight roads. 

The light is also very effective, with five settings and just a quick press to flick between them. The light also detects changes in speed and can deploy a brake light, and a flashing light pattern that changes when a car is approaching to increase the chances of you being seen.

It can struggle to pick up motorbikes and vehicles moving at speed, but overall this is a decent light and radar system in one affordable package. 

If it's simplicity you want and you want a good deal, look no further than the Oxford Ultratorch Slimline R50. It's easy to fit, great value and offers decent performance for the money.  

The bracket is a simple rubber wedge that fits to the back of the unit, held on by a rubber band. It won't fit aero seatposts, but for the rest of us it'll work just fine. 50 lumens is quite a lot for a rear light, and plenty to use it as your main rear light. The weight is just 27g, and battery life is from two hours on the highest steady setting up to 23 hours on the lowest pulse mode. 

This simple rear light does the job of making sure you're seen, with ample light output, good mode choices and easy operation. 

Lezyne's Connect light sets have been around a while now, and the 1000XL version is still our top-recommended set that is controllable via an app. 

An app for your lights sounds fiddly but it's rather simple, says our reviewer. You can configure up to four profiles on the lights, and the button on the front light cycles through them on both lights simultaneously. 

The front light has a pretty standard round beam shape, and is powerful enough for unlit paths with up to 1000 lumens of light. The rear is solid and dependable and has decent side visibility. 

Mounting is nice and simple and there's a secure charge port at the rear of the front light and the rear has a USB port built in. If you want a fully customisable light set that will see you through multiple winters, Lezyne's Connect series comes highly recommended.