Moon Meteor Storm Lite

The Moon Meteor Storm Lite is a sturdy torch-style light that offers excellent output from its two Cree LEDs, good battery life and a raft of modes at a decent price. Bright enough for night rides on pitch black roads, there's a lot to recommend it.

• Pros: High output, decent battery life, included extras
• Cons: Helmet mount and remote switch may need modification

In Moon's large range of bike lights, the Storm Lite slots in at the bottom of the Storm range, offering only slightly lower outputs than the top two but no fewer features.

> Find your nearest dealer here

Inside the packaging you'll find the light itself, a handlebar mount, helmet mount, remote switch and a USB charging cable – pretty much everything you need for most riding types, on or off road.

The light unit is somewhat wider than most torch-style units because of the two LEDs sitting side by side, in an all-aluminium casing that also acts as the heatsink. There is one button on top to switch on, off and between the 11 modes, along with an LED display panel that shows both battery level and mode setting.

The handlebar mount is pretty standard: a hinged two-piece plastic clamp that tightens with a finger-operated screw – no tools required. It's designed as standard to fit an oversize bar, with rubber inserts supplied to pack it out and fit smaller diameters. The light slides on and clicks into place, with a button on the side of the mount to release it.

The included helmet mount is a simple plate with the same mount as the handlebar version, which can be angled up or down, and secured with a Velcro strap.

There is also a remote button that plugs into the USB port on the underside of the light and mounts to the bar to give an alternative to using the button on the light.

The clamp is simple to fit, as expected, and nice and tight. The light is a bit stiff to click into place at first, though it did wear in a bit, and when on, the head swivels 360 degrees so you can place it and adjust its position as you please.

The remote button plugs in underneath and is attached with a Velcro strap. Its lead is 35cm long, which is more than enough for a road bike and should be sufficient for most mountain bike bars too. However, I did find that even when done up as tight as possible the button would slide around the bar, the small rubber pad not enough to keep it in place. I fixed this by using a cable tie in place of the strap.

I also tested the helmet mount; I don't normally ride with a light on my lid, and this certainly didn't convince me otherwise. The flat plate didn't sit too well on my helmet, and the Velcro strap that you have to feed through the vents never felt too secure. The extra weight also felt odd to me, but if you use a helmet light more regularly you might find it perfectly acceptable.

A la modes

To operate, the Storm took a bit of learning. With many lights you simply switch them on and cycle through the modes. With the Storm you switch it on it and can cycle through five modes, but to switch between steady and flashing you have to hold the power button down for two seconds. To do this it passes through the 'off' setting (a one-second hold), which means you really need to be somewhere lit or stationary if you want to swap on the move.

The modes themselves have something for just about all situations, with the maximum 800-lumen setting enough for dark roads and lanes, and the varying flashing modes ideal for low light or day use. One of the five flashing modes is an emergency pattern, signalling SOS in morse code.

As mentioned, the remote button replicates the button on the light, and although I was initially sceptical, having it on the bar tops by my thumb did prove useful for changes – especially the boost mode, giving both LEDs at full power, 1,100 lumens, which required a quick double-press to switch on and off again.

Run-times and charging

Run-times were spot on as advertised, and pretty good too for the size of the light. Running boost mode permanently will kill the battery in an hour, but the modes I used the most, 600-lumen steady and day flash, gave 2 hours and up to 65 hours respectively, more than enough for the riding I do at this time of year. With mixed use I got three days or so from the light before it needed a charge, with that handy LED panel showing the battery level in 20% increments.

Charging is via micro-USB, which is useful as no end of products use this standard. In my house at least there were plenty of places to plug in without needing the supplied cable. It takes around six hours from flat to a full charge. Another feature commonly found now is that the battery packs are removable, meaning they can be replaced at the end of their life to give longevity to the main unit.

> Buyer's Guide: The best 2017/2018 front lights for cycling

Other similar spec options include the Lezyne Macro Drive 1100XL – this is also a twin-LED light with a 1,100-lumen boost, has six modes and similar run-times but only a bar mount and retails for £16 less; it's a viable option if you don’t need (or want) the extra accessories (we'll have a full review soon). Another one to consider is the Ravemen PR900, 100 lumens higher than the Moon’s 800-lumen high mode but missing the boost up to 1100, which retails at £84.99, the same as the Moon.

Overall, the Moon Meteor Lite offers a load of usable modes with run-times to suit most situations. With the included extras it works well on road and off, further enhancing the value of what is a very good option for £85.

Verdict

Twin LED power and a host of extras in the box make for a well-priced and high-performing product