Trek Commuter Pro RT/Flare RT Light Set

The Trek Commuter Pro RT Flare/RT Light Set is a pairing of two of Trek's best lights. They're very well constructed and the paired connectivity saves faffing, but while the rear is excellent, and the front's 'Kindbeam' anti-dazzle cut-off means it won't blind oncoming traffic, it's let down by a lack of modes, only average battery life, and a tricky-to-press button.

For more options, front and rear, check out our guide to the best bike lights.

The Commuter Pro RT front light has a high quality feel to it, with a very nicely finished aluminium housing and recessed front lens. The cube-shaped rear Flare RT (which comes under Trek's sister brand, Bontrager) is extremely light (I weighed it separately at just 40g, including the mount) and made of plastic but with a rubberised edge.

The Commuter Pro RT is easy to operate: a single press shows the battery level, while a double press turns both it and the rear on, using ANT+/Bluetooth connectivity. Continually pressing the button will cycle through the front light's three modes: 500 lumens, 1,000 lumens, and flashing. (The rear stays in whichever mode you've gone for.) A long press switches off both front and rear. Nifty.

If you're not using the connectivity mode, the rear can be turned on with a single press of the button, and off with a long press, and a quick press to switch through its five modes (Day Flash, 90 lumens; All Day Flash, 45 lumens; Night Flash, 5 lumens; Day Steady, 25 lumens, and Night Steady, 5 lumens).

When both front and rear are turned on and connected, the front shows two strips of five green LEDs, the one on the left showing the battery level of the front, and the one on the right showing the level of the rear. (See pic further down the review.)

Both front and rear remember the last mode they were in, which is handy.

A 15-second press on the Commuter Pro RT button puts it into 'pairing mode' to connect to the rear, with the same method used to break the connection in order to operate them separately.

There are a few more advanced features as well. The front light can also power up other devices, such as a phone, with the light off. Just press the power button and hold for eight seconds, then you can use the light as a powerbank via a USB-C cable.

You can also set the front light to miss out the flashing mode in its sequence of three, so you can just alternate between 500 and 1,000 lumens.

In use

Out on the roads, lanes and cyclepaths of my daily commute, I found the beam and brightness of both front and rear worked really well. I tended to use the 500-lumen mode up front the majority of the time, switching it to flashing for road sections, and only needed the full 1,000-lumen output for a few pitch-black leafy sections to illuminate the sides of paths.

The Kindbeam design of the front lens is really obvious to see, with a cut-off line drawn across the top of the beam. I had no complaints from oncoming cyclists on the busy Bath-Bristol cyclepath, who are pretty vocal if a light is blinding them, so I'm sure it works fine. The sides of the Commuter Pro RT light up orange for extra visibility at roundabouts and junctions.

Usability-wise, I had a couple of issues: the on-off switch on the front light is recessed flush into the main unit, making it quite difficult to feel for in winter gloves. I usually had to try three or four times to successfully change modes, so quite often just dipped a finger across the front of the light if I couldn't dip the beam in time, which kind of defeated the point a little.

Also, it sits fairly far back on its mount, and because of the way the light spreads out from the bottom of the lens, I found it had an extremely bright glare on my centrally mounted Wahoo screen; it's not something I've experienced with other lights I have, which sit further forward on their mounts. I found I had to mount my computer on the other side of the bar to avoid the glare.

Trek does sell a separate mounting and stem system (Blendr) which can hold the Commuter Pro RT underneath a centrally mounted computer, which would avoid this issue, but you'd need a Blendr stem (£59.99-£249.99) and separate mount (£9.99-£29.99) for that.

Mounts

The clamp for the front light is very easy to attach, with no tools needed to fit or remove it; it's just a hand-screwed barrel, quick to adjust and secure. It will only work with round handlebars, though.

The rear Flare RT has a simple rubber strap/hook affair that works well, and can also cope with aero or D-shaped seatposts as it has a couple of 'ladder rungs' for adjustability.

IP ratings

The front is IPX4 rated, meaning it can take very heavy rain, and splashes from any direction. The rear is rated even higher, IPX7, meaning it can be completely submerged for up to 30 minutes.

The rubber bungs protecting the USB ports are a nice tight fit, and I had no issues with water ingress, even when washing the bike with the lights in place.

Battery life & charging

Unfortunately, the front is a little let down by average battery life. I would generally use a mix of all three modes on my 40-minute each way commute, and by the third day it would need a recharge. Given its decently sized 4800mAh battery, I expected it to last longer. I think if it had a few lower powered modes, such as 200 or 300 lumens, you would be able to get a few extra days out of it. I have other lights with considerably less battery capacity but several more modes, and they can last all week.

The Flare RT, on the other hand, would easily last all week, including four-hour weekend rides.

In terms of recharging, I found the front took just under four hours, and the rear about an hour and a half, pretty much in line with Trek's specification.

One quirk that the lights have is the mix of charging cable standards on the set: the front has an up-to-date USB-C socket...

...but the Flare RT is still using the old micro-USB standard.

Luckily the set comes with a small cable of each standard included, but this means more faff or hunting around, especially if you have to charge them at work.

Value

At £189.99 the light set is slightly on the expensive side, compared with buying a front and rear separately.

Dave raved about the feature-packed Ravemen 1200, for example, giving it 9/10 and praising its beam pattern, solid construction and ability to charge other devices. Available at £99.99, this could be paired with something like the Ravemen TR500 rear, which also scored well, and is one of the most powerful rear lights we've ever tested. Together, those would come in at £165.

Or you could pair the rear with the Moon Rigel Pro, at £64.99. It also has anti-dazzle features, and a 1,000-lumen and 350-lumen output, and only weighs 123g. It includes some clever tech to adjust the brightness of each mode as well.

Or, at £110, the highly rated Exposure Sirius Mk10 Daybright that we reviewed last January sports a 900-lumen max mode, but can also run up to 36 hours via tweaking of its outputs. It weighs 85g and can also charge other devices, like the Trek.

Conclusion

This is a high-quality and well-made set of lights with useful connectivity. However, the front has only average battery life, along with a tricky-to-access button and a mounting position that means it reflects off bike computers. On top of that there's the odd mix of USB cables for charging, and the savings that you can make by buying separate but equally powerful lights elsewhere make it hard to fully recommend.

Verdict

High-quality set of lights with neat connectivity, but usability issues with the front and average battery life