To keep the costs down the Destroyer uses a simpler single LED (rather than the Pacifier’s four Cree XPG R5 LEDs) and as a result the light doesn’t have the punch to throw far enough down the trail for fast riding, but we were surprised at just how well it coped. The beam pattern is similarly consistent from the centre to the outer edges, with a smooth fall-off. No nasty halos, rings or dark spots evident.

Adventure Nitelights 1200 Destroyer. At £129 it’s an affordable package and performs even better than we expected.

A single button operates the light. It also acts as a fuel gauge indicator, changing colour to warn you when battery charge is getting low. There are three modes: high; medium; and flashing. The high beam gives a good 3 hours from the 5000 mAh Li Ion battery pack, and can be extended to nearly 8 hours on the medium 600 lumen mode. Recharge time for the battery is a very rapid 4 hours. That flash mode means the light can double up for commuting duties for those of us who also cycle to work on a daily basis.

A single LED projects 1200 lumens in a surprisingly useable beam pattern

The light unit is lightweight but it’s not very compact, we’d prefer to see a smaller unit given the single LED specification. It’s winter-ready, sealed from the elements with an IP65 rating so it can withstand torrential rain and jet washers. The curved clamp fixes to the handlebars with a rubber band, which isn’t the most secure clamp. However it’s light enough to be used as a helmet light with the supplied helmet mount, and there’s an extension cable included for storing the battery in your hydration pack.

Verdict

Not quite as punchy as its more powerful bigger brother but still offers a very usable spread of light, good burn time and construction. The price makes it worthy of consideration.

Pros

Light
Good beam
Battery life

Cons

Rubber band mount
Lacks reach

Price: £129
More information: Adventure Nitelights

The on/off button also indicates battery level by changing colour as the charge drops.

What Nitelights say:

This is the light to get excited about. We have utilised the latest LED Diode technology to offer 1200* Scorching Lumens! If you haven’t seen one of these in action then prepare to be blown away! The Destroyer blows our tried and trusted Illuminator to the weeds, the difference is like night and day. Using our 5000 mAh Li Ion batteries, run time is impressive for such a powerful light*. Full, half and strobe functions. Each Pack comes with Head, Battery Pack, Helmet and bar mounts, 230V charger and Extension lead.

There are a heck of a lot of lights out there but this tidy little 550 lumen unit from Sweden offers a few features we’ve not seen elsewhere.

The teensy Silva Pavé lamp unit with two LEDs and a big switch that Silva claims is easy to use while wearing gloves.

For starters, the lamp unit itself is titchy – just 4.5 x 3cm – so it won’t take up much room on your handlebar and it’s not much extra weight as a helmet light. There are two LEDs in the aluminium housing, powered by a 2.5Amp-hour, 7.4V lithium-ion battery and putting out a claimed 550 Lumens at full power.

The battery lives in a neoprene housing that Velcros to your bike or stem, or can be stashed in a backpack if you’re using the Pave as a helmet light.

The Silva Pavé box contents – plus there’s a helmet mount that we, er, forgot to shoot.

There are four modes: maximum, minimum, wide, and blink (if you really must annoy the hell out of everyone else on the road). Claimed run times range from 2.5 hours in max, to 20 in blink. Max and min run both LEDs, while wide mode just powers up one of them at the same light output as ‘min’.

After switch on, cycling through the modes just gives you max, min and wide, so you’re never plunged into darkness. You have to make an effort to use the blink mode, so hopefully most people will never find it.

What’s particularly nice about the Pavé is how easily it can be switched between helmet and bar mount. It’s not quite bright enough to be your main off-road light, but it’s plenty powerful enough for commuting, and looks to pack enough oomph to fill in the gaps if you use it as a helmet light. You could therefore use it to and from work, then switch it up to your lid for a proper ride.

The two LEDS point in slightly different directions, so the wide beam lights up the ground in front of you while spot points further down the trail. That’s the only criticism we can think of on paper: you might want to be able to use the spot on its own, for, say, picking out tree-dwelling wildlife.

We’ll be back with an update when we’ve put some trail time in.

The Silva Pavé lamp and battery pack.

More info: Silva Pavé
Weight: lamp & bar mount, 46g; lamp, bar mount, battery and extension cable, 211g
Price: £169.99