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.

Two Cree XM-L U2 LEDs push out 900 lumens onto the trail. The beam pattern provides a good pool of light with a bright centre spot and good peripheral spread. We found it best, but not limited to, helmet mounting, in combination with a more powerful bar mounted light. Reach is adequate if you’re using it on its own.

That’s it; small, light and engineered with typical German attention to detail. We like it.

This is the lightest and smallest light we’ve tested, at just 55g for the compact twin LED lamp unit. Complete system weight is 300g. The light and the handlebar and helmet mounts are CNC-machined aluminium with a shot-peened and hard-anodised finish. This gives the light a very solid and durable feel.

The handlebar mount uses a very slim offset clamp that places the light over the centre of the bars and uses a quick-release lever for easy removal. It’s a very stable clamp and even over rough ground it stays firmly in place.

Even better still is to use the supplied helmet mount. A small cradle is fixed to both sides of the light unit with two Allen bolts and velcro holds it in place. It’s a very easy to use design and provides a secure attachment. You can fix it right at the front of the helmet and it’s so light you don’t notice it at all. The extension cable makes it easy to carry the battery in your hydration pack or jersey pocket.

Angle is easily adjustable in the helmet mount

The Piko is available with a choice of two batteries. We tested the larger 5.6 Ah which gives an impressive 3.20 hour run time on the brightest mode. Switch down to the middle 560 lumen setting and you get close to 6 hours. This is a good battery life if you have any plans to so some 24-hour team racing events next summer. The Smartcore battery has an incorporated battery fuel gauge which displays the remaining run time in 10% steps.

The Piko 6 allows programmable light output. The factory default is three levels of brightness, but you can change to two and four modes or three step modes with a flash setting. The small rubber power button proved a little tricky to press with thick winter gloves, requiring a good firm press.

Lupine’s battery has a handy built-in fuel gauge

From the moment we pulled the Piko 6 out of the box and handled the CNC-machined parts and the smart battery design, we knew we had a very well designed product in our hands. In use the Piko 6 offers an exceptional run time combined with a very good beam pattern and a solid clamp.

Verdict

All things considered, the Lupine Piko 6 easily justifies the price tag. It’s extremely well designed and is solidly dependable.

Pros

Tiny and lightweight lamp unit
Smart battery
Run time
Solid hardware
Build quality
Beam pattern

Cons

Expensive

More information: Lupine Piko 6
Price: £289.99

What Lupine say:

“Our Piko rules with its concentrated light power of 900 lumens and its compact size smaller than a matchbox and a weight of only 55 grams. The ratio of weight and performance in the Piko is unrivalled throughout the world. Whether as a helmet or head lamp – our Piko is the perfect lamp for biking, jogging, trail running, geo-caching, alpine touring, rescue missions, fishing & boating and much more. It isn’t difficult to build a 900 lumen light, what makes it hard, is to make it so small and lightweight you can’t even feel it on your helmet.

Piko 6 comes with a 5.6 Ah Smartcore battery and was developed as the world’s best headlight but we would not be Lupine if we did not offer an optional nice quick-release handlebar mount as well.”

The Olympia 1700 has three Cree XM-L LEDs housed inside a very smartly designed aluminium lamp unit. It’s a very compact and lightweight design. It uses a curved bracket with a rubber band securing it to handlebars and offers a useful range of rotational adjustment. We’ve criticised lights with similar brackets but the Gemini manages to be more stable out on the trail, though we’d still like to see the bracket improved.

Gemini Lights Olympia 1700

You also get the choice of a helmet mount and, with the light weighing so little (just 78g), we’d almost consider just running it on the helmet on its own. That goes against traditional wisdom that dictates you have your most powerful light on the bars and a smaller helmet mounted light for seeing around corners. The Olympia on the helmet is good enough on its own, or it can make a seriously impressive partner to a handlebar mounted light.

The Gemini is proof that a well designed lens and reflector is as important to a light as how many lumens it kicks out. The beam is excellent for fast trail riding, with enough throw to make really fast riding a joy; consistent spread of light out to the perimeter gives it a broadness for negotiating slower technical trails littered with roots and ruts. We never found the beam lacking.

three Cree XM-L LEDs produce 1700 lumens

A really neat trick offered by the Olympia is programmable beam brightness modes. By default you get high, medium and low, plus a flashing mode accessed with a press and hold of the power button. If you want to increase the brightness of the medium mode, for example, you simply press and hold the button for three seconds, and then increase the brightness in 10% rises. You can always reset to factory settings by holding the button for 10 seconds. In reality we found the default modes just fine.

With the 4-cell 5200 mah battery, which is contained within a tough fabric bag strapped to the top tube with a single strip of velcro, you can expect a burn time of a little over 2 hours on the brightest mode. They also offer a 6 cell 8400 mah battery pack which should extend that figure to over 3.5 hours. The power button acts as a fuel gauge, changing colour to indicate the health of the battery.

Smart and compact lamp unit. The light in the back changes colour as you use the battery power.

Gemini say the light unit is IP65 weatherproof (IP is the Ingress Rating and rates a product for the degree of protection against water) which means it’ll stand up to ‘low pressure water jets from any direction’. In real world terms that means it is weatherproof and in practise it stood up to one particularly heavy downpour. Short of dunking it in a stream, it should cope with a manky British winter just fine.

(Note: We tested the Olympia 1700 but it appears from the website the light has been upgraded to 1800 lumens.)

Verdict

A very nicely designed light that works well on the trail. We like the programmable brightness.

Pros

Compact
Light
Good beam pattern, nice balance of broadness and reach

Cons

The bracket isn’t as secure as we’d like still

Price: £189.99 (we found it cheaper shopping around)
More information: Gemini Lights

What Gemini says:

“Our most powerful light yet. The Gemini Olympia LED Light System throws a massive 1700 lumens of light via 3 x CREE XM-L U2 LED Emitters. Completely user customizable with three mode settings, set your brightness from 10-100% and save it.

The OLYMPIA LED Light System is bundled with a bar / helmet / head belt mount, so the possibilities are endless. Take your Gemini Light with you to go night fishing, skiing, long-boarding, trail-shredding.. anywhere you like.”