Complaints about blinding glare are increasingly common as bike lights get brighter and brighter. Getting 1000 lumens directly to the face is never fun, and yet most bike lights on the market today have circular beams which direct as much of the light towards oncoming people as they do towards the road. Not only is this a safety hazard and inconsiderate towards other road users, it's also a waste of light... if you weren't shining half your light into the trees and other people's eyes, your light wouldn't use as much power.

Enter the Busch & Müller Ixon series. B&M is a leader in dynamo lighting, and their dynamo lights are widely recognized for having expertly crafted lenses which focus the light on the road and only on the road. Their battery-powered solutions aren't as well known, and were previously all bulky and rather unsightly products. The new Ixon Core series changes that. The series was recently refreshed with the addition of the Ixon Core Flash, a sleek, modern, rechargeable headlight which is as nice to look at as it is to see with.

Way back in 2012 when I did my first bike taillight roundup, I picked up a Cygolite Hotshot after somebody suggested I check it out. It was one of the first all-in-one USB-rechargeable taillights to become available, and handily won the title of "best taillight" in comparison to the now-archaic AAA-powered lights which dominated the market at the time. Fast-forward four years and while the original Hotshot is still much-loved by cyclists, the age of its internal electronics was starting to show. The new Hotshot series launched last fall keeps everything we know and love from the original Hotshot while boosting performance and adding new features.

This review is of the Hotshot Pro 80, but the nearly-identical Hotshot 100 is now available, as well as the Hotshot 150 with a slightly modified design.

Cygolite's Metro series is widely recognized as a leader in affordable and high-quality commuting headlights. I first reviewed the Metro 300 back in 2011, and have been a fan of the lights ever since. Five years later, the Metro looks identical from the outside – same shape, size, and weight – but Cygolite is pushing the technology inside to perform at new levels. The Metro 750 puts out up to 750 lumens, has different flash options optimized for daytime and nighttime, and is the company's first commuter headlight to implement their "enhanced cycling optics" for a smoother and better shaped beam. If you've used and enjoyed previous Metro lights and are looking for an upgrade, you'll like the Metro 750. If you're looking for more info, read on to get the full story.

Beam Output and Flash Patterns

The Metro 750 is the first (and currently only) light in the series to have what Cygolite calls its "enhanced cycling optics". It's a fancy name for a simple solution: adding a diffusing lens to the beam. Most lights have a symmetrical circular beam, meaning as much light gets shined into the sky as onto the ground. A diffusing beam widens and flattens the beam shape, making it more rectangular instead of circular. This uses the LED's output more efficiently, lighting up a wider path and reducing glare into the eyes of oncoming people.

Rapidly-improving LED technology has brought us brighter bike lights, and lithium batteries have brought us easy charging, but the #1 complaint I hear from people considering a new bike light is the inability to replace the batteries in modern rechargeable lights. Most of these lights are a sealed package, much like smartphones which aren't designed to be opened up. Whether the battery runs out during a long ride or just can't keep a charge after years of use, there are legitimate concerns over the practicality and environmental impact of single-piece rechargeable lights.

Enter Fenix. Best known as a cost-effective high-performance flashlight company, they've been gradually increasing their array of bike light options over the past few years. I reviewed the BC30 this fall, their first single-piece bike light with user-accessible standard-sized 18650 lithium batteries. The BC30 had a few shortcomings though: the batteries must be removed to be charged, both batteries and a charger must be purchased separately from the light, and it's a pricey light once you add in all those extra purchases. It's also overkill for most riders — at 1200 lumens and with two batteries, it's more appropriate for hardcore trail riding than urban commuting.

The Volt 100 and 200 are Cateye's low-cost entry-level headlights, primarily designed for safety visibility rather than lighting up a dark path. Cateye sent me a Volt 100 to test this fall, as the Volt 200 wasn't available yet at the time. Although its output is much lower than the many high-powered headlights which are quickly approaching car headlight outputs, the Volt 100 is a good option for riders on a budget who primarily ride on lit urban streets, or weight-conscious road bikers looking for a light-weight backup for long rides that stretch into the evening.

Although advertised as putting out 100 lumens, the Volt 100 was actually measured at 160 lumens on high by MTBR. My own runtime testing shows that the output is reasonably well regulated, with the light remaining above 80% of its initial output through the first hour, maintaining 75% after the claimed 2 hour battery life, and finally dropping into flashing mode after 2:25 hours. The internal lithium battery is easily recharged by a micro USB port which supports fast chargers.

Cateye's Rapid series offers a variety of lights designed for safety visibility, including their full taillight lineup. The Rapid X2, which we reviewed in October, is the high end option, offering a 50 lm output and six flash patterns. The Rapid Mini is a new product targeting the low-cost and light-weight market. It weighs just 22g, vs. 31g for the Rapid X2. It sports a 3 hour battery life in constant mode at 15 lumens, and lasts up to 30 hours in flashing mode.

While many of the taillights being released these days are designed for daylight visibility and more extended runtimes, the Rapid Mini is really only useful for nighttime riding. I would be hesitant to use it as my only light while riding on high-speed streets with lots of motorized traffic, but if you're mostly riding on slower streets and don't want to break the bank, it'll do the job.