The Best Lights for Mountain Bike Racing

Light & Motion Seca 700 Race

Light & Motion's Seca 700 Race headlight features a reported 700 lumens of power to lead the way for night racers and features a lithium-ion battery that gives 3.5 hours of light per charge. Calling it "one of the best LED lighting systems we've sampled to date," BikeRadar's James Huang praised the Seca 700 Race for its beam pattern as well as its brightness, stating that its "its unique beam shape provides a much more complete 'big picture' view of things " than other lights provide.

Princeton Tec Switchback 1

Princeton Tec's Switchback 1 is said to be "inspired by the race scene," and the minimalist functionality of this light certainly lives up to that standard. Weighing only 436 grams, the Switchback 1 provides 10 hours of light on its single Maxbright LED. In a Gear of the Day review, Bicycling.com's reviewer called the Switchback 1 "another example of the growing might of LED-based lighting systems," praising it as "compact and light, featuring one, three-watt LED" as well as its ability to "produce quite a bit of light."

Exposure Race Maxx

For racers who want simplicity, Exposure's Race Maxx is the ideal headlight. With the integrated battery, there are no cables to deal with, and once the bracket is applied to the bike, putting on and removing the light is a snap. At 214 grams, the lightweight Race Maxx manages to pump out 480 Lumens of light for up to 24 hours. Calling it "a high quality light aimed squarely at the serious 24-hour racer," BikeRadar's reviewer lauded the Race Maxx's 2 LED lights, which produce a "beam that's sufficiently powerful, with an even tone and excellent breadth" to give riders a wide peripheral view of the trail that they're riding on.