Rear bike lights are arguably the most important lights to have on your bike. Regardless if it is day or night, a rear light greatly increases your chances of being seen and not hit by a passing car. Many people feel that lights only need to be used at night, but daytime running lights can be just as effective in making your ride safer. When it comes to sharing the road with 4,000 lb. cars, you can never be too safe.

Unlike a front light, a rear light doesn’t have to illuminate the ground beneath it. It only needs to create enough light to distract drivers, alerting them of your presence. Therefore, you might notice that front lights usually have a higher lumen rating than rear lights. This doesn’t mean that rear lights are not as safe as front lights. The two lights just serve two slightly different purposes.

Rear lights usually come with multiple flash and solid settings. Flash settings are great because they use up less battery life and are more distracting than a solid beam of light. Irregular flash patterns also exist to make your presence even more known. A continuous flash can sometimes be muted out, but an irregular flash is nearly impossible not to notice. An irregular flash at the highest lumen rating is going to be the most visible and safest setting you can have on your bike.

USB charging has become the main way to charge rear lights. Several small cheap battery-powered lights still exist but they have a very low lumen rating. Low lumen lights may not be as visible as expensive high lumen lights, but they are still much better than only using a reflector or nothing at all.

If you have any questions about rear bike lights, hop on a call or a chat with one of our expert Gear Advisors today at 888-880-3811. They are always happy to help you with any questions you may have.