Autumn is here and with it, cooler temps and shorter days. But that’s no excuse to cut short your after-work training rides or stop commuting to work on two wheels. Just bundle up and get a decent lighting system. For clothing, we’ve had a few good ideas. Good lighting has always been a little more difficult to track down. Given the importance of seeing and being seen on a bike in town, you want bright. Very bright. The problem is, most high-lumen lights are heavy and very expensive. And then there’s the “be seen” part. You have to clip a blinky red tail light to your seat post or messenger bag and hope that it’s visible and doesn’t fall off. Now Light & Motion has released an affordable and effective lighting system that couldn’t be simpler to use.
The Vis360 ($169) gives you not only a powerful 110 lumen white headlamp with integrated amber side lamps but wires it to a bright red tail light. It all mounts to your helmet, where it’s high up for visibility – yours and the texting/eating/singing/distracted drivers’ who are hell-bent on running you down. With the amber side lighting, the Vis360 solves one problem plaguing other lighting systems – side visibility. Now you’re seen coming, going and passing.
The Vis360 is very lightweight – you won’t even notice it’s on your helmet – and attaches via two base mounts that you strap through your helmet vents. The lights are then removable for your daytime sojourns. The headlamp and tail light are connected via a small coiled cable that stretches across the top of the helmet.
Battery life is good – you get two hours of burn time on the highest setting but we found that the medium setting is more than adequate for all but the darkest streets. A battery status indicator lets you know when it’s time to plug it in. Oh and here’s the cool part: the Vis360 is charged via a micro-USB cable, the same size as most cell phones use. Charge it from your laptop while at the office and be ready for the commute home. Genius.
The last thing to love about the Vis360 is that it’s designed and built right in Monterey, California by a bunch of cyclists. So though they might not know as much about those cool autumn temps, it still gets dark in California.
Buy now: $169