Light and Motion

Urban 550 Commuter Rechargeable Headlight

It's a terrific light for commuting at night in the typical lighting found on many streets in Silicon Valley. It's plenty bright, even when riding at 20 mph. I like the compactness of the design and the no-fuss mounting mechanism. I think it's the best light for the "commuter" category. I even take it camping with me because it's small and light enough to fit into a pocket and offers plenty of light for walking in the dark even on low settings. I would get a different light for riding at high speed on dirt trails in pitch-black condition as this light is not designed for that purpose.

I use this light to ride my road bike through suburbs out into the country. I was initially concerned about the limited run time. However, I found the medium setting to be fine for areas that have a few street lights and house lights. The high setting comes into its own on really dark country roads. By mixing the two settings, I don't worry the battery dying before I get home. The side lights are a mixed blessing. Unobstructed, they dramatically improve visibility to the side--great for cars coming from driveways or side streets. But with hands on the hoods, they mostly illuminate my wrists. This is especially distracting on dark country roads. A final note: The product description is incorrect. There is no race mode. You need to cycle through all four settings to get from high to medium.

This is the first headlight I have ever used on one of my bicycles. I bought this primarily for the strobe effect warning light when traveling in high traffic areas. I also want to do some rides with long tunnels. That said, this light seems really nice. It's well made. One warning to all users of this sort of light. It does emit EMI and causes erratic behavior with bicycle "computers". Maintain about 7" of separation and all is fine.