Winter Lights And Tyres: Top Picks For Darker Nights And Wetter Weather

The latest lights can illuminate the trail ahead with huge brightness and reach, keeping you riding for hours longer, despite the dark nights. We also recommend switching to a set of winter tyres to keep you confident heading into corners so you don’t need to dial down your riding too much when you’re faced with sloppy surfaces. 

 

Here’s our pick of the lights and tyres for autumn-winter 2023. 

 

 

We’re big fans of Exposure, a UK brand making awesome bike lights. Seriously, these kick out massive amounts of brightness and over big distances too. Their lights and batteries are integrated for the smallest and most reliable package, unlike many cycle light brands. 

 

Helmet lights are great for mountain biking and not so good for road biking as they can seriously dazzle oncoming traffic. Their advantage compared to handlebar lights is that their light shines where you are looking. Their compromise is that they tend to be less powerful with smaller batteries as they are mounted on your cycling helmet. Handlebar mounted lights are the opposite, with big light and battery power, but they only illuminate where your bike is pointing and not where you might be going. If you have the budget, it's great to run one of each, which also means you have a back-up in case one of them fails or runs out of power. 

 

This is a helmet light that uses triple LEDs to create a wide beam, combined with Exposure’s TAP technology which allows you to change mode by just tapping the body of the light. Diablo’s latest iteration (mk 14) features an increased 2,000 lumen output which will enable you to hit most trails in the dark. It’s lightweight, with a CNC-engineered aluminium body that’s robust but looks great too. 

 

MaXx D is a big favourite with the team at Big Bear Bikes and a lot of our customers too. It’s a handlebar light with a powerful output that highlights the edge of the trail, without compromising the far-reaching beam. It’s perfect for aggressive riding on singletrack and technical terrain, and senses whether you’re riding hard and fast or taking it steady, automatically adjusting output to light the way further ahead if you’re going fast and dimming at slower speeds to ensure optimal battery use. The mk 15 MaXx D outputs up to 4,600 lumens. 

 

 

Exposure’s e-bike lights are a great idea as Fuse and Flex are wired into your e-bike battery so you don’t need to worry about keeping them charged. And they don’t drain your power like you might think. Outputs differ between manufacturers so we recommend talking to our team about compatibility and how these lights are hooked up to the battery. 

 

Fuse is a light and compact e-bike light that’s perfect for both fast road riding and commuting, with a central mounting position on your handlebars. This includes a wired remote that enables you to switch the light on and off and make easy mode changes. Fuse has good compatibility with the Bosch motors and batteries used by most Trek e-bikes. 

 

Flex features a three-LED light and is aimed at e-mtb riders, with a possible output of up to 3300 lumens in a lightweight and compact unit. This light uses Exposure’s REFLEX ++ technology, which adjusts power according to your riding speed for smarter battery management and is fitted with a wired remote for easy mode changes. Again, Flex has good Bosch compatibility. 

 

 

Switching from a faster rolling summer tyre to a much more grippy winter tyre is one of the best ways to get the most out of your riding in the colder, wetter months. Winter tyres are more knobbly and tend to feature a tougher construction, which results in better puncture protection. We are happy to advise, whatever tyre set-up you’re running, on whatever bike. Here are two of our favourites. 

 

If you need high levels of control in the wettest and muddiest conditions, this is the tyre for you. Shorty is made with a variety of tyre compounds, depending on exactly which one you go for. This could be the stickier MaxxGrip compound which offers great grip but also more rolling resistance or the harder MaxxTerra, which is slightly lighter weight and more pedal efficient. It’s a favourite with World Cup downhill racers and is also a favourite among our team who ride all year round. Highly recommended for the front tyre as it gives you great confidence in steering. 

 

The G-Spike Team Issue is a downhill mountain bike tyre that has been designed to meet the demands of Trek Factory Racing Downhill riders on days where mud tyres are mandatory. It delivers reliable traction in the worst and wettest of conditions, with aggressive tread spikes that are trimmable to suit the day's conditions for the ultimate in confidence and control. Having a slightly heavier compound, which gives more grip but also the pedalling downside, we recommend it for e-bike riders for use in the worst conditions. 

 

Pop in and see us for a chat and to view the range either at Dalby Forest Cycle Hub in Low Dalby or our sister store Big Bear Bikes in Pickering.