Lucas KOTR F500 Sport Front LED Bike Light

Aluminium barrel lights are on a lot of people's wish lists. With comparatively svelte looks and easy fitting systems, as well as ever-improving outputs and battery life, they're becoming the go-to style of light for nearly every road cyclist. One such unit, the Lucas KOTR F500 Sport, is a top quality front light for all-winter riding – Lucas has a product that can mix it with the big boys.

The 'King of the Road' F500 houses a 500-lumen output on its most powerful setting, with two other static settings ('medium' at 250 lumens, 'low' at 100 lumens), as well as a flash setting which operates using that full 500 output. The 500-lumen headline setting impressed me, providing a decent level of light that I found bright enough to light my path, and gave me confidence to ride at speed in the dark.

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More is generally considered better, and with light output (and battery life – covered later in this review) I'd agree, but I do honestly think 500 lumens is enough to use as an effective light source for most cyclists.

I was less impressed with the flash. It flashes fairly steadily – which to my mind isn't the best for immediate visibility. I've always found other cyclists more visible if they have a strobe flash setting on their lights, and suspect the F500 would benefit from having this, even if it was only backed up by the 100-lumen low setting.

The beam range is usefully wide ranging, and manages to provide reflection on road signs a good 50 or 60m down the road, even when the light is pointed predominantly down at the road 10m ahead. It's not quite as effective as Cateye's Volt 800 (review to come), but considering you get 300 fewer lumens from the F500, it isn't half bad.

Battery life is adequately strong for most uses, too. I got a solid two hours out of the most powerful setting without seeing a drop in light output – not bad from a 2400mah battery in my experience, and a full eight when I left it on low continuously. A small LED in the button on top of the unit gives prominent warnings when battery levels begin to fall – a bright blue light signifies good battery level, and a bright red light replaces it when recharging is recommended. I own a number of Lezyne Macro and Hecto Drives with a similar system, and none of them have as clear and bright an indicator as this one – it's excellent.

Recharging time was also impressive, with a full charge being completed in just over four hours. You access the USB port from the back of the device – a simple screw-on cap protects the innards, which are exposed while recharging takes place.

The cap is made of the same aluminium as the barrel, and this gives an air of quality and seals the circuitry away from the elements. Lucas claims the light is 'water resistant', but I got away with a particularly heavy 15-minute downpour without any problems and would trust it on longer rides in the rain.

Fitting is via a clip-in bracket, fastened to the bar by a rubber strap. It's a simple-to-use setup, offering easy adjustment of the beam, and removing the whole bracket is quite easy. Unfortunately it's not so easy when the light is clipped in, if you wanted to remove the whole thing; you have to unclip the light first. When it is clipped in, the light feels very secure, taking a good bit of forcing to slide it forward if needed.

> Check out our guide to the best front lights – and our beam comparison engine

This leads me to the cost – and at an rrp of £70 it's a bit on the expensive side compared with others out there. This is a shame, because I reckon for around £50 (keep your eyes peeled for deals!) we'd be looking at a great value light. Lucas has a long background in light manufacturing, and you'll undoubtedly benefit from its expertise, including a good build quality and some decent features. If you can get one at a reduced price, it's definitely worth a punt as a decent commuter light.

Verdict

A little overpriced, but if you can find it cheaper it would make a decent option for commuting