Belt up, Boris! Bicycle lights you won't forget

Say what you like about London Mayor Boris Johnson, but there is little doubt he is a dyed-in-the-wool cyclist - as vulnerable to the curse of the flat battery as the rest of us.

Johnson was exposed as having ridden without a rear light by a cab driver, who called the mayor during Ask Boris, his weekly phone-in show on London radio station LBC.

Mr Johnson agreed he was ‘bang to rights’ and promised to replace his light's flat battery the following day.

The cabbie told the mayor: "I passed you last night in Newgate Street. You need a light on the back of your bike."

Mr Johnson replied: "I've got to 'fess up to that. A battery was temporarily pegged out on my back light and I'm going to have to put my hands up to that. I had a front light that was working. I was cycling without a functioning rear light…I can tell you it's all hands on deck trying to get a battery into that back light today."

The advent of low-energy, battery-powered LED lights has resulted in better illumination and autonomy, but it is all too easy to find yourself caught out with a dimly-lit, or completely dead, light as a battery nears the end of its life. Time was, almost every bicycle had a dynamo set and such lights are still available in their most basic from less than £8 on eBay.

In the Netherlands, many cyclists would no sooner attach torches to their cars than ride a bike without a good-quality dynamo. Such contemporary dynamos are not cheap, but they offer high-powered LED lighting, reserve power for when the bike is at a standstill and do away entirely with the need to buy batteries.

Belt up, Boris

The alternative to carrying a spare set of batteries is to wear a back-up light and doubles as something else - like a belt.

https://youtu.be/QwpctegnxNc

The £24.99 Aura belt cost is made from nylon webbing with a flexible LED and fibre optic lighting system embedded within. The belt can be set to emit a constant glow, slow pulse or a strobing flash.

The Aura is a powerful supplement to conventional bike lights because it offers 360-degree illumination.

Win an Aura belt

To be in with a chance of winning an Aura belt, simply leave a comment at the bottom of this page. We will pick a winner at random on Friday 22 November 2013. Please be sure to enter a valid a email address when you leave your comment.

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