I have been racing mountain bikes for a number of years, and I recently completed my first snow bike race the Fat Pursuit 60K in Island Park, Idaho on 12/8/2016. The temperature was a brutal -20° Fahrenheit at the start, with a warming trend during the day all the way up to a high of -5° throughout the day. With the winter daylight only lasting 7 to 8 hours I needed a spare light just in case, plus the race required us to have a light on at all times for safety. I didn’t want to break the bank so I opted for the Shark 500 from Cycle Torch, at $39.98 this light wound up being a steal. Not only did it come with multiple mounting options and a tail light, I was able to put switch the settings for longer battery life. This light has most of the features that other higher priced light do including four different working modes:
- High – 500 Lumens – 1.5 Hours
- Medium – 250 Lumens – 3 Hours
- Low – 50 Lumens – 15 Hours
- Flash – 30+ hours
Usually, I would not recommend a 500-lumens light for off road use but in the snow on low this light worked just fine. Typically the negative temperatures would have wreaked havoc on the battery life of a light. At one point as the sun was going down I considered using my backup light (the Shark had been strobing for almost 12 hours), but I decided to stick with the Shark and charge it with my portable battery pack while I was riding. Charging was very easy to do with the USB cord, and the light lasted another three hours. At this price point I definitely plan on purchasing a few more Sharks just to have extra lights. I also heard a rumor that Cycletorch is working on an 1000 Lumen light, this would be great for my next 100 mile Fat Bike adventure.
Pros:
- Price
- Size
- Good construction
- Able to charge light and use it with an external batterie pack
Cons:
- Not quite bright enough for MTB racing (without snow to reflect)