A guide to Giant and Moov lights. 

This guide gives general information on battery-powered bike lights but focuses on Giant’s products and our in-brand budget-focused company, Moov.  

Lights are both an important, and legally required accessory for your bike when riding at night or in reduced visibility. Whether you buy a cheap or expensive light, a Giant or non-Giant brand, a front and rear light is something every bike rider should have, and we’d even recommend having a spare set in your bag or at work. 

While cell battery, external battery, and dynamo light options exist in the market, all giant and Moov lights are rechargeable by USB cable (supplied). 

Measuring Brightness 

Brightness is measured on a logarithmic scale, using the unit of lumens. This means that while a 1000 lumen light is significantly brighter than a 100 lumen alternative, it is not 10x as bright. 

When considering light choices, any of our staff will tell you, there are two main questions you have to ask yourself: do you want to see or be seen?  

Being Seen 

Those who fall into the ‘being seen’ category are usually commuters who ride on well-lit roads at all times. Even when a road is well-lit, it is important to have lights at night as it provides extra safety by making yourself visible to all road users. Basic light sets such as the Moov Blaze LED Front/Rear Combo can be enough for this task as long as the roads you ride are always well illuminated. However, a safer option might be a combination of a 350 lumen front light with a 100 lumen or Moov rear. We would say this is the optimal combination for mostly well-lit main roads with the ability to safely ride in darker settings as well.  

Seeing 

Those in the ‘seeing’ category are usually those who ride on unlit or very poorly lit roads, trails, and bike paths. While they offer a safe and quiet ride, bike paths in Melbourne are very rarely lit, and with tight corners and narrow paths along with pedestrians and other riders, they can become dangerous at night. In this category, anything from 500 lumens or greater is usually necessary for a front light, and at least 100 lumens for the rear. Where you go from here really depends on what times you are riding, where you are riding, and the condition of the surfaces. For riding on the Yarra boulevard in the morning or early evening, a 500 lumen front light will surface. However, if you ride on a narrow trail such as the Merri creek trail or riding on unpredictable gravel routes, an 800 lumen front light with a 200 lumen rear would be perfect. While these selections cover the majority of riders, there are some who enjoy tackling rough gravel or MTB trails at night, and this is where more heavy-duty options such as the huge 1800 lumen front light are used to flood the terrain as far as you can see.  

It’s also important to remember that two less powerful front lights can sometimes be more effective than one extremely bright one. It’s very common, especially in nighttime trail riding, to mount a light with a wider beam on the bars, and then have a spotlight attached to your helmet that is always pointing where you are looking. While the above configuration isn't recommended for commuters as it can momentarily blind other road users, a flashing light on the helmet, and an always-on light attached to your handlebars can be very effective.  

Other Points to Consider 

While a light may be advertised as a certain brightness, everything above 100 lumens in our range have multiple brightness settings. Most of our staff use a 500-800 lumen light, however, when riding on roads with good visibility lights are often set to duller or flashing settings. This versatility allows you to save battery, and avoid blinding any other road, path, or trail users by not constantly using the brightest setting. 

As you move up in the range, the mounting options become more secure and of higher quality. Moov lights are supplied with a rubber strap, less powerful giant options come with a plate equipped with a rubber strap that the light can slide in and out of, and higher end options come with a plastic strap that uses an Allen key to tighten providing a tight and more theft-resistant fit. Higher end lights also come with certain adaptors such as an action camera adaptor which allows for neat, hassle-free light setups below your bike computer mount. 

While not as expensive as bike theft, light theft is definitely a thing, as removing a light off a bike can be done quickly even if it is securely locked up. For this reason, it’s advised you remove your lights when you lock up your bike out of your sight in public areas.