NiteRider Lumina Micro 850 Headlight: Rider Review

Our "Rider Review" article series features the honest reviews from verified purchasers of Worldwide Cyclery. They contain the photos, thoughts, feedback & overall review you are looking for. 

Not all of us have the opportunity to ride during the day. Work, kids, and life can get in the way. However, with night riding lights like the NiteRider Lumina 850, you can stay out all night with the boys and keep shredding! Our customer Steve decided to pick one up for himself, read on to hear more!

Overview

NiteRider has always been one of the players at the front of the lighting pack. The NiteRider Lumina Micro 850 Headlight packs a powerful lighting punch with excellent run-time and easy control. It has a solid construction, elegant minimalism and comes with IP64 rating - meaning it is only rated against splashing water. The 850 comes with a clamp that is a very stable mount that will not twist under impact. Another option is to mount it atop your helmet.

Why NiteRider?

I am a great fan of the simplicity of the NiteRider lights. The mount, for example, is just one single clamp design, which fits all sizes of handlebars and is fast and secure to attach. The light unit itself is robust, weatherproof, and has just one button that also doubles as a charge level indicator. Bike lights do not need to be super stylish — they need to work; that is the focus that NiteRider has maintained with their mount and unit designs

Performance and Operation

The light is easy to operate, even with gloved fingers. It simply slides on and off the sturdy handlebar mount, which offers lots of lateral adjustment, and a large, accessible button on top doubles as the power/mode button plus battery and charging indicator. It has a sensible number of modes: three steady beams (850, 450 and 200 lumens) plus a very bright flash that is ideal for daylight use to alert drivers to your presence and lasts about 10 hours. A fifth steady 60-lumen mode is advertised as a walking mode and claimed to last 35 hours. The Lumina’s light is crisp, sharp, and the beam spread is the most ideal shape for mounting to a helmet.

The button glows blue when the light is on and turns red to warn you when the battery is low on charge. On full beam it gave a good 10 minutes' warning before changing to a lower setting, staying on for another 15 minutes or so before dying. On low beam, it lasted a good hour on red before switching off.

One thing I like is when you turn off the Lumina, it will remain in whatever group you last used when you turn it back on. It’s a nice feature when taking a short break on the trail.

Charging

Charging the Lumina is by far the easiest process as the charging port is free and clear of obstructions and I found I was more likely to plug it in right after a ride. Simply use the supplied Micro-USB cable to charge at home or work, via your computer or a wall socket plug. The button flashes during charging then goes solid blue when it's charged, and even if you leave it plugged in overnight the 'intellicharge' function prevents overcharging. A very handy feature is the lock mode, so it won't accidentally switch on in your bag. Press and hold the button for 7 seconds to activate and deactivate.

Final Thoughts

The NiteRider isn’t the brightest light, but it comes close enough that its superior beam pattern and user-friendly features give the NiteRider a good case for being a top pick if I had to choose one light to ride with. NiteRider has a long battery life and no-nonsense build quality speaks performance and reliability. Go check it out for yourself.