Thanks for this. I just wanted to mention that in 2016, I was lit up like a Christmas tree and still managed to get hit from behind in a hit & run. Out of commission for 9 months, when getting back in the saddle, I placed less emphasis on my illumination, and more emphasis on my route selection...
Sorry to hear that. Yes - cars can still hit you regardless of how many lights and reflective gear you wear. It's really important to ride defensively and just assume everyone is out to get you. Avoiding busy roads and intersections is a good way to reduce risk but you can never be 100% safe.
Something else about the Flare RT Rear light. You'll notice there's a thread at the back of the mount, you can pop the mount out of it's rubber holder and that smaller mount can be bolted directly to your rear bike rack. That's one of the reasons why I bought it. It's extremely secure. I really like this rear light.
I noticed the thread, but didn't realize what it was for. Thanks for sharing, that's a cool feature I haven't seen before. The Flare RT definitely has a lot of nice details to it.
@@TheSweetCyclists I just did this before I found the comment here about it. I popped it out and found a small bolt that went into it and put it very high up under my feet (way higher than if it was on my seat post under my bag). Now the light is ABOVE my bag which is where it should be to see better.
BONTRAGER Ion 200 lumen. Purchased on tues just passed. They were out of the Blendr computer bracket. Have 2 wait untill early April. If ur a serious road cyclist then in my opinion its the Best Lite out there. Super Tiny, real lite weight. 200 lumens. Trek u made this Specialized guy super happy. Thx
Enjoy the light! Trek/Bontrager have done a great job with their lights. Don't forget to sync the lights with your Garmin/Bontrager computer if you have one to take advantage of the battery status and auto on/off features as well.
@@TheSweetCyclists Have Element Bolt Computer. Not sure u can pair it with the opposition? 2ndly me & this technology aren't best friends. We r freminies 😀😀😭😤😤 in some ways l am glad l couldn't puchase the Fabric Lumaray V2. 200 lumens vrs 90-100 lumens is a no-brainer. However if Bontrager or another manufacturer copied the Lumaray V2 & upped the Lumens l would consider that option. Still waiting on the Splendr computer bracket. Should arrive early April
Thanks for the tips. Ihave been using them for almost a year and i noticed the Bluetooth connectivity so i got curious and landed on your video. Great work.
A very good review, thanks. I understand these are more "be seen" than "see with" lights, but it still would've been useful to see the performance of the front light on an unlit (or even badly lit) road or path.
Unfortunately our GoPro doesn't really work well in low-light conditions so a 200 lumen light would barely show up. The 200 lumen front light is okay for slow speeds in the dark, but we wouldn't recommend it for anything more than that. A 500 lumen or brighter light would be far brighter and safer for faster rides.
I've just paired my Flare RT with my Edge 830 & am having a lot more luck than with my Edge 820! It's easy to swipe down on the display to control the output & battery level can also be easily seen. Previously, the damn thing was being switched off during a ride. The settings look to be pretty dependant on what these lights are paired with when it comes to remote control. Some of the settings appear to still be a little obscure but it's now usable.
That's good to hear. We haven't tried it with the Edge but it doesn't seem like the computers do much more than battery status and on/off. Hopefully future versions will let you do more customization and adjustments via a computer.
@@TheSweetCyclists - There are both light battery status & light setting status IQ fields that can be d/l'd as well a Lighting Network Widget that's supported on my Edge 830. Things get a little more complicated when you add a 2nd rear light such as a Garmin Radar rather than a rear & front light. Both my Moon Meteor front lights have battery status LEDs but knowing if my rear light is on is crucial - have been beeped by passing motorists when my light has gone off!
Great review. Lights are great but couldn't figure out what I did to lockout the cycling of the different types. I'm subscribing to your channel for more insights and details on different products.
There is only one button on each light, it's just a short press to cycle through them. It sounds like you might be in "lockout" mode that would prevent you from changing modes. TO unlock hold the power button for 8 seconds and the light should turn off and flash.
No, the included rubber strap is probably too short for that. It doesn't seem like Trek offers a longer aero seatpost mount option. You could try other taillights like Magicshine Seemee series which do come with longer seatpost mounts.
ION RT 200 LUMENS FRONT LITE. 4 anybike especially a road racing bike absolutely sensational. Real pleased with my purchase. I used the Blendr fitting 4 fit up under my Wahoo Computer. Dont have the rear Flare. Like a lite with more Lumens. I have 270 on my Tarmac.
The headlight is definitely a "be-seen" style light. If you're on dark roads I'd recommend a 500+ lumen light which will give you more runtime and output to ride safely. Something like the Trek Commuter Pro RT or Magicshine Allty lights are good options.
mine can't be mount to my handlebar due to the stock mounting doesnt fit. is there any solution for this? my bike is cannondale caad13 with round dropbar (not aero)
You could try Bontrager's Blendr mount options like the stem mount - www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/equipment/bike-accessories/bike-lights/bike-light-accessories/bontrager-blendr-high-ion-light-mount/p/22251/. That's one downside of the Bontrager front light, unlike the Magicshine lights that are GoPro adapter you need special adapters.
@@TheSweetCyclists hey thanks for responding! i already asked my local bontrager distributor and they said the blendr mount won't compatible for other stem than bontrager ones. i saw a product called bontrager hard mount ion light bracket but i dunno wether it will also fit
Yes, you would need the Bontrager stem as well. That's one of the downsides to these proprietary mount designs. I don't think Bontrager sells a GoPro adapter, but it seems like there are some custom 3D printed options (www.shapeways.com/product/9AZXUC3GA/bontrager-ion-gopro-style-adapter-2-styles).
Trek offers a Blendr saddle mount - www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/equipment/bike-accessories/bike-lights/bike-light-accessories/bontrager-blendr-saddle-accessory-mount/p/24663/. Note that's only compatible with some saddles. I'm not aware of more general saddle rail mount option for the lights.
No, it's just a "be seen" style light. It's not bright enough to be used by itself. I'd recommend 400 lumen + for night time riding. If you're in a urban environment with a lot of lights you can get away with lower power lights but if you ride on unlit roads a 1000+ lumen light is better.
To my knowledge the Flare RT does not have a "brake sensor" function - only the ambient light sensor. There are a variety of lights on the market that have that such as the Magicshine Seemee / Kryptonite that do, but it's generally hit-or-miss. Potholes or rough roads can trigger the sensors and it leads to reduce battery runtimes if the sensor is always being triggered.
@@TheSweetCyclists thnx. I managed to find one comment that said that it works. Flare RT gets brighter and it flashes more quickly. Yet another comment stated that it doesn't work. So I need to test it myself at dark.
I haven't but something else you should keep in mind too is to wear nta helmets like xnito or bern hudson while riding, cpsc helmets don't really protect you
I’ve got a Madone SL6. Do I need to buy a separate mount for this bike to attach the flare rear RT or do you use the mount it comes with? Apparently it fits under the Madone seat post but don’t know what mount to buy, if I need to at all?
I think you are referring to the 'Blendr' mount (www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/equipment/bike-accessories/bike-lights/bike-light-accessories/bontrager-blendr-saddle-accessory-mount/p/24663/?colorCode=black). If you Madone has it already you're all set - otherwise it's pretty cheap to buy if you want a saddle mount or use the seat post mount the light comes with.
The Sweet Cyclists ok great thanks for the reply. Think I’ll just buy one of those ‘Blendr’ mounts then. The Madone SLR did come with a bag of plastic attachments but that particular fitting doesn’t appear to be in there. Thanks again 👍
Thank you for this video, helped me tremendously on picking the product up. I do have a question, the owner manual states that ambient light feature is enabled from the factory. Your review states that it’s disabled from the factory. Do you know how I can tell? I tried going from dark place to bright but nothing changed after enabling/disabling the feature, but the light output doesn’t seem to change. Thanks.
Good question. It's pretty confusing as there is no display. It sounds like you might have an older model, the current manual says the auto-brightness feature is disabled from the factory. The easiest way to tell if you have the auto-brightness enabled is to see how many manual modes you can click through. With the feature ON you should only be able to cycle through 3 modes: day flash / all-day flash and constant. Otherwise you should see 5 modes (day flash / all-day flash / night flash / day constant / night constant) - the two constant modes are easy to visually see. When you have the feature enabled taking the light to a dark area should trigger a change within ~10 seconds. To enable the mode, turn the light OFF then hold the power button for 8 seconds until you see the flash. Here is the current manual - trek.scene7.com/is/content/TrekBicycleProducts/Asset%20Library/documents/Manuals/pdf/BT20%5F%5FMANUAL%5FIonProRT%5F200RT%5FFlareRT%5FwithWarning%5F572345%5F3%5FUSEN.pdf.
I'm not sure about that. The Bontrager 300 is an older product and doesn't seem to list light pairing in the manual. The computer seems pretty similar to the current RIDEtime Elite which does pair with this though.
expensive but the best i have the olf versus since 4 year flare r but battery is now 50 % so i bought seemee 200 great light but not powerfulls as flare rt so i juste but flare rt red . seemee i keep ot for brack alert and smart flash ths for your video
No problem, glad the review was useful. The Magicshine Seemee 200 is definitely more affordable than the Bontrager, but as you mentioned the beam isn't as focused. Linking the Bontrager lights + compatible computer is a really nice feature that justifies the higher price for us, as the lights automatically turn on/off without you having to press any buttons.
Yes, I've actually had the same issue. The light goes green instantly but then when I unplug it the battery is low again. You could reach out to Bontrager/Trek customer support, they might have a solution or could send a replacement. I've found that wiggling it or plugging it back in eventually does the trick so I haven't reached out to them myself.
@@TheSweetCyclists yess! Same! It goes green straight away.. but when I turn it on and check, the battery indicator still is red. I will try and do that! Thanks ✊🏽 otherwise I’m happy with how bright the light is.
@@CosmicMidnightBlue Interesting. The workaround for me has been to keep some tension on the USB charging cable, otherwise it would stop charging within ~30 seconds and stay in a low battery state.
We'll keep that in mind for future products. Those models should be quite similar to what is shown in this review except for the Bluetooth connectivity and lower output though. Trek / Bontrager usually just removes features from the lower cost variations but uses the same housing and lenses.
As far as I know, there is no cell phone application for the light controls. Only compatible Garmin computers, Bontrager Elite computer and the Bontrager Transmitr devices currently. Personally, I'm a little weary about cellphone apps for light controls. Unless you know they'll keep updating the app they'll probably become obsolete in a few years.
Do you know of any lights (from other brands) that would work with that mount system aside from the bontrager R and RT series? These seem quite expensive....
Note sure I understand the question. Do you already have the Bontrager lights and need a replacement mount for them? If so Bontrager can probably get you one for cheap. Otherwise, if you are looking for a more affordable light checkout our various bike light reviews - personally I'd recommend the Magicshine Seemee 200/180 taillights and the Topeak Headlux 450 headlight or Light and Motion Vya headlights for similar features.
@@tandago7281 Ah - sorry about the confusion. I really doubt that the light mounts will work with other lights. It's one of the things I often point out with light reviews - these slot style mounts are proprietary and not meant to be interchangeable. I'd recommend looking at Magicshine front headlights if you want something more compatible - as they use a Garmin compatible mount that works on with a lot of mounts on the market.
@@TheSweetCyclists thanks for your reply! The reason i asked was that I have a bontrager helmet with a mount on the back, but I found the lights a bit expensive. Do you think the Magicshine lights might work with the helmet?
@@tandago7281 I see now. Yea, you can definitely get more affordable lights that can mount to helmets. If you're looking for a headlight the Topeak Headlux 450 is great for helmet mounting. Taillight wise the Magicshine Seemee lights all use simple rubber straps you should be able to put on your helmet.
If you have a compatible Garmin or Bontrager computer (like the RIDEtime Elite we reviewed), you should be able to sync to the RT lights. I don't believe there is a stand-alone cellphone app to control the lights.
The Bontrager RIDEtime Elite is a cheaper computer we've reviewed that controls the lights. Otherwise most Garmin computers can monitor/control the lights (see apps.garmin.com/en-US/apps/ef431dbd-f403-487c-85d5-685447dc393b).
@@TheSweetCyclists I am not able to get the ride time elite computer to pair with the lights, I followed the instruction manual. It doesn't detect them, do you have any tips on how to pair them? I have tried with the lights on and off and had no luck. Thanks
Yes - just tried it and the light is works as normal while the charging light blinks. You'll need to be creative with the battery pack mounting though if you want to ride with them while charging.
Good news, we already have - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-XDcSsHg2gTY.html! Pairing it with the Flare R makes it the almost perfect headlight / taillight combo with one-button control.
They work great at night. Both the taillight and headlight are visible from pretty far distances. Note, the headlight isn't that bright though and more of a 'be seen' light. I'd recommend using it has a daytime riding light or in addition to a 500+ lumen headlight if you ride on dark trails.
That's what I initially thought, but there are transparent windows on the sides of both the lights that give it decent side visibility. You can see it at 03:34.
The Flare and ION have translucent windows on the sides that help with the side visibility when they are on. As far as aero bars, I think the only option you'd have is Bontrager's Blendr mount options.
I have the same lights with my 530...I really don’t see the point of pairing with my Garmin...is a waste of battery...the lights battery indicator is for dumb people...each light has a led with 3 different colors...is imposible not to see
It's nice to have a battery display at one location for multiple devices that gives you more information than very low / low / good status. I think the biggest advantage of pairing the lights is that you get the auto on/off feature. That means you can just start riding and both the front and rear light automatically turn on.
@@TheSweetCyclists that's what i'm looking for. i do want to "waste battery" on a passive connection. all my devices sleep and wait, for months. ANT can sleep for years, that's its purpose. but not all devices listen to Garmin, e.g. Magene radars don't follow Garmin turn on/off. glad that this one can turn on after main device turns on.
@@happyhusband312 Note, you may want to checkout the new Trek Commuter Pro RT light we reviewed. It actually connects the headlight to the Flare RT and gives you one-button control.
Cycling is a slippery slope - you can easily spend thousands on accessories. The Bontrager lights aren't the best value on the market - but they have unique connected features. If your looking for something more affordable I'd recommend looking at our reviews of Planet Bike and Magicshine lights.
After my second Garmin Edge 520 died unexpectedly I decided to try something different - the Wahoo ELEMNT Bolt instead of the Garmin 530. Boy! I'm glad I did. ru-vid.comUgkxXZCtB-wGdHVTBSz8RswePK5vllHNi06N The display on the Wahoo Bolt is much easier to read. I like the configuration of the display more (up to 7 items visible on page 1 without scrolling and the first item chosen is larger characters than the next 3 rows that have pairs of items (still very readable). I also like the configurable item selections. The Bolt synced with my Garmin ANT+ Speed sensors on both bikes easily so no additional investment was required there. While the rated battery life is a couple hours less than the Garmin 520/530, I easily get a weeks worth of 1+ hour rides before recharging (and it's never really low on charge). At the end of a ride syncing to the Wahoo app, Strava, and Apple Health app is painless.
