TEXT // BBB CYCLING | PHOTO // BBB CYCLING

In a series of blogs, we explain all the ins and outs of our lights. All their unique features and we explain how lights work. We created three different blogs, all about a specific feature of bicycle lights. In this blog, we tell you everything about the batteries of a light.

The battery of your bicycle light is the energy source that feeds your light. It is an integral part of your light that takes up most of the room inside your light. Good quality batteries can bring your lights to a whole new level. In this blog, we will give you some more in-depth information about the batteries that we use in our light to create the best possible experience for you. Keep reading and you will be charged up with knowledge!

As the battery is such an important part of a light, it takes up most of the room inside the light. The shape of the housing is highly influenced by the size and shape of the battery pack. Within our lighting category, we use two types of batteries; cylindric lithium-ion batteries, and lithium-ion polymer batteries. Below, we will explain the two in a bit more detail.

This type of battery has its own solid housing. We use the 18650 cell, which is famous for its use in Tesla cars. The cylindric lithium-ion comes in a standard size and therefore cannot be produced in other shapes or sizes. Although, the standard size makes this type of battery very strong and solid, and therefore provides its own strong housing. This type of battery is available in many different quality levels. We use the ones from the best brands available: Samsung and Panasonic.

This type of battery does not have a housing, they are sealed and packed in small aluminum bags. This makes them compact and lightweight, and easy to produce in different sizes and shapes to fit our light designs.

The lithium-ion polymer can be specifically shaped for the light. They are quite vulnerable and therefore good housing is necessary. The outside housing of the light provides protection against the elements. Damage to the battery can easily cause shortcuts in the battery. The housing of the product has therefore a very important task in keeping the battery safe and secure.

When determining the quality of a light, the quality of the battery (and thus also the lifetime) is one of the major determinants. With normal usage, these batteries won't wear out fast and can be recharged many, many times. The lifetime depends on the way the light is used. When you always have the light turned on in maximum mode it will run out of energy faster. Because therefore the battery needs more amount of energy and thus has to be charged more often. When used with lower power the power is pulled out at a slower pace and thus the battery doesn't need as many recharges. This benefits the lifetime of your battery while using it as well as the overall life of your battery.

Some brands promise maximum capabilities; A huge amount of light in combination with a long lifetime. In real life, it often occurs that these promises won't be kept and the amount of light won't keep up with a long lifetime or the other way around. Every producer of lights has to make a balance between these two variables.

At BBB Cycling we plead for constant Lumen output, this means that we tempt to keep the lumen output the same over time. On the contrary with a high amount of Lumen in the beginning and a big drop over time. We have designed our lights this way to avoid your light slowly dying while riding back home. We rather see you riding with a slightly smaller light beam than with a slowly dying light beam. An example of this can be found in the graph below. A lower amount of lumen from the starting point will get you a more stable output compared to when you start with a maximum output in Lumen that decreases. This will drop very quickly over time.

Besides, most of our lights have a special battery indicator. This indicator tells you when your battery is almost empty and it is time to recharge your light. Don't stress! You will still have plenty of time to ride home safely from the moment that the indicator goes on.

The battery of your light contains all the energy you need to return home safely in the dark. It is such an important part of a light that we have not made any compromises in regards to our batteries. The perfect balance between user-friendliness and maximum capabilities.

After reading this blog you might be interested in reading more blogs in our series about lights.