NiteRider Swift 500 Front Light

The NiteRider Swift 500 is a very good all-in-one light that will happily see you through your well-lit or slower speed winter commutes and rides. It's sturdily made, light, easy to operate and good value. The run-times are slightly below those advertised but otherwise it's a solid purchase.

• Pros: Price, sturdy construction, decent beam
• Cons: Run-times slightly lower than claimed

It's a small step up in power output from the Swift 450 we tested in 2017, though it's very similar in form and function (and to the Swift 350 reviewed back in 2016). The only obvious change between the 500 and 450 is that increase in lumens.

> Find your nearest dealer here

The Swift 500 has five modes. Three are static, activated by pressing the single button down for a second, then pressing the button again to cycle through the three modes (100, 225 and 500 lumens).

The fourth mode is a flashing setting, which you activate by holding the button down for three seconds. One more single click accesses the fifth mode, a low-light setting which runs for a claimed 25 hours at 20lm. To get back to the static modes, you press the button once more.

Battery levels are slightly less than claimed but it still fares well. In the 100lm mode I got around 6.5hrs before it went into battery-help mode (the button LED turns red) and a further 1.5hrs after that. This is an hour less than the claimed run-time of 9 hours.

On the 500lm setting it lasted just shy of the advertised 1.5hrs. These run-times are in the same ballpark as other 500lm lights such as the Lezyne Micro Drive 500XL (review to come) which has a claimed 1hr on the 500lm setting, and the Cateye Sync Core's 2hrs claimed (again, full review to come).

The beam has a good spread (about a road's width) and on the lower static setting is more than bright enough for well-lit town riding. NiteRider also emphasises its use for daylight running when in flash mode (run-time is a claimed 9.5hrs). On the highest static setting it is perfectly adequate for riding along an unlit canal towpath at night. In that setting the beam reaches about 10m ahead, so isn't suited to high-speed riding along country backroads or trails. On unlit roads I felt fine up to about 10-15mph but much faster than that was less comfortable. But it is a £35 light and compares well with the beam from similarly priced rivals such as the Lezyne Micro Drive 500XL mentioned above (£40), though is not as good as the significantly pricier Cateye Sync Core (£89.99).

The Swift 500 didn't make it into our beam test this year, but you can compare the Lezyne and Cateye using the link below – and the Swift 450 is in last year's selection.

> The best 2018 front lights for cycling and beam comparison engine

The rubber mounting strap is really easy to use, even with gloved fingers, and it keeps the light securely in place. It also swivels so you can refine the direction of the beam.

The construction of the light remains the same as the NiteRider Swift 450 and Swift 350 – it's tough, and water-resistant to IP64 standard.

The LED on the button flashes red when charging via the supplied USB cable, and turns blue once fully charged. A very handy feature is that you can lock the on-off button by holding it down for seven seconds – great for preventing that horrible moment you realise it's been on in your bag all day!

Not only is the Swift 500 brighter than the 450, it is also £3 cheaper. It weighs about the same, too – 81g on the road.cc Scales of Truth versus 80g for the 450 – and it's lighter than both the Lezyne (118g) and Cateye (94g) mentioned above.

Verdict

A decent value, well-made light that's good for town riding and lower-speed unlit routes