The NiteRider Lumina Max 2500 is a new bar-mounted light with the lamp and battery all self-contained – it’s lighter, easier to fit, and with the optional NiteLink Wireless Remote (available separately for £50), it is also super quick to adjust on the fly, making it one of the best mountain bike lights we’ve tested. 

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With its high-tech resin and aluminium construction, the Lumina Max 2500 is pretty sturdy and it also attaches via NiteRider’s traditional bar clamp. This expands to accommodate different diameters. The two buttons on the top of the light have a nice positive click and are also backlit to show the mode selected. Above that is a handy fuel gauge. 

Like most modern lights, the Lumina Max 2500 has two distinct modes that you access at startup. There’s a set of flashing options, but the default modes are low, medium, high and boost. Toggling between them is quick, but you can speed it up further by using the NiteLink Wireless Remote. This has a toggle lever that lets you change modes without having to move your hand from the grip. 

On the trail, the Lumina Max 2500’s beam pattern has a definite central halo, but it’s an intense shaft of light and lets you see quite far down the trail. The light has a crisp blue tone for picking out detail, but the narrower focus means it does need some extra fill-in for technical trails. The light also fluttered quite a bit while riding over rough ground, which we think is caused by play between the lamp and the mount.

With the remote, it’s also dead easy to shut the light down to reduce power on the climbs. Useful as battery management is essential because the runtime on boost is only about 30 minutes. On high beam (1,800 lumens), you’ll get around 90 minutes, but that’s still not long. 

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