Who likes riding at night time?! If you’re the type who eschews Zwifting the indoor trainer for months on end, and the end of daylight savings time is a time to rejoice, you might be the type of rider who continues racking up the miles/kms after night fall during the cool winter months. At least that’s what I do, but I reside in sunny northern Florida for much of year; zero snow laying about and a nice break from the oppressive heat of a humid summer! Thus, good lights are important, and like everything else over the past ten to 15 years, electronics have improved. Gone are the days of halogen, HID lights and mega bottle cage battery packs. There was a time when I used to build my own LED lights for cheap, but that is no longer a fiscally sound proposition.
These improvements in technology have seen plenty of integrated light and battery solutions hit the market, but some are better than others. Ravemen, not a household name, but whose product I have ridden and reviewed in the past, have a neat and compact solution that features the “world’s first bike light with high beam and low beam, a simulation of an automobile’s headlight design”.
“Combined with all advanced optical and electronic technology, the Ravemen PR1600 is your best choice for trail riding, road cycling and commuting.” That’s a pretty broad and sweeping statement, but the dual-LED configuration with a reflector and lens in the same housing means Ravemen has tweaked the beam(s) to provide a good all-round balance.
Ravemen PR1600 Features & Specs
Pictured above is the Ravemen PR1600 model, which as the package and name indicate, has a potential 1,600 lumens available at one’s fingertips.
As stated earlier, Ravemen has tweaked the beam pattern, intended to provide effective coverage with one or both beams firing.
Unboxed, the Ravemen PR1600 is a small package as indicated by my hand and diminutive, optional wireless remote. The light housing feels solid and well-made with a claimed weight of 220 grams including the built-in battery. The housing is of aluminium construction, hard anodized, and a durable plastic material elsewhere. The buttons on top of the unit don’t feel cheap and are simple to operate.
Above, the PR1600 came in five grams less than advertised, always a nice bonus.
Pictured above are the package contents which include:
- Ravemen PR1600 light body
- Wireless remote control and included CR2032 coin cell battery
- Handlebar mount
- USB C-type connector
On the scale with everything ready to roll (the wireless remote is optional), you’re looking at 249 grams for the Ravemen PR1600 system.
Above, underside of the PR1600 light body and its bike mount interface.
Above is the PR1600’s dual beam configuration with a reflector and lens, with light provided by 2 x Cree XM-L2 LED’s. In my experience, Cree has been the market leader for LED technology. The lens-filtered LED is designed to be the “low beam”, perfect for road / commuting and intended to keep the projected glare down, whilst the reflected lens is “high beam”, designed to be far reaching and suited better to off-road… or gravel roads in my case.
At the rear of the PR1600’s body are two ports, well protected by weatherproof rubber flaps.
The left-side port can be used to charge one’s phone or other device, whilst the right-side port is for charging or extending the light’s run-time with an external battery. I love the extended run-time feature (no special proprietary battery required). Inside the housing resides a 6,000mAh Li-Ion 3.7V rechargeable battery.
Above, the diminutive wireless remote, powered by the supplied CR2032 cell battery. This little treasure straps to one’s handlebar in just a second or two. Its operational range is under a metre.
Above, light body attached to the supplied mount and wireless remote strapped to the handlebar, ready to roll. The light’s mount uses an M4 bolt (3mm allen key) to affix to the bar and is compatible with 31.8mm and 35mm handlebars. The Garmin 830 in the photo give you another perspective of size. Before you ask, “why aren’t you running the Garmin on an out-front mount?” Well, the light emitted from the PR1600 would blind the Garmin’s screen.
Above, hand included for size reference. The remote is purposely mounted upside down, my personal preference. You can power on/off the light, switch brightness levels and run single or dual beams.
Alternatively, the buttons on top of the PR1600 accomplish the same task as the wireless remote and they glow in the dark. Handy!
Above, how the PR1600 looks in charge mode. The LED window features a hypnotic, animated pattern to keep you amused as you wait.
The LEDs on the top of the light body display approximate remaining run time, recalculated anytime you switch between light levels / modes. This is a super handy feature and mostly eliminates run-time anxiety… the icons below the run time indicator are the light’s modes, “road biking” mode, aka the right side single low beam LED, and “mountain biking” mode, aka both LED’s.
Once the PR1600 has been powered on by pressing the Power on/off button (the larger of the two) for 1.5 seconds, switching between light modes is accomplished by pressing the “Menu” button, the smaller of the two. The Power on/off button also serves to switch between running one LED or two LED’s. With that comes another set of light modes you switch between.
Pictured above are the various modes and brightness levels available from the PR1600. As a more detailed FYI, “road biking” denotes a single LED in use (the lens filtered LED) and “mountain biking”, is both LED’s in use. Rapid Flashing is good for commuting or daytime running). I did not test the Emergency mode.
Beam Shots and Run Time
Single-LED Mode aka “road biking”
Above, the PR1600 single LED aka “road biking” mode, High – 800 lumens. I have no way of determining if those lumen counts are accurate, but the cool white of the Cree XM-L2 combined with the “low beam” lens provides plenty of up-close detail. I really like this broad, even distribution of light.
Above, single LED aka “road biking” mode, Mid – 400 lumens.
Above, single LED aka “road biking” mode, Low – 200 lumens.
Above, single LED aka “road biking” mode, Eco – 100 lumens, best saved for trail-side repairs, flat fixes and so on.
Dual-LED Mode aka “mountain biking”
Above, the PR1600 dual LED aka “mountain biking” mode, High – 1,600 lumens. This mode throws a ton of light near and far, with an excellent spread. To be honest, this mode was overkill on gravel roads unless I was hauling arse on a hill / descent.
Above, the PR1600 dual LED aka “mountain biking” mode, Mid – 800 lumens. This was my go to level for playing around on gravel roads at night time. Plenty of light, plenty of detail near and far, and a run time of two hours. As my rides generally last 2.5 to three hours, I conserved battery by running in dual LED mode, Low (see below) on pavement sections between gravel sectors.
Above, the PR1600 dual LED aka “mountain biking” mode, Low – 400 lumens. This mode served me well for transitory sections of pavement between gravel sectors, and bike errands around town.
Run times were a little shorter than advertised. I ran High and Mid on the dual LED mode until the battery was depleted, with the light running out of battery about 10 minutes shorter than advertised. But as I alluded to earlier, switching between modes and having the option of an external battery to draw upon, I had no fears of running out of light.
Conclusion
The Ravemen PR1600 is a really nice bicycle light. The remaining battery run-time feature is superb, the light body is well made, it sheds heat well and is compact and lightweight. I love the beam pattern emitted by this light, which has now become my go to light for road and gravel cycling. Run-time is excellent considering how much light is emitted across the landscape, and the option to plug in any USB external battery is awesome. The wireless remote is a really nice touch, but not something I used all of the time. Regardless, it allowed me to keep my hands firmly planted on the handlebars during spirited evening gravel rides.
Priced at about $125.00 USD depending on where you look, the Raveman PR1600 is a great deal, especially when you consider the functionality of the wireless remote, multiple light modes, and high quality construction. An optional GoPro type mount to sling the PR1600 below one’s handlebars is also available. I love this light.
Article by Gravel Cyclist. Jayson O’Mahoney is the Gravel Cyclist: A website about the Gravel Cycling Experience.
