Even if you only ride in the daytime, you should still ride with lights. According to Trek, 80% of accidents happen during the day, which makes sense since more cyclists are out during daylight hours. But using a daytime running light is reported to lead to 33% fewer collisions, while making cyclists 240% more visible. And if you’re using something like the Trek Ion 100 R and Flare R City combo, you can add a lot of visibility to your ride without much weight or bulk.
What’s New?
For years now, Trek’s diminutive light combo has been one of my go-tos for daytime running lights. They’ve always been super small, lightweight, and impressively visible. While the latest version has gotten a bit larger, the tradeoff is increased run time, faster charging, and better visibility.
Falling into the ‘to be seen’ light category, rather than the more powerful ‘to see with’ category, Trek’s Ion 100 R and Flare R offer 100 and 35 lumens, respectively, at their highest powers. This is said to offer visibility up to 900m away, and they include High, Low, Day Flash, and Night Flash (Flare R only) running modes.
New for the latest version are additional side light windows for increased visibility from the side. It appears that this is one of the main factors in the increased size of the light, at least in the length, as the lens hood sticks out further. Also new is a distinct lens design that helps you more easily discern the front from the rear light. Previously, both front and rear had clear lenses, and you had to look closely to see the bit of red that indicated the Flare as the rear. Now, there’s no confusing the two as it’s clearly red with a red fuel gauge or clear with a green fuel gauge.
Even though the lights are a bit larger, they’re still quite light. The front light is 35g, while the rear has a slightly heavier mounting strap for a 38g total.
Charging
Both lights also have a battery fuel gauge visible from the top of the light. This will tell you how much battery life remains, but also how full the battery is while charging with the new USB-C port. That’s right, the Ion R and Flare R City lights finally have faster USB-C charging, and will completely charge in two hours or less. Combined with improved battery life that offers up to 28% more run time, you can get your lights charged faster, and run them longer between charges.
That’s important since such small lights don’t have room for huge batteries – though Trek managed to increase the battery capacity from 250mAh on the original to 350mAh on the new models. So any improvement helps, and should result in a better chance of the light having enough juice when you go to grab for it. Run time ranges from 4h on high to 24h on low, with 10h of runtime on the popular Day Flash mode.
Mounts
Like other Trek lights, this set is Blendr compatible, which also means they’re compatible with existing Trek mounts if you have them. You can easily pop the light off the included flexible mounting strap and mount it on any other Trek strap or mount.
First Impressions
I’ve been using the new set for a couple of months now, and no surprise, I’m quite happy with them. In spite of the slightly larger footprint, the lights are still among the smallest that I have, and the increased run time plus faster charging makes them easier to live with. The mounting straps have always been easy to use, and that continues here. It’s very easy to quickly install them on a seat post, handlebar, bike bag mount, helmet, etc., making it a cinch to add some visibility to your ride.
As far as I’m concerned, if adding a light to my bike for daytime rides will improve my safety even in the slightest, it’s something I’m going to do. And the Trek City lights make that easier than ever.
Pricing & Availability
The Trek Ion 100 R and Flare R City lights are available now individually for $44.99 each, or as a set for $84.99.
