Ravemen TR500 rear light review

The Ravemen TR500 rear light is a lumen powerhouse when its most powerful flashing mode is engaged, making it perfect for daylight visibility.

Many may consider this too much strobing grunt, but the good news is that the 500-lumen output is used sparingly, while the other modes are far more socially acceptable.

It’s a shame the bracket lacks seatpost angle compensation, although the sheer power partially makes up for this, while it’s also quite large. Nevertheless, it performs very well.

Ravemen TR500 rear light details and specifications

The Ravemen TR500, on paper, is the most powerful rear bike light we’ve ever tested, punching out 500 lumens as part of its ‘warning flash’ (or day flash) mode.

The rest of the modes are far less retina-burning, though. There are three static modes (100, 50 and 20-lumen outputs) and two other flash modes, which each produce 100 lumens.

Claimed battery life is as short as 4 hours 30 minutes for the high static mode and up to 21 for the faster of the two flash modes. The warning flash mode is claimed to last for 18 hours before giving out.

This assumes the TR500’s braking function is switched off, after which burn times become far less predictable, and depends on the kind of riding you do.

When switched on, this braking function enables the light to up its output to a static 200 lumens whenever the internal accelerometer detects deceleration. This works in whichever mode you have the light.

This also automatically activates an auto-off function, which is said to kick in after two minutes of no activity.

The TR500 body has a USB-C charge port, a single function button and carries three LEDs, the middle of which is covered by a more focused lens.

It comes with two rubber bracket mounts, each of which is designed to fit on round and D-shape, or aero seatposts. None feature a wedge of any description, so the slacker your seatpost angle, the further toward the ground it points.

The light fixes to the bike via a ladder strap. Two are supplied in the box, also to enable optimum fitting to different-depth seatposts.

The Ravemen TR500 costs £64.99 / $59.95, which is at the higher end of what anyone could expect to pay for a rear bike light.

Ravemen TR500 rear light performance

The Ravemen TR500 is a relatively big unit, but clean and efficient in design, and puts out power to match.

If the 100-lumen static and flash modes, with focus lenses that magnify the LEDs beneath them, are very bright, then the 500-lumen day flash mode is akin to the Death Star zapping a planet from existence.

It’s ludicrously bright, to the point where in testing, I found myself becoming concerned that it was unnecessarily distracting for drivers following me.

Standing behind the light at 50 metres, in fading daylight, I was forced to conclude that if I were a driver following it, I’d want to be clear of it as quickly as possible. With the best of intentions, this isn’t the feeling we want to impart on fellow road users.

The saving grace is the bracket points the light down (at the angle of the seatpost) – it doesn’t compensate. That said, on balance, I’d prefer to have this compensated for, to make more of the 100-lumen modes.

During full-sunshine daylight, it remains incredibly bright, but is balanced somewhat by the ambient light. Still, in testing, I was very careful to only use the mode when it was sunny, preferring to drop down to the lower-powered flash modes in overcast conditions.

Although I didn’t encounter fog on the days I rode with the Ravemen TR500, I suspect the day flash mode would be handy then too.

The other modes on offer don’t overcomplicate things – there’s enough choice without leaving redundant settings.

The 200-lumen brake function proved useful. Although it renders battery life a little unpredictable, I found it activated when it was supposed to, and was able to distinguish between most rough roads and a braking event.

This isn’t always the case in my experience – the Magicshine SeeMee 300, part of the same test cohort, seemed overly sensitive to road vibrations.

Of course, a big jolt from a pothole is enough to set off the TR500, but I can forgive it for this.

The auto-off function, which is tied to braking being active, is also useful, if nothing else other than to save battery if you accidentally leave it on.

It’s quite sensitive, reactivating the light at the smallest movement, but I left it alone on a fairly breezy day and never saw the light inadvertently switch on from my café vantage point.

In order to remove the TR500 from the bike, it’s best to take the whole unit away, bracket and all. You can twist the light unit from the rubber seatpost mould, but getting it on and off is a little vague. I found it difficult to locate when dark.

From a full charge on the 100-lumen static setting, I saw 4 hours 56 minutes of life to complete discharge. It’s worth noting, though, that the final 45 minutes or so were in a dimmer ‘eco’ mode.

Ravemen TR500 rear light bottom line

On paper, the Ravemen TR500 is the most powerful rear light I’ve ever tested – and the most powerful we've seen at BikeRadar.

Although care must be taken when using that most powerful 500-lumen mode, the Ravemen TR500 is otherwise a very good light. The brake function works well, should you want to use it, as does the auto-off function.

Size and lack of seatpost angle compensation aside, the Ravemen TR500 deserves its place on any list of the best rear bike lights.