Back in 1997, Lumicycle shook up the bike light market with the introduction of its simple, effective halogen lights that matched the performance of the various US imports around at the time but were lots cheaper. Times move on, though, and with the advent of high-power LED technology other brands have moved to the fore. But now Lumicycle is fighting back.

Just announced is the LEDSystem4, packing four Cree XRE-R2 emitters and custom driver circuitry into a robust anodised aluminium head. Lumicycle claims 1,120 lumen total output, with a choice of 6° spot or 13° flood beam patterns.

The LEDSystem4 has five settings (including flash), with a cunning up/down toggle switching system that avoids having to go via "low" if you want to change from "high" to "medium". In traditional Lumicycle style, batteries are separate, with a choice of compact 2.6Ah or long-lasting 5.2Ah packs. Claimed run times with the 2.6Ah are 2.2 hours in the brightest "Smart Boost" mode, 3.6 in the 800 lumen High mode, 9 in the 400 lumen Low mode (and that's still a fair amount of light) and 31 in the be-seen Commute mode. You can roughly double those numbers for the bigger battery.

With a choice of two lamp units and two battery capacities (with the added options of having the bigger battery in a bag or a bottle and a choice of single or twin leads on all batteries), there's an impressive array of LEDSystem4 options. If you've already got batteries (it'll run off anything between 12 and 16.8V, just make sure the plug's the right way round), Lumicycle will sell you just the lamp unit for £239.99. Full systems start at £329.99 including a 2.6Ah battery and 3 hour fast charger, with other off-the-peg options including a setup with two small batteries or - if 1,120 lumens isn't enough for you - a twin-headlamp spot/flood monster with a total output of 2,240 for 2.2hours. That one's £599.99, or £629.99 if you'd like it with two small batteries rather than one big one, plus a helmet mounting kit.

If all that sounds a bit enthusiastic, Lumicycle also has the LEDSystem3 using three of the same LED emitters. Everything else is the same, you just get 25% lower output and the concomitant 25% longer runtime. It's also somewhat cheaper, with full systems starting at £249.99.

Full details at www.lumicycle.com.