Cycling at night needs a bright and reliable bike lamp like Cygolite Metro 360 vs 400 to show you the path and surroundings as well as make sure those road users can see you from far away. These bike lamps are working impressively with a very bright lamp and wide illuminating area yet are also very affordable. For those who are also interested to get any of these lamps, go see which the better option is and pick the one that fits your preference the most.
In this article, we are going to give you information about:
- How to Choose Lamp for the Bike
- What are Cygolite Metro 360 and 400
- What Cygolite Metro 360 and 400 Look Like
- How are the Beam Quality of Cygolite Metro 360 and 400
- What Modes Available in Cygolite Metro 360 and 400
- How Are the Battery Life of Cygolite Metro 360 and 400
- Cygolite Metro 360 Vs 400
Shopping for Bike Lamp
Riding a bike is fun, it is more affordable than having a car or motorcycle for they are cheaper and low maintenance, as well as a great way to keep you in shape. It is friendly to our environment and these are why big cities are starting to accommodate cyclist better as we are trying to find a solution for a more efficient public transportation. For those who are in the game, even the lack of sun is not going to hinder you from riding your favorite bike.
With a reliable bike lamp, night street or pedestrian will be visible even when the street road is minimum in the area. Bike lamp is a must have for those who are commuting with their bike or those who are riding at night time as well whether it is just a light road riding or an even more extreme track exploration. While all bike lamps are able to produce light, depending on your needs and riding situation, not all of us would pick the same unit.
- The first thing you may want to consider when purchasing a bike lamp is their placement because a well-lit bike will have several of them installed on. The most important is your front lamp because this is the one that will show you the road path and illuminate the way so it must be the brightest. The rest are for safety and they are going to be helpful to allow other road users noticing the bike while in the dark hence, they are dimmer.
- Next is considering the lamp quality because they will be specified by some factors mainly lumens. This is to measure their brightness and higher lumens is meant for front placement. Beam pattern is the beam width and range so it is hard to compare online but depending on your application, those riding in darker area should pick the lamp with wide and if possible further reaching beam to make sure we can see the road better.
- The last thing is about battery life because depending on the model, some of them are using disposable battery, rechargeable battery, or even removable battery. Their capacity will vary widely among bike lamps and we always want those that can run pretty long depending on how long you ride or if possible, those who are riding for more than 3 hours should get something with a removable or disposable battery to make sure we can always use the lamp.
| Cygolite Metro 360 | Cygolite Metro 400 | |
|---|---|---|
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| Shipping Weight | 8.8 ounces | 12.8 ounces |
| Product Dimensions: | 4 x 1.5 x 1.5 inches | 8 x 4 x 4 inches |
| Best Price | click here | click here |
About Cygolite Metro 360 and 400
For those who want to ride safely at night, now is the time to see what the market has to offer because there are so many of them out there and while all of them are going to illuminate your road, the main performance and overall quality will be different. In addition, depending on which type of lamp as well as the brightness, they will be more expensive as the performance climbs up. In general, those with higher lumens and bigger battery will cost more than our standard dimmer lamp.
However, it doesn’t mean that affordable products are not reliable because brands like Cygolite is here to answer your demand. We are sure many cyclists are familiar with this brand because they are very popular but, the first thing that comes to our mind when talking about this specific manufacturer is their build quality because most of their lamps are very well, rigidly built and last for a very long time. In addition, they also have lots of options to offer both cheaper and higher-end model.
If you are not into off-road riding after work and just using the bike to commute or to spend some time pedaling after work, Cygolite Metro 360 and 400 are the ideal options. Both of them are more into entry-level front lamp with a dimmer light than those highly rated Cygolite Expilion 850 and 800 yet, are also very affordable to get. Even with lower Lumens, these bike lamps are very useful and bright enough in real life riding despite not being the best in the catalogue.
This brand is very well-known to express their product on the model name and as their name suggests, these two are mainly used for road riding, preferably in the city where the road light is present but there are still some areas that need a more proper lighting. They are a lower or cheaper version of Cygolite Metro 500 Vs 550 that we have been compared in previous article so if you have been using those two, the little brothers will not be as bright but will be more affordable.
Cygolite Metro 360 and 400 Design
Just like any other Cygolite bike lamps out there, Cygolite Metro 360 and 400 are very similar or identical to each other because they are from the same line and the only way to set them apart is by checking the sticker since they tap some information there. They weigh like any bike lamps in the same price range around 110 grams and not as big as your palm or about 4 and a half inch when measured.
The build quality is great, they are made from plastic as well as coming with a clasp handle called Locktite tool-free handlebar mount which means they are easy to install and will instantly slip in your handlebar in no time. In the box you will get the lamp and accessories including the USB charging cable. They have no additional battery in the package because it is built-in type.
Cygolite Metro 360 and 400 Beam Quality
Moving further, let’s see how the performance of Cygolite Metro 360 and 400 are because this is what matters the most. We are sure you can already guess the brightness rate of these lamps because they are mentioned on the model name and yes they are 360 and 400 lumens respectively. What’s impressive about these lamps is while they are cheaper, the brightness is not to be taken light of. This is especially true with the higher model because when measured, the lamp is capable of illuminating the road up to 120 meters away.
Metro 360 is also showing a good distance but when compared side by side, it is not very bright hence the left and right side of the road is not properly illuminated especially if the road is wider. They are very strong in beam quality with the beam centered prominently in the middle yet the 360 will not be as bright as the big brother. Compared to for example Metro 550, the beam is too concentrated which may hinder you to see both sides.
Cygolite Metro 360 and 400 Modes
The next part we want to talk about is their features or modes because usually bike lamps have several modes to choose which is great to adjust their performance or actually brightness to the activity or environment. Similar to most Cygolite lamps you will get 6 modes here from Medium which is good if the road is dark or High when there is no road light at all then we have Low, DayLightning and Walking which are all dimmer than the two previous modes. They are good for brighter environment.
The SteadyPulse is going to give you a very bright lamp, probably about the Medium setting yet the pulse system will retain the battery a little bit better and this mode is good to make sure other road users like motorbike riders and drivers notice your bike from afar.
Cygolite Metro 360 and 400 Battery Life
Last but not least is their battery life and this is very important to consider because not all of us will ride about the same distance and time. If there is one thing we dislike about Cygolite Metro 360 and 400 is their battery. Not because they are short but because they are built-in the unit so when the juice is dried, we can’t have any option to swap or replace the battery. On average we are very satisfied about the beam distance which stay bright until hitting one and half an hour.
Cygolite Metro 360 vs 400
Both of them are a good option for a road rider who want to keep pedaling their bike even after the sun goes down. Comparably they are equally good for the price but also different because Metro 400 is noticeably brighter especially how it illuminates the left and side areas better. Battery life is the same in both lamps along with the available modes and build quality.
Conclusion
All in all we should pick the one that matches our preference and activity the most but between the two, we do like Metro 400 because it is brighter and performs just as good in battery life, moreover their price difference is very narrow.