Riding a Onewheel is a thrilling experience, but it’s not just for daytime fun. With the right lighting, you can enjoy riding your Onewheel at night and explore new paths and trails. But with so many Onewheel lights available in the market, it can be tough to choose the right one. In this post, we’ll highlight the best Onewheel lights for night riding and how they can enhance your Onewheel trail riding experience.
Benefits of Riding with Onewheel Lights
Riding with Onewheel lights is essential for safety, especially if you love riding at night or in low light conditions. Apart from being cool and adding an aesthetic appeal to your Onewheel, lights can make you more visible to other road users, which can help avoid accidents. When you have good lights installed on your Onewheel, you can easily see any obstacles on the road, making it easier for you to avoid them.
Remember that the Onewheel GT model already comes with a 500-lumen dimmable headlight that is the brightest light on a Onewheel and provides great visibility at night. However, the addition of aftermarket lights can enhance the ride, especially in areas with low light like trails.
Not only does it increase your visibility, but it also helps you to see further down the road, making it easier for you to plan and adjust your riding speed. Riding with Onewheel lights is not only a safety measure, but it also adds to the excitement of your riding experience. Imagine cruising through a dimly lit park or trail with a set of flashy LED lights illuminating your path. It’s an experience that every Onewheel rider should have!
Factors to Consider When Choosing Aftermarket Onewheel Lights
Regardless if you go with a wearable light or a board mounted light, There are really three things to consider: Brightness, Battery Life and Durability (BBD). Brightness is rated in lumens however it doesn’t make much sense in regards to how bright is bright. The bigger the value, the brighter however you should really be relating it to the GT Onewheel which has a 500 lumen headlight on full light. The XR is about a 170 Lumens so keep these in mind when you purchase an aftermarket light.
Battery life should really be over 4 hours but honestly, if it can last 2 hours that will be fine as you will likely need to charge the board by then. This is actyally more important than battery life. Make sure to get lights that are rechargeable. If it takes a USB to recharge them, its just one less think to worry about than to keep buying batteries.
Durability really depends on where you mount the lights. A common place is on the side of the Onewheel rails. A more secure spot is just below the front bumper however this drastically reduces the lighting. Mounting the lights on the side of the rails will give good directional coverage for your ride. If you’re not trick riding, most lights can handle the board rolling over on them.
Types of Onewheel Light
There are five types of lights that you can use for Onewheel trail riding. The first category doesn’t affix to the board however they are the best for directional visibility at night. These are helmet, headlamps and beanie lamps that you can wear that honestly do an excellent job with perspective visibility.
Head Lamps For Night Riders
- 120 Lumens
- Rechargeable
- Up to 4 hours of continual light
- Ideal for cold nights
Head lamp flashlights are better for warmer days. I recommend a rechargeable set like this two pack! Not only do these have IPX4 Water resistance rating but they are 1200 lumens!
- 1200 lumen LED
- Rechargeable
- Up to 10 hours of light
- Perfect for dusk to night trail riding.
Compact Headlights For Onewheels
These lights mount on the front, bumper or on the rails. You can typically buy them as ‘headlights only’ or as head and taillights. The most popular brand within the aftermarket Onewheel light category is ShredLights SL series. ShredLights come in a variety of Lumens (200, 300 & 1000 lumens). *Note: they are advertised with using 2 lights so 2 x 200 = 400 lumens, 2 x 300 = 600 lumens, 2 x 1000 = 2000 lumens (SL200, SL300 and SL1000).
They are on the pricier side however you can typically score some used ones on eBay for far less. If you do not want to screw these into the front bumper, you can use their sticky or magnetic mounts to attach them to the rails. Please note that their magnetic mounts mount to their base. Onewheel rails are aluminum and are not magnetic.
These compact lights work really well however they still remain inferior to a headlamp. ShredLights do have locking mounts however they are plastic and may not last tough tumbles.
If you worry about a tumble, they sell powder coated steel mounts. Go for those for longer lasting mounts.
Underglow Lights For Onewheel
When it comes to underglow lights, I always think about The Fast & The Furious movies and how many cars always were equipped with undercarriage lighting. While underglow lights won’t really help much with your visibility, it will help with others seeing you. Its also another way to personalize your board.
Likely the most premium product within this category is ShredLights SL-FX+. SL-FX has a slew of features:
- Wireless
- Turns on with motion
- Auto on / off
- Mount with the SL series mounting from ShredLights
- USB-C charging capabilities
- IPX7 water resistant rated
- Comes with a One year warranty.
These work with their own app however you are able to change color, pair multiple lights together (up to 12 however the one wheel really only needs 2). Also, because they work on the S-lock mounts, it is easy to move these around to other PEV’s so long as they have the same mount.
A cheaper option is a waterproof RGB LED strip from Amazon. These do not have the
These lights are super thin at only 5mm. These do take AA however you are able to cut these to size. The battery box would need to be mounted along the fender however.
These wont have the same polished look that the SL-FX+ lights have however they are a fraction of the price and can be customized (can be cut to any length). There are 20 color options. 5 brightness options and different speeds or static color options.
Either way you go, this is an awesome way to finish a color scheme you have working on your Onewheel.
Wheel [Tire Cap] Lights For Onewheels
This post would be incomplete without mentioning tire cap lights. These are the most inexpensive lighting accessory you can add to your Onewheel however I am not really a fan of these as the light is only on one side. If you are interested in a tire cap light, you need to be mindful of where your tire stem is as it will be the only side that will light up.
These simply attach to the valve cap. They are waterproof which is nice. They come in a four pack so they will last a long time as you can always swap to the next light after one goes dead. For under $10 it could be worth some fun.
Personal Recommendations
To make added lighting look sleek on your Onewheel, you need to really have them mounted on the underside of the front bumper or rails. This does limit the range of the lighting so its a trade off for looks over functionality.
If you’re not too worried about rolling the board over, then mounting them on the side is ideal. Most aftermarket lights are plastic so they aren’t indestructible but they will improve night lights. The best lighting for night riding Onewheels however are headlamps however if you have a helmet on, you will need a helmet mounted version. No other light will out perform one on your forehead. Its the best directional lighting for Onewheel trail riding hands down.
