Moon Rigel Max light review

SQUIRREL_13119043

The Moon Rigel Max is compact but still offers good illumination and runtimes.

There are two constant modes and toggling between them enables you to lower illumination so you don’t dazzle oncoming traffic.

The light is supplied with a helmet mount, as well as offering bar-top and GoPro under-bar mounting.

Moon Rigel Max specifications and details

For its output, the Rigel Max is a compact bike light, but still manages a claimed runtime of 1hr 30mins at its 1,500-lumen peak output.

It feels well-built, with an all-metal casing, a single control button on its top and a rear USB-C port.

The lens, behind which are two LEDs, is divided into an upper part with horizontal ridges and a lower section with a plain lens – and there are side illumination ports. The six modes are split between two constant and four flashing.

Moon includes a helmet mount with a Velcro strap, as well as a half-turn bar mount. The helmet mount incorporates a GoPro-style mount too, which can be unscrewed and used as an under-bar mount.

The setup provides the widest range of mounting options of the lights I reviewed alongside the Rigel Max.

Moon Rigel Max performance

The Rigel Max’s three mounting options provide a lot of versatility. It’s the lightest and among the most compact on test, despite offering a similar 1,500-lumen peak output and runtime to the other lights I reviewed.

Nevertheless, at 150g, the Rigel Max is quite heavy for helmet use, adding around 50 per cent to the weight of most road bike helmets.

The extra weight can easily be felt, although it's nice to have the helmet-mounting option if you want an extra headlamp to supplement a bar-mounted light when riding off-road.

The two constant modes mean it’s easy to lower the light output to avoid dazzling other road users. The beam pattern remains the same, so it’s not equivalent to a dipped mode – of the lights I tested, only the Magicshine Evo 1700 offers this.

It’s handy to be able to press the switch once to lower output and again to increase it, rather than having to cycle through multiple modes, although this limits the ability to eke out more runtime.

Moon quotes 1hr 30mins and 4hrs 30mins battery life for the two constant modes; on its highest setting, it was the first of six lights to power down in my rundown test, after around 1hr 40mins.

I like that there aren’t too many modes and only two constant options, because it’s easy to get lost between them if there are three or more – or to accidentally plunge yourself into darkness.

Both constant modes have a similar beam pattern, with a pronounced spot, less intense peripheral illumination and a reasonable light spread.

Switch to the flashing menu with a double-tap of the switch, and there are four modes on offer, with claimed runtimes of up to 146 hours – one of which is a dot-dot-dot, dash-dash-dash, dot-dot-dot ‘SOS’ signal.

If you decide to mount the light upside down under the bars, you can slip the plastic front of the lens off and invert it, so that you get the correct illumination pattern either way up.

The LEDs are sealed behind a second lens, which enables the light to achieve a high IPX7 waterproof rating.

Moon Rigel Max bottom line

The Rigel Max provides good illumination in a compact, reasonably lightweight front light.

Moon provides plenty of mounting options, although the light may be a little too heavy for helmet use.

The ability to toggle between high and low-intensity constant output is handy, although since the beam pattern doesn’t change, there’s still the risk of dazzling oncoming road users.

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