The earliest bicycle lights were actually the lamps which were run by the fuel called acetylene gas. The same lamps were used in motor cars as well. These lamps were run by the medium calcium of carbide, which is no more in use nowadays, but the cavers do make use of it even now. The light provided by these car lamps, run by acetylene gas, was very bright and thus these lamps proved to be effective bicycle lights. Although these lamps were good at providing a bright bicycle light but they needed continuous maintenance, which made these lamps far from being hassle free. Due to the hassle of these acetylene gas lamps, the battery powered lights were welcomed in 1890’s and were adopted readily by the people, as these new battery powered bicycle lights did not need continuous maintenance and thus helped people in saving their time and effort.

The early battery lamps which were used as bicycle lights were actually run by the led acid battery. Later these lamps used as bicycle lights were replaced by an improved version of the battery. This improved version of battery was the self contained dry cells. These self contained dry cells were more beneficial than the led acid batteries, because they were smaller and were much more reliable. During the same period, a new kind of bicycle lights was developed. These bicycle lights were named as the dynamos. Dynamos are the bicycle lights that make use of the energy, which is created by the movement of the bicycle. Dynamos became popular and much more practical at that period of time, because the storage density of batteries was not too much. Dynamos proved to be much more practicable during that period of time. Not every part of the world had laws regarding the compulsion of having bicycle lights. In UK the cyclists group actually went against the law of bicycles having the rear lights. This was because; they thought that this law will reduce the significance of the motorist’s obligation to stop when they would see a bicycle within a clear distance.

Replaceable cell batteries did not stay much in demand, after the invention of the alkaline batteries which were then used to power the bicycle lights. These alkaline batteries had this great advantage of having much more storage density. At the same time, the molding techniques also started improving and the plastic molding also got refined. This resulted in a better lens optics, which made the use of light output much more efficient than it was before that time. The 1980’s was the period when the lighting market moved towards globalization. Many brands present in different parts of the world gradually disappeared from the scene, and the American, Japanese and German products became popular all over the world.

Many advances have been made in the bicycle light industry recently. The dynamos have become extremely efficient. High output Halogen lamps have also gotten improved storage density, in rechargeable batteries. In addition, more efficient bicycle lights have also emerged through the high output light emitting diodes and high intensity discharge lights.