Full On Lighting: The Canadian company that’s changing night riding forever
Canada's night riding scene just got a whole lot brighter (peripherally speaking anyway)
Night riding is one of those things that’s either magical or miserable. When it’s good, the darkness transforms your usual trails into something new and thrilling. When it’s bad, you’re hurtling through shadows with a glorified flashlight strapped to your helmet, hoping not to miss a turn—or a drop. And if you’ve been riding long enough, you’ve probably had your fair share of bad experiences with bike lights. Dim beams, spotty coverage, dead batteries at the worst possible moment. Sound familiar?
Sean Bourquin thought so too. And as the founder of Full On Lighting, a new Canadian company, he’s on a mission to make sure night riding feels as natural as riding in daylight.
From solar power to singletrack
Bourquin isn’t new to lighting. Before Full On, he spent 14 years running a solar-powered lighting company that supplied NASA, the U.S. military and over a thousand cities across North America. But when he sold that business in early 2023, he found himself wondering what was next. As a lifelong cyclist and former bike shop employee, the answer was obvious: he wanted to build a better bike light.
“I’ve always loved riding, but night riding frustrated me,” Bourquin says. “You lose your depth perception. You get tunnel vision. You can’t ride the way you do during the day. And I knew we could solve that problem.”
What’s wrong with bike lights?
If you’ve been night riding at all, you’ve probably come to accept a few things as normal. You need one light on your bars and another on your helmet. More lumens always means better visibility, right? And yeah, that cable connecting your light to your battery? That’s going to break and you’ll have to replace it eventually.
Bourquin and his team at Full On set out to challenge all of that.
“Most bike lights are just glorified flashlights,” he explains. “They throw a bright spot of light in front of you, but they don’t illuminate your entire field of vision. That creates a harsh contrast between what’s lit and what isn’t. Which strains your eyes.”
Instead, Full On’s optics mimic natural daylight vision. The light spreads evenly across your entire field of view, eliminating that “hot spot” effect and making it easier to track terrain changes without your eyes constantly adjusting.
More than just lumens
While most brands compete over raw lumen numbers, Full On is focused on what actually makes for better vision.
“We know a lot about how the human eye works—how it processes motion, how it detects changes in terrain,” Bourquin says. “A brighter light doesn’t necessarily mean better vision. It’s about uniformity, color temperature and peripheral illumination.”
Then there’s the power management. The Full On system uses an intelligent mode called Active Light Control, which automatically adjusts brightness based on your speed and riding conditions. Climbing slowly? The light dials itself down to conserve battery. Sending it down a jump trail? It brightens up without you having to fiddle with settings.
“Most riders don’t think about their lights until they’re annoyed by them,” Bourquin says. “We wanted to build something you could turn on at the start of a ride and forget about.”
No more cables breaking mid-ride
If you’ve ever had to solder a broken light cable—or worse, cut a night ride short because of one—Full On has a fix for that too. Instead of a proprietary power cord, they use a standard USB-C connection, so if a cable does fail, you can replace it at any gas station or convenience store.
“That was a no-brainer,” Bourquin says. “The cable is usually the weakest point. So we made sure it was easy to swap out.”
Made (mostly) in Canada
Unlike most bike lights, which are designed overseas and shipped from factories in China, Full On builds its lights in Victoria, B.C. Many of the components are sourced from Canada and the U.S., with final assembly and testing happening in-house.
“We wanted to build something here,” Bourquin says. “We’re proud to be a Canadian company and we think there’s a lot of value in keeping production close to home.”
So… is it worth it?
Full On’s first product isn’t cheap—it’s priced in the premium range; starting at $495. But Bourquin argues that when you factor in performance, it’s actually a better deal than the competition.
“If you’re running a two-light setup from another brand, you’re already spending more than what our system costs,” he says. “And our single light outperforms any two-light combo.”
It’s a bold claim. But early reviews—and demo riders—seem to back it up. One rider who tested the Full On system described it as “a game changer,” saying he forgot he was even riding with a light.
“That’s exactly what we wanted,” Bourquin says. “To make a light that disappears. That just lets you ride.”
What’s next for Full On?
Right now, Full On’s focus is the Canadian market. But they’re already developing a second product aimed at gravel and road riders, and they’ve got big plans for the future.
“We’re just getting started,” Bourquin says. “But we think we’ve already changed the game.”
If you’re serious about night riding—and tired of fighting with your lights—Full On might just be the upgrade you didn’t know you needed.