[Closed] what Dogs boll*x rear light?

I use a Blackburn Mars 3 on the seatpost combined with a Smart Lunar 1w on my pack and a couple of http://www.dealextreme.com/p/red-light-2-mode-tie-on-bike-light-keychains-2-keychain-set-26812 on the chain stays.

Mars 3 here too. Light output is nasty painful if too close! I use NiCads in mine, last ages. And uberwaterproof too. A really good piece of kit.

Have the magicshine one, bright and has kept shining through heavy rain. About half the price of anything else.

Just bought the one that fits into the smart port on the MaxX D...

Seems plenty bright enough!!

Just fitted a Smart 1w to mine, very impressed with the light ouput(have been since I saw my first at the end of last winter), not too expensive, and if it's as reliable as their other lights that we've been selling for years, then it shouldn't ever break down.

Hope District fits that bill, you'll not see a brighter rear light and bomb proof too!

just get one of these 🙂

[img] [/img]

I have the esposure. Great tiny thing with awsome output. Still on original battery with 15 ish hours use. Have bought a charger/battery set from evans as they had them on offer. Might still be discounted as it was only a couple of weeks ago.

Got the Hope for commuting. Very bright but the 'must mill everything from aluminium' bracket is pretty rubbish, will be making my own out of old cat eye ones.

I use multiple cheap ones - 3 at the moment. Nice and bright - flash and still, flash at different rates. don't matter if one stops working or gets nicked as there are two more

I think illuminated area is as important as brightness. Don't forget reflective stuff as well

Fibreflares get my vote, very visible but not dazzling. I just use that + have a small back-up LED thing.

Smart 1/2 watt models - there are a few. Cheap and offensively bright. Not rechargeable but I'm yet to replace the batteries and I've had them a year.

Flare, great light but the bracket can drop off if/when things get a little bumpy.

I put an o-ring through mine and around the seat post, if it does drop off it won't be getting left behind.

thanks all - interesting that so many of you still rely on what to me are poor design lights..

Smart and Cateye are not reliable enough in the depths of winter imo... water ingress and sub zero temperatures kill them.... thus pretty useless as a commuter light in proper winter conditions.

on the basis that I've bought about halt a dozen different lights in the last 2 years and all of them failed on my one way or another (mainly due to the sub zero wet conditions) - I'd prefer to spend the same money on a single properly designed bit of kit that I can rely on.

I used to have same problem with front lights when using Halogen lamps, as the bulbs couldn't cope with damp and extreme cold. but once I moved over to L&M Stella LED light, I've never had a problem...

so I recon a rear light should be as bright, reliable and bomb proof as a front...

seems to me that Exposure, Hope and L&M are of the same opinion.

may I be the [i]last[/i] to suggest that super-bright is not helpful, front or back ?

large beats bright IMO (I don't practice what I preach but then I only use a rear light - ded bright - in the daytime)

Any really "blindingly" bright, tiny point source of light on a rainy night is hard to place unless you already know what it's likely to be. SInce many drivers don't seem to be aware of cyclists at all, that's not at all guaranteed

I'm serious; I drive to work and so get a driver's view of the 2000 lumen commuters - and you're not doing yourselves any favours. Wear high-viz and shine a bright light or two onto yourself if you want to be safer.

This may seem like a left field option, but in my opinion it is the best setup possible. I have an Alfine dynamo front hub, and a Supernova E3 Pro front light, combined with the Supernova rack mounted rear light. I also use a Smart 1/2 watt as a backup. That setup has lasted a couple of harsh Glasweigan winters, and as the lights are bolted to the bike I never worry about theft, I never have to recharge them and I honestly cannot feel any drag from the setup.

Like you ive been through a few lights. L and m vis 180 didnt last long, about 3 months last year.
I still have 2 mars 3 lights.
I bought from wiggle and have used their No quibble replacement on the mars 3 twice. Which makes it rather good value! 😀

2 cheapo lights.

1 on your bike.

1 on your back/helmet.

the slighty-out-of-sync movement is much more eye-catching than 1 really big light. The world is full of really bright red lights, 1 more is basically camouflage.

oh, and get some of the reflective ankle straps - the uppy/downy pedalling motion really stands out.

(or pedal reflectors)

The dinnotte rear is nice (140 version I think, 80lms??), leaves and huge light patch behind you. Don't cheap out with the aa version though, the battery pack connector is crap. Ours did fail after a commute through very salty water with ingress of somekind (which also destroyed the chrome finish). Was easy enough to get repaired though. I'm making my own for this winter with 2 of the 5W red luxeon leds which should be super bright, however if I didn't already have the bits I'd probably be buying to Exposure Flares as they seem to be the neatest and most compact design to me.

For regular commuting, proper lights bolt to the rack, not the seatpost. I have one of these BM for the rear - it's the Rolls Royce of rear lights
[img] [/img]

I've also been impressed with some of the Cateye rear lights, but have mounted them either to a rear reflector bracket or the mudguard. Never found a seatpost clamp i've been truly happy with. A small supplementary flashing light mounted to the seatpost is an additional option. I have one of these flashing for fun... Just not a primary light source.

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Hope district. No problems.!
Don't own one, but a mate does, uses it on a 15mile each way commute, he was even using it in summer in daylight (well, what daylight there was) and was getting fists from dazzed motorists.

I think you can rig a front lamp off the same battery pack/ control unit too?

The Hope comes with a splitter lead so you can power it off the front light's battery pack.

Another option is the Lumi-cycle rear light - I have used them for years but my last 16V Li-ion battery has died, so I've retired them and bought the Hope.

NB if anyone has 16V (4 cell) Li-ions and wants a used Lumi rear light module super cheap, drop me a mail.

Smart and Cateye are not reliable enough in the depths of winter imo... water ingress and sub zero temperatures kill them.... thus pretty useless as a commuter light in proper winter conditions.

I've got two Cateye Holy Handgrenades and a Smart 1/2W on mine at the moment - waterproofing and longevity are entirely fine (they've been there at least a couple of years each) PROVIDED they are out of the direct spray line from the rear wheel - i.e. fit some mudguards! 😉

I'm serious; I drive to work and so get a driver's view of the 2000 lumen commuters - and you're not doing yourselves any favours. Wear high-viz and shine a bright light or two onto yourself if you want to be safer.

I've got to say I disagree on this. Far too many people round here rely on dim lights and reflective kit - by far the ones that get widest avoidance are those who're piercingly brightly lit.

I agree with Coffeeking. I used the Hope District all last winter and it's the only light I've had where cars slow down behind me and wait to overtake, don't know if they think it's a motorbike braking or are a bit dazzled but as long as they're slowing down it's good for me....

PROVIDED they are out of the direct spray line from the rear wheel - i.e. fit some mudguards!

indeed, totally agree, but already have set of full mudguards... wouldn't be capable of my regular 15mile commute across the Peak District and Cheshire plains without a proper set of guards.
the problem for the lights seems to relate to the fact my commute is often in freezing fog conditions when going up over the tops of the Peaks here... so the 1hr each way in such conditions seems to be a real test for these items.

the problem for the lights seems to relate to the fact my commute is often in freezing fog conditions when going up over the tops of the Peaks here... so the 1hr each way in such conditions seems to be a real test for these items.

I'm out then - the few times a year I have to commute through freezing fog (I'm about 1hr each way as well), the lights have been fine, it's been the various mechanical components (particularly the brakes!) starting to ice up/stick!

It really does sound like you need a proper dynamo setup then, given the conditions you ride in. Why put up with battery lights in cold conditions that are detrimental to li-ion battery life?

When I was commuting regularly last winter through urban and unlit country lanes, my rear light arsenal was:

1. Cateye HHG on seatpost
2. Smart Lunar R1 on backpack
3. Twinkly Tesco LED on helmet
4. Aldi reflective/flashing ankle bands

This was combined with my Lumi LED3 up front, gilet with reflective strips, reflect hump backpack cover, Aldi wrist bands, reflective mudguards for side on.

It's that time of year again already 🙂 or should that be 🙁

Facing a similar dilema, last year I ran a Cateye HHG and a Smart Lunar on the bike (Ribble Winter with full length 'guards) and on very rare occasion I found one or other had failed.

(Also run one of the multi led Electron's on the helmet).

Just don't want to risk light failure so was thinking of going for an Exposure Red Eye.

Be interesting to see someone test all those on your list on the same bike through the same conditions all winter.

It really does sound like you need a proper dynamo setup then, given the conditions you ride in. Why put up with battery lights in cold conditions that are detrimental to li-ion battery life?

Timely (...if a slight hijack) - I've run my front dynamo light in anger for a week now, and it's been great. Although the cabling will be a bit of a faff (the reason I'm still using battery LEDs for the moment), what's big in the world of dynamo rear lights? What's going to give me the biggest bucket of (red) sunshine for my 0.6W?

I have one of these:
[url] http://www.dealextreme.com/p/magicshine-mj-818-ha-iii-ssc-42180u-3w-3-mode-led-bike-tail-light-set-4-18650-included-42077 [/url]

Its very good, 2 minor gripes:
1) if you want it mounted properly horizontal for even greater effect, you have to make you own mount
2) it dosn't have a plain flash mode. I'd rather have a plain 'flash' than the alternating modes offered.

Blimey! I've just had a flashback to when the only lights available looked like this

[img] [/img]

And our parents used to wonder why we'd rather dice with unlit death?

I've just bought a Smart Lunar 10, worn conspicuously on my Camelback. I was politely asked on last weeks night ride to turn the bloody thing off, once we were off road, as it was blindingly bright

Blimey! I've just had a flashback to when the only lights available looked like this

binners - LOL - jeeze that brings back lots of memories... those really were crap lights... but it was the time of Margaret Thatcher and the miners strikes... and Leyland still made cars... it was a crap era.

I doubt you'll get an argument there fella. It was very crap indeed. Those were literally the only lights available at the time.

At the time I'd just built my first bike. A Wilson BMX. Reynolds 501 frame, Landing Gear, Pro Class wheels, Wilson 501 bars and Seatpost, Dia-Compe brakes. It was beautiful. Was I going to stick a set of those on it?

What do you think? 😉

Those were literally the only lights available at the time.

No, they were not!

I used to do a 20 mile round trip on a Grifter XL (!!) to race my RC car nearly every Sunday through the winter, coming home at 6pm. Part of my journey was a totally unlit dual carrigeway (I used the path) through some woods between Hucknall and Kirkby (Annesley Woods??? Not sure now)
And I needed lights I could a) See by b) Didn't got me a fortune in batteries.
Solution?

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😀

Timely (...if a slight hijack) - I've run my front dynamo light in anger for a week now, and it's been great. Although the cabling will be a bit of a faff (the reason I'm still using battery LEDs for the moment), what's big in the world of dynamo rear lights? What's going to give me the biggest bucket of (red) sunshine for my 0.6W?

Well I use the Supernova, but I think you can only use that with the matching front. Any of the Busch and Muller lights are well regarded, and they have reflectors in them so they work really well. As far as the cabling goes, it might be less awkward than you think if you can follow a rear brake or gear cable.

Indeed - I've got a B+M front light, and don't really like any of their rear lights (too big - either intended for rack or gurard fitting). The SuperNova E3 rear light looks ideal, but it does say it is specific to Supernova front lights......gggrrrrrr 👿

Blimey! I've just had a flashback to when the only lights available looked like this

Blast from the past! - those huge batteries either leaked, went rusty or flat in 5 seconds which ever came first 😉

I think the supernova rear takes a DC voltage feed from the supernova front light, which is why it isn't compatable with other systems ( unless you supply your own DC voltage ) and it also means it uses the front's standlight function.

I have the E3 triple on the front, and am now considering the rear to add to the bike as well.

I run a B&M Seculite Plus on the back of my bike - a single bright LED with standlight. Claims to be light enough to fit to a mudguard but mine is on a rear rack. Has lasted many winters - I turn my lights on in September and turn them off again in April.

I back it up with a flashing LED - just to be sure.

I think the supernova rear takes a DC voltage feed from the supernova front light, which is why it isn't compatable with other systems ( unless you supply your own DC voltage ) and it also means it uses the front's standlight function.

Yeah, that is correct - surely it's not beyond someone to take the AC supply from the front light and do the conversion in an LED rear light? Having just invested in the B+M front light, I don't really fancy shelling out again (though I do lust after the E3 triple front/E3 rear combination...... ;-))

Trout to the forum, perhaps......

fwiw. its not worth spending loads on rear lights. just buy several cheap lights. more light is better then one big bright light.
i use a variety of Smart 1/2W and a cateye grenade and a couple of the cheap (£2!) flashy things from tesco

If you're worried about water ingress, try one of these:

[url= http://www.evanscycles.com/products/knog/bullfrog-rear-light-ec017357 ]Knog bullfrog[/url]

You may of course be opposed to Knogs frightfully sexist advertising though. Terrible!

may I be the last to suggest that super-bright is not helpful, front or back ?

oh, and get some of the reflective ankle straps - the uppy/downy pedalling motion really stands out.

+1 or this?

..... Far too many people round here rely on dim lights and reflective kit - by far the ones that get widest avoidance are those who're piercingly brightly lit.

I don't think the suggestion was 'dim' lights - people riding with only a couple of those emergency back up lights are nuts BUT you don't *need* to spend huge amounts on commuter lights. Katie and I spend a lot of time riding around together so I get to see what our different lights look like from a distance - the dynamo powered lights on the Bromptons are show up as well as anything when coupled with some reflective.

Don't rely only on flashing - it makes it difficult to judge distance and speed. Flashing on the back as a secondary, or in half light, is ok but only on the front in an emergency.

Fairly low end, but quality, LED lights (Cat-eyes from around £30) are now fine on front and our 5 year old Vistalight Total Eclipses are great on the back. On the rest you're paying for construction and long lasting rechargeables.

What you really want to *avoid* is huge amounts of unfocused light - front or rear - which is what a lot of homebrew/chinese/off road focused lights will give you. There was a guy I used to end up behind sometimes with some hugely overpowered single LED rear (might have been a Dinotte) pointing straight back that would leave me nearly blind for 30 seconds after I passed him.

Personally I'm now on an Exposure front and rear with a Vistalite total Eclipse as a secondary rear (if i run the front down enough to have to go to flashing I can use this on it's own) plus reflective ankle bands and some silver scotchlite on my helmet.

Funny you should say the normal lights are a poor design, I've had one of these
[url= http://www.woollyhatshop.com/Lights/Rear-Tail-Lights/Cateye-TL-LD60-Rear-Cycle-Tail-Light-LED/prod_3021.html ]Cateye[/url]s for must be 8 years.. was main commuting light, now is on my pack. Not as bright as the Smart I now have on the bike, but seems pretty bombproof to me.

The only rear light I've killed was a Blackburn Mars 3, left the cheapo batteries in over the summer and they leaked.

I think it also depends on the visibility you are looking for as well.

To me, if you in an urban setup, then you'd get better visibility from a large wide angled light which can be seen from all around.

For me though, I benefit more from a focussed beam I think. My commute is mainly along straight-ish unlit roads where cars are approaching from a considerable distance ... I want them to see me from a long way away. At the moment, the 1/2 watt smart lights fit that bill perfectly for me.

Cycling home with a friend of mine, he peeled off and I carried on. He said he could see the light really well for about 1/2 a mile away ... which is what I wanted.

Evans were doing a good deal on the exposure flare recharge pack - excellent lights. As mentioned above back it up with some cheapish lights in other places, I have 3 upfront and rear, plus hi viz vest.

simons_nicolai-uk, i read it, and i disagree. i drive a van for a living (often at night), and you know what happens when i see a really bright light on a bike? shall i tell you? i SLOW DOWN! yeah, it can be annoying, but it doesn't lead me to speed up and plough into the cyclist!

of course, i commute with several lights, some bright, others less so.

. As far as the cabling goes, it might be less awkward than you think if you can follow a rear brake or gear cable.

That's what I do for my rear dynamo light, along top tube, then down rear brake cable. Mine is a homemade 1w red led light, sits on top of the mudguard, was dead easy to make, cost about 3 quid, but has no stand light, so I have a cateye backup. If I bought one I'd get a b+m one.

To the original poster, the people saying dynamo are totally right, modern dynamo hub systems are by far the best commuter lights you can get, at least if you need to ride on unlit roads so need something bright enough to see by.

Joe

If I bought one I'd get a b+m one

Yeah, but all the B+M ones have massive reflectors on them (to satisfy German regulations IIRC), which basically rules them out of seat post mounting. The E3 rear is just so neat - maybe homebrew is the way forward - care to ellaborate? 😉 Oh - and I thought the rear output was regulated to 0.6W - how do you use a 1W rear LED? (NB: may be a sensible answer here - genuine interest.....)

isn't a Smart 1w made up of two 1/2watt leds?

Vistalite total Eclipse

Great light. Had four of them, the best in class when they were released but all now sadly dead - was a pain undoing the screws to change batts tho

Vistalite total Eclipse
Great light. Had four of them, the best in class when they were released but all now sadly dead - was a pain undoing the screws to change batts tho

I picked a couple up on eBay for peanuts long after they were discontinued. Screws are a pain but that's the screw together construction with a decent seal is the reason they're so weatherproof.

Just bought and fitted one of [url= http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/rsp-astrum-twin-1-2-watt-rear-id54119.html ]these[/url] after someone on here pointed me towards it.
Much brighter than my last crappy cheapo light and I actually noticed the cars keep their distance on my last commute! 3rd mode flashes between led's so quite easy to notice.
And a bargain too.

The Moon Shield 60 looks like an interesting option:

[url] http://www.wiggle.co.uk/moon-shield-60-rechargeable-rear-light/ [/url]

I currently use a pair of Smart R1s. They've not been through a winter yet, but I've not had any trouble in the wet. I tried hard to justify the Flare, but it seemed a lot to pay when I could get a pair of R1s and a load of AAA rechargeables for less money. Plus the R1s come with better mounts.

What's wrong with having them mounted to a rack, it makes the most sense IMO.

What's wrong with having them mounted to a rack, it makes the most sense IMO.

That's fine, if you have a rack.... which, I don't.... and don't plan to (don't go far enough for panniers - tried them and didn't get on with them anyway, but that's another can of worms that's been kicked around enough)....

Can't say fairer than that! Looks like you'll have to pony up for a pair of Supernovas then. 😉

Can't say fairer than that! Looks like you'll have to pony up for a pair of Supernovas then

Beginning to seriously consider it......... 😕 😆

The E3 rear is just so neat -maybe homebrew is the way forward -care to ellaborate? Oh -and I thought the rear output was regulated to 0.6W -how do you use a 1W rear LED? (NB: may be a sensible answer here -genuine interes t.....)

My light is a red Cree led, soldered directly to a cheap bridge rectifier chip from maplin. Whole lot is glued to the back of a white plastic 20mm lens holder. The lens holder is glued into a piece of old alu seatpost. Two wires out the back for the power (i had a spare extension cable that came with my lights). It mounts on the mudguard top by kind of clipping between the two stays where they poke up, plus some gaffa tape as a backup.

On the back of my b and m lights, it has two sets of outputs. I think one is for a second front light, one is for rear light, can't remember which I used, but it appears to put out enough power - the dynamo is limited to 500ma, so it isn't running the led at full power, but that doesn't matter.

You could get a bracket like this: http://www.amba-marketing.com/products/136-buschmuller_rear_seat_bolt_dynamo_light_bracket.php
It lets you attach a rack light to your seat bolt. I used one with a B&M dynamo light for a while, works fine (though I now have a rack).

Thanks Joe - I will look into that a bit more. Getting the full Supernova set (would all colour match nicely 😉 ) is looking like the way to go IF I can be bothered to move away from rear recharagables....

I agree with Coffeeking. I used the Hope District all last winter and it's the only light I've had where cars slow down behind me and wait to overtake, don't know if they think it's a motorbike braking or are a bit dazzled but as long as they're slowing down it's good for me....

I, on my cycle, was behind a cycle yesterday with an array of flashing lights, some of which were the RSP ones I think.

They were so freakin' bright that it affected my eyesight for the worse. It is like one of those annoying cars with their rear fogs on, but worse as they are flashing

I am not sure these uber bright lights are sensible - I am guessing that the cars that slow down and pass slowly only do so because they can't judge the distance to your light properly and then are passing you with reduced vision, which isn't really desirable.

They may be going slower but if they can't see you properly then a slow car is still going to do a lot of damage if it hits you...

This nightmare scenario where car drivers are dazzled by high-powered rear lights to the extent where they become totally disorientated and plough into a cyclist that everyone's so concerned about?

Has it ever actually happened?

not that I know of, but the situation where the person behind is so p1ssed off at being blinded by someones rear lights that they stop the rider in front and put said lights out of commision was pretty close the other night.

Why have dazzling rear lights ?

I assume that a rider with such lights would not complain when a car driver fails to dip his lights from full beam when approaching them and would just accept the impairment to their night vision for the next 10 minutes or more.

I have to say, even the quite ridiculously bright rear light I run isn't anywhere near as bright and dazzling as the 21w bulb in the brake light on my car, or even the 10w bulb in the rear light.

Joe

Mars 3.0 for me as well had it for years now, it's super tough and last ages and is bright as ***k as well.

If I had to replace it I'd get a mars 5.0 or a flare, but it's not showing any signs of giving up.

I have the Smart 0.5W rear and whilst it is very bright the quality is poor, as they just aren't properly waterproof. There is a notch in the body to open the case, but the seals don't take account of this and water gets in, meaning the light will not change mode, and randomly turn on and not turn off etc. Would be OK with a good rear mudguard and under the saddle.

well as a follow-up from my original post... I've taken a close look at Hope District 3, Moon Sheild 60, L&M Vis 180.

and I've gone for the latter 2. the L&M Vis180 and the Moon Sheild60.

The Hope is a quality bit of kit.. I just think it's overkill and possibly too bright and overbuilt... (but I might change my mind if these other two fail me)

I'm giving the Moon and the L&M a go since they are both well made, both Micro USB chargable (using my work PC/Electric to do the honours most days) and they are bright but not crazy bright (L&M = 70 lumens, Moon = 60 lumens)

my only concers with both lights is regarding their mounting, as I've heard/read that these are not great... so I'll see for myself if these are problems.

I will let you know how I get on with these.. and will try and take some indicative photos of their effectiveness in use, and compare them to the reference point of a Smart Lunar 0.5w.

Smart and Cateye are not reliable enough in the depths of winter imo... water ingress and sub zero temperatures kill them.... thus pretty useless as a commuter light in proper winter conditions.

After daily use through 4 winters mounted on seat post, including plenty of sub-zero rides, I have found Cateye LD600 perfectly reliable with excellent battery life from 2 AAAs. The [url= http://www.wiggle.co.uk/cateye-light ]SP-6 bracket[/url] or equivalent is a much better clamp than the pathetic 'one size fits all' thing originally supplied with the light.

Can't see the point in spending more. The upgraded version TL-610 is supposed to be brighter but I don't see much difference.

just wanted to draw your attention to the title of the original post.
it didn't ask for the bargain rear lights... nor the ok rear lights.... it was asking for the dogs boll*x rear lights....you know, those really really really good ones, that probably are far to expensive for most people to bother....

kind'a like the asking which is the dogs bollox of these cars Porche 911 GT3 or Aston Martin DB9 and being told how reliable the 2006 Skoda Octavia is.

thanks anyway 😯

Meow, Saucer of milk for misterT ?

Did you explain all the unlimited budget? Nope. As for you analogy .... You asked for a dogs balls item for commute ... I'd rather have the skoda .... It's probably the most reliable car ....

A dogs balls light for commute is one which is going to work time and time again..... So hence the replies, don't be putting em down

Hope you enjoy your light.

Ooooh, get you!

Did your mum not teach you proper? Glad I don't drink in your local.

I apologise from the bottom of my soul for encroaching on your domain and providing a different experience with one of the the lights you had dismissed as crap.

This was as much for the benefit of someone else that may be lurking as anything. IOW I just think you don't need to spend a big wodge on a rear light.

I'm sure Skodas are [url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Škoda_Motorsport ]very good cars[/url].

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The VIs 180 can't handle UK weather.