Super Bright Wireless Rear Light

After reading this thread, I picked up one of the Smart 1/2 watt rear lights out of curiosity more than anything else. Bu**er me it's bright. My initial comment was, "there's no way that can be legal", and I have no doubts it'll keep me visible when the nights close in. For under a tenner, it's a proper bargain.

I have this model

Cateye Bicycle Lighting Rear, Battery-Powered TL-LD 1100, Red

Bloody bright, various settings for each row of leds, long battery life. I carry a spare set of batteries on long rides, but never needed to change. The batteries last more than 48 hours, so good for many rides.

Seems to have stopped being supplied at the moment, odd, very good piece of kit

http://road.cc/content/review/54756-pdw-fenderbot-tail-light

I don't know if you run mudguards but if you do then it is possible to bodge a light bracket onto them... If you chose the type that come with the useless reflector you can bin the reflector and use the two mounting holes to jury rig a bracket into. I do this with a dynamo rear light (for long distance) and then add a fibre flare dangling off saddle bag. the fibre flare dont need to be angled or anything, it's just a blinky stick. This plus directional rear of the baush and muller rear light on steady makes a powerful pair, no seat post required.

http://www.cyclesurgery.com/pws/UniqueProductKey.ice?ProductID=CFFL0002RR

On a more sensible note you can buy seat-stay mounts for cateyes so you can have one or two on your seat stays. I do this on another city bike and it works well using very old cateye EL500s. 2xAA recragables or throwaway in an emergency. That might be your best, easy, bet by using the newer EL650- they are long and thin so don't get in the way in this config:

http://www.cateye.com/intl/products/detail/TL-LD650/
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/cateye-hp5-seat-stay-clamp/

PS
I just had a look at the link you posted to your saddle pack. Wow! I'm impressed you manage to mount any rear light whilst carrying that! Certainly it rules out anything that mounts to seat-post or saddle-rail. I'm not sure what other options you have - note that your preferred light, the TraceR, only mounts to seat post or saddle rail (and for the latter you need to buy a separate bracket according to their web-site). Same seems to apply to the Flare. And probably a lot of the other fancier USB re-chargeable lights. You need something designed to clip into a belt or fabric loop - and that probably drives you towards the smaller blinkies.

I know this is probably heresy but had you considered fitting a rack and pannier - if your current bag is full you're already carrying 14L which is into single pannier territory. If you could do that you'd then free up lots of space for multiple light mounts on seat-post, saddle rail and on the vertical plate that most racks have at the rear.

Interesting.
I had always assumed that super-bright rear lights (from the Hope District+ onwards) were aimed at urban riding where there was a need to compete with lots of other light sources and driver distractions. Certainly if you need 80 lumen rear to safely ride on unlit roads after dark then I should not be writing this now based on 500+ miles each winter in these conditions. I ride with the above mentioned smart Superflash 1/2W and my trusty LD600 (still going after all these years). Last year I added a 1W light for very dark or wet nights (the Blackburn Mars 4.0 which I recommend although currently OoS in most places). That light (and the SuperFlash) are clearly visible even in daylight so must be enough on an unlit dark road. All these lights take AAA batteries which can be re-chargeable for economy but for which you can also carry NiCads as emergency back-up. You mentioned "long distance riding" so battery life / replacement is major factor to consider.

The only circumstances I can think of when one might be at risk is if the car approaching from behind is blinded by a vehicle coming from in front on full beam. But in that case I am not sure any rear light is going to help - none of them could outshine a main beam headlight of 1000+ lumens. In that situation you're better off using whatever counts as max power on your see-by front light to flash the guy and make him dip. Or pull left until you pass each other.

A quick warning DanTe, the TraceR battery is NOT removable (unfortunately). The earlier model the Flare does have a removable lithium battery (CR123A type) and I believe it has a longer battery life compared to the built in battery of the TraceR, plus is a little bit cheaper.

Though by the looks of it people have had problems with the Flare turning itself on/off, but I cant comment on that

I already have one of their better quality Magicshine clones so I am waiting to see how much they knock these out for

http://www.candb-seen.co.uk/newfor2014/city-slicker-series-back.html

I have a Moon Shield 60 - very bright but USB rechargeable - not replaceable batteries. Problem as always is the brighter the light the shorter the run time. Also have Aldi micro size light as a back-up.

I've got a Knog Blinder on my seatpost as a replacement for my Magicshine. I wanted something self contained and as bright as the Magicshine and this was the closest I could find.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/knog-blinder-road-4-led-rear-light/

70 lumens and USB chargeable.

I do 90% of my bike riding at silly o clock at night on unlit country roads and use an Exposure TraceR. It's ridiculously bright, USB rechargeable and you can get a good four hours out of it on its brightest out of three settings.

It's on the more expensive side, but used alongside a Lezyne Super Drive front light, I never worry about being out in the pitch black.

+1 for the Smart

The Smart 1/2 Watt is really bright (I sometimes wonder if it's too bright..) and you can pick them up for < £10.

There's also a doubled up version if you really want to blind people.

Uses standard AAA batteries.