Rear Light

All my lights so far have
All my lights so far have worked fine with 1.2V rechargeables. I have noticed they do lose charge when not in use though, like you say.

Bio-friendliness is a very

Bio-friendliness is a very complex question to answer, mining, extraction of raw material, life cycle, disposal! (find some e-waste bin when out of order)…

My guess, for regular use internal rechargeable might be better… It seems that most high quality bike lights come with internal batteries anyway (maybe it’s also easier to have a small waterproof door for USB than for AA cells?)

On the other hand if you only use the light very occasionally, alkaline may be the way to go. I have a rear light, a tiny Maglite and a hiking/forehead light with AAA’s and was surprised how many years I could keep the same cells, using them only very shortly and intermittently (usually the capacity of these AAA had been quite disappointing, for more intensive drain). Ni-MH lose their charge faster than alkaline when not in use, and their voltage is lower (1.2 vs 1.5V so make sure the light works well with them, may indicate low charge when not), also good ones might be more expensive, like eneloops… but if you already have plenty of the same format (AA/AAA) for other devices, and a good charger, then why not Ni-MH?

Perhaps John doesn’t like the
Perhaps John doesn’t like the idea of throwing otherwise perfectly functuonal equipment away for want of a battery, it’s maybe something to do with not wanting to bequeath a completely fuc£ed planet to his grandchildren; no doubt because he loves them.

When the battery of a USB
When the battery of a USB light no longer holds charge, can they be recycled? I see the battery recycling containers commonly seen in supermarkets don’t state that they accept that type of battery.

A friend of mine created a

A friend of mine created a rear light called tailgator technologies that has an accelorometer in it to get brighter when you are slowing down.   My son and I use it and it works great! 

Although the Cateye Viz

Although the Cateye Viz series are rechargeable they do still use the same square bracket so will fit in the standard seat post and rack adapters.

Having been reluctant to switch from AAA Cateye rear lights I’m now a convert – the Viz 100 plugs into my PC USB socket and will be fully charged in an hour or so after a week of commuting (35-lumen Group mode lasts 11 hours while 20-lumen flashing is 70 hours). Improved output and lens design makes it far better than the older models, including the Omni 5, which is pretty weak by comparison.