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New rear bike light- any suggestions
I'm looking at getting a new rear light as the one I have at the moment is pretty token and not rechargeable. I have a couple in mind: Knog Blinder R70 and the Bontrager Flare R. Both seem to get pretty good reviews but I'm open to other suggestions. Lightly are mainly to be used as a 'be seen' at all times type light (meaning day and night) to be used as a constant on my winter bike. Cheers in advance.
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24 comments
Here is the Niterider lumina 750 on the lowest setting. The end of the building is 15 metres away. On a dark road it is more than adequate
20160102_185745.jpg
Here are my two rear lights. The left is a cats eye ld1100 and the right side cygolite hotshot. The distance is about 9 metres to the house wall. You can see that the hotshot wins easily
20160102_185559.jpg
Topeak redlite race
In the end I've picked up a Flare R. Very impressed with brightness- can't actually look directly at it. Will see how many complaints I get when riding in a group
As if by magic! This was here when I got home. Not USB chargeable though
It can take a 18650 or 3xAAA (which it has in here) and seems blindingly bright. I'll need to angle it down and keep it on a low setting. £5.
IMG_20151230_150859.jpg
I had a Microdrive fail... Contacted the distributor and had a replacement back in my hands within 48 hours.
I have the Lezyne Zecto, it has been excellent, the best usb light I've had and I've been through lots of expensive lights that failed pretty quickly, it's very bright and extremely easy to put on and take off with its rubber strap, it stays charged for many hours and even has a series of LED lights on the side to let you know how much charge is left. It's been through many a rain storm which is what normally kills them but this Lezyne is still going strong.
I've had a couple of micro drives that each failed, so will try another company this time. Maybe in the future though.
I would get two for commuting in the dark, one battery power and one rechargeable. Rear lights need to be reliable, you just switch email on and don't even have to think about them til you get home. You just don't know when a battery will go flat on you, or when your recharge will fizzle out, and as it gets colder a charge that used to last two hours may struggle for one. You can also have bulbs go, mountings break etc.
I would also recommend one on flash and one on constant - some people struggle to judge distance to a flashing light.
I'm riding with one of these :http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-gb/gear/product/giant.numen.plus.tl.1/5...
It's easily bright enough to run in the daylight plus it really lasts.
Thanks for the responses. It seems as though the Flare R is winning out for me at the moment. To be fair any would be an improvement on what I've got.
I've been using the flare r for a few months as a 'be seen' daytime light, very impressed with it, just take care with the usb flap, I've got home and its been soaked. Still works tho.
Try these, they are superb. Light, bright and rechargable. I have one on each bike and also bought one for my son for his uni commuting bike.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252145344466?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&var=...
That looks like good value: less than 10p per lumen! What's the run time like?
3 1/2 hours without any problem, i use it on flashing mode and have left it run for about twice that time just to check that i had a safety margin built in, I will try it on constant tomorrow and let you know.
Run time on constant brightest setting was just over 4 hours, flashing was over 8 then I forgot to check when it actually went off.
Personally, I recharge them after each ride anyway just to be safe.
Run time on constant brightest setting was just over 4 hours, flashing was over 8 then I forgot to check when it actually went off.
Personally, I recharge them after each ride anyway just to be safe.
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I bought one a few days ago and look forward to seeing how it goes. Thanks for your advice.
I also bought: http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/CREE-XM-L-T6-LED-Zoomable-Red-Flashlight-Zoom-Fo...
And look forward to seeing whether it is worthwhile or not. I use two similar torches for urban riding.
For something a bit more reliable (some of the Chinese stuff fails quicker than a micro drive!) I will probably go with the flare r or the Guee Inox. 2 lights are better than one.
Welsh boy how bright are these? great value!
Looking at the eBay image they won't illuminate more than a few feet, and at £4 what are you expecting. I would class these as emergency back up lights.
Headlights should be able to put a beam pattern on the surface at least 30 metres up the road and a rear light should reflect off a wall at 15 metres. Do it right do it once. Look at niterider lumina 750 and cygolite hotshot
After doing a fair bit of research and checking reviews I just ordered the Bontrager Flare R. (£31.49 at Triton and Sigma Sports). Have seen only good reviews of it. The Knog Blinder R70 was on my list too but saw too many reviews saying the rubber mounting strap didn't last/broke easily which put me off.
The others I considered were Cateye Volt 50 as I have a Volt 300 front and really like it plus the fact the rechargeable batteries for them are interchangeable, and Cateye X3 ( £32.99@Evans)which has a whopping 100 lumens output.
Cygolite hotshot is bright enough to be seen in bright daylight usb recharge, small and comes with seat stay clamp
use tracer ....
I'm in the market for a new one too. I'd rather avoid batteries and stick to USB charging. Has anyone tried a Guee Inox Mini R? Otherwise I see that chain reaction have a Knog blinder on sale at £15.
You'll get as many opinions as there are contributors. I find the Cateye TL-LD600 excellent value and the 2 AAAs (rechargeable ) easily last a week of commuting at this time of year. Lots of other good options nowadays.
Whatever you get make sure it's bright. I'd start at http://road.cc/category/review-section/accessories/lights-rear