Best REAR bike light

jaffa30

Knog blinder, it does what it says on the box.. very very good rear light imho

custardy

ceredigion wrote: »

Smart Lunar R2
2 x 1/2 Watt LEDs

Gets my vote for flashing light
Add on another light for solid

custardy

Si_Clist wrote: »

Indeed they do. But in practice we've never noticed the drag induced by the modern hub dynamos on two of our bikes, and the rear lights have built-in capacitors so they stay on while you're stopped at a red light or whatever.

In fact the only problem with our dynamo bikes is that the light output from the front light isn't really sufficient to illuminate the road ahead when you're away from street lights.

For us, the answer's dynamo lights and battery lights!

Yup,always planned to convert my commuter to dynamo hubs
What light do you use?
A mate uses this

http://www.darkerside.org/2013/11/luxos-iq2-u-dynamo-headlight-review/

Tuareg

I'd like to give a nod to the UK company Exposure. I'm using a Blaze on the back and Diablo 5 on the front and although not cheap have been excellent in all respects.
Cheaper Exposure models are available.

Si_Clist

custardy wrote: »

Yup,always planned to convert my commuter to dynamo hubs
What light do you use?

Busch & Muller Lumotec front driven by a Sch_midt dyno-hub on the front wheel on The Lady Wife's Thorn Sherpa. To expand a little on what I said about the output being not quite up to riding out of town at night, bear in mind that this setup is 5 years old now and things have moved on ...

Our Kalkhoffs have Shimano dynohubs, and the front light is French, maker unknown but labelled "Sprint". These are not as bright as the B&M front light, but IMO still well worth having on a town bike.

If we really want to see where we're going out of town at night, we use a B&M Ixon-IQ rechargeable, which is awesome as regards both light output and (perhaps more importantly) beam shape.

(Dunno why the forum software won't have "Sch_midt" without the break in it, but there you go ...)

WiggyDiggyPoo

I like my Fibre Flare, a little pricey perhaps (£25ish) but worth it IMO

vikingaero

Thanks for the ideas guys - a lot to explore and take in. Buying a front LED light/torch is easy - shine it on a surface in the daylight and see the relative contrast. With some LED rear lights they either look good or can be pants from a distance.

We have 4 bikes (Mrs V., the Vikingettes and mine) and the front lights are taken care of with 4 LED Knogs on the handlebars and mounted LED torches from my *cough* 400+ LED torch collection.

With 4 bikes to buy lights for I want to make the right and informed choice, especially if I go for more expensive models. I'll let you know what I've chosen soon. :beer:

Big_G_RC

I just bought a fibre flare myself and attached it down my n/s seat stay. I also run a Smart Lumen on the seat post, but the single LED version as I can drop this down to the 2 regular LEDs when in a group ride instead of the main light blazing away at whoever is following me.

I added the flare to the n/s to hopefully alert drivers approaching from the left on roundabouts as this seems to be the time when I get them pulling out on me.

So far so good. Very impressive light output and quick and easy to secure to the bike. £29.99 is pricey, but you can't really put a price on NOT getting hit and knocked off.

AdamJackson_2

For those of you, who go riding in the night, I strongly recommend to go for two rear lights instead of one. It is your life saver after all when you are out in the roads alone. I got two lights of 70lumes each, which means that my light stays bright and beaming for 20 hours. Always cheek the battery level before leaving and after coming home. Don’t let the batteries die completely and keep one light as back up. Don’t confuse yourself by reading hundreds of reviews, keep it simple and see what suits you the most.

esuhl

My vote would be for the Knog Blinder Road R too. If I remember rightly, the Eco mode runs for 16hrs on a single charge (I think it's only 1.5hrs solid and 2.5hrs flashing -- can't remember). But the Eco mode is not only usable, it's probably the most noticeable flashing pattern.

It's highly visible during the day (even in bright sun), so I don't leave home without it now.

But the comments above about the Smart Lunar R2 sound (mostly) good... and it's a lot cheaper than the Knog!