Waterproof rear lights

gtvlusso

Right, thats it, I have had enough of wrapping clingfilm around cateye lights to stop water ingress......Any lights out there that actually are waterproof?! :evil:

joew4ll

Mars 3 by blackburn - can't fault them

R25 Flyer

My cateye just gave out after I bought a replacement bracket for it

Blackburn Mars 4 still going strong though. so I would recommend that. Excellent value.

EDIT: I take it back! My Mars 4 gave out this am so had to drive (no back up light - see above). Looks like the switch again - this is my second of this winter - so will be going back to Wiggle - AGAIN!! Great LED; great bike mount; shoddy switch. Sort it out Blackburn!

brighton-biker

Smart Superflash 1/2 watt.

Super bright and I haven't had any water problems yet (1 British winter of commuting)

Jamey

I've also got the Smart 1/2 watt. I haven't ridden in a proper downpour with it yet (though that might change tonight) but it looks good and sealed FWIW.

JGS

My Blackburn flea's seem pretty waterproof so far. Quite cheap from Ribble too.

biondino

Every time I read a lights thread I die a little (and yes I know I could avoid both dying a little and being a mardy ars3hole by simply avoiding the thread but where's the fun in that eh :twisted: )

p.s. Mars 3 is my recommendation, but I also have non-leaking Cateyes so ymmv.

whyamihere

Just fit mudguards. Your lights will stay dry.

majormantra

The £2 'kidney' style rear lights that you can get in the supermarkets (Sainsbury, Tesco etc.) have a rubber seal and seem remarkable resilient. You can buy a lot of them and attach them to your bike, bag, helmet and so on and you'll plenty of redunancy.

I also recently got one of these when they were on sale for under a fiver:

http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/ebwPNLq ... 152c003246

I haven't immersed my lights in water or anything but I've ridden in fairly heavy Edinburgh rain without mudguards and neither the supermarket lights nor the Revolution one failed me. These are such simple devices that even if they do get soaked they should be fine if you dry them out thoroughly.

Cateye lights seem a bit overpriced for what you get. I've seen endless complaints about their Flextite mounts and quality-wise they aren't much different to the Smart lights or any of the other budget ones.

Matthew

redvee

When I was doing 120 miles aweek to Aztec West I was killing a light a quarterin the winter through the ingress of road cr@p etc but then I put a clip on mudguard on the pannier rack and they lasted a year, luckily at the time I was win the bike trade so had access to many lights at cheap prices

canada16

I got the Cateye TL-LD1100

Trust me it has seen some dark days.

Off road as cant be bothered to take it off, cwmcarn.

And downpours on the road, and its still going strong almost a year on.

Will buy another if it fails, I thinks its the brightest on the market.

Dont listen to people about brackets and mounts, its prob the dumbass that over tightens and cracks, or there are a few dodgy ones.

I have taken this light on an almost downhill course and its still there.

gb155

joew4ll wrote:

Mars 3 by blackburn - can't fault them

+1 The MArs 3.0 are so AWESOME I even got a voyager 4.0 for the front

cougie

I have the smart superflash - works fine for me - even on my MTB with unguarded tyres - but if you have guards - the light wont really get wet anyway. Sorted.

gtvlusso

redvee wrote:

When I was doing 120 miles aweek to Aztec West I was killing a light a quarterin the winter through the ingress of road cr@p etc but then I put a clip on mudguard on the pannier rack and they lasted a year, luckily at the time I was win the bike trade so had access to many lights at cheap prices

To be fair Red, I am a lazy tw*t for not putting mudguards on.....first failure! Was it yourself, Red, on a pompino I said hello to on Gloucester Road? There are some good recommendations on here, will have a butchers and see what is best and where the ol' wallet will stretch - cheers all!

redvee

Don't do Gloucester Road unless I'm going to Southmead hospital, I'm usually astride an On One Inbred though I want to change this to a Tricross Single if they still have them in my size when I get the money together.

Jamey

This might sound like a weird thing to say but it's been in my mind all week... Having owned both the Mars 3.0 (which got nicked) and the Smart 1/2 watt (current light) I think they're both very good in the dark when they're switched on but in the daytime, when they're switched off I think the Smart looks much cooler.

R25 Flyer

Yes Jamey - that might sound weird. Another bit of poor Biondino has passed on ...

I'm thinking of a Smart so thanks for the recommendations. Seems like the Mars 3 is pretty reliable (unlike my experiences with the Mars 4)

canada16

Is the 1100 cateye the brightest, or is there something brighter as I have only owned one.

I dont like bright yellow clothing, so looking to be more seen.

Got a tl 1100 on my rear and a TK11 on my front.

Cheers guys