Fitting commuting lights when there's no room on seat post

ColMc100

I am a commuter and weekend recreational cyclist and I have two bikes, one a Trek 7.5 hybrid and a Focus Killer Bee mtb. As winter is drawing in I need to fit lights back on to my bikes - however, I have a saddle bag and mudguards fitted on both bikes - and as I'm a short arse there's not a great deal of exposed seat post to fit a rear light. Does anyone have any tips on how to position the light somewhere on the bike that it will be seen without removing the saddle bag (which has been a lifesaver and I'm reluctant to remove)?

I know that I could clip a light on to the saddle bag, but the reasonably expensive lights I have only sit on to the mountings that came with them, which aren't suitable for that. I'm sure there's some simple solutions..... come on lay some knowledge on me!

Col

amaferanga

Seat stay? I've got some Smart lights that came with smaller brackets that are the right size for the seat stay.

ColMc100

amaferanga wrote:

Seat stay? I've got some Smart lights that came with smaller brackets that are the right size for the seat stay.

I'll have a look and see if I can fit them to the seat stay - on first thought there may be two problems though, first is that I have a cateye TL-LD600 LED Rear Light [http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Cateye_TL-LD600_LED_Rear_Light/5300001124/] which would interfere with the spokes if it was on the seat stay as it's really wide, although I have a smaller light somewhere I'm sure. The other problem is that wont the light then be facing 'up' or at least not wholly rear-facing? Will that impact on its visability?[/url]

redvee

Grab yourself a Minoura space grip or Topeak BarXtender and fit it to the seat tube below the seatclamp if possible. I did the same last year and had two Cateye LD120s on it in the vertical plane as well as a Mars 3.0 on the saddlebag and a light on my bag. This year I'll be running 1 or 2 lights on my helmet, 1 on the bag, one on the saddlebag and one on the seatpost.

nwallace

I've got saddle bags on all my bikes, it's easy enough to put a light on a rack but the only place I could find on my race bike was the Offside Seat Stay, not too sure how visible it is down there when I'm wide in the lane as there must be dead zones created by the tyre, but I'm unlikely to out in proper darkness on that bike.

For the seat stay you need a small enough unit that it can be tilted correctly, I think it's a normal cat eye mount I used though.

bails87

I would have thought any mount would allow you to tilt the light to the right angle.

TommyEss

ColMc100 wrote:

amaferanga wrote:

Seat stay? I've got some Smart lights that came with smaller brackets that are the right size for the seat stay.

I'll have a look and see if I can fit them to the seat stay - on first thought there may be two problems though, first is that I have a cateye TL-LD600 LED Rear Light [http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Cateye_TL-LD600_LED_Rear_Light/5300001124/] which would interfere with the spokes if it was on the seat stay as it's really wide, although I have a smaller light somewhere I'm sure. The other problem is that wont the light then be facing 'up' or at least not wholly rear-facing? Will that impact on its visability?[/url]

Can't you mount the light vertically instead?

gbsahne001

fit a mudguard light? that's what I've done, as I'm in the same position as you; mine was a "smart" light that has an integrated reflector, for the costly sum of £8. Seems to work OK, but early days for reliability etc.

rhext

A bit radical, perhaps but some racks have rear light mounts, and cateye do an adapter which allows their lights to be mounted on them.

That way you can still carry your gear on the back of the bike, but also mount a light directly to the rack.

I've tried mounting lights to seatstays with mixed success: Cateyes tend to be a bit of a no-no because even if you can get the bracket to fit round the seatstay, they're often too wide to mount horizontally and don't have enough angle adjustment to mount vertically. I managed to get a Smart light attached, but even that was angled slightly upwards at it's maximum angle adjustment.

ColMc100

Thanks for all this - very helpful. I should have said that I've got a crud catcher style mudguard, so I think it's difficult to fit a light on to them, and I cycle with a back pack on to work so cant attach a light to a rack - because I don't have one.

I think I'll try and get a seat stay mount and perhaps try two lights - one on each side. Failing that I suppose I'll have to buy new mudguards and get a light to fit them. Nightmare! Really appreciate the help, and any more suggestsions are very welcome.

Col

nwallace

THe Cateye I have on the seat stay is the squarish one that claims to be BS approved because it has a BS reflector in it :twisted:

TommyEss

I used this bracket to hold my rear light on the seat stay for time trialling duties - it's the newer version of your rear light, and I believe they have the same square mounting nodule on the back of the light unit.

I found it was pretty easy to get it on quite high up, it was on the bit of the seat stay above the brake calliper - and I tucked the bit of the band that goes through the loop inwards, so my leg wouldn't catch on it (after trimming it quite a bit)

Alternatively, this clamp plus this bracket combined should do the trick - seems to be designed for the majority of seat stays - though the cost of those two items versus the flex bracket is pretty negligible (normally I hate the flex brackets - but in this instance they worked for me!)

Hope that helps.

gs3

ColMc100

If your saddle bag is one of the underseat wedge type, it may be possible to fit THIS as redvee suggested but fit it just below the saddle bag so that it extends to the rear of the bag (if that makes sense?) and fit your lights as normal.

May not be suitable but that's my tuppence worth thrown into the ring..

It may also help if you could show us some pics of your predicament (NO - not that one!! :shock: )

singlespeedexplosif

as above - plus, what about using your helmet? I pop a couple of electron backupz (sic) in my helmets. They're backup lighting to all my other rear lights, and help make sure that even if you forget your lights you've got something there, but if you're struggling to find anywhere to pop a light, why not give it a go.

Canny Jock

I agree with the spacegrip option, used to have this when I used a saddle bag:

bornagainroadie

I have a wedge shaped saddle bag fitted under the seat with a CatEye LD600 underneath it on the top of the seat tube. It just fits but it looks odd because the light looks completely hidden under the saddle bag. Its worth paying close attention to getting the angle of the light right as the LED's in that light are very directional. I walked a good 100 yards down the road and looked back at the bike with the light on to make sure it was adjusted correctly for that distance it makes a big difference to how visible you are from behind.

Nick

Canny Jock

Nick, would it be visible to a lorry driver sat higher up though?

bornagainroadie

Good question. My belief is yes, but they would have to be further back I guess to acheive the same effect - which might be a good thing. I have hi-viz that I rely on for when vehicles are up closer. My intention was to try and give vehicles coming up behind as much notice as possible so they might react earlier.

Worth pointing out that a significant part of my commute is on country roads so I am not competing with street lights. Also worth noting that I am heading into my first winter as a bike commuter so apart from the observation that the LED lights are very directional anything else I said may be flawed.

Nick

ColMc100

Thanks for this - all incredibly useful and well thought out. I'll give the clamp and bracket that TommyEss suggests first I think because if that works I can stick one on each bike and just swap the light - but as some of you have said I will need to be careful that the light is stil visible and effective.

I'll let oyu know how I get on, I'm sure you can't wait! any other ideas keep posting as I'll keep checking. I'll upload some pics when I get home for info.

Col

Wallace1492

Rear facing light attached to your helmet (or hat/head)
Attach another one to back of rucksack.
Will be able to attach a light to saddle bag - might need to drill/sewglue.
Get some smaller "emergency" type lights that will fit almost anywhere and attach to seat stays.
The Smart lights attach to Seat Stays and can be angled to any direction.

Loads of options.... just open your mind Luke........

EKE_38BPM

What about Knogs? I've never used them, but I've heard good things about them.

shouldbeinbed

I've got a smart 1/2 watt attached to my saddle bag, I always find a place on a backpack straps/mesh to hook a light over and have another 1/2 watt smart one on the back of my helmet - these are all zip tied round the body and clip of the light and for the sake of a new tie when the batteries are changed I don't need to worry about them shaking about or dropping off.

vorsprung

All my bikes have saddlebags

I have the backup rear lights clipped on the saddlebags, carradice saddle bags have loops. One has a small Cateye and the other has a Smart Superflash

The main rear light on the audax bike is a generator powered b&m seculite+ on the mudguard
The main rear light on the commuter bike is a Cateye LD1100 mounted on the seat stay
My racing bike (summer commuter) just uses the small light on the saddlebag, it isn't used much in the dark

nwallace

I realised whiel testing out my LD20 that I can't see the status of my main rear light so reckon I could do with a couple of backup lights

So What's available for clipping on?
(Due to luggage the only place I can really put a light onto is the end of the rack so I'm needing something that I can attach to my bags as back up lights.)

fossyant

Two fibre flares attached to the seat stay, or indeed the saddle bag - Two largish safety pins through the fabric of the bag, and attach one of the fibre flares across.... I had two fitted like this to my rucksack. Very versatile lights.

Unfortunately, one of mine developed a faulty switch, and there was no stock once returned...... (make sure the switched end is uppermost, in case of water ingress).