Rear light to keep freaky drivers off my ass

Murphybarnes

I require a rear light. Basic but bright for road work on my MTB. Just something to fit on the seat post. Cheap and cheerful. Any thoughts?

RevellRider

I use this, it's pretty bright and fairly good on the batteries

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=56546

Murphybarnes

Visible from up to one mile? Holy shit. Sounds perfect. Give me a fighting chance against the 4X4 that almost creamed me today. Thanks.

bennett_346

I doubt that part is true

supersonic

Thy are visible from 50 miles in the right conditions, is marketing rubbish lol.

Have a look at the OnOne Phaart.

Richie63

I've been liking my Lezyne Femto CRC 11.49 as effective cheap and looks good

Oh Marone

RevellRider wrote:

I use this, it's pretty bright and fairly good on the batteries

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=56546

I use the same light (Smart lunar 35 F/R set ) and it is extremly bright, they would have to be blind as a bat to miss it. So bright in fact that I have angled mine down a bit so it doesn't burn the dosy drivers retinas out.

There is an almost identical one for £2.50 + p&p although I can't vouch for how good/bad it is, but for that price it has got to be worth a punt. http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/LIP ... rear_light . Or a dual version for the same price http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/LIP ... rear_light

EDIT: Sorry Supersonic your post wasn't showing when I linked to the same light you mentioned.

Murphybarnes

That cheap? At last, something effective and functional and not crucifying my wallet. Good work.

The Rookie

I love my Moon shield 60, internal rechargeable battery and really really bright, drivers at work say coming up behind me it's as bright as a fog light. Mine cost about £30 off ebay.

Neal_

Ditto the Phaart, this one in particular http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/LIP ... rear_light

allthegearnoidea

ive the Phaart light on both my bike andhe wifescommuter, Very bight and for the mone you simply ca go wrong, order 3 an with the postage is a tenner,
take 2aaa batteries, have a fw mode, On, flashing, random flash etc. very well sealed and great service from on-one/planetX too,
highly recommend them,

kevinharley

4 of these, just £3.99 incl delivery (less than a quid each!)

http://www.flatoutcycles.co.uk/pack-of- ... 3668-p.asp

They're not the biggest or brightest lights you can get, but a couple on your seatpost and one on the back of your helmet should be plenty!

The Rookie

I doubt they are that bright if 2 CR2032's last 72 hours!

Ouija

The Beginner wrote:

I doubt they are that bright if 2 CR2032's last 72 hours!

+1

Personally, i use a 10 watt Cree XML T6 torch with a red lens high up on my backpack. Point it straight down at the road to avoid blinding approaching cars, but still lights up my back, the bike and surrounding road in a way that you can't fail to miss. Only get a couple of hours run time out of it though. But it's not a problem, as the battery is rechargeable and carrying a spare isn't much of a problem.

rolf_f

supersonic wrote:

Thy are visible from 50 miles in the right conditions, is marketing rubbish lol.

Have a look at the OnOne Phaart.

Anyone compared this directly with a Smart one for quality? I bought a couple of Smart copies from Rutland. They were OK and the strobe on the main was usefully different to the Smarts flash. However, the parts weren't as well moulded. One bounced out of the clip and the back piece was never seen again. Some months later, the other managed to lose everything but the back piece. So I still have one Frankensmart from the two but the halves are held together with insulation tape and I can only use it as an emergency light.

If the PX ones are good though I'd be tempted. The half watts seem hard to find now and the 1 watts aren't half as good due to much shorter battery life (need daily recharging rather than weekly.....)

The Rookie

Rolf F wrote:

The half watts seem hard to find now and the 1 watts aren't half as good due to much shorter battery life (need daily recharging rather than weekly.....)

The OP wants bright, 1W is brighter than 1/2W - nuff sed!

rolf_f

The Beginner wrote:

Rolf F wrote:

The half watts seem hard to find now and the 1 watts aren't half as good due to much shorter battery life (need daily recharging rather than weekly.....)

The OP wants bright, 1W is brighter than 1/2W - nuff sed!

I'm selfishly looking after my own interests! Anyway, the Phaarts are 1/2 watt. Besides, 2 half watts = one 1 watt and one half watt at full whack is brighter than a 1 watt that is running its batteries down! Part of the problem is that the secondary leds on the Smart 1 watt are on all the time.

If only AAAs could be had with more puff.

The Rookie

Rolf F wrote:

Besides, 2 half watts = one 1 watt

No they don't, first point of failure.

Most LED's are limited be peak battery current anyway and get nowhere near the power drawer or lumens advertised.

The 2W Moon Shield is seriously bright and I don't doubt that the 60lumens is close to real comparing it to 2 other torches of similar capability with big batteries.

supersonic

All depends on the LED, and brightness also depends on beam angle.

rapid_donkey

I use a smart polaris 3 LED rear light whe I go out on night rides and have road sections to cover. Its bright enough for me, I have it on flash mode, I think its quite hard to miss.

http://www.allterraincycles.co.uk/.Smar ... 121740.htm

The bracket is standing up to lots of mud and abuse aswell (an Oxford rear light I first bought had a bracket that snapped after 1 ride).

Murphybarnes

Ordered the Phaart half watter for silly money from Planet X. Threw in some silly On One socks to make the postage worth while too.

Ouija

Ordered both Phaarts the other day and they've both turned up today (quick or what). The single phaart is pretty crap as it spends most of it's time blinking it's two (extremely dim) lower led's and then does a single momentary flash of the big 0.5w, meaning your in darkness for most of the time (probably saves on batteries though). The double 0.5w phaart, on the other hand, is brilliant. Either both on, both flash in unison or ping pong bang and forth between each other so that it's always putting out lots of light. Probably go through the batteries quicker but there's no chance of anyone failing to see you.

ride_whenever

The shield is simply my favourite rear light, closely followed by the comet. The shield straps on and off really easily, the brackets are durable and no noticeable drop in battery life after a year or so. Plus it's usb rechargable so you can charge it at work and save on power entirely.

It is so much brighter than the 1/2 watt lights it's unreal!

The comet is similar but doesn't project a beam so is a brilliant be seen light as it has 180 degree visibility.

Murphybarnes

Ouija wrote:

Ordered both Phaarts the other day and they've both turned up today (quick or what). The single phaart is pretty crap as it spends most of it's time blinking it's two (extremely dim) lower led's and then does a single momentary flash of the big 0.5w, meaning your in darkness for most of the time (probably saves on batteries though). The double 0.5w phaart, on the other hand, is brilliant. Either both on, both flash in unison or ping pong bang and forth between each other so that it's always putting out lots of light. Probably go through the batteries quicker but there's no chance of anyone failing to see you.

Your right, Stevie Wonder couldn't miss it. Result.

batmo

Wondering about the person responsible for naming the two models; Bleep and Booster were strip cartoon characters from 1970s Blue Peter annuals.

Not sure who is sadder, them for naming or me for knowing...

rolf_f

The Beginner wrote:

Rolf F wrote:

Besides, 2 half watts = one 1 watt

No they don't, first point of failure.

Most LED's are limited be peak battery current anyway and get nowhere near the power drawer or lumens advertised.

The 2W Moon Shield is seriously bright and I don't doubt that the 60lumens is close to real comparing it to 2 other torches of similar capability with big batteries.

But simply not necessary. There comes a point when enough is really enough! The point I was getting at about the half watt is that it really is enough to make you visible in traffic. You don't need to keep upping the output. Two half watts don't equal a 1 watt - they are greater than a 1 watt; ultimately, 2 good lights will make us more visible than one better light. If we just keep demanding more watts, where does it get us? Once we are visible, we are visible. The only thing that worries me about my back lighting (currently one half and one one watt Smart) is whether the batteries are still doing their job.

The Rookie

A 1Watt light is visible at a greater distance than a 1/2Watt, having 2 1/2Watts doesn't stop that.

Also 2 1/2watts are not each as bright, the moon Shield at 60lumen (claimed anyway) is massively brighter than 1/2Watt lights, I dare say the OP is visible now, doesn't stop them sitting on his arris, psychology comes into play, a driver sits further back from a brighter light as they tend to use brightness as an arbiter of distance, cars definately sit further back now I have the shield.

Neal_

Ouija wrote:

Ordered both Phaarts the other day and they've both turned up today (quick or what). The single phaart is pretty crap as it spends most of it's time blinking it's two (extremely dim) lower led's and then does a single momentary flash of the big 0.5w, meaning your in darkness for most of the time (probably saves on batteries though). The double 0.5w phaart, on the other hand, is brilliant. Either both on, both flash in unison or ping pong bang and forth between each other so that it's always putting out lots of light. Probably go through the batteries quicker but there's no chance of anyone failing to see you.

I've got two of the RSP (Raleigh) versions of the Phaart Bleep (2xhalf watt), one on the back of my lid usually on solid and the other on my seatpost flashing alternatively which I'm assured by everyone is annoyingly bright so I got relegated to the back of the group on the road sections between trails and cars seem to give me a wide berth when I'm on my own. I use Sanyo Eneloop AAA's which get recharged infrequently and I'm yet to have the lights shut off or dim significantly

Murphybarnes

Batmo wrote:

Wondering about the person responsible for naming the two models; Bleep and Booster were strip cartoon characters from 1970s Blue Peter annuals.

Not sure who is sadder, them for naming or me for knowing...

Ah, Lesley Fud...... :?

Murphybarnes

Anyway, the Phaart bleep dual is super bright and comes with a Euro Emergency Service type flash thingy, which is nice. No idea on battery useage but it's AAA so let's not hold our breath. For £2.50, who gives a toss......I must remember that as the green oval stamps itself to my forehead.