Where to put your rear light if you have a saddle bag or rack?

johngwheeler

Simple question: if you have a bag under your saddle and/or a rack fitted, where is the best spot for a rear light?

There's no space on the seat post, and I've already moved the reflector disk to the end of the rack. The only place I've found is on the top bar of the rack, but this is a poor fit for the clip-on holder that is designed to go on seat post. The light tends to move with the vibration.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

mrb123

johngwheeler wrote:

Simple question: if you have a bag under your saddle and/or a rack fitted, where is the best spot for a rear light?

There's no space on the seat post, and I've already moved the reflector disk to the end of the rack. The only place I've found is on the top bar of the rack, but this is a poor fit for the clip-on holder that is designed to go on seat post. The light tends to move with the vibration.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

What brand of light do you have? Some brands (eg Moon) do attachments that are specifically designed for fixing to rear racks so you get a lovely secure mount.
https://www.edinburghbicycle.com/moon-r ... aa554.html
http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bike-li ... GwodRBsOaQ

mrfpb

The trend has been for mounts that only go on seat posts. Cat Eye have always doena a wide range for their lights - eg seat stay mounts and pannier rack mounts. Not all pannier racks have end plates though.

Alternatively If you are using a sadle bag, choose one with a tab for a "belt clip" type light fitting. I tend to do this and pass the rubber strap through and secure it so that the light is can't jump off the tab.

keef66

I have a Cateye on the seat-tube so it's below the seatpack but still above the rear wheel.
I have a clip-on Smart light on the loop at the back of the seat pack
And I've just bought a Moon Comet X Pro which I can attach to the RH seatstay.

If I ever get around to fitting the rack I'll probably mount the Cateye on that instead (I already have the necessary bracket)

My rear mudguard has a reflector built in, and I'm generally wearing all kinds of reflective kit myself.

keef66

mrfpb wrote:

Alternatively If you are using a sadle bag, choose one with a tab for a "belt clip" type light fitting. I tend to do this and pass the rubber strap through and secure it so that the light is can't jump off the tab.

I used my trusty old Cateye LD1100 this way for nearly a decade on my Topeak seat pack. Couple of times it bounced out but I put that down to me not fully inserting the clip, and I heard it go and retrieved it when it stopped bouncing down the road. Then I replaced the seatpack with another Topeak. On the new pack the clip was a tighter fit in the narrower loop, so I thought it would definitely be secure. Lost it completely on the first ride. Doubly annoying because it was a) in broad daylight and I'd just been too lazy to unclip it, and b) because it was 30 miles and I have no idea at which point it flew off.

On the plus side it prompted me to invest in some newer technology. The Moon Comet is a tiny little thing but retina searingly bright as I discovered when I tested it in the office.

And some cheap backups; the Smart lights were only £2.99 from Planet X

arthur_scrimshaw

Check out the SJS cycles website for loads of mounting brackets.

What light do you have, often that's going to be the limiting factor? You can often get creative with mounts, I have a moon back light which came with saddle rail, belt clip and seatstay mounts. I use a carradice super c audax bag with a bagman support for commuting which has a loop for a back light and I run a niterider solas from that (brilliant light with long run times) and I've used the saddle rail mount on the bag support to mount the Moon light.

compuwiz_uk

when i have the saddle wedge bag fitted i too use lights with a belt clip in the provided loop on the end of the wedge bag.

BUT i only tend to use the more expensive lights in my collection here as the clips are tougher ( cherry bomb, topeak redlight mega etc ) OK they still had a tendency to go walkies if you were not listening when on rough ground but a suitable bodge with an elastic band through the clip before fitting to the bag & then the band wrapped round the bag loop & the bottom of the light clip & then up & over the light, rinse & repat as often as you could till you ran out of elasticness & could stretch no more ( or i got a faceful of snapped laggy band - whichever occured 1st lol ) with said laggy band bodge they lights held on perfectly fine no matter how mad i went off road or how rough the roads got.

only time this failed me was when i fitted one of the planet x Phaaaaaaaaart .5W dual lights ( lovely & bright, only cost £2 or maybe £3 but now resides in the mesh pocket of the backpack i commute with as the belt clip broke under the force of gravity without even seeing a road let alone a rough one lol ( fitted to a bag on a bike hung up on my wall, went to get a bike & noticed said light on the floor belt clip still in the belt on the bag lol )


on the bike that got a seat post mount pannier i had 3 lights on that, 1 was a belt clip topeak mega ( modded by small slithers of clip cut off the edges to fit the mount - cherry bomb worked perfect unmodded BUT the switch was at the top & the light cycled through its modes over every bump as the bag hit the switch lol ), i then used some double sided velcro to secure a halfords rechargable rear light ( black cylinder type affair that looks like it may be a clone of the much more expensive cat-eye & such type units ) to the road side of the rack underside as a spare, then i belt clipped & elastic banded as well as zip tied another light to the carry handle on the end of teh bag ( zip ties held the light rear facing instead of facing the floor. )

also got a shed load of cheap ass ( 99p for 2 from china ) clipon thingies in red/white so that i can wrap a few elsewhere if needed ( seatstays / fork legs & such ) as blinkies as an extra line of defence.

other than that i just have various seatpost mount knogs ( the blinder rears have snapped rubber fasteners though so gunna have to work out another bodge for them in order to re-use em )


only other lights i have were more for comedy effect than lighting, they just loop round the seat rails or bag light loop, well practically anywhere you can fit the rubber band through that is its fastener. They only appear occasionally though, funny as hell seeing the shadow of the bike with em swinging away under the seat though

fenix

If theres no space on the seatpost - i'd probably go with a smart light on each seat stay. I know I have one on my fixed in that position - with another on the seatpost though.

I never go with just one rear light. Safety in numbers.

Attaching to a saddle pack is usually a bit rubbish - the light never seems to point where you want it.

janwal

I put an electrical tie through some holes in the back of my helmet.Then clip the light to it.It is higher up at driver eye level aswell.

mr_eddy

If you have a elastic loop style attachment then what I did is get some gaffa tape and put a load of tape around the vertical section of the rack so its roughly the thickness of a handlbar - the side that is not used (assuming you are only using 1 bag) then mount the light with the loop like you would do on a handlebar - Being off to the side keeps it away from direct spray and also very visible.

fenix

janwal wrote:

I put an electrical tie through some holes in the back of my helmet.Then clip the light to it.It is higher up at driver eye level aswell.

Just make sure it's pointing the right way though - if you drop your head then its pointing up to the sky.

Not keen on a helmet light being the only source of light - do make sure you have something on the bike too - it's confusing with a high light - looks like a bike further up the road than it is. Same with front helmet lights.

William Marshall

I clip them on to the saddle bag, and have had about three of them bounce off on descents so started to go cheap one on seat stay as well. Something I saw on someone else bike that was really effective and that I've copied on mine is getting some reflective tape and putting it along the full length of the mud guard. Surprisingly visible and acts as fail safe if light falls off (see above lol).

Garry H

Remove the reflector from the rack and attach a light instead.