Rear light

[Matt2matt2002]

Any thoughts, experience or opinion?
https://www.shopomnia.co.uk/collections/cycling/products/led-safety-bike-light

[energyman]

Got one ! (Actually got two)
The more expensive one has a few more LED flashing modes.
The rearward light is good to very good.  Batteries lasted well.
The laser bit is next to useless.
I fitted one to my wife's bike and from a car drivers perspective the laser was hardly noticeable.  From a following cyclist's it was there but better on flashing mode.
Bit of a gimmick really.
I use the laser for lining up wallpaper.

[David Simpson]

I use the laser for lining up wallpaper.

Your wife doesn't mind bicycle tyre tracks on the wall?   

- DaveS

[High Moors Drifter]

Matt.

Is the intention to use this for day visibility?

Id.

[Matt2matt2002]

Matt.

Is the intention to use this for day visibility?

No, I just saw the add and wondered how effective it was.

Id.

[energyman]

I use the laser for lining up wallpaper.

Your wife doesn't mind bicycle tyre tracks on the wall?   

- DaveS

No, she is very tolerant that's why I married her.

[Andre Jute]

By common consent, BUMM's Line Plus is a good rear dynamo lamp. Not too pricey by BUMM standards, but looks like cheap plastic because that's exactly what it is. Works, though, including as a daylight warning lamp. No blinky mode, curse those silly German legislators.

For rear battery lamp with several blinky modes and a good strong steady lamp (you can use both at the same time), again by longtime common consent, the Cateye TL-LD1100 is a superior lamp. Excellent as a daylight running lamp, extraordinarily economical of its two AA batteries -- 200 hours of use!

I use both and run them whenever the bike moves; I have no hesitation in recommending both as a minimum spend each for its own functions if you want dedicated bike lamps.

If you're prepared to bodge a non-bicycle lamp to the frame, Banggood and Gearbest from time to time have red-LED small torches. I use a white one as a front flasher, fitted to the handlebars on a fish mouth or sometime by plastic tie. The li-ion battery lasts a few rides but I charge it after every ride, just to be certain, because it is part of my bike security. If a driver comes from the front at too much speed for my narrow lanes, or taking up too much space, I wriggle the handlebars to attact his attention, if he is still stupid I tilt the bike to sweep the lamp across his car below the windowline, and if he is really stupid I next turn the lamp by hand into his eyes. Similar good quality torches are made with red LEDs for rear use. Flasher, constant and various focus modes. Cheap. Mine cost a bit over a tenner landed, including battery and charger. White front version at http://www.gearbest.com/led-flashlights/pp_6175.html -- search the site for the red rear version.

[martinf]

By common consent, BUMM's Line Plus is a good rear dynamo lamp. Not too pricey by BUMM standards, but looks like cheap plastic because that's exactly what it is. Works, though, including as a daylight warning lamp. No blinky mode, curse those silly German legislators.

For rear battery lamp with several blinky modes and a good strong steady lamp (you can use both at the same time), again by longtime common consent, the Cateye TL-LD1100 is a superior lamp. Excellent as a daylight running lamp, extraordinarily economical of its two AA batteries -- 200 hours of use!

I use both and run them whenever the bike moves; I have no hesitation in recommending both as a minimum spend for its functions if you want dedicated bike lamps.

Similar to my own choice.

All but one of the family bikes have hub generators. The bike that doesn't is my wife's Brompton, hardly ever used at night. And no generator on the trailer.

- Brackets on all the family bikes (except the visitor bikes) for Cateye LD1100 battery lamps. I have 3 of these lamps and move them between bikes as needed. I use two on the bike trailer, as it is fairly wide. But not sure if the LD1100 is still made.

- B&M Line Plus on bikes with compatible rear racks and the two Bromptons with hub generators. Line Plus is a good lamp, but with one weak point, the standlight capacitor eventually comes loose on the circuit board due to vibrations. Can be repaired by soldering flexible wire leads to the circuit board, but this means cracking the lamp open and glueing it back together. Done this on two lamps so far.

- B&M Secula, similar philosophy to the Line Plus but smaller and cheaper. Mounts on the rear mudguard. On all bikes except the Bromptons and the visitor bikes.

The two visitor bikes are on the island where we have a flat and used in conditions with low vehicle traffic, so I haven't yet upgraded the previous generation of B&M Seculite rear lamps on these.

So I have three rear lamps on my two Thorn Ravens with Thorn rear racks, and on my old 650B bike with a Tubus rear rack. The 3W hub generators on these bikes (SON or Shimano) power a B&M Cyo front lamp, B&M Line Plus and B&M Secula without any problems.

[geocycle]

Martin, I'm intrigued by you having a rack light and mudguard light powered from your hub. How have you wired this? Two cables from front light or one to the rack light then to the mudguard?

[martinf]

Double cable (live and earth) from front lamp to rack lamp. Then double cable from rack lamp to mudguard lamp. The two generator rear lamps are wired in parallel.

[IanW]

I also run a B&M Toplight Line (dynamo) + Cateye TL1100LD on no less than 3 cycles (one is a trike).
All are fitted onto the rear end of a rear rack.
Both rear light (types) are very effective and act as a mutual backup for each other.

I like the idea of 2 rear dynamo-powered rear lights
with suitably separated mounting locations
so as to provide 2 spatially separated light sources,
but, given the rear-rack mounting location, I find that a rear end of mudguard mounting location to be a bit vulnerable.

Given that I often have a pair of rear panniers fitted then I am considering a pair of Fibre Flare ("shorty" size) mounted onto the outside rear vertical pannier edges. But I don't currently do enough night-time hours to justify the expense.

I also run StVZO compliant dynamo-powered (various makes/models) + battery-powered (Cateye TL-LD630-F)) front-lights on the front.

I also favour a Petzl e-Lite as a person-mounted third backup light
as this works off-the-bike for emergency (i.e. puncture) repair.

I have also considered, but not yet purchased a Fibre Flare full-length in yellow / amber as side-visibility lights
but again my current usage does not justify the expenditure.

[martinf]

but, given the rear-rack mounting location, I find that a rear end of mudguard mounting location to be a bit vulnerable.

The mudguard location looks vulnerable. But I have had mudguard mounting rear lamps since the early 1980's and have yet to break one, though some of the older ones have picked up a few scratches.

Early mudguard mounting rear lamps very oten had steel cages to protect the lamp from bashes. I still have one of these cages dwarfing a Seculite on the oldest visitor bike.

The more recent LED models are smaller and lighter, so IMO even less likely to be broken. And cheap enough so it doesn't matter too much if they are.

One problem used to be that the weight of a mudguard lamp could reduce the life of the mudguard itself, perhaps one of the reasons that old French bikes tended to have stainless steel rather than plastic mudguards. Again, the current B&M Secula is so small and light that this ought not to be a problem.

[Pavel]

Martin, what is the advantage of the parallel wiring over using two dynos separately to split the load to different lights or devices/lights.  Does it result in being able to charge at slower speed - or have I got that wrong?

[martinf]

Martin, what is the advantage of the parallel wiring over using two dynos separately to split the load to different lights or devices/lights.  Does it result in being able to charge at slower speed - or have I got that wrong?

One of my previous messages is ambiguous 

"The 3W hub generators on these bikes (SON and Shimano) power a B&M Cyo front lamp, B&M Line Plus and B&M Secula without any problems."

More clearly "SON or Shimano" - so only 1 hub generator per bike. I'll change the original message.

I don't do charging (except the capacitors in standlights). Having 2 rear lamps and 1 front lamp doesn't seem to make an appreciable difference to performance with the 3W hub generators I use - not noticed any extra resistance when pedalling or any increase in minimum speed needed to get reasonable lighting.

[energyman]

I recently fitted a 1.5 watt dynamo hub to run front & rear lights.  LED lights both.  Compared to previous halogen or discharge lights they are incredible.  B&M of course.