Which L.E.D. Rear light?

[Cake]

Hello all,

I was wondering if anyone could recommend, from personal experience, a battery powered L.E.D. rear light, and why?

Thanks,

Gary.

[julk]

I have 4 locations where I use different LED rear lights :-

Seat pin - Cateye TL-LD1100 - very bright, shines to side and rear, but can be covered by long coat or heaped luggage on rack.

Rear rack plate - B&M 4D-Toplight Senso Multi - incorporates a large reflector, senso can switch on for you, hard to obscure with luggage, runs from my Schmidt SON Dynohub via Solidlights 1203DR or batteries.

Rear mudguard - Spanninga SPX BA - incorporates another reflector, senso can switch on for you, neat fit on mudguard.

Right ankle, fastened onto a home made velcro strap - VistaLite Eclipse - very light & bright, used flashing.

I hope this gives you some ideas.

[stutho]

Smart 1/2 Watt LED Rear.  Extremely bright and much cheaper than cateye it offer several different mounting options (my favorite place to mount it is on my saddle pack using the built in clip)

[Cake]

Thanks to you both!

I have bought a Smart Superflash 0.5w to try, after reading about quite a few people who had lost their Cateye TL-LD1100 due to an iffy mounting clip.

Now the rear light is sorted i can continue to save for the Schmidt Dynohub and SolidLights 1203D.... 

Or the 1203DR - my next information gathering project!  Julk, are their any down sides to running a rear light (to accompany a second rear battery powered light) from the Dynohub?  Does it rob Peter to pay Paul, so to speak?

Thanks again

Gary.

[julk]

Gary,

I have not had the 1203dr very long, I got my 18 month old 1203d upgraded recently to the dr spec. I wish I had bought the dr spec originally and saved some money.

Solidlights claim that you will not see a dimmer front light in normal riding, and this fits with my experience. I do notice a bit more front light flickering as I set off with the back light connected, but only up to about 5 miles an hour, after which I cannot see any difference.

I have an S&S coupled frame and as part of the 1203dr conversion had a cable connector inserted halfway along the rear light cable. This allows me to attach the rear light cable permanently, but I can still split the bike in half for easy carriage.

Julian

[PH]

Or the 1203DR - my next information gathering project! 

Although the Solidlights were the best thing available, by a long way, a couple of years ago, the technology has moved on and there are now better alternatives.  The newer generation of diodes produce over twice the output for the same power.  The single LED of the Supernova E3 outshines the Solidlights two and reaches full output at half the speed.  And now things have leapt forward again (after I bought my second Supernova ) The latest lights are far more focused compared to the usual cone beam.  They achieve this by facing the diode backwards and reflecting the light, the B&M IQ Fly has half the output of the Supernova but in normal conditions is just as effective and a third of the price.  Schmidt are also developing a LED light, using the more powerful diode and a reflected beam, maybe one worth waiting for.

[Fred A-M]

I'll vouch for the Supernova E3 having bought both front and rear lights on PH's recommendation - to the best of my knowledge however, you can't operate them with batteries.

[Cake]

Mmmm, the front Dynohub light is going to require lots of research!  Thanks for your comments, they are appreciated - i much prefer personal recommendation than marketing blurb.

I received the Smart Superflash 0.5w today - i can highly recommend it as far as brightness (extremely so!) goes and the build quality seems perfectly acceptable.  £12 delivered (ebay special!) is a very fair price for it - thanks Stutho.

[Fred A-M]

Ref the front Supernova E3 front dyno-light, it is simply awesome: when I was in Normandy, someone even commented that they thought I was a motorcyclist, such is its power.   The rear light is supposedly the brightest on the market, but that's a little harder to vouch for.   

[DavidH]

How long do the batteries last for? AAA batteries hold much less charge than a AA. I have avoided lights with AAA's in the the past because of this.

[Cake]

Apparently the 2 AAA batteries last 30hrs in flashing mode and 15 hrs in constant mode - which for the brightness is quite impressive. I will have to wait and see to confirm this though.

Perhaps Stutho has already found this out if he has had them a while?

[stutho]

Hi David,

30 hours is probably about right but I cant say I have timed it!  I have not found the battery life an issue.  (In a perfect world I would prefer a light with AAs but that is more to do with interchangeability)

One tip - In winter I use rechargeable cells. I recharge them at the end of every week (required or not).  In summer when I ride less at night I use primary cells as the self discharge of rechargeable cells would become an issue.

[DavidH]

Have just taken delivery of the Cateye TL LD1100, which claims 100hours per change of batteries, in flashing mode. My thoughts on having to change AAA batteries were based on an old rear light I had - I always seemed to be changing them, so I have developed an aversion to AAA,s.

Of course nowadays I have young kids who like fiddling with whatever is in the bike shed, so now I can discover my double AA lights have got run down, with a lot less than 100 hours of cycling in the dark! (That is another bonus with the Rohloff, it comes out of the shed, and you don't have to worry that the gear changer has been fiddled with!).

At the front end I bought a Singleshot Plus (£68 from JD's), which gives an impressive amount of light, for not too much money. Should be ok for my commute through Mirkwood after a long day at the office. I might yet buy the SON one day...

[Danneaux]

I've had good luck with the 1-watt LED blinkys, and have settled on two I am happy with:

1) PDW (Portland Design Works) 1-watt Radbot 1000: http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/pdw-radbot-1000-1w-led-tail-light-prod24081/
Mounts nicely on a rear rack, on a chainstay or seatpost, or unclips to go on clothing or a messenger bag.  3 modes: Steady or two flashes (slow and fast only; the zzz-POP option has sadly been discontinued). Includes an approved red reflector in addition to the LED. Generous side-visibility.  Uses 2 AAA cells and requires a small screwdriver to open the battery door.  This is the one I have mounted to a rack stay (my dynohub-powered B&M Toplight Line Plus is mounted to the center of the rack).

2) Blackburn 1-watt Mars 4.0: http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/blackburn-blackburn-mars-40-rear-led-light-prod17935/
Mounts similarly to the PDW and also has a secure clip for use on a bag.  2 modes: Steady or flash. No reflector.  Good side-visibility and side-facing separate amber LEDs. Uses 2 AAA cells and requires only a coin to open the battery door. Really very small. This is the one I clip to the loop on the rear of my rack-top bag for long day rides in addition to the two above.  It has served well by itself, though a separate reflector is required in that case. It has worked nicely for me on a number of 300-400km rides, including those in foul weather through the night.

Blackburn Mars 4.0 has the edge for waterproofness. Though I've never had a leak with the Radbot 1000, I think it is just possible water might be able to enter through the switch, though I haven't tested for that.

Each of these has proven to have good battery life for AAA-powered units, especially on the flashing settings.  Each is bright enough to show nicely red on my neighbor's garage door across the street, and each makes me feel sick when I look directly into them.  When I ride at night, my rearview mirror often shows a red reflection behind me on trees and traffic signs.  Each is also nicely daylight-visible, and I often use them when riding in heavy commuter traffic.  Example here: http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=3896.msg17272#msg17272

[il padrone]

Blackburn Mars 4.0 and Dinotte 400R, compared to a car tail-lights