Daytime Running (tail)lights

I LOVE it when you talk doity...is that wrong?

That Leyzyne Lithium'll give you a seizure. Oops, too late. lol

But, that's all right. Everybody needs to go a little pagan every now and then. I did once a while back and caught a little druid trying to look up my celt! I hit 'im with a tazer and tried to smoke his hair. I was DESPERATE!

And a Finn M39? I'm deeply in love. If it's a hex I'll die a happy man.

Oh yeah, 'Daytime Running Lights'. See my post and links above. Thank you. Elvis has left the building.

 

They are actually quite civilized. There's no strobe mode. (At least on the ones I checked). They are advertised different from Knog lights (which call their lights "blinder" and "strobe" etc).

Not to mention these Chinese Ali Baba concoctions which discharge 1kg lithium cells in 10min in strobe mode... Rave Party grade.

You tazed the druid? How are you gonna square this with the Coven? They probably casted the "rust spell" for your Copper Age rifles already.

 

I went out mid-day for a ride sporting the new tail light. I had my wife observe as I headed out and she said the it was clearly visible way down the road, even in full sun. I'm pretty lucky in my neck of the woods with wide, well paved country roads. Most with a wide shoulder. On average, traffic travels 40 - 50 mph. What surprised me was that it seemed like traffic was giving me a wider berth than usual when they passed. Maybe a light sends out a message that this cyclist is concerned with safety and their momentary reaction is to reciprocate. Then again, who knows. Whatever, this light will be part of every ride. And...I'll keep the neon too

 

I disagree with the decision to get the 1/2 watt Axiom because their not any brighter than my old Xenon flasher from the early 90's, those dimmer lights do not attracted attention, will get lost in a sea of car tail lights or oncoming car headlights. You could have gotten a 2 watt Cygolite Hotshot with rechargeable built in batteries for just $4 more. http://www.amazon.com/Cygolite-Hotshot-2-Watt-Rechargeable-Taillight/dp/B005DVA57Y

 

Is that also a "Smart Lights" from Taiwan clone like "Portland Design"?

 

I think running lights are a great idea for any vehicle or bicycle. Anything making use of the road really. Being seen is an important factor when sharing a road with motorized vehicles.

 

They do kind of look like those.

 

I use a Dinotte 400 rear light during the and night. It gives me the confidence to ride my bike.

 

Dinotte is a favorite day time tail light around here too. I have the older single LED tail light, 140R. It uses 4 AA NiMH cells in separate pack which I keep in the seatbag. The new ones have built-in Li-ion, 4 LEDs in compact unit that makes recharge easy.

These are bright enough to be seen on a sunny day from at least 1/4 mile back, and the battery lasts all day in flash mode. Dinotte isn't the cheapest solution around, but a good company for support, and even pays trade-in of $35 on the old units. My current light is 5 years old and still going strong.

 

I've had mine since 2010 (after a female rider in our club was "rear-ended" by a driver in a Landrover Discovery.
He claimed he didn't see her. Brenda eventually died). My rear light is the Dinotte 400L. The 400R is the latest version (I think).

 

Sorry to hear about Brenda, Maanderx. I had a riding buddy die a few years back. When we rode together it was the only time that cars honked their horns. He was erratic and all over the place. I wasn't with him when it happened, but it seemed that he was messing with his water bottle and zigged into a Ford Explorer. Driver wasn't at fault, but since, I always focus on holding my line. You just can't plan for the idiot motorist though.

Lots of good suggestions on lights. I'll probably upgrade soon. My riding is 100% daytime so I'll check out the 2 watt models. Thanks all.

 

When I'm riding alone I always have (very) bright lights front and rear. If I'm on a club ride I feel I'm safe(r) within the group, so tend not to use them.

 

Agreed. Having sipped the Super Flash kool-aid years ago when the Hotshot came out w/a negligible price difference it was a no-brainer.

Just to clarify from earlier posts I use the Sette .5 blinkies IN ADDITION to a Hotshot. ALL my bikes have a HS on the rear. The blinkies are used on my helmet and as backups.

 

https://sparse.cc/fixed-light-system

Diggin' these lights

 

Saw the Cygolite Hotshot at my LBS. With a 2W LED and very compact Li-ion battery built in, it looks like a screaming bargain for under $40. The run times shown on the package are impressive too.

But with the small battery and long run times quoted, suspect it's not as bright as the DiNotte's. Anyone know how the light output compares?

A quick search didn't yield any useful comparo's. Don't need specs, just want to know what it looks like from say 100m back vs the DiNotte.

 

I went with the Cygolite Hotshot (100 lumens) as recommended by Froze and paid under $30 at Amazon. Dinotte claims 200 lumens for a $189 pricetag. You make the call. I think 100 lumens is plenty visible.

 

I can likely make my own. I have a Cree LED here -- not sure of the output rating but I suppose it is 2 or 3 watts. A little soldering here, a little programming there, and presto! One relatively cheap tail light capable of doing multiple running modes.

Bob

 

In the light side portion of the news last night, they featured cycling to lessen traffic. Highlighted was the use of lights particularly tail lights at night to minimize the risk of accidents. There was this cyclist in a cool attire with helmet and glasses. His bike has a clip that holds his smart phone. And what's that for? He was using Waze (an app that shows the condition of the road in regard to traffic). He said that he could take alternate routes when the main road is clogged And Waze helpls him with that.

There was no mention of tail light during daytime but in motorcycles here, it is compulsory to have the headlight turned on any time of the day or night.

 

That is exactly it! Bicycling lessens both traffic and pollution! It is so much healthier, too! We have the Waze app here, but I don't know much about it and never feel the need for it since I live very close to my employer's office. I know all the streets and which ones are likely to have traffic at a given hour.

 

I searched all over the internet and time after time the best tail light under $90 came up as the Cygolite Hotshot (not the new EL version) which can be found on Amazon for about $28.

Here is an extensive review of many head and tail lights, scan to find the Hotshot: https://www.bikelightdatabase.com/reviews/ And here too: http://bicycles.blogoverflow.com/2012/03/tail-light-review/