Originally posted by jg1695
I just found these on the web. This looks like it might be a pretty killer blinkie. Maybe a compromise between the ubiquitous red led blinkie and a monster strob light.
Jg,
I don't see any reason to think these lights are an improvement over the better bike-specific tail lights already at the LBS.
Look at the tail lights at
www.trekbikes.com
The "Disco Tech Tail Light", for example, is a bright red LED, like the Light Tracker. It too gets about 50 hours from 2 AAA batteries, just like the Light Tracker. So, it's probably as bright as the Light Tracker.
The Trek light will be less than $20, though, at your LBS.
Better still would be a red LED tail light Trek sold last year that runs on 2 AA batteries. That's my primary tail light. If you can find that one, I recommend it. It's significantly brighter than the Disco Inferno lights on Trek's page. And it was only $15 or so. I don't believe those Light Tracker diving lights could be as bright, much less brighter, than this one, running as they do on 2 AAA batteries.
I also want to say a couple of more general things about the adequacy of LED blinkies. As I mention above, I have an expensive head light. I think of it as indispensable. So, I'm not opposed to spending on lighting to go well above the average illumination of night riders.
Still, I don't think anything more than a couple of red LED blinkies is needed in the rear. Note that I'm assuming these lights are in addition to adequate reflectors, which in my case includes ankle bands, a vest, and one large tail reflector. Even with just one bright LED flashing light in the rear, I have had no evidence that I'm not clearly visible to overtaking traffic, and plenty of evidence that I am.
If I'm on a dark, empty road, I can see the high beams of overtaking traffic being switched on when the car is still a long way back-- that is when drivers have seen me but don't yet understand what I am. I can hear their engines change pitch as they slow down. As they approach, I can see my shadow off the right as they move over to the left. This is all typical-- indeed, it more or less always happens.
On busy roads I'm also quite visible. There, the cars don't pull over, nor do they use their high beams for fear of oncoming traffic, but I know I'm seen because overtaking cars slow down from some considerable distance back before they pass me. To the extent they can, they move left. Or they'll just wait for oncoming traffic to clear and then go around.
These effects are even more pronounced when I have two LED blinkies in the rear, flashing at different rates. True, these lights are not as bright as car tail lights. But they flash, and they are at strange heights (I'll put one of them on the back of my head, for example.) They immediately attract attention.
I've also done my own tests, and I can tell you that red LED blinkies work. I especially like the two light combination, one above the other. It looks _weird_, and any driver who can't yet see what you are will slow down to get a sense of what he's dealing with. Maybe you're some piece of road equipment, jutting far out into the lane?
The brand of lights matters; I've been talking so far about good LED lights, like the Trek mark and some other brands. Others, like Bell lights, are not as good.
So, the strobes are fine, and I may yet get one as my next light. I don't think I need one, though, so I'll make do with the red LED's.
