So, what’s the rear light du jour then? Needs to be stupidly bright, flashing/strobing and constant, as well as having good side visibility (Something the mighty hand grenade excelled at)
Yep, same as above Great little units and if you loose one, not the end of the world in cost. They’ve doubled in price since November though (which is when I bought a pair)
Rich, Stoner, what’s the bracket/mounting like on those? Smarts haven’t really impressed me on that front before….
BTW £50 budget for a rear light ,are you serious?
Fully. If it takes £50 to buy the best, brightest light I can find, and that light means I’m seen in the visual maelstrom that is London traffic at night, then I’ll pay that much. Maybe even more.
I’ve never been impressed by how to get the batteries in and out of smart lights… I like the gently-turn-the-end opener on the hand grenade, I don’t like the hope-the-clips-don’t-crack-or-break-off opener on all the smart lights I’ve seen. My hand grenades have lasted years, I would be surprised if my smart ones last that long.
loum – Member
Get another hand grenade, and then you’ve got a spare mount for your other bikeS.
That’s a very good point.
Phiiiiiiil, I agree on the flimsy feel of Smarts, hence my question about the bracket. Will have to try and have a look at one. Just as well I have a back up light with me today! (Shitty little Knog thing I got as a helmet light. It’s rubbish)
rear smart lights do seem to be the brightest, but their waterproofing is poor, especially if your light gets all the spray from the rear wheel.
I saw a guy the other day with a light on his helmet – it appeared to be attached to the back of an Exposure Joystick-type light and it was EPICALLY bright – I tried to catch up with him to ask what it was…
might have a search…
Prefer fibre flare’s myself, not stupidly bright (but that means you don’t make drivers shut their eyes as they drive past you…) but they are very visible
I saw a guy the other day with a light on his helmet – it appeared to be attached to the back of an Exposure Joystick-type light and it was EPICALLY bright – I tried to catch up with him to ask what it was…
If it was plugged into a Joystick it’s more likely to be a Red Eye the Flare is a self-contained unit.
Really like my Flare, get the rechargeables though.
I’ve just broken the bracket for my grenade, so I’m using a Cateye Rapid 3 at the moment and pretty happy with it. Relatively cheap too. But it does seem to be missing a mode (central LED on steady and the other 2 flashing).
Not the brightest out there by a long way I’m sure, but if you’re not interested in the arms race it’s bright enough.
If you have a DX light, you’ll now have a spare battery for it and if you buy the y-cable also on ebay you can just plug the light unit into your existing setup.
The Hand Grenade is dead! Long live the Hand Grenade!
Found an ex-demo light hanging around my LBS, so have scavenged it for parts. End cap/battery retainer had broken on mine, so I now have a spare, as well as a full spare body to go with it. Which is nice.
However, thought I’d treat myself to a new helmet light anyway, and got one of these
Frankly, it’s offensive. I had it on epileptic-fit-inducing-strobe mode today on the ride to work and another rider came up behind me at the lights and said two things;
“(Expoletive deleted) that light’s bright! Any chance you could turn it off at the lights, it’s damn near blinding me!”
And then, after a little chat,
“Where can I get one?”
If you insist! Moon Shield 60. USB recharger (Sadly not the same lead as my phones, but no real hassle to carry!)
Three different settings on constant – Bright, Really Bright and OH MY DAYS THAT’S BRIGHT!
Then, two flashing modes. One is a subtle on/off flash at the latter of the above settings, and the other is a franky mental strobing effect, also at the brighter setting. All seems very well screwed together, pretty weatherproof (yet to prove/disprove that, though). Bracket is a rather clever strap-on that works well with my helmet (Giro Xaaaaaaaar), but would also be a good emergency strap on to put on one of the other bikes. There’s also the clip-on option, but that looks pretty small and therefore not one I’ll be using.