So, the Flare has run out of warranty and I’ve run out of patience with it’s erratic on/off/flashing/not flashing mood swings.

Looking for a small, bright, rechargeable rear light that will be visible to drivers in daylight.

What does the hive mind suggest?

Exposure Red eye?

/runs

seesense.co

Specialized Flux Expert – 100+ lumen and can be had for £50 or so if you shop round

http://cyclingtips.com.au/2015/03/specialized-flux-lights-review/

I also got fed up with my Flash & Flare playing silly burggers so got a Lezyne Micro rear.

Very bright and not suffered with water ingress. Revised cradle has meant the light doesn’t go awol though the run time is still rubbish at 2 – 2.5 hours.

@Saccades – nowt wrong with red eyes provided you have a front light to plum them in to

My Flash and Flare have repeatedly gone back for repair – bought in 2011. Replaced last year and just fixed again…
From a ‘do they work’ point of view this is rubbish but when they do work they’re great and Exposure’s service has been excellent – always taken back and tried to fix them (albeit not always successfully).

Personally I would send them back again and ask them to fix or replace…

Although I have a couple of Lezyne Zectos which have been faultless…

I’ve been using some Lezyne Zecto Drive lights for the past 9 months or so. Pleasantly surprised by them. They’re great “be seen” lights and the pulse mode is very effective for daylight. For night time use they have a mode where one LED stays on and the others flash, which I think is the best combo for dark roads. They’ve survived a winter of commuting and also used when mountain biking so getting well and truly covered in water and crud.

Run time is maybe their only downside. I reckon about 5hrs tops so frequent charging is needed. That said, the battery indicator is accurate so easy to see if you’ve got enough charge.

My Flare was replaced twice before it went awol.

Replaced it with a Tracer and it has been spot on since I bought it, even leave on the bike when I wash it.

#kissofdeath

+1 for the Exposure TraceR. Been running one for around six months now and has been excellent (touch wood). Before that I had three Moon Shield 60s, which are generally fine, but eventually die from water ingress.

I’ve been using an exposure traceR for about 18 months now and it’s been great, I use it 6 days a week whatever the weather and its performed perfectly.

seesense.co

This ^

Another +1 for Lezyne Zecto drive rear lights, used them for two winters of commuting and have been faultless, with battery time still good. Great side visibility and excellent flash mode.

Mtb batteries have an identical one for a slightly cheaper price:

http://www.mtbbatteries.co.uk/mountain-bike-lights/triple-rear/

I replaced a shed load of Lezyne lights with the Flare. Bloody things lasted no time at all. Several mates came to the same conclusion.

For things as safety critical as lights, the Flash and Flare are pathetically erratic. I now have two pairs (more fool me), which is handy as it reduces the risk that I’ll be left without any operating lights due to them randomly switching off partway through my commute.

I’ll bookmark this thread and consider my commuting light options again when Autumn begins.

I’ve also added a TraceR to my (substantial) Exposure lights collection and thus far it’s been fine. I’ve personally preferred USE’s products though the Flash & Flare are probably their most marmite products.

Moon shield 60 for me. Rechargeable via usb, upto six hours runtime on flashing mode and bejesus it’s bright. Normally have it pointing down slightly for two reasons, not to blind and piss people off behind me and its that bright it illuminates the back wheel and the road beneath it.

Not just me that finds them garbage then, although when they do work they are excellent, it’s just rare they are reliable for long!

Interesting that so many of us have had problems with the Flare – to be fair, the Flash only had to go back once and has been faultless since.

Will go off and do some more research based on some of the suggestions above. Liking the Lezynes, also get a discount at the LBS that stocks them…..

Moon Comet?
Bontrager also have a nice rechargeable rear light coming out soon. I’ve seen a sample and was impressed.

I had a Flare – it was crap, kept switching itself off mid-ride which is really bloody annoying.

Now have a TraceR and it’s brilliant, ultra-bright and USB rechargeable to boot. Middle setting is still bright enough to annoy passing cars.

Those seesense lights look very impressive.

Have to say, I’m drawn to the Lezyne Zecto Drive – can get a set of front and rears for the price of the TraceR or seesense rear.

Can you charge the Lezynes with a mains adapter though? – talks a lot about charging from computers but if I plug it in at work it will be gross misconduct, (gotta love the civil service!) and we don’t have computers on much at home to charge it regularly if the run time isn’t great.

Tracer is a totally different beast to a flare.

It’s a great light.

GB

I’ve been running a Moon Shield for maybe the last 4 years and it has been perfect. I’m a fairly heavy user cycling in all weathers. I also bought a Moon Comet maybe three years ago and it is still perfect, although it gets an easy life on a mud-guarded bike.

I’ve found the Knog Blinder R to be bright, reliable and have good run time.

Turns out one of the SeeSense stockists is a bloke in a shed a couple of villages away who I didn’t know existed.

He’s also a nice helpful guy, so he’s got one less 95 lumen rear light in stock now. He showed me the 125 lumen version in action, and it was painfully bright. WhoTF would need the 250 version?!

Hint for those with erratic Flash/Flare lights.

Get a small piece of tin foil, maybe 5cm square. Fold it in half repeatedly until you have a tiny little square, a bit smaller than the base of the battery. Put it against the battery, drop the case over it then screw the light bit on.

It pads out the battery and aids the contact, that’s what causes the light to fail. I’ve had a couple of sets of Flash/Flare and they’re brilliant when they work but they can be worryingly erratic at times. That foil trick seems to have fixed mine.