So my Flash/Flare combo is dead and I’m not sending it back to Exposure again, my See Sense rear light has given up after being dropped in the garage once too often, so what should I be looking for in the Black Friday sales to replace them?

Small, bright, secure, USB charging, and capable of helping easily distracted morons see me in daylight.

I’ll start with a Moon comet.

Its not small but I have the lezyne lights (the older superdrive – so anything above 600 lumens I guess) and I feel it really works in the daytime. Enough that when I am riding on the LHS people stuck in their cars move to the right.

On the rear, the rear is good as well but I think you can get better.

The other alternative which I like, but don’t have, but should be similar are the cateye volt, its a very sleek design.

I’ve run ‘daylight’ lights for a few years and have got through a few, having started out with the same Exposure ones as you. Currently got the aluminium Aldi moon-style one on the rear which is superb. Only ever need to run it on the low setting. Picked up an Evans USB chargeable front one that’s been a revelation – leant it to a mate and couldn’t believe how bright it was when I was riding with him. Cost about £15 and comes with bar mount, weighs nothing and holds charge really well. Recommend both.

Is it the old seesense? If so then upgrade to the Icon – far more robust and just a better light all round. Also, seesense will probably repair your light for free / not much.

Cateye Volt 300 here. Good flashing mode that drivers definitely seem to see.

Exposure’s update of the Flash/Flare is the usb chargeable Trace/TraceR but the problem I had with the front light is it lacks a hood to stop you seeing the glare*. There’s another combo they offer with a larger front light that comes complete with a hood – can’t remember the name. That’s where I’d put my money.

*I fixed it with a strip of electrical tape. Works fine.

Should have added a £50 budget to my list!

The new See Sense lights are amazing but costly.

Smart lunar r2

USB Version available but doesn’t Have the Crazy disco mode the battery Version has

Have you tried contacting seesense about fixing your light? I dropped by when I was over visiting family and they replaced the internals on mine for free and gave me a sneak peek at what they had in development.

I’d suggest Moon Ring(s), having now seen them (and seen them easily!) on a wet, gloomy moorland day.

The little 400 lezyne light is good. Even the 350 would be worth a look.

Perhaps 350 front and 70 rear?

The rear is superb, the front probably adequate, and the price in budget. Hunt on the internet and you might get it cheaper still.

Or slightly more power at the front, same rear, less money at Halfords

Under budget….These any good.?
https://www.evanscycles.com/lezyne-macro-drive-600xl-micro-y9-light-set-EV246364

I use a Leznye Micro Drive for flashing daytime duties on the front. Seems pretty bright and doesn’t weigh much.

Something to consider…

You’ve posted that before. There’s a world of difference between a parked police car with lots of very bright flashing lights (the example given and relied on by the author) and a cyclist. Id agree that just relying on flashing lights in the dark means that other road users find it hard to judge your speed, and that using a gazillion lumens is unnecessary in traffic, but one of the biggest risks for cyclists is getting lost in saccadic eye movements, and I firmly believe that a flickering or pulsing light (not on/off blinking) will attract the attention of someone who is actually looking for a pair of headlights rather than any other road user.

something to consider

Good stuff. I find flashing lights an awful distraction. Like trying to follow movement under a strobe light, bicycles are harder to see if their light is intermittent, especially so if it’s very bright. I’d never use very bright lights on the bike unless I need to light my way, which is rarely the case on roads. Rears are bad enough, but flashing, bright white front lights on bicycles are a crazy idea.

Some good ideas there, can see some sort of Lezyne combo winning out.

I’m struggling to find a problem with flashing daytime lights for visibility – having struggled to see unlit cyclists on dull days or in heavy shadow, I’d like to make sure that the less cyclist aware drivers out there have a better chance of seeing me.

Dynamo light front and rear. The amount people spend on fancy lights that fail is quite funny, been there, moved on.

I seem to keep buying lights, and have small box full as a result, but of all of them this is the one that I think is by far the best for rear daytime A road use.

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/reviews/lights-reflectives/bontrager-flare-r-rear-light