[Closed] I cannot succeed with rear lights.

Don't use them off-road, then they won't annoy your mates. Turn them on again when you get on the road.

That is standard practice but inevitably road riding is required at some point. Keeping water out is my biggest gripe at the moment though.

Cateye have always been good to me, once you get above the entry level. I do put a wee bit of silicon grease around the seals/battery doors though.

I hadn't thought of that. Good idea.

I usually run electrical tape or strong clear tape around the seals, it stops a bit more of the crap/water getting in.

I've got all sorts of rear lights from the ones from poundland, led ones, mini 2032 battery ones and expensive USB battery ones.

In my experience the pound ones have been as good as anything but only when taped up. They also seem to last for months.

Cateye rapid micro. Mine works in a glass of water. I run two, one saddle mounted, the other on the seatpost. .

attach to your camelback instead of bike?

i got some cheap rubbish that came free with chineese CREE lights from ebay, and well, they just won't die.... their 4 years old now and have with stood everything i've thrown at them, they use the batteries really efficiently too, i just put a new set in when the clocks go back and i'm done... bloody things....

i realise this post isn't a great deal of help to you.

I just bought a few of the cheap Phaart ones from On One when they were £1.99. Leave one on each bike and can easily turn round and flick them on when needed.

One did flop around the other day so just needed tightening (would suggest thread lock or replace the but with a nyloc) but they have been hosed down, submerged in mud etc and no problem.

A bit of vaseline on the seals may help if you do get leaks.

Using Smarts on my commuter and MTB, both fitted with mudguards to keep the worst off both me and the lights,and always smear Blue Hylomar non-setting jointing compound on all the mating surfaces when assembling them, ride in all weathers without problems. As above, never switch them on if i'm in a group ride off road as it's distracting and annoying.

Keep an eye out for Aldi cycling gear when it comes around. I got some of the Moon lookalike lights they did a few months ago and they're superb. Bright, stable, well-sealed and long-lasting (at least 3 hours on the lowest flash setting which is still frickin bright). £8 each

AlpKit do something similar to the moon/aldi style lights. Or you can get them off eBay. I've got a front aldi one and it's great for being seen.

+1 for the electrical tape. Wrap it tightly around all seals and buttons. Seems to work on my Aldi Moons well, after I killed the last one running it in torrential rain on my road bike seatpost

Mudguards to keep them dry, or put somewhere away from mud and water (backpack).

I've only lost rear lights, never had them break on me or get water in them.

All my road bikes have full guards, and on MTB I attach it to my bag or helmet rather than seat post.

I use a Fibre flare on my road bike, despite me riding without mudguards for the last 2 and a bit years its holding up well. Never had an issue with it not working once its got a good soaking and it can easily be fitted to the seat stays if you really want it kept out of the way.

The length of it means its still visible in muddy conditions as it will take a lot to cover the entire thing.

Cateye TL-LD600

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/cateye-tl-ld600-led-rear-light/

I've been using these for years in all weathers frequently getting covered in mud and soaked in water. Never had one fail. Cheap now as well!

Moon Nebula. Stick it on the superfast flashing mode and it won't be blinding anyone. It's also not very bright in that mode. Just don't use it off road and remember to turn it on when you get off.

I also find that the battery compartment always seems to allow water in eventually (I run full mudguards and have used many different lights over the years) so my last purchase was a sealed, USB rechargeable light. This has successfully survived winter commuting and being parked outside, so far. Cygolite Hot Shot, but similar alternatives are available.

About once a year I find a usable light on the side of the trail.
To counteract this I also lose one on a yearly basis.
That's karma man.

I switch my rear lights off on the trail. The inevitable "is my back light on" group Q&A session happens every time we do a road section...

A a general point, for front and back lights, I really wish they had a simple on-off switch rather than cycling through modes.

I've taken 2 approaches and both work.

Cheap - phaart duel led jobbies. But you need to tape up the seal/battery join or they fill with water. Also the bracket is poor, so use an old cateye or similar robust low profile bracket.
More expensive - Moon Shield. USB and well sealed. Rubber band fixing that has proved robust for about a year now.

I use a Knog frog on the back. Once I get off road, it goes in my pocket.

+1 Moon Nebula

In another league to cheap plastic jobs.

I have a PDW Radbot 500 on my seat stay, but I've taped round the edge of it and put vaseline (or maybe grease) in the join before taping it up

It's been through some major slop and it's fine, it's quite low down, I used a Red Eye Micro on the back of my helmet mounted Diablo for additional rear light marking

I've used a knog blinder for about three years now. Put a second one on late last year as the first one is starting to fail - battery runs down quicker than it used to and the usb is more "particular" than I'd like - but to be fair to it its done three years of all weather commuting without mud guards as well as mtb duty.

For rear lights I've always used Cateye lights. Their one weakness used to be week and fiddly clamps but they've changed them recently and most designs now use a pretty stropng easy to use tool-less mounting.

I use a Rapid 3 and a ld600

I have a £2.99 rear light out of LIDL. They have a rubber mount and NEVER fall off and after 100h of use are still going well and the amazing thing is they run of a CR3032 button battery. OK, maybe not the brightest but definitely gives cars a reminder that they share the road with others! I believe one of the big DIY stores has them in stock as they are a Chinese product which companies buy in and then put their own packaging too!

I've used a knog blinder for about three years now.

Wow and the rubber band hasn't failed, you must lead a charmed life.

The Cateye linked above is an ace bit of kit, had mine for years. Not in theory properly waterproof and should ideally be used with mudguards, however, they seem solid in reality and a bit of grease or tape would really make them proper tough.

Wow and the rubber band hasn't failed

It's got a lovely nick in it from dropping my saddle and getting the strap caught in the top of the seat tube about 18 months ago but has held fine since.

Maybe a skinny (27.2) post helps but it was regularly used on a "normal" 31.6 too.

Both my bands failed while attached to the bike in the garage, I suspect that the cold weather overnight did them in. Blooming Aussies whose only idea of cold is the place where they put their weak, p*ss excuse that they call beer 😉

Got it sussed now. Lezyne Femto or copy on seat post. Lasts yonks.

Off road, swivelled round facing forward. Keeps it clean and you can see it's off.

On road, switch on, then swivel round facing backwards.

I bought a five quid Wilko light last year as a stop gap and still have it. It's never fallen off, even though I have, never leaked - even though I left it on the garden table for a month in winter and is so ugly that it's never been nicked. Bargain.

I have some Chinese Lezyne Zecto look alikes.

I bought doubles of them and they are great, the sealing isn't amazing so a bit of tape is a good idea, they are rechargeable and very visible.

Well worth it for the money.

I'm still using cateye TL-LD1000, got about 5 or 6 of them, not because they break, but because i occasionally misplace them. Buy a replacement and then find the orginal. 😳

I have a cheap £2.99 Chinese 5 led jobbie.. It too just won't die..
I've had to botch the bracket with a zip tie, but other than that it's faultless. Batteries last forever too.

http://four4th.co.uk/products/lights/scorpion/

Brighter (should you want it to be) than a very bright thing

The mount is metal, adjustable and has a screw in, back up tether

Does not seem to fall out even if mountain biking in the lakes

Just need to remember to keep it charged

Smart Lunar R1. Cheap and cheerful. But very bright. Constant and flashing modes at the same time too.

They dislike water a bit, but fine with mudguards.

Hope District. Used to destroy almost monthly it was normally water that did it, spent loads on them until I got a District,its bomb proof.

Cateye Rapid X.

Water can't get in if you mount it with the charging point down. Very bright, but about a 200 degree spread so not focused in anyone's eyes. Which is what you want.

Doesn't last long on full, but enough time on the flicker or pulsing settings for a night ride.

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cateye ld 1000. mine's abut 8 years old.

Bloody awesome bit of kit - lights you up like an xmas tree

Edit - well that didn't work as intended - anyone know what I did wrong ?

Mudhugger on the back, lights stay clean and dry (smart lunar and Aldi comet), as do I. Both light mounts tested thoroughly without failure on the rigid ss chasing big bouncy bikes down the trails.

i seem to have a charmed life - numerous CatEye ones (the long 600 and smaller ones too - also Knog pre blinder - or similar 5 LED (all rubber) that sits on seatpost, great bit of kit.. also some knog frogs that go in my bag, and a couple of little electrum ones..

+1 on decent Cateyes, got some a good 12 yrs+ old.

The cateye holy-handgrenade above is good.

+ 1 for the cheap Smart Lunar R1 from Planet X.
Not sure about waterproofness, but silicon or tape around and mud guard would fix that - but it's the 'group' setting that's handy.
So retina burning for on the road and dimmer setting for group rides or off-road.

Cheers folks. Much appreciated.

I never had much luck with couple of quid lights.
I bought a blackburn mars 3.0. I bought it because it
came with a lifetime warranty, I guessed they must have thought
the lights would last a few years at least. It's been used for 3 or
4 years now and is still going strong. Very happy with it.

Anyone know what the light that throbs is, I see them occasionally, they
are super bright and throb rather than flash.