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Plenty of threads over the years about the best, the brightest, the most rugged or expensive front lights be that bars or lid, but what about on the rear.
I've had a number over the years, Cateye,Smart and currently a Raleigh, this last one being quite good with a steady lamp as well as 2 flashes followed by a longer brighter flash, and of course a constant. Part of a set i got ages ago - RX1.0 65 lumen rear i think.
One of the problems trying to pick a replacement is they all advertise as being the brightest. But being bright is one thing, being noticeable quite another.
So what does the group favor these days ?
Mrs_oab and I have a Silva rear light each. They've done about 5 years and one is finally playing up. Pretty basic, but really bright and visible 180*. One of those products that is ace quality long term without having any fuss or showiness.
Middle_oab just bought some Bontrager Flare lights. The rear is a miracle of size and power, complete with, err, flashy flash modes. Seems really well made too.
Other than that there is a pile of cheap Halfords or Aldi lights that also get used, although none are anything beyond 'they work'.
For the road; garmin varia. Amazing light and it has had a noticeable change in the way drivers pass me.
Off road, Moon Comet or Gemini for me.
If you need to be seen from space, Hope District.
If that’s not a requirement, Moon Nebula.
Aldi specials here, the long lozenge shaped ones, plenty bright run for hours and hours, mine are about 4years old, always run one of the smaller ones on flash as a redundancy too.
Garmin TraceR
It's got a flashing mode that goes "dim - FLASH - dim - FLASH" so is never actually off.
It goes very bright in mode 1, so good for daylight road rides and still has 6 hrs battery life when flashing.
Modes 2 and 3 are much longer life and when in steady mode more useful for night rides especially in a group.
Also well made and good service. Mine has the rubber seal that covers the switch and charging port start to show signs of the "tab" you use to access the charge port tearing after 2 or 3 years use - email to Exposure and one arrived the next day in the post for free.
The traceR is very, very good unless you want to fix it to a bag in which case the mount is of no use whatsoever.
What's the general opinion on whether, for rear lights, you'd rather have one good or multiple cheap? I've gone for the latter
Exposure TraceR 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Multiple cheap implies that they will fail at some point, you don't want a rear light to fail. Buy the bog standard Exposure TraceR.
£32 @ https://www.sigmasports.com/item/Exposure-Lights/TraceR-Daybright-Rear-Light/GDDM
My Cateye Holy Hand Grenade (TL-LD1100) is still going strong despite being maybe 20 years old (I bought it from Dan Barham when he moved to Canada and it was not new then)
Moon lights are good - we have an Arcturus Pro for the tandem that also has a saddle rail mount for Mrs NBT's MTB, we only went for that one as
a) it was on offer at half price
and
b) it included the saddle rail mount, which is really useful if you run a dropper post on a small ike - if you mount low on the non-dopping part of the post it gets obscured by the wheels / mudguards
Exposure TraceR Reakt under the saddle, Knog lil Cobber on the seatpost and a Knog Mini Chippy on the frame as a backup light. Exposure Micro Red Eye on the lid.
The wee exposure one that plugs into the rear of helmet light, and a lezyne zecto that I got with a mag subscription over 5 years ago, still going strong.
Based in that, next one will be lezyne too.
Exposure TraceR Reakt under the saddle
This is mine also, it's very good, but minus points for the fiddly on/off switch under the rubberised cover that's annoying to use with gloves.
I have a flashy one that i must have had for 10 years, but my favourite is a fibre flare. Really visible from a distance and because of the odd shape people seem to take notice
Got two of the rechargeable Aldi light sets, one is 4 years old, one is three. Great on the low solid setting for a marker when out at night with mates, the bright flashing mode works as daybright (as do the front lights in the sets). Bought another set this autumn in case these ones die, but no sign of it yet.
Yes, Exposure will be "nicer", but for £15 for a perfectly serviceable set of lights, I'm struggling to justify it, even owning 3 Exposure front lights.
I like the TraceR, but have had to return two for repair when water got in under the rubber cover and did bad things. Great light, but not infallible.
I also have a small, cheap-ish, rechargeable Evans-sourced light on the back of my helmet as a back-up. Works fine.
I really like the Exposure Mini Red-Eye thing on the back of a Joystick as a summer 'get me home' emergency option, but they're ridiculously small and easy to lose. They should come with a lanyard so you can secure them to something.
I've been using A bontrager flare for a few years now - use it in daylight on the road bike as well so not just when its dark. Only rear light ive had that has lasted that long and still works fine despite lots of soakings
I have been using an Exposure for a number of years but have found it to be a nightmare to switch on when going from trail to road and vice versa (switch off obviously).
I recently got a Knog Blinder Road S70? It is bright, narrow, has a lot of functions but is very easy to turn on and off by feel when riding. And that makes it a winner for me.
If you're using an Exposure Joystick, adding the Redeye Micro to its charger port is a no-brainer. It's cheap (under £15), and tiny but also incredibly bright, and as it's on your helmet it's at a good height. It shares the joystick's battery for power, but barely seems to impact battery life.
https://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/accessories/lights/exposure-redeye-micro-plug-in-led-rear-bike-light__4644
I run it with Moon Comet-X Pro on the seat post - it has various brightness levels and flashing rates, has a good battery life and seems pretty robust.
https://www.wiggle.co.uk/moon-comet-x-pro-rear-light
I just run a moon alcor which I've found works great, has ok battery life and is plenty bright enough for night rides which is what I use it for. Only costs about a tenner too.
Ideally one with a reflector and side visibility, but there is limited thought going in to most bike for road use.
On the utility/touring bikes I always have a rear rack so use either a big old Trelock with reflector or the Lezyne Strip Drive mounted horizontally on the back plate
On the MTB for surfaced transitions I use the Lezyne Strip Drive mounted vertically on the seatpost.
The Lezyne is 6 years old now and still works v well. I like that it’s mega-sturdy, rechargeable and has flashing modes and two static modes (high or low).
The ladder-style mounting-strap gives a lot of mounting options to various thicknesses of things.
If it ever needs replacing I’ll look at similar. I see they do an STVZO compliant Strip Drive with 270deg visibility, and also the Lezyne Strip Drive Pro 300 with a daylight flash.
Wiggle have one left at sale price
* correction
Ideally one with a decent reflector and also side-visibility, but there is limited thought going in to most bike-lights that are intended for road-use.
I have an old (10 years) Exposure Flare that I used to use for commuting. Think the newer version is the TraceR? Also have a Blaze for long road rides - others I’ve tried just don’t have the burn time (5+ hours) and the daybright thing seems good.
For MTB I have a Lezyne Zecto something or other. It was originally for on road but the battery only lasts a couple of hours. Other than that it’s good - different modes for brightness and flash patterns, USB recharging, quick to attach to seatpost or throw in jersey pocket, and currently £22 on Sigma. It’s ideal for getting me to/from the trails, I don’t use a rear light while actually riding trails though
Had a moon shield that I used for commuting 2 hours a day for a number of years. Was great until I got home one day to find it not on my seatpost. Fortunately I run a cheap Aldi lozenge light as a backup as well.
Now run an exposure Trace R in addition to the cheap Aldi light. So far so good, but since WFH has had less mileage than the moon. Has lots of different options for types of flash and pulse. Use the saddle rail mount which works well.
"Exposure TraceR"
Great little light but ruined by a stupidly fiddly on/off switch.
I've also had to return one for water ingress & the charge port moves around so it doesn't line up with the hole.
Forgot to say another feature I like about the Lezyne Strip Drive is a quick-check battery-indicator which I’ve found to very useful before setting off if I forgot to top up..
The battery indicator is built into the lens - green means the battery charge is over 75%
Green and red means it's between 75-25%
Red means that the battery is below 25%.
You can press the power button to check without turning the light on.
Exposure traceR
The switch on my sirius front light is a bit of a pain. But the traceR is fine. I like that I can remove it from the mount turn it on and put it back without stopping
PS we are well past the point of wanting a rear light that is bright as possible
Moon comet - it's the only rear light I've owned for more than 12months without it failing. 3yrs on still going strong.
Multiple Moon lights here, a mix of shields and nebulas. I like to run 2 on night rides, not so worried about them failing but more me having forgotten to charge them!
Sticking to the same brand for me means I have mounts on all the different bikes and the lights are interchangeable, just grab whatevers charged and go
So what does the group favor
I'd guess lots of different things! (but with a U in favour)
See.Sense for me. The Ace is ace. Support from the company is excellent too.
Light and motion vis 180, I have 2 the older is 8-9 years old, been dropped and bashed and still keeps working. Battery life is quite good and the flashing amber lights add visibility in town.
one good or multiple cheap
I used to go with multiple cheap, but since getting the TraceR I wouldn't go back as my average expenditure on lights has gone down as I've not had to keep buying cheap lights.
For road use though, I would argue that running two lights is a must so that if one fails you're not unknowingly invisible. The TraceR plus a helmet mounted Cateye Wearable X works well for me.
For intensive road in genuine dark (i.e. country roads vs urban streets) I'd want to use a light with a larger surface area - it gives drivers a better sense of distance plus avoid a blinding pinpoint of light. Something like one of the Knog Cobblers or similar maybe.
Exposure Trace-r for me. Easy to use, battery life seems to last for an age. I have 2 of them.
I did have to return for the problem mentioned above (migrating charge point) but it was sorted quickly and f.o.c. They are relatively local to me in Sussex, so also a bonus.
Alpkit Taus are brilliant and cheap. Easy to mount to seat stay as a second/backup light but plenty good enough as a main one too.
See sense lights are the first lights I've managed not to destroy within a year. I've got the ACE as well.
On my commute bike I have a B+M battery rack light and an old Blackburn seatpost light.
On my dynamo bike I have a SON rear lamp mounted so that is visible when packed.
The shield shaped rear that came as part of the Lidl set in March '20 on the road bike, old ~2015(?) Aldi "Moon Comet - alike" on the commuter are the regulars.
His 'n' Hers TraceRs.
Any shouts for the Lezyne Zecto?
I had a TraceR for years no issues and then realised this winter that I must have lost it at the end of last.and have just been using my cheapy helmet light since, but need a proper replacement.
I've just bought a Moon Comet X-Pro for the bike and a Cateye Orb for helmet duties.
Went with the X-Pro version as it has a few mount options, allowing for 2 or 3 bikes to use the light without faff.
Both are USB rechargeable to save messing with batteries and the Moon in particular amazed me with the intensity. I made the mistake of looking directly at it whilst cycling through the modes. Damn it's bright.
Both at a great price from Merlin.
exposure TraceR with a saddle rail mount
Any shouts for the Lezyne Zecto?
Unless they've upgraded the Zecto recently it's not a patch on a TraceR especially for daylight use.
I've got a selection of Smart 1W LED's that have lasted for an eternity. Great little lights that aren't the most waterproof but can be easily dried out & run on AAA's. For a tenner I like these a lot. Comes with a versatile bracket that can be mounted on the seatpost or the back of your lid. I run two of these.
Lezyne Strip Drive. Solid light, rechargeable & has lasted about 4 years & still going strong. Downside is that the seatpost mount has it facing a downward angle. Still visible but not optimum.
MagicShine SeeMee 200. The brightest light & the most visible I've owned. Tons of modes including a brakelight function that I don't use & a bright LED that illuminates the back of the bike when the ambient light is low. However! I bought two of these last year at Christmas. One of these failed after six weeks & was quickly replaced under warranty by something that looked decidedly 2nd hand. Then the other failed & was replaced after a few emails with a new one. Then the first replacement failed & I gave up chasing as my emails were going unanswered. Life being too short etc.
I've bought Mrs Davesport a set of Bontrager Ion/Flare 200's for Christmas so I've got high hopes after reading the reviews. As yet; untested.
As a driver too the ones that do pulse flash are the worst to be behind as they ruin vision and make it hard to judge distance, solid red is by far the best to be seen with