Now winter is upon us - rear lights

Whatever Planet X is selling cheap.

Exposure TraceR

The planet x usb ones are really good. And only about 7 quid

If going for super bright be wary of the small, intensely bright point of light ones if you’re on dark country roads. I had many overtakes at really stupid places in the road because I think the car behind just couldn’t see past me and was probably desperate to get past to save his painful eyes. Those with a wider surface area are much better for this.

150 lumens for a rear light is crazy. Hope District is 135 (105 measured) and can be seen from space.

Moon. I'm about to top up, think I'll get a couple of Nebulas this time as they have a fair bit more battery than the others.

https://www.merlincycles.com/moon-nebula-rechargeable-rear-bike-light-1-157617.html?utm_source=PHG&app_clickref=1101lwfPoWh5&source=PHG&utm_medium=Affiliates&utm_campaign=genieshopping

Got 3 or 4 Comet X/ pros and a couple of Rings which are great. And two Moon Gemini that are a bit shit.

But I love the fact that each one comes with every conceivable mount included, and I know I can just grab 3 or 4 light from the pile each day and know that at least 2 will be working by the time son one has cycled back from school.

If we're out as a family I know every saddle in the household ( ~8) has a saddle mount bracket and we defo have enough lights to go around.

The correct answer was

Exposure TraceR

After the PSA the other day, I am absolutely loving my new Garmin Varia. Thought it would be a gimmick, but genuinely think it's one of the best bits of kit I've bought recently.

Other than that, the Moon Nebula is great and like the slow pulse mode

I'll second the "you can go too bright/surface area and viewing angles is important".
I've cheap OnOne, midrange Moon, expensive Bontrager and cheap Silva rear lights. The Bontrager's are great in power and size, but runtime is dropping off. The Moon's are great all rounders, with really wide viewing angles too. The OnOne is new, but so far looking good.

Hope District

I'd forgotten about that one. Decision made, discuss others amongst yourselves.

I wish I could have come in and recommended my see.sense icon2 rear but after months and months overdue they still haven't started shipping.

Another Garmin Varia vote here. It's amazing.

Another Garmin Varia vote here. It’s amazing.

Ouch, thats pricey. And I thought the Hope was going to be at the top spot for costs.

Nice, though I question the radar bit, at least from my own usage. I ride busy roads so i can be assured theres going to be traffic behind me most of the time.

Has anyone tried the Lezyne Laser Drive or similar? I like the idea of the lines pointing out space to drivers.

Tracr rear, exposure Link on lid, on one on cross bar pointing down illuminating the water bottle for side on awareness, and to see the water bottle.

Moon Nebula is good. I wouldn’t run it at full power on the brightest setting - for drivers behind that’s a lot of very intense light. I run it on pulse so it’s always lit but has a brighter pulse of light flashing through the base permanently lit mode.

If you really want to burn out people’s retinas it has that option - it’s insanely bright on its steady and brightest setting.

The exposure tracer always strikes me as a stupid shape for a rear light - it’s like one dot and a weird shape for mounting on a seat post or seat stay etc.

The Moon comes with a seat post mount and a saddle rail mount as standard I think. Although I’ve started running a saddle bag so I picked up a clip style mount for it so it sits on the back of the saddle bag now.

Apparently the new planet x light mentioned above is very similar but very cheap. I’ve not tried it though.

Exposure TraceR

This.

Also, 150 lumens for a rear light is far too bright, that's more than foglights. In fact, it's more than the average runway light.

75 lumens is a good ballpark figure for rear lights - going brighter doesn't actually help with visibility or drivers judging distance, it's just a red blinding glare.

Another vote for the Garmin, the way it shows you the cars proximity as well is brilliant. Still on Wiggle for £130

Exposure TraceR is good for me. Particularly like the pulse mode. Lives on the saddle rails so is always in the bike, never come lose.

Also have a cheap Aldi Moon copy, which is pretty good as well.

Edit: If you demand stupid levels of power then the 4fourth scorpion looks like an option but I can't imagine wanting brighter than the TraceR.

Garmin Varia was being praised by a mate right until it fell off some 10 miles back. Be warned, internet in hindsight is awash with similar folks.

The Busch and Muller ones are the easiest I've found for rack fitting as they have horizontal studs on the back to fit mounting points on the rear rail of a rack.
Also large size and reflective when not on so great for visibility.
The one I have is an old model so don't know how the brightness compares with newer ones. They do last well.
A lot of cheaper lights I've had, including a Blackburn , have been rendered into static decorations by the mounts breaking, often just the tiny lug that stops them popping off on every bump.

Get something approved for use in Germany -
Anything by Busch & Muller will be bright, broad and have full-visibilty over a wide rear angle.

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/lighting-battery-rear/

Yes I immediately bought a new bolt on mount to replace the pish one that came in the box.

Early days, but it definitely feels like I'm being given a wider berth when being passed. Definitely no good in towns but perfect on rural roads.

Garmin Varia was being praised by a mate right until it fell off some 10 miles back. Be warned, internet in hindsight is awash with similar folks

@reeksy

I suspect that the drivers you want those lines for are the last drivers to notice, understand or care about the lines.
Gimmick IMO....

Nice, though I question the radar bit, at least from my own usage. I ride busy roads so i can be assured theres going to be traffic behind me most of the time.

So I did the PSA, and actually i think it's a really fab bit of kit...

VERY clever too! Literally shows the number of cars behind you, and you jsut know when the 'lead' car is coming to overtake...

I love it!

DrP

I suspect that the drivers you want those lines for are the last drivers to notice, understand or care about the lines.
Gimmick IMO….

+1

They'll be too bust chatting on their phones to even notice....

My rear light is a Giant TL200

https://road.cc/content/review/271175-giant-recon-tl-200-rear-light

So I did the PSA, and actually i think it’s a really fab bit of kit…

VERY clever too! Literally shows the number of cars behind you, and you jsut know when the ‘lead’ car is coming to overtake…

I love it!

DrP

But how does that information affect your cycling - do you do anything different than you would have otherwise?

The exposure tracer always strikes me as a stupid shape for a rear light – it’s like one dot and a weird shape for mounting on a seat post or seat stay etc.

Before I owned one I thought that looks stupid.

But it sits really well in its holder. I can reach down and remove it from its mount turn it on and then remount it

I think tracer r is tops for me. With a crazy bright more for riding into low sun plus reasonable modes for the rest of the time

I got a planet X one a while ago, I forget it's name, but it casts light down so the whole of the back of your bike and legs are lit up red. Plus there's a small, traditional rear facing point of light as well. I find it's really effective. Can't find it in planet X website any more though so an unhelpful post and round 👌

I have one of these and I quite like the amount of side illumination it gives off.
https://www.merlincycles.com/niterider-sentry-aero-260-rear-bike-light-120355.html

But how does that information affect your cycling – do you do anything different than you would have otherwise?

Yeah...
Basically a few things:
I feel 'prepared' for a car coming by. Esentially, in simple terms, i'm less 'scared or shocked'... like I know a car is coming, so prep for the draft/pass etc.. then when it's gone, I can relax again.
The knowledge of what's going on behind me and what's approaching me is comforting...

If the road ahead is narrowing (parked cars etc) and I know there's nothing behind, I'll jsut carry on to teh left of the road. But if there's a vehicle approaching from behind I'll pull out into teh middle of the road to maintain a safe position. As I can tell how far back a car is, I may pull out a bit earlier (i.e not waiting until I'm completely at the bottle neck part).
I appreciate I could (and do) turn my head to look too, but the Knowledge that the road behind me is empty is great.

I'd say the number one thing is just having more info of what's going on behind/approaching me.

It's impressive how far back it can 'see'...

DrP

I have one of these and I quite like the amount of side illumination it gives off.

Fly6 mk3 with a backup Cateye Micro is my current choice. The Fly6 has multiple brightness and flash modes and I have brackets for several bikes plus a rack mounting for the trike. For the nuclear option there is brighter than the Exposure... I give you the Scorpion, great on a TT bike but I don't use it otherwise. Visible from a mile back. On a dual carriageway. In daylight.

https://www.four4th.co.uk/products/scorpion-qr

Also, 150 lumens for a rear light is far too bright, that’s more than foglights. In fact, it’s more than the average runway light.

150 lumens is for day flash modes only (on Leyzne anyway). It also drains the battery sharpish, so not really something you'd be using often (if ever)

The Varia is great as a radar but the light doesn’t fill me with confidence. 3 times now it’s switched off without warning, radar has still worked. Luckily it’s been daytime but having it happen at night doesnt bare thinking about. From now on ill be using a separate light, however unfortunately the Varia takes up so much space on my seatpost it’s a struggle to fit one in

Lezyne strip drive for me. A friend has an exposure traceR mounted under his saddle and that is also very good. The thing I like about the Lezyne is how quick and easy it is to swap between bikes. Build quality seems great and it has plenty of different modes to suit. The 300 lumen day bright mode is best left alone though, it's way too bright for anything other than thick fog and I'm not sure I'd be riding on a road then anyway.

Depends on how much use it's going to get.

If your commuting daily or riding regular night rides, a quality (+£70) one like exposure or hope as mentioned above.

For less frequent uses (+£25), Moon or other good quality brand, Lyzene or Blackburn

For sporadic use or emergency only (-£25), planet X or similar.

Depends on how much use it’s going to get.

If your commuting daily or riding regular night rides, a quality (+£70) one like exposure or hope as mentioned above.

For less frequent uses (+£25), Moon or other good quality brand, Lyzene or Blackburn

Interesting, what do you feel the more expensive ones offer over the mid-priced stuff?

Reliability & quality of the sealing - when I used my bike for daily winter commuting I went through a bunch of rear lights ranging from £5 to £30, nothing was 100% reliable and I always carried a spare.

It's the same with front lights I guess - the more your gonna use it the better quality and more you should spend.

I've used Moon light almost exclusively over the last 5 years, mostly commuting everyday, never had a problem. I think there's a sweet spot around the £30 mark for rear lights that you don't need to go above.

Old Expsure Flare. Or is bit the Flash? Red one anyway. Uses removable batteries so you don't risk running out and can carry a spare. Better still fit a dynamo. Even a cheap bottle one will do well for a rear light.

I think having 2 or 3. lid mounted, seatpost and/or rack height would be the best way to go – super visibility.

150 lumen minimum i’d think

Way too bright. And helmet mounted are particularly horrible for any cyclists who end up behind you as it's right at eye level.

Seriously - Thread from last year

Rear lights were bright enough to be visible for huge distances 10 years ago - it really should be regulated. Even worse that many are on stupid bungee brackets that mean the angle can't be adjusted/fixed properly.

the TWENTY FIVE lumen Moon light recommended there is great. much better battery life as a result of the lower output and it more than bright enough (will still completely blind you if you look at it straight on). and it's more than visible enough in use even in a 'noisy' urban environment (I've followed K with one on the back of her bike)