for unlit country roads, max 30-40 quid, probably 2 hr runtime

Been looking at the Lezyne zecto alert lights that get brighter when you brake, any experience of these or other recommendations?

thanks

I had a Zecto for commuting duties and it was rubbish. The LEDs died one by one over about 10 months, then the charging port stopped working when there was 1 LED left. CRC gave me my money back and told me to keep it. I took it apart and the water ingress was grim and had killed everything. Bought an Exposure TraceR and it’s been faultless for over 3 years. Brilliant little thing.

This is hard to beat for £13

https://www.wiggle.co.uk/lifeline-aero-beam-50-lumen-rear-bike-light

Another vote for the Exposure TraceR. I’ve had one for about 5 years, and recently bought my wife one of the newer daybright ones.

Battery life is very good, and I really like pulsing lights as you get the benefits of a flashing light without it being invisible half the time.

That said, if you’re going to be riding a lot on unlit roads, I think the most import thing is to have two lights, as you’re unlikely to notice if a rear light fails.

Been looking at the Lezyne zecto alert lights that get brighter when you brake, any experience of these or other recommendations?

Mate’s got a light that supposedly gets brighter when he brakes, still can’t see the point of it and we’re riding in a group. Either I’m right on his wheel (we’re roadies) in which case I won’t have time to react anyway, or I’m far enough away that at bike speeds I can stop safely. If you’re on your own it’d be even less use.

Anyway I’ve got a Garmin Varia which is great on country roads, but totally pointless if you do most of your riding in town (which you don’t – just mentioning it). On my other bike I’ve got a Trek Flare which is also great.

Exposure TraceR for me – the best rear light I’ve had so far.

The brightest mode is very bright indeed so good for daytime use.(too bright for night time use as it’ll just dazzle cars behind you). Low & medium would be better choices.
The pulse function is great – as mentioned above the best of both worlds – the visibility of a flashing mode whilst not being “off” half of the time.
Battery life is good, even on “high” so good for decent length rides or infrequent charging.

It’s a bit pricey for a rear light but appears to be durable so should be good value in the long run.

I’ve got the zecto Max 250 front and rear as ‘flashers’. The rear has two ‘day modes’. No issues at all. Also got a few ‘copies’ for other bikes, work fine as backups, but no-where near as bright.

Moon Nebula should get you seen in the Lakes, pretty much from as far away as Derbyshire. Had mine a year or so and seems exceptionally well made

Moon Shield also worth a look, been faultless for just over 2 years of daily winter commutes and MTB duties. Can be had for £25 ish.

Personally on genuinely dark unlit roads I’d look more at large, less bright, steady lights, such as this
SmartStar

Maybe a couple in case of failure. Uses AAA batteries.

traceR case closed..

Another vote for the moon nebula or failing that, hope district. If you want to be seen from space.

Edit, the district might be out of budget.

Personally on genuinely dark unlit roads I’d look more at large, less bright, steady lights, such as this
SmartStar

Maybe a couple in case of failure. Uses AAA batteries.

Completely agree. And there’s a special place in hell for those running super bright flashing lights when riding in a group.

Exposure Blaze on daylight pulse and Smart R1 flashing on my helmet.
Blaze is a bit above your budget though.

I bought a Zecto thingummy for daytime road rides. It’s been OK so far but I can see how water ingress will kill it quickly, the cover over the charging port never really seems to sit properly. Biggest issue for me was the battery life – not sure if I just kept putting it in the wrong mode but the claimed battery life never materialised. I tend to do a long (4-7 hour) road ride on the weekend and more often than not the battery died within about 2 hours.

Recently got a Blaze mk2 as I’m an Exposure fanboi anyway and I have to say it’s excellent. A long way over your price bracket I know, but it’ll last donkeys years. I still have some mk1 flash and flare which are excellent for commuting, I think that is what the TraceR was based on so you won’t go far wrong with that.

I’ve got the Ravemen TR300 that I managed to get new on super cheap deal (RRP is £55 which I’d never pay for a rear light!) on an auction site. Whilst it can’t be angled when fitted to a seatpost and it doesn’t look as cool as some of the other rear lights out there, 300 lumens is insanely bright and the battery life is really impressive. Even in the daytime there is no way a driver wouldn’t see this light. It seems to be made really well too, highly recommended

https://www.imbikemag.com/reviews/accessories/lights/ravemen-lights-tr300-2020/

Use two. I normally combine a large, steady (AAA powered) red light on the rear rack coupled with a USB rechargeable Lezyne Strip Drive set to L-R (think Knight Rider!) which is clamped to either seatpost or luggage depending where most visible.

The Strip Drive has performed faultlessly over 5 years now, think it was about £30. Good investment IME. It has a simple charge indicator which is also useful, and doesn’t require a charging cable, it has it’s own USB connector. Not sure if newer versions do or not.

The steady light on the rack is a Trelock that I borrowed from my Dutch bike. It has 1. A large integrated reflector and also 2. Side visibility. Two points often overlooked. Certainly by me (before I learned to drive)

There seems to be a gadgety trend in the UK for micro-sized lights with little to no integrated reflector 🤦🏼‍♂️

+1 for TraceR. Beautifully made and apparently Exposure’s warranty/repair service is first class (though I can’t vouch for it personally).

Also have Trace and Sirrus front lights.

I had an Exposure Blaze and was very pleased with it however you need to be very careful using with droppers as I found the light was pinging out of the bracket into the undergrowth when lowering the dropper – this happened once too often never to be found again annoyingly (and expensively).
Other than that it was the best rear light I have had – not much use if it does not stay attached though.
Bought a Bontrager Ion to replace and been impressed so far with it

One of these, mounted on the seat rails.

EBUYFIRE ultra Bright Smart Bike Tail Light,USB Rechargeable Brake Sensing Bicycle Light,High Intensity Rear LED Accessories Fits On Any Road Bikes.Easy to Install for Cycling Safety Taillights https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07V6CFS8F/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_T4Q4QJH8Z6CDXYJTPW3M?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Got a Tracer. generally pretty happy, but the clicker to turn it on or off on mine is difficult to do with gloves on and the rubber band covering it (to prevent water ingress to the recharge port) does slip around meaning it can be a bit of a fumble to turn it off/on.

Other than that minor gripe, it’s v good

We have a pair of Silva City X (the X being important..) – they kick out a nice level of flashing at 75lm, run off AAA as I always like to have spares if I can on the road, and being Silva are well sealed and made. We also have one plain City that is identical but kicks out less light, although perfectly acceptable.

I also think for road visibility you cannot beat some (Good brand) reflective tape and reflective spoke straws.

Trace-R on the saddle rails and a cheap Aldi one, in fact this exact model https://www.aldi.co.uk/front-and-rear-bike-light-set/p/713903494216700, on the bottom of dropper post collar.

Both good in their own way. TBH the Aldi one is the most impressive for the cost and the fact that it’s still working after two years.

If you use an Exposure front light and don’t need flashing then the RedEye is ace.

One less thing to think about charging, batteries in rear lights tend to last ages so you don’t charge every time, which of course means it’ll just die on you after several rides. No switches or charging ports to leak water and kill it either.

Maybe consider a rear camera/light, lot of idiots on the road these days and it might afford a bit of post issue protection.

I’ve got a couple of ‘good’ rear lights that all have one drawback or other. I also have one of these:
https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/LIPX3WROF/planet-x-3w-ignis-rear-helmet-and-bike-light
Permanently clipped to my bag in case I’m out later than expected. It’s so good I bought a couple more. I’m not convinced the ‘good’ lights are any better – this is small but very noticeable; rechargeable battery lasts forever; it’s easy to fix to bike, bag, or helmet; it’s waterproof and tough.
Get a couple of these to use as spares at least, at a tenner you cannot go wrong.

TraceR

I think it’ll save money in the long run

Crazy bright day flash reserved for riding into the sun

Moon Shield here… 3 of them. Well bright and great runtime with selection of modes.

I’ve got these: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08P63253S/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_XNJFJAKE3MMCP3GKXHBD

Available on amazon with at least 200 different unfathomable brand names, this is one of the cheaper ways to get them. Last ages, not too many modes, dirt cheap. Brilliant!

Magicshine® Seemee 200 Bike Tail Light – Magic Shine UK

I’ve got one of those. Fab little light.

I have a Tracer and a Moon Nebula – bought because I was having problems with the Tracer.

When it gets cold, the Tracer battery is rubbish – just runs out after a couple of minutes. In warmer weather it’s great – maybe too great as my riding mates complain it’s too bright.

The Nebula has settings that give a meaningful drop in brightness, so less anti-social for group rides.

But for daylight road rides above freezing, the Tracer is excellent. Otherwise, the Nebula gets the nod.

I’ve got a Moon light that I bought in 2014 – looks like the Nebula, so possibly an earlier version of that.

I’ve been really happy with it – it’s been used about 3-4 hours a week, 6 months of the year ever since, in all weathers. Still going strong!

I use two – one with a wide beam for all round visibility ( aldi) and one with a narrow beam to be seen from distance (smart)

dont forget your reflective tape or other reflectives – I have red refective tape on the back of the bikes and yellow on the pedals / cranks

refelective stuff is really really good on unlit roads and pedal reflectors are the best IMo

Exposure Tracer for me – excellent.

Yeah, Tracr years old now.

When it gets cold, the Tracer battery is rubbish – just runs out after a couple of minutes

That sounds faulty – mine lasts for ages, even in freezing cold weather (it certainly lasts longer than I want to be outside on cold days).

TraceR 👌🏻

Just sacked off my moon nebula that wouldn’t hold much charge for a tracer reakt. Brilliant, much better.

I have a couple of these and really rate them. They can do any colour so as a backup light it’s fantastic because if my front light dies it can be quickly swapped around to replace it.

Battery goes forever in the red disco mode. If you helmet mount it then any of the colour changing modes are legal and much better than boring red for attracting the attention of drivers. Police-style red/blue strobe possibly legally dubious but leads to safer passes in my experience, and I’ve never been stopped.

When it gets cold, the Tracer battery is rubbish – just runs out after a couple of minutes

That sounds faulty

Definitely. Contact Exposure, get it sent back for repair.