So now it is dark when commuting home on unlit lanes, what is the STW consensus on the best rear light? Any suggestions?

Cheap – phaart duel led ones. Great, until they leak, but you can just overtape the seal to fix this.

Better – Moon Shield. Can’t fault these.

I use a couple of Moon LED lights, one on steady, one flashing. Both USB rechargeable. Having two means that if one fails for some reason I’ve got another, unless you are passing lots of windows where you can see your reflection you might not know if your rear light has stopped or fallen off.

I use a Hope District on bikes without a hub dynamo and an Exposure Red Eye connected to an Exposure Revo on bikes with a hub dynamo.

My criteria are bright, usb rechargeable, easily removable, must not look like a car tail light from a distance. Knog Blinder4 does the job for me.

I’m using two Moon Shields. One on bike, one on helmet. Both flashing for winter day riding. At night, the one on my seat post is set to constant.

At this point I should admit this is to replace a Knog Blinder 4 as the rubber band mounting snapped, which is a common failure based on my experience of Knog and looking on the net.

I’ll have a look at the Moon ones.

Any people with experience of the Lyzene ones?

dragon – Member

At this point I should admit this is to replace a Knog Blinder 4 as the rubber band mounting snapped,

Outside the two year warranty?

dragon

Any people with experience of the Lyzene ones?

Yes, all of them. Which one are you interested in?

Lezyne Zecto.

Annoying yes, by a month 🙁 Both front a rear failed by the same mechanism.

Lyzene zecto or strip drive. Is the Zecto bright enough for unlit country lanes?
I’ve heard bad things about the Lyzene Micro drive mount on bumpy roads.

Moon Shield definitely looks in the running as an option.

Really like the Exposure Red Eye plugged into a Strada. One big solid bright light. And being powered from the Strada means I don’t have two things to charge or need to keep checking if it’s on.

Usually pair it with a Cateye Rapid 3 on pulse mode with an under saddle mount. Like it as it takes a AA battery so I can easily swap rechargeable batteries. And there’s loads of different Cateye mounts available.

Holy hand grenade: http://www.cateye.com/en/products/detail/TL-LD1100/

Two AA batteries power two independently switched light circuits consisting of 5 LEDs each. Batteries last ages and is really bright. Includes LEDs on the side which greatly increase side visibility.

My fibre flare has been brilliant. Even had a man in a car say how good it was as we waited at the lights.
It’s easy to swap between back packs as well.
I have mudguards so it does have an easy life compared to ones subjected to daily spray.

I have a single Moon Comet on my seat post, set to the slow speed flashing. Great lights – you can see them from a good distance and you can charge them on USB at work.

Zetco on its 5th flashing setting is bright enough to be well visible on glorious sunny noon!

It’s a solid light.

dragon – Member

Annoying yes, by a month Both front a rear failed by the same mechanism.

Worth a try with the retailer and/or Knog.

dragon – Member

Lyzene zecto or strip drive. Is the Zecto bright enough for unlit country lanes?
I’ve heard bad things about the Lyzene Micro drive mount on bumpy roads.

I subscribe to the more is more school of thought, and whilst I don’t doubt a driver could see you with a zecto on a dark country lane I’d be more concerned if they’d be able to see it against early morning winter sun. Charge port is bloody fiddly. Also, the shape is too similar to car tail lights imo. I’d be inclined to go for the strip.

I’ve used the Micro drive off road (forgot to take it off) on properly bumpy trails, jumps etc and not had them come off but I imagine it could happen. I generally use a front Micro Drive one as my back up light for riding too and from the trails and never had it fall off either. Batterys can be hit and miss with them though.

CaptainFlashheart – Member
I’m using two Moon Shields. One on bike, one on helmet. Both flashing for winter day riding. At night, the one on my seat post is set to constant.

Exactly this… Think cfh recommended them to me. Don’t forget good reflective too.. Can recommended ankle bands and 3M spoke reflectors

I always try to have two rear lights on the bike, in case one fails. Plus you can have one on constant, the other flashing. Cat Eye used to be the king of bike lights, but I’ve had decent Smart lights which work well but maybe aren’t quite as good quality in the long run. Just got some Moon lights so will see how they fare this winter. Only thing I’d say about rear lights, is that some of the newer ones are too powerful to use if there are other cyclists around; someone may be just a few feet away from you not hundreds of metres. It’s more effective to use multiple lower powered lights.

Also worth a look at Alpkit, especially at £12 odd.

I have reflectives covered, DHB FLashlight socks and Sportful reflective vest.

I’d be more concerned if they’d be able to see it against early morning winter sun.

Handily I commute against it, both in and out, so not a huge issue for me normally, although I do see your point.

I was complimented on the brightness of my Smart light but a cyclist at some traffic lights, this one

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Smart-Lunar-R2-Rechargeable-Light/dp/B00G9YRZB8

The cover for the charge port has fallen off though so I don’t know how long it will last now.

Hiya,

I just got myself a set of these last week: LifeLine USB LED Single Beam Light Set available from Wiggle for £20.

Worth getting; I aint put my mudguards on yet and my previous back light went to shit as I think water got in through the USB charge port.

No such issues with the above though, the USB ports are well hidden; you screw the light head bit off to access it, which means it’s well sealed and you don’t need to remove the mounts to charge them. Charge time is v quick though. Wouldn’t use it as a sole rear/front, but deffo good as a back up. Ridden with them this/last week in the pissing rain and they’re still functioning perfectly. Wreckommended

I’ve heard bad things about the Lyzene Micro drive mount on bumpy roads.

The old micro drives had a really short mount and could fall out. The newer ones from about 18 months ago have a much longer mount and are held really well. I use mine off road all the time and it has never moved let alone fallen off.

I run the Exposure TraceR onthe seatpost or saddle railes (depending on the bike)and a Fibre Flare on the seat stay. I also have a small LED flasher on the back of my helmet.

The TraceR is great, super bright, USB rechargable and has differnet mounts availble – which are only a couple of quid.

You can put the Fibre Flare anywhere on the bike but I think it stands out from my TraceR more when its on the driveside seat stay.

Up front I have a Magic Shine 1000Lumen job and a 400Lumen USB rechargable light set on flash. I also runa helmet light.

I find that its difficult to judge how fast oncoming cyclist are if they are only using a flashing light so I opt for a constant and a flashing.

Another vote for the Smart Lunar R2 though I have the non USB one and batteries last ages so it’s not a real issue. Bright, good random mode and it’s been problem free for almost 4 years now.

http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Smart-Lunar-R2–Watt-USB-Rechargeable-Rear-Light_74193.htm

I’ve a magicshine rear light, runs off the same 8.4v batteries with a Y connector. I’ve actually gone one step further this year and made a dedicated light set for commuting from an old MJ-808 and the rear light, and cut and shrink wrapped enough cable that it fits my bikes nicely without coils of cable everywhere.

Still tempted to put a dynamo on the commuter though. Could probably get a reasonable setup for <£100 (cheap shimano hub, B&M lights).

Cheers folks a Moon Shield is now ordered. It will partnered with an old classic Cateye LD600. If the Cateye ever dies then those Alpkits look like decent cheap backup option.

an old classic Cateye LD600

An even older classic LD500 only died on me recently, after many, many years of faithful service. I’m gutted.

Pleased to discover they’re still doing them, so will be purchasing another. They fit permanently to a pannier rack without extra fittings.

In my experience, Cat Eye have been the most reliable and robust over time. Had many sets of cheaper lights, but none have been as good.

wow, still have a couple of LD500s and an LD600 kicking about. Actually the most flexible rear lamp is a multi-LED knog, though.

A fibre flare on each seatstay, solid lit, then a hop district 3 on the seatpost flashing.

Holy hand grenade: http://www.cateye.com/en/products/detail/TL-LD1100/

Two AA batteries power two independently switched light circuits consisting of 5 LEDs each. Batteries last ages and is really bright. Includes LEDs on the side which greatly increase side visibility.
That one.
Plus some Cateye lights on the wheels – not pretty but very useful for commuting in the city with lots of nasty junctions.

I quite like the Smart Lunar R1. A few reasons. It’s bright. It has two LEDS on constant, and one mega bright one flashing at the same time. And it comes with a seat stay mount. And it’s mega cheap. It is slightly unreliable when water leaks in however…

There’s been some I’ve seen that are mega, mega bright. Like really eye catching, miles away, in the middle of the day. Would love to know what they are. Definitely not the usual power output for a rear light.

+1 for Knog Blinder. Super-bright, UK weather proof, USB rechargeable.
Can’t go wrong.

Am I the only one who favours size over lumens?

The best lighting setup I have seen on my car commute is a guy with a decent reflector and two decent size steady state led lights mounted side by side on his rack. Neither of the lights was that bright individually but he was much easier to follow safely than the guy I followed last night along a mile of country lane with a light so bright and flashing so randomly that at 100m+ it was painful to look at.

Another Exposure TraceR user here – very bright and easy to recharge.
Also have a Lezyne Zecto – 2 years use through winter and still going strong. Have one on the bike and one on the bag.
Of the two on the bike I have one static so drivers can judge distance and one flashing for attention.
I have a Moon on the front of my helmet – it’s superbly bright – has stopped many many pedestrians walking out in front of me (they do an amusing double take!) and many drivers from pulling out on me so I would def look at Moon too.

+1 for reflective ankle bands – it’s the movement that catches the eye apparently

+1 for reflective ankle bands – it’s the movement that catches the eye apparently

Yep. Always.

That up-and-down motion is so very obviously a cyclist. Nothing else moves like that. Movement attracts the human eye, and then add in the ability to instantly recognise what that movement is…..BINGO!

(Ankle – Model’s own.)

So, 1 week of using the Moon lights, and so far, one has fallen off and been lost due to the crap rubber band mount, and we don’t like the way you turn them on and off/switch between constant and flashing modes. Very bright though. But I’ve ordered 2 CatEye LD500s to fit to the pannier racks, as they are super-reliable and tough.

Well my Moon survived its first ride into work on some terrible roads, so we shall see how good it is in the dark on the way home.

one has fallen off and been lost due to the crap rubber band mount,

How? Most decent lights now fix on with o-rind type mounts and I’ve never had an issue to date (fingers crossed). Well except the built in bands on the Knogs which snap and are useless.

How? Most decent lights now fix on with o-ring type mounts

Well, the o-ring either snapped or the plastic (overcomplicated) mount broke. Who knows. I wasn’t that confident about it from the start. Won’t be replacing it with similar. The fronts seem ok though; annoying that you have to hold down the power button for several hours just to get it to change to flashing mode. My wife has no patience for such things, and has gone back to the Smart Lunar 25. Probably won’t be getting any more Moon lights based on this experience.

+1 to the how?

Never had a problem with the Moon rubber straps whether using them on a seat post, bag grab handle or whatever.

Turning off: press and hold button, what’s hard about that? Having a single short press to turn on/off might mean that the light gets turned off accidentally.

I’ll give you the “awkward to change between constant and flash modes” though, quite hit and miss.