Rear Lights

What do people recommend as rear lights these days (for road/commute use) ?

We’ve been using Blackburn Mars 4’s (have 3 of them) and they’ve been excellent. Run off AAA rechargeable batteries, very bright, good battery life. They’ve got unreliable though as the the batteries sit vertically and when you hit a bump they lose connection and turn off. I’m going to try for warranty replacement.

What else is out there? there seems to be a lot of lights running of CR2032 button cells which seems a terrible idea. A good quality light on AAA’s or usb rechargable at a low price.

Wiggle lifeline USB rechargeable, 8 quid a pop a few weeks back

£6 now but out of stock

I’m not sure a decent cheap rear light exists.
Using one of these at the moment, but would rate it as adequate rather than worthy of a recommendation.

Moon comet….goes from being quite bright to retina burning levels of light.
About 20 quid
Usb chargeable

Moon Shield.

Good is more important than cheap for rear lights, IMHO.

Another vote for the Moon Comet , it’s quite offensive. I love it.

When not dynamo-ing im still on Smart (or Pharrt) 0.5W rear lights, ive got a huge bag of them, only £2 and more than bright enough.

Smart 0.5 watt rear clone. Really rate it. Lasts years, cheap and the right level of brightness imo. It is bright but not fog light / day time running bright / dazzling. Really visible.

Exposure TraceR. Mine are on their 3rd winter.

No rear light should be offensively bright. It makes it VERY difficult to actually place where the cyclist is on the road due to the glare.

Also, place yourself in the drivers shoes and ask yourself, if you were following something that was hurting your eyes, would you not try to get past it as soon as possible? Not all drivers overtake safely and those which feel aggrieved/entitled, doubly so.

aldi rechargable lights they had in recently for £13, came with a saddle mount and had a chrome outer, great lights, very bright.

Those £13 Aldi lights are exactly the same as the Moon Nebula which are £40ish. They’re the same 100 lumens too which is blindingly bright…the brightest available as far as I’m aware. Lots of ways of attaching to bike too.

I to have a exposure traceR, it’s a great bit of kit. I wouldn’t be scrimping when choosing a rear light as it’s your first line of defense so to speak. TraceRs aren’t that cheap but there fantastic. Treat yourself

I run a moon comet and have been told its very noticeable in traffic. Also run a fibre flare in green on my clothing just for some extra visibility. And I’ve run strips of scotchlite tape anywhere that I can, including on rims.

I don’t trust cheap rear lights for anything other than an emergency spare.

Running a USE redeye on my dynamo setup and a Hope District on bikes without dynamo. Also have a couple of cateyes (tl610 and rapid mini) as I prefer 2 rear lights.

2 lights plus reflective is the way! Especially some 3M ankle bands. The movement is instantly recognisable as a cyclist.

The Moon rear lights are fantastic, well worth it. In fact Moon lights in general are excellent.

Have a Smart as a spare and various others.

The aldi ones were good, lost mine somewhere though, the clip attachment is probably best avoided.
fibre flare are good as they are a different shape so stand out.

I’m a fan of the Smart Lunar R1. Very bright. Has a low mode. Has flashing and constant at same time. And a seat stay mount. And can be had for a tenner.

Can be slightly unreliable in the wet (though it tends to not turn off, rather than not turn on), but only once had problems with mudguards on, and I’ve done some very long, very wet rides.

Also, place yourself in the drivers shoes and ask yourself, if you were following something that was hurting your eyes, would you not try to get past it as soon as possible? Not all drivers overtake safely and those which feel aggrieved/entitled, doubly so.

Where are all these lights that are blinding people? I’m yet to see one. Pretty much on a daily basis however, I see lights that look pathetic and barely fit for purpose. I often wonder if the batteries are going flat or if they’re actually sold like that, but they seem to make up the vast majority of lights on the road. It’s relatively rare I see something quite decent, that really makes a rider stand out from the traffic.

Bontrager Flare R. Certainly not cheap, but it’s well made, the battery lasts ages, and day & night modes work really well.

Knog 4 LED

Moon comet / moon ring are both excellent

I like the lezyne femto, sealed and watertight and hose down well. (Avoid the cateye version)

Also got a few of the eBay Chinese 99p ones
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/371680550689?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&var=640666732124&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

with a separate purchase Of the cr2032 (from a U.K. Ebay seller, maxell branded 10 for £1.25)

Moon shield are great too

Ive been using a moon comet for a few years now with a cheap usb thing from maplins as a back up. The maplin one is very similar to the moon and was £11. Used to use a exposure flare until the plastic went brittle and it fell apart.

smart lunar r1 -try and track down the aaa version rather than usb.

I always have two rear lights, one flashing and one constant. Also provides redundancy should one fail.

A tad more expensive than some of the lights above but I find the Smart half watt, usb version packs a whole lot of light.

I did have the aaa version but after a particularly wet ride, water got the better of the seals. Halfords swapped it out for the usb version and not had any problems since and it’s seem plenty more weather, mud and slop than the aaa one had.

Carlos

Exposure TraceR here. Excellent light.

Moon Comet X, or whatever is on my dyno’d bikes.

Normally pair it with this on flashing:

http://www.cateye.com/intl/products/detail/TL-LD155-R/

This actually a great bit of kit. Takes batteries which you can always find on long rides or tours.

Moon Nebula or the Aldi knock-off.

Currently using a £1 Phaart StrapOn as secondary front and rear, but I have a set of the Aldi Noom Comets ready to fit as some point.

I have been using a moon crescent, backed up with a couple of cheap button cell flashers for the last couple of years. Have just bought a hope district now that I’m doing most of my riding on the road, run the hope on static with the moon strobing and 2 button cell lights on the lid flashing at different speeds.

Lezyne micro drive

been using one for a few years now and cant fault it

The moon rears are great, mine lasted a couple of years then I lost it. The Aldi copies didn’t, the rear stopped working within six months.
Bought loads of cheapish ones, before going for the Exposure TraceR. Just save your money and go big straight away.
It was £40.

Moon shield here. Wouldnt want anything brighter imo. Does everything i need, good battery, USB charger, small, different mounts etc..

Exposure TraceR on the bike and FibreFlare on my pack as I’m paranoid about not being seen/being rammed from behind. Love the pulsing rather than flashing of the TraceR and the FibreFlare is good for being visible from all angles and illuminating me to some degree

Moon Nebula is the best, if that’s what you’re after.

TraceR on the bike, lowest setting & constant. Basic LED light on rear of helmet set to flash.

Exposure Red Eye on the back linked to a Strada. One less thing to have to charge.

I run it with a Garmin Varia radar rear light. Was sceptical about the radar thing but I’m now sold on it. Have it on day and night. Not cheap though!

Moon Shield on “rave mode” here. It’s a hell of a thing.

I bought the Aldi ‘eye burner’ / Moon Nebula rear light recently, haven’t ridden with it yet but if it survives the winter I’ll be very surprised.

The micro USB charge port is just covered with a little rubber flap, not even tightly fitting. Maybe it’ll make it but I’m not holding my breath. The box and receipt will be kept in a safe place.

On another note I’ve been using one of these on one of my bikes for years now…

RSP Urban 8

Cheap as chips, the batteries seem to last forever, it seems impervious to wet weather and it has LEDs actually pointing out the sides. Excellent.

I’ve also got a Blackburn Mars 4 somewhere but stopped using it as it drains the batteries when switched off. Have to take the batteries out during the day to ensure they still have power in them come home time.