Comments on: Review of the Best Bicycle Tail Lights in 2012

By: nhinkle

nhinkle — Mon, 30 Jun 2014 05:33:51 +0000

Jeff, make sure you're not riding with a white light facing back. This can be disorienting to other road users, and is illegal pretty much everywhere. It makes it appear as if somebody is going the wrong way, since white lights mean front.

By: jeff

jeff — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 20:42:10 +0000

For a temporary fix for safety as I have purchased a new bike, two ordinary led no bigger than hand palm size flashlights. One is rubberband attached to handlebar, other seatpost bar. The two heavy rubberbands hold them in place great, they do NOT move at all out of place. I tested this attaching them to bike as stated, walked aways from bike, looking from the rear, and man! Talk about brightness! I know as I ride the vibration makes the lights " wiggle " so motorists see this flash affect taking notice. This works as a great temp solution to quick fix an illuminated light for safety to ride a bike right away, and they are super bright even in daylight.

By: paul alves

paul alves — Sun, 01 Jun 2014 07:41:27 +0000

You missed testing one of the most important parameters and that's indicative of why all tail bike lights are so crap. And that thing is water resistance. I want someone, anyone to make one single tail bike light that is water proof rather than water resistant and I would be happy. Preferably IP rated. In the end it doesn't matter that you didn't test that because all the bike lights you tested are rated "crap" when it comes to water resistance. Isn't it true that the most important time you would want your bike light to work is if you get caught in the rain at night.

By: nhinkle

nhinkle — Fri, 25 Apr 2014 17:08:06 +0000

What taillights are you using right now?

I keep a frequently updated list of the best bike taillights at The Bike Light Database now. I just got some new lights in that I haven't finished writing reviews for yet... one of those is the Serfas TL-80, which I'd suggest checking out. It's definitely daylight visible, and sounds like it would meet your needs. DiNotte also makes a 400 lumen daytime only taillight, but it's extremely expensive.

By: Day Biker

Day Biker — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 23:29:00 +0000

Looking for the brightest taillight money can offer for DAYLIGHT riding. Hoping to find one in this forum or at least a recommendation. I run 2 white-strobe flashers in front that is affective. The rear is another story. I have 2 rear red taillights that literally disappear in the bright sun. (1 helmet mount, 1 body mount.) Need something to grab the driver's attention. And yes, I do wear obnoxious neon colored clothing and a high-visibility brain bucket on my head. And I ride in traffic.

By: alain smithee

alain smithee — Mon, 31 Mar 2014 19:17:28 +0000

I use an LED road flare that I bought at Menards for about $10 for a rear tail light.

It's waterproof, and it seems to get a drivers attention much better than the smaller tail lights that I used to buy from a bike shop.

By: Mike the Bike

Mike the Bike — Wed, 12 Mar 2014 21:55:04 +0000

After reading your reviews I bought a Nightrider Solas 2W. After my wife and I checked it from several distances and angle and even approached it at night in our car, we think that your description is accurate. However, we came to a different overall conclusion.

We both felt that in every mode except the less-bright solid mode the light was actually too bright. In fact, we thought it was so bright that we felt that drivers approaching us from behind would look away from us, and that's that last thing we want to happen!

We ended up with a Cateye Rapid 3. It's bright enough to be seen at a distance during the day, but it's not quite blinding at night. We liked the low-power blink pattern for riding with a group, but we hated to give up the USB charging feature of the Nightrider.

Thank you very much for the very helpful reviews!

By: nhinkle

nhinkle — Fri, 10 Jan 2014 18:31:29 +0000

The brightness is measured about 20cm from the light source. The measurement is relative - it's not particularly useful for comparing to other sources. For future reviews we're working on a better system for comparing not just overall brightness, but also how wide the beam spread is.

By: Tushar

Tushar — Fri, 10 Jan 2014 03:40:20 +0000

The brightness that you have mentioned (in lux) in your review is at how many meters from the light. Could you please explain the brightness value that you have provided.

How bright does a tail light actually have to be, considering that the objective is to increase visibility and not light the road for the person behind you.

By: Joe

Joe — Sun, 03 Nov 2013 17:00:01 +0000

I am glad to have seen many comments about helmet mounted lights, and hope you will take this into consideration on a subsequent review.