Need a good back light

[Sharky]

Used to have batteries but found them to be a faff

There are pro's & con's for both batteries and usb's.
- USB's give very good light and are compact, but the charging time can be a couple of hours. If you forget to charge, or forget to turn it off after your morning commute or a prankster turns it on, you may find it dead when you return to the bike.
- AAA's rear lights are very good nowadays, but you have to replace batteries. Easy to carry a couple of spares in your pocket for an instant replace when they have gone flat.

I wouldn't be without my USB front light - like riding in daylight, but I always have a backup battery front light. At the rear still use batteries, but always have a secondary rear light as well as carrying spare batteries.

When I was commuting (now retired) I had a blue flashing light at the rear as the secondary light and several people commented how visible and effective it was. Technically might be illegal, but I bought it from a UK bike shop and I'd rather be seen and illegal, than not seen and legal.

Finally I don't go out when it's dark (including fading light in the afternoons), without reflective slap band round my ankles.

 

[figbat]

I treat rear lights as disposable - I get these by the handful and use them across all my bikes - MTB, road, gravel, even my Dawes Kingpin has one. They last for ages on the blink setting. We always keep a stock of the CR2032 in the house for various applications so it's no issue to change them. They are so cheap I am not worried if one gets lost, stolen or broken - even though none of these has happened yet. Not mega-bright but easy enough to see - double-up if you want a constant and flashing display. They are so small you can squeeze them in most places and take seconds to mount and dismount.

They do a USB version too, but I have never gone to such extravagant expense.

 

[vickster]

I've been impressed by this if you can find one
Amazon product ASIN B07CVT5KJMView: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07CVT5KJM/ref=as_sl_pc_tf_til?tag=&linkCode=w00&linkId=&creativeASIN=B07CVT5KJM

 

[MichaelW2]

A spare rear led for backup is always a good policy.
Removing lights at every lockup can become a faff and some of the rubber band connectors can fail through overuse.
If you have a luggage rack use a bolt on rear LED.

 

[bikingdad90]

I've been impressed by this if you can find one
Amazon product ASIN B07CVT5KJMView: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07CVT5KJM/ref=as_sl_pc_tf_til?tag=&linkCode=w00&linkId=&creativeASIN=B07CVT5KJM

That is a copy of cateyes offering if I remember rightly. I’m a fan of the lights that have a constant light but then flash at the same time best of both worlds. Makes you visible and also easier for drivers to track how far away you are as the light never goes out unlike on a straight flash.

 

[roubaixtuesday]

If you have a luggage rack use a bolt on rear LED.

Cateye do a converter for luggage racks so you can clip one of theirs on.

I'm mildly appalled by the idea of disposable lights, and single use batteries. . I'm a fan of good quality (li battery) usb lights. If find lights with replaceable batteries invariably end up failing due to water ingressvto the battery compartment, and NiMh rechargeables are nowhere near as long lived as Li rechargeables.

Cateye are excellent.

 

[Blue Hills]

Exposure TraceR more expensive than Aldi's offering (£34 at Halfords when last I checked) but worth a look in my opinion.
Plenty bright enough for daytime running but has lower settings for more sociable night time illumination.
USB charge with impressive battery life.

World gone mad folks using their lights on full power in daylight. As i see racers around flashing both ends on a wondrous day i often wonder if they will be left dark as night falls.

 

[Darius_Jedburgh]

World gone mad folks using their lights on full power in daylight. As i see racers around flashing both ends on a wondrous day i often wonder if they will be left dark as night falls.

I've seen a lot of that this summer. Far more than normal. I put it down to lockdown cyclists having been in touch with a good salesman

 

[Kestevan]

Bontrager ion flare RT.


Tiny little thing, loads of light, and built in sensor so it dims/brightens depending on conditions.

Front one is a cracking light too. And for shoots and giggles they can be controlled from your Garmin too if you have one.

 

[davidphilips]

I've got a previous version of this.....
https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Lezyne-Mic...VJLn_HJo3H5zkO9PmsIHb2PGN7XQFRRoCkxYQAvD_BwE#

A Lezyne Micro Drive 180.

I run mine on Pulse mode which isn't rude to people riding or driving behind you, and gives a reasonably long interval between charges. View attachment 547602

This, best rear light i have ever had, found charge lasts a lot longer than other lezyne lights with lots of LEDs, i always take at least 2 rear lights when solo but one has to be this type, highly recommended.

 

[HLaB]

Got my self one of these 3 years ago for use mainly on my commuter liked it so I got another for the good bike. After I found the long term battery life of Lezyne lights to be poor. The leyzyne's would fail to hold charge after two years and give you no warning. The niterider has a warning led (blue if good, red if not) but touch wood after 3 years I've never had a problem with the Niterider.

https://www.merlincycles.com/niterider-sabre-80-rear-bike-light-120366.html

 

[Blue Hills]

I've seen a lot of that this summer. Far more than normal. I put it down to lockdown cyclists having been in touch with a good salesman

I quite often find that the ones with the uber powerul rear flashers are the ones most likely to give you a very close pass with no bell/warning at all. Of course you only know this after they have brushed past so no real warning/alert at all.

 

[Lovacott]

I've got three. One USB, one battery and one dynamo.

The USB and battery ones I got from amazon paired with headlights for under £20 a set and the dynamo light is from Nean.

The Nean light is a rack mount and gives out the best and largest light, the USB one seems to last forever between charges and the battery one is really too small to be used on it's own and has a battery life of 10 hours (I timed it).

As a set of three though, they more than do the job.

I'm a 100% dynamo convert now (after one week) and I'm only using a cheap Axa bottle dynamo. A Hub dynamo is on my Christmas list.

 

[Blue Hills]

May be of interest lovacott - decathlon do a wheel with a shimano dynamo for £30. Online order only I think but free click and collect from store available.

 

[Lovacott]

May be of interest lovacott - decathlon do a wheel with a shimano dynamo for £30. Online order only I think but free click and collect from store available.

Cheers for that, I'll take a look. I've just ordered an upgraded version of my Axa bottle dynamo which has a rubber runner and better bearings. The one I fitted last week gives out great power but the whirring noise is getting on my tits a bit.