What is it with bags and rear lights?

[PpPete]

1 on the saddlebag loop, with an elastic band holding it on; another on the seat stay....then you don't need to take up space in the bag with spare batteries.

The one on the saddlebag does point downwards 'tis true, but a bright enough light (like a Smart 1/2W) puts a big "pool" of red light on the road behind you .... which may help to get you noticed. The one on the seat stay is angled as near horizontally as possible so as to "project" back along the line of travel as far as possible.

 

[ianrauk]

Thanks guys - seat stay is looking favourite at the moment but I'll take a look at the seat rail option.

Anyone managed to attached a light to the rear a-frame and avoid it getting in the way of the rear brake assembly?

Get yerself a Fibre Flare

Attaches to the stay and they are nice and bendy so can work around the brakes.
On FNRttC ride I use 2 flares. One each side of the frame.
Very effective they are too.

 

[Unsteady]

OK the seat stay is the rear a-frame - I geddit now.

How long does the Fibre Flare last?

 

[ianrauk]

OK the seat stay is the rear a-frame - I geddit now.

How long does the Fibre Flare last?

Flashing? about 100 hours
Constant about third of that.

 

[MrJamie]

If you put an elastic band around each of the prongs of the "belt clips" separately not holding them together, it pushes the prongs apart so that theres a lot more tension in the plastic and the clip cant slip off past the bands. I might post a picture in a bit as im rubbish at describing things!

I use a smart lunar R2 on each of the seat stays and a cateye L1100 on my bag. I like fibre flares they look great, but theyre quite expensive for a pair and a quite lot of people have problems with them stopping working.

 

[Unsteady]

Thanks Ian. Liking the Flare very much (haven't seen the price yet though...) - if you're attaching them to the frame (rear forks I'm assuming) then they'll appear lower which I'm led to believe is good. Read somewhere that the lower the light on a bike, the more likely drivers are to assume you are close to them and be more cautious.

Would like to see your setup Mr J, if you can post a pic.

 

[ianrauk]

Thanks Ian. Liking the Flare very much (haven't seen the price yet though...) - if you're attaching them to the frame (rear forks I'm assuming) then they'll appear lower which I'm led to believe is good. Read somewhere that the lower the light on a bike, the more likely drivers are to assume you are close to them and be more cautious.

Would like to see your setup Mr J, if you can post a pic.

Yup, one on each fork, about halfway down. Both flashing.
Looks very good and very noticeable.
They cost about £23-£25 each.

Had them for a couple of years now and rock solid.
Had one fail on me due to water ingress (so did Gaz iirc) but they were replaced with no quibbles.

 

[gavintc]

With a small bag under the seat, I find there is enough of the seat post remaining to attach a rear light. Indeed, having looked at all the road bikes in the house (4 of them), the seat post is visible on all of them. Perhaps you need to get a smaller seat pack or even (and I am being serious) check if your seat is up high enough.

 

[Peteaud]

Ive never had a light fall out, inc my mountain bike one, just make sure the light is a good fit.

 

[Banjo]

I have lost a few off the back usually at the worst possible moment such as 20 miles of busy A roads away from home.A bag of cable ties from the poundshop is worth its weight in gold.

 

[MrJamie]

It's simpler than i remember, just a single thick elasticband round one side holds it very securely in place even with one of the heavier rear lights (i think its the AA batteries).

My lighting setup is probably a little excessive but they were relatively cheap additions and i like my accessory shopping, ive got 2 more of the spokelits now which turns the outer ring of the wheel into a nice orange blur. You can see the smarts on the seat stays, cateye on the bag though. I dont ride with all of it on all the time.

 

[HovR]

Also, the Cateye TL-LD150 and TL-LD130 (among others with the same lighting bracket) will mount almost anywhere. I've just fitted two to the seat stays of my steel Dawes - Although on narrower tubing I've found they need a bit of rubber in between the bracket and the frame to keep a solid fit.

 

[lulubel]

For real though, never trust those loops unless the fit is ridiculously tight.

I never had a problem with mine when I was commuting on bad Cornish roads. I used (and still use) the Topeak bag pictured earlier in the thread, and there was no way my light was coming off it. In fact, I had a job taking the light off when I stopped cycling in the dark.

 

[TonyEnjoyD]

The Topeak saddle bag has a little loop that most lights can fit to.

Some are very tight to fit, although i think thats a good thing.

Got one of these and it's great , zip extendable, easy on/ off with clips and the loop on the back holds my 1-watt rsp lamp - a blinder.


You can see the lopp on this one.

 

[TonyEnjoyD]

I got the Topeak one with the two clip straps and find its better especially for different positioning.