BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

Interesting article. I'm running the PDW Danger Zone, and I've been very happy with it.

I have a PDW Danger Zone- it is handsome and bright with a unique flashing pattern. However, a very experienced rider from this board gave me the important feedback that the time gap that happens during a portion of its unique flash pattern could be too long - a car coming fast around a blind curve, for example, may ride up on me during the pause.

So, I usually use this light in the solid mode or to supplement other lights.

It is pretty, though.

It's a good article but I run a brighter light than all of them. I use the Dinotte 400L Taillight, expensive but it's almost as bright in daylight as at night. I't also has several different flash patterns.

Right now I'm leery of buying any light for the bike. I bought one a couple of months ago and managed to break it off the same afternoon. It didn't make it 15 miles, secured to the back fender (the plastic bracket broke). So I don't think it's too far off topic to ask, how does anyone mount or wear a taillight?

I really dig these: https://www.serfas.com/products/view/164/referer:products%7Cindex%7Clights%7Ctail-lights

Low key when off, easy on/off, and they are still pretty bright. I am running one on the left seat stay and pair it with a PB Superflash turbo. I will get another for the right and stagger the heights on the stays.

If two is adequate 3 is better.

@stu: I like helmet mounts (some helmets have a built-in strap onto which a tailight may be clipped) and fender mounts.

Fender-mounted tail lights bolt into holes you drill in the fender, so metal or metal-cored plastic (a la SKS) fenders are the way to go. Bolt said taillight to fender with a nyloc nut or a drop of threadlocker, and it shan't come off unless the fender does.

Stu, I've had my Planet Bike lights fall off into the street a few times due to my sloppy mounting practices and they are all still perfectly functional. Now I swap my Superflash between bikes, one has a mount on the rear rack, the other on the seat post.

@stu if your rack accepts it, I really like planet bike's Taillight rack bracket. You don't have to worry about the light slipping down out of position and it is very sturdy and clear of any obstruction made by the rider or their cargo.

Stu, given the history you describe, I would suggest getting one that comes with a rack mount, and then rig something you can mount the light below and protected by the back edge of the rack. That should be pretty bombproof.

When I use a pannier, I use a seatpost mount, but up high on the post so it is kind of protected by the seat rails.

I have also mounted lights on the seat tube so it is visible between the seat stays. Totally bombproof, but the stays can restrict visibility, and useless if you put something on a rack.

Somewhere along the line I found a "comfort" saddle with a light built into the back edge, like this;



I have it on one of the family bikes so I don't have to worry about someone breaking a light off, but I haven't seen any like that in a while.

i have a bell spider flasher tail light but i dont do much night riding

Topeak racks have a built in mount which is pretty nice. I broke the clip on my last light so I screwed it directly to the rack, but that light eventually died, so now I use a PB superflash clipped to the rack.

I discovered my old light was broken after riding on some busy streets at night, so I decided having a backup wasn't a bad idea. I bought a helmet mounted light like Dan described - I like the PB one that mounts on a swivel so it stays level.

"I really dig these: https://www.serfas.com/products/view/164/referer:products%7Cindex%7Clights%7Ctail-lights"

+1

The only down side is the button cell batteries, but they can be found cheap on Amazon. There are some negative reviews of this light out there due to a design flaw, but my LBS told me that they have corrected it.

Button cell batteries, while they have a short life, pack very small. I currently have 3 full replacement sets with me in my bag and do not notice them.

I also ride without fenders and in the rain and have not had issues yet, even with the salt crud that comes up during the winter.

I do fully expect them to fail at some point, thus redundancy, but for their minimal cost, minimal footprint, effectiveness, and ease of use I will replace them with the same light.

They are, to me, cheap enough to be disposable if I get 6 months out of them.

Stu (and following up on Edmonds59), I really like the idea of using a rear rack mount. Unfortunately, none of my rear racks supported rear lights. My first solution was to use PVC pipe to "emulate" seat posts:



not pretty in any way, but it worked.

The lights, btw, are a Cateye TLD-1100 and a PDW Radbot1000.

Then I decided to buy the additional rear rack mounts for each light, and use L-brackets to attach them to the rack. The problem was finding L-brackets of sufficient strength.

The L-brackets I ended up choosing(finding) were curtain supports from Loews/HomeDepot:

So I mounted one above and one below the platform on the rear rack, and I've been pretty pleased with it:

Oh man the curtain brackets are genius.

@stu if your rack accepts it, I really like planet bike's Taillight rack bracket. You don't have to worry about the light slipping down out of position and it is very sturdy and clear of any obstruction made by the rider or their cargo.

just as a data point in the opposite direction, i destroyed a planet bike rack mount bracket and a superflash hitting a pothole one night. although the light itself didn't break until some jagoff sped through the intersection around a car that was stopping at the reddening light, and ran it the hell over.

now i use a knog boomer, and i don't think it will ever fall off.

Colin used superglue on one of my rear seat post-mounted lights. I can pop off the front to change batteries, but it doest move unless I unscrew the whole thing. I have never had trouble with any of my seat post-mounted lights sliding down or coming unscrewed. I believe we have a thin piece of rubber between the plastic and the seat post, which I thought came with the blinkies, but maybe not.

@HV how was it mounted to your rack?

FWIW, I bought a P.B. light at Thick, screwed it onto the rack right in the shop, rode it home, and broke it off maneuvering the bikes around in the carport. The mounting bracket broke. The light itself is fine.

I'll take all the ideas above and see what I can do. It just needs to be attached securely enough that bumpy roads and bus racks won't knock it off, but with enough "give" that clunking it against the adjacent bike in a rack won't break it off.

I'm already using a helmet light, and clip a second one to my shirt or jacket collar, but that's uncomfortable as well as loose enough that I fear losing it every time I turn around.

The ones that bolt to seatposts are OK if I don't have anything on the rack, which block any light it puts out.

@HV how was it mounted to your rack?

with an L bracket i got from kraynick's. that screwed into a hole on the rack and the planet bike rack mount screwed onto that. the tab that you push to be able to slide the light out broke off, and the light fell out the bottom.

I don't think you'll beat the Magicshine MJ-818 for taillight/dollar. It uses the same battery connection as the headlight too, so you can run a splitter off the same battery. I believe it's a 3W LED w/ a bunch of smaller ones around the edge.

There's someone making a custom 10W setup (DesignShine I believe?) if you want to really anger some drivers (at least they'll see you though...). I honestly wouldn't use max brightness at night.

Edit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVisFnaKjso

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRB-6FokXw4