Tailights

[Mulger bill]

My three superflashes have all been sealed with a 10mm wide strip of MTB tube. Never a problem but I have done it since new so can't speculate whether it's a problem without it.

I've got one of these strapped to the back of the lid, I like it that it has leds emitting sideways too, really helps to let them know where you are.


Shaun

[Aushiker]

Hi

Another option or not, is the FlashBak Bike Safety Light. Ken has a posted a review of same on his blog.



Regards
Andrew

[lgbran]

Dinotte - feedback on my lights... motorcyclist pulled allongside me and waved during my ride yesterday.. shortly after he pulled over and i kep on going. anyway he pulled up allongside again and said what awesome rear lights I saw them over 1 km away through my helmet... Very reasuring -this was midday and sunny. Just goes to show you get what you pay for.. Dont scrimp on safety...

[redned]

I went for the Radbot 1000 and it's brilliant.

+1 for coming with a rack mount.

[brit_in_oz]

I use a cateye 5 LED plus a supplementary micro flasher on helmet, then i saw an add for the fibre flairs - had to get one, they are amazingly useful when dark. As they are fibre optic they suck in the light as the light is washed out, but in the dark/dusk they are great. My Cateye i thought was bright but next the the flair its near invisible. Put it on my right hand side stay and its very effective, now i want another for my back (have to look after them in the wet, not the best design, but besides that perfect)

[Aushiker]

Hi

One for the fans of the MagicShine front lights, DealExtreme now have a "matching" tail-light ... 3W 3-Mode LED Bike Tail Light Set for US$57.60.



Model: MJ-818
- Ultra bright high intensity red light LED
- T6 grade aluminium with aviation and Army regulations three hard after oxidation
- Magnetic dimming, 3 modes including 2 flash and 1 constant setting
- Up to 50,000 hours of led life
- Powered by a separate rechargeable battery pack (4 x 18650 lithium batteries inside)
- Package included:
- 1 * Bike tail light
- 1 * Rechargeable battery pack (4 x 18650 lithium batteries inside)
- 1 * 100V~240V AC charger (US plug)
- 2 * Rubber rings
- 1 * Hard paper box

Andrew

[Caelum]

I absolutely LOVE the dinotte style tail light, but i'd be worried that someone would try and steal it if you left it on your bike...

Currently i've just got a 1/2 watt smart flash style light, which i have mounted on the back of my helmet... But i'm thinking i'd like something more powerful for the winter months(and daytime riding).

Even the Dinotte 400R tail light only has a plastic mount, better than the rubber ring design of the 140R though, i guess.





I started my own design of tail light about 18 months ago, but didn't get it finished(yet!), maybe that's the solution i need. It would look crappy enough that no one would try and steal it, atleast, and the brightness is DEFINITELY in the same league as the dinotte 140R(if not 400R).



Why is it so hard for a company to make a good solid alloy mounting system with torx(or similar) screws for high quality lights?

[ajh003]

One for the fans of the MagicShine front lights, DealExtreme now have a "matching" tail-light ... 3W 3-Mode LED Bike Tail Light Set for US$57.60.
Andrew

Thanks for the heads up Andrew

I just got 2 x Radbot 1ooo's delivered and they look awesome but now you've messed with my head
I am very impressed with the Magicshine so far and think that the rear light would complement my setup with the rechargeables etc

Anyone want to buy 2 x brand new Radbots at a discount price ?

[}SkOrPn--7]

Thanks for the heads-up Andrew once again I look forward to anyone who purchases them to give a small review as that price is by far pretty spectacular for what you get compared to what's on the market now.

[pompy]

Hi everyone,

I just got some Tioga lights with my new bike - unfortunately the rearlight batteries went flat very quickly.

I think its called Tioga Big eye rear light.

It looks like this:
http://www.cyclingsports.com.au/Detail.htm?sku=TBE

This might be a really stupid question sorry, but for the life of me I can't figure out how to open them up to change the batteries.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Cheers.

[Biffidus]

This might be a really stupid question sorry, but for the life of me I can't figure out how to open them up to change the batteries.

They look very similar to the Superflash which is opened with a flat-head screwdriver (or coin) inserted into a slot cut into one of the corners where the front and back join. The halves just clip together and pop apart with enough pressure.

[damhooligan]

One for the fans of the MagicShine front lights, DealExtreme now have a "matching" tail-light ... 3W 3-Mode LED Bike Tail Light Set for US$57.60.
Andrew

Thanks for the heads up Andrew

I just got 2 x Radbot 1ooo's delivered and they look awesome but now you've messed with my head
I am very impressed with the Magicshine so far and think that the rear light would complement my setup with the rechargeables etc

Anyone want to buy 2 x brand new Radbots at a discount price ?

I have been using supeflash but not happy with them.
They have some serious water issues, they don't work very wel in the wet...
So for me they have been unreliable, not a good thing for a rear light...
And in addition to that,the weight distrubution is poorly designed, i already lost 1 light because of that.
(all the weight is in the part where the light is, and all it takes is one good bump for the whole light to fall out, leaving a piece of useless plastic behind... )

I have now bought 2 radbot's, and very pleased with the result.
the rackmount is awesome. (i had to modify the superflash to attach them properly to the rack)
The radbot has a screw to hold the 2 parts together, so no risk of losing the light due to a bumpy road...
First impression is very good.

It might rain, so we will see how that goes as well.

[Aushiker]

I have now bought 2 radbot's, and very pleased with the result.

Hi

There is a good review on them at Kent's Bike Blog. BTW where did you get yours from?

Thanks
Andrew

[il padrone]

I have been using supeflash but not happy with them.
They have some serious water issues, they don't work very wel in the wet...
So for me they have been unreliable, not a good thing for a rear light...
And in addition to that,the weight distrubution is poorly designed, i already lost 1 light because of that.
(all the weight is in the part where the light is, and all it takes is one good bump for the whole light to fall out, leaving a piece of useless plastic behind... )

Funny thing, not my experience. I have two Superflashes on my Audax bike on seat-stay mounts, and one on the commute bike on an adapted rack mount.. Each bike has done thousands of kms with the lights fitted - never had any water problems and certainly no tendency to bounce out of the mount, even on rough gravel road tours .

The Radbot does look to be a good bright light though. Is it any brighter than the Mars 4.0 1W LED?

[damhooligan]

I have now bought 2 radbot's, and very pleased with the result.

Hi

There is a good review on them at Kent's Bike Blog. BTW where did you get yours from?

Thanks
Andrew

from cellbikes, where a 4day special, posted it in the 'spotted a special' thread.
2 for 70 (including delivery)

[damhooligan]

I have been using supeflash but not happy with them.
They have some serious water issues, they don't work very wel in the wet...
So for me they have been unreliable, not a good thing for a rear light...
And in addition to that,the weight distrubution is poorly designed, i already lost 1 light because of that.
(all the weight is in the part where the light is, and all it takes is one good bump for the whole light to fall out, leaving a piece of useless plastic behind... )

Funny thing, not my experience. I have two Superflashes on my Audax bike on seat-stay mounts, and one on the commute bike on an adapted rack mount.. Each bike has done thousands of kms with the lights fitted - never had any water problems and certainly no tendency to bounce out of the mount, even on rough gravel road tours .

The Radbot does look to be a good bright light though. Is it any brighter than the Mars 4.0 1W LED?

i have heard similair water issues from other suprflash users.
so it's not just me, the light falling out could be me just having bad luck.
i now have tape on the outsde to be on the safe side.

I like the build in reflector ofthe radbot as well.

not familiar with the mars,so can't compair but they should be similair both lights have a 1w led.
it's defenatly brighter then the superflash.....

[pompy]

This might be a really stupid question sorry, but for the life of me I can't figure out how to open them up to change the batteries.

They look very similar to the Superflash which is opened with a flat-head screwdriver (or coin) inserted into a slot cut into one of the corners where the front and back join. The halves just clip together and pop apart with enough pressure.

Thanks Biffidus - the 10c coin worked a treat.

[m@]

I've found the guts of a couple of Basta/Smart lights of the same design as the superflash but minus the 0.5W LED... definitely a design flaw, though perhaps only for certain batches of lights as mine are still pretty difficult to open.

[Caelum]

Just thought i'd update my choices...


I got myself a Dinotte 140r - AA's.


Fantastic light, cars give me MUCH more room on the road now... i'd say 75% of cars go wider than when i just had a smartflash, and about 25% of the total would actually veer into the other lane giving me MUCH more room...


Not sure about the battery mounting system yet... but it isn't critical, you can mount it basically where ever you want...


The flashing modes are pretty good, normally leave it on the *_*_*_*_*_*------ mode - if that makes sense... with the * being a high power flash, and the ------- being a low-power constant.


I like

[Spork!]

The other evening driving home I saw a nice bright blinky from quite a distance (approx 1k) away. It had a pattern of t bright flashes, a longer pause, 2 bright flashes, a pause... The 2 flashes were in very rapid succession. I was only about 80-100m away when I saw another bike besides this bright flash, it also had a rear blinky running, but it was nowhere near as effective as the brighter one. Wish I knew what sort the brighter one was. Anyone recognise the flash pattern? **----**----**----**

[CoffsGal]

Just thought i'd update my choices...
I got myself a Dinotte 140r - AA's.
Fantastic light, cars give me MUCH more room on the road now... i'd say 75% of cars go wider than when i just had a smartflash, and about 25% of the total would actually veer into the other lane giving me MUCH more room...
Not sure about the battery mounting system yet... but it isn't critical, you can mount it basically where ever you want...
The flashing modes are pretty good, normally leave it on the *_*_*_*_*_*------ mode - if that makes sense... with the * being a high power flash, and the ------- being a low-power constant.
I like

Yea, the Dinotte are excellent...I ride on country roads, so I use the 'full strength single flash with long pause' mode...gives 10 to 12 hours use between recharges using 4 X 2650mAh NiMH AA batteries...I stash the battery pack in the bag under the saddle.

[Pushy]

The other evening driving home I saw a nice bright blinky from quite a distance (approx 1k) away. It had a pattern of t bright flashes, a longer pause, 2 bright flashes, a pause... The 2 flashes were in very rapid succession. I was only about 80-100m away when I saw another bike besides this bright flash, it also had a rear blinky running, but it was nowhere near as effective as the brighter one. Wish I knew what sort the brighter one was. Anyone recognise the flash pattern? **----**----**----**

Sounds like a Radbot 1000, PB superflash is above
http://members.iinet.net.au/~tw15ted/images/160651.AVI

[lgbran]

Just thought i'd update my choices...
I got myself a Dinotte 140r - AA's.
Fantastic light, cars give me MUCH more room on the road now... i'd say 75% of cars go wider than when i just had a smartflash, and about 25% of the total would actually veer into the other lane giving me MUCH more room...
Not sure about the battery mounting system yet... but it isn't critical, you can mount it basically where ever you want...
*** Gr8 light ... had mine for 12 months now.. re mounting.. I farted around for a while... 2 x velcro straps supplied and secured under the top tube and seat stay junction finally secure it.. Have cycled through second winter with these lights day and night and they are gr8.. son has usewd rechargables in x box which has shortenned memories on batteries... use superflash as back up but Dinotte 140 r 's are gr8 valuue for price and value..like others have said cars give you a wide berth. 99% of my riding done on beach rods, country roads southerns coast line Vic Day and night.

[Caelum]

The other evening driving home I saw a nice bright blinky from quite a distance (approx 1k) away. It had a pattern of t bright flashes, a longer pause, 2 bright flashes, a pause... The 2 flashes were in very rapid succession. I was only about 80-100m away when I saw another bike besides this bright flash, it also had a rear blinky running, but it was nowhere near as effective as the brighter one. Wish I knew what sort the brighter one was. Anyone recognise the flash pattern? **----**----**----**

Where are you based Spork?

[Spork!]

The other evening driving home I saw a nice bright blinky from quite a distance (approx 1k) away. It had a pattern of t bright flashes, a longer pause, 2 bright flashes, a pause... The 2 flashes were in very rapid succession. I was only about 80-100m away when I saw another bike besides this bright flash, it also had a rear blinky running, but it was nowhere near as effective as the brighter one. Wish I knew what sort the brighter one was. Anyone recognise the flash pattern? **----**----**----**

Where are you based Spork?

Launceston, Tas. Ordered a Radbot 1000 from US Ebay the other night, $36 posted. - $5.95 (US) postage from the states, the best Aust. deal I could find was $59.95 for the light and $9.95 post.