Need a new.commuting tail light

[il padrone]

The Luxos B lacks most of the features of the Luxos U, including the panorama beam apparently (puzzlingly) so if he describes the B as being a wide beam, the U is even wider. I'm pretty confident I will be happy with it.

Are you sure ?

Yes. The detailed specs are given for each at the top of that B&M instruction manual that I linked. No "panorama light at close range" is listed for the Luxos B.

These next two photos were taken with the same 45mm focal length lens as all of the other photos. However, the Luxos beam is wider than this lens can capture. So I also took a few shots with a 24mm wide angle lens. They can be seen further down the page. Since even with the 24mm lens, you can't really see how wide this beam is, I then used an even wider lens ... a 16mm (108 degree) wide angle lens ...

Here's the beam at high speed. The Luxos B has the same beam as this.

My emphasis.

The Peter White photo clearly shows the uneven light distribution Wouter complains about. To be fair, the "hotspot" of the Luxos U appears to be at least as wide as the full width of other dynamo lights.

Not sure what Peter White means by "the same beam". I really wouldn't mind a "hot spot" that big though (the width of the whole driveway)

[edt] Ah I see now, the panorama beam operates at lower speeds, so the longer range beam IS the same for both the B and the U. But on the U the beam gradually switches to a wide beam as speed drops.

And here is the Luxos U beam at low speed. It reduces the power to the primary LED and sends it to two other LEDs which project light close to the bike and to each side. This happens automatically, and gradually. In other words, there isn't a speed above which the distance beam is on, and just below that the near beam switches on. Oh no. At about 15kph, as you go slower, the distant beam gradually dims, while the near beam gradually increases. It's a very smooth transition as your speed changes.

Close-up Luxos U beam at low speed, taken with super-wide angle lens.

[eeksll]

I run a Radbot 1000 powered with Eneloop AAA's, charged up from a USB Eneloop re-charger.

http://dicksmith.com.au/product/S4460/e ... -batteries

It works for me. Not exactly sure how long the batteries last but I was commuting an hour per day last year and changed the batteries fortnightly. Sanyo Eneloops are meant to be amongst the best of the rechargable batteries.

My understanding of eneloops are they hold their charge much longer than normal rechargeables. Which can make them seem to last longer on low powered lights as a normal rechargeable will lose charge quicker while not being used. This makes eneloops good rechargeables to have as backup/spare.

The radbot 1000 uses so much battery I dont think it would make much difference.

My pick for tail lights is the cateye reflex tail light. Big light to be seen and not a blinder, also means batteries last a lot longer. However it has no clip attachment.

I am now a dynamo user. TBH not sure I would ever go back for a daily commuter.

[Byke]

The Moon Shield is USB rechargeable, small, has a quick-to-take-on-and-off attachment system and is super bright (60 lumens - great for daylight as well), with a much wider beam than the Smart Lunar R1 (aka Planet Bike Superflash Turbos) which I'm slowing replacing.

Bikes.com.au sell them for $39 (which is cheaper than you can get them from the best UK stores), or in a kit with the brilliant Moon Mask front light for $69.

My only small complaint is that they look a little bit 'blingy' (whereas the Mask is a great bit on industrial design - clearly not from the same designer).

[il padrone]

I'm lead to believe the Blackburn Flea lights are particularly good - very bright in use and amazingly compact. c r c have it for just $29.

[InTheWoods]

I run a Radbot 1000 powered with Eneloop AAA's, charged up from a USB Eneloop re-charger.

http://dicksmith.com.au/product/S4460/e ... -batteries

It works for me. Not exactly sure how long the batteries last but I was commuting an hour per day last year and changed the batteries fortnightly. Sanyo Eneloops are meant to be amongst the best of the rechargable batteries.

My understanding of eneloops are they hold their charge much longer than normal rechargeables. Which can make them seem to last longer on low powered lights as a normal rechargeable will lose charge quicker while not being used. This makes eneloops good rechargeables to have as backup/spare.

The radbot 1000 uses so much battery I dont think it would make much difference.

My pick for tail lights is the cateye reflex tail light. Big light to be seen and not a blinder, also means batteries last a lot longer. However it has no clip attachment.

I am now a dynamo user. TBH not sure I would ever go back for a daily commuter.

Eneloops are also generally tougher than other makes in that you'll get more charges out of them. The AA's are much better than the AAA's though.

Re the radbot, it uses a lot of battery because it is creating a lot of light If you want long battery life, get a dim light. It lasts a lot longer on the zZz-pop mode than the eyeball searing (slow fade in and out) mode.

[Mulger bill]

Radbots make a great secondary light, I agree they can chew battery but how much does four spares contained in a bit of offcut MTB tube weigh?

[eeksll]

Back when I was using battery lights I couldn't find a good light which accepted AA. They all took the AAA.

Radbots also require a screw to remove batteries. It would be good to DIY hack a cable out of it and connect to some external AA (or even bigger battery). I was thinking about trying this before my radbot "died".

[durianrider]

I use a Nite Flux Red Zone 4.

Ive never had a drivers license. Riden a LOT of tail lights and this is the brightest and easiest to recharge without throwing out batteries. Designed in Australia too.