wingless' CygoLite Hotshot Pro 150 Lumen Tail Light
 

The safe on-road operation of my bicycle requires a rear red tail light.

My tail light selection was this CygoLite Hotshot Pro 150 USB. It is a full-featured tail light, with: 150 Lumen (flashes); 90 Lumen (max continuous, manually adjustable lower); USB rechargeable Battery and selectable operation modes, brightness and frequency.

The design is very nice. It provides a concentrated rear beam w/ decent peripheral side coverage. The attachment clip provides solid retention and easy release. IMO, this won't ever pop out for an unintended release, even w/ severe bumps.

This is listed as water resistant. Probably the weak water intrusion point is the floppy rubber USB cover. The base of the lamp housing has a Micro-USB B receptacle w/ a hinged rubber cover.

The only minor deficiency I've found is that the USB cover requires dexterity to position in-place for proper protection. It works fine, but it's not as easy as flipping a switch.

The lamp includes these parts:

• Hotshot Pro 150 USB Lamp Housing - 43.0g
• Seat Stay Mount w/ Hardware and Rubber Shim - 15.3g
• Seat Post Mount w/ Hardware and Rubber Shim - 19.0g
• White 24" USB A-Type Male to Micro-USB B Cable (NO Charger Block Included)
• User Guide

The operation time is very long. I have not measured the run time during my currently selected operating mode of a single flash about every second. I charge about once a week, after about eight hours of run time and have not depleted the battery. The low battery indicator is that the LED flickers when turning off.

The lamp provides a slow dim flash during charging and a dim constant on when charged.

There are two easy-to-use buttons, Power / Mode (P/M) and Rate. Press P/M to turn on, tap P/M to change flash mode , then press and hold P/M to turn off, quick flash acknowledgement when turned off. Press and hold Rate to change rate or brightness, release when desired setting is attained.

This light is a great choice to ensure traffic approaching from the rear has sufficient visibility of the bike.

This product was purchased by me using cash from my pocket. I have zero affiliation and zero agreement w/ the manufacturer or w/ the vendor.



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Happy with mine as well, very long run time that I also haven’t timed. Mine is mounted on my Topeak Explorer rack using the optional rack mount.

I use the same single-flash, about 1-2 seconds interval during the day. Wish the flash intensity were adjustable since it's much brighter than necessary at night. End up using the continuous mode at reduced intensity at night.

Accurate and thorough review. Thanks.

I have this taillight and couldn't be happier with it. Have gotten compliments on it from drivers, and actually a few complaints from them as well. A few said that it is too bright. I casually replied back, that means you can see me. They had no answer other than a head nod yes. Charging port is the weak part of this light unfortunately. Review is spot on with everything. Confident that this is one of the best bang for the buck taillights that you can purchase right now.

Very nice review and more pictures than the web sellers provide. :thumb: I have several riders and I swap a under-seat bag between them that hold my pump, spare inner-tube and various tools. I was able to mount the Hotshot Pro 150 directly on to that bag by not using the bar clamps, but simply attaching the quick release portion via the provided screw and nut to my bag. The bag has a thick plastic top sewn into the liner that I was able to drill a hole through and mount the light. Now it moves from bike-to-bike along with the bag (takes about 30 seconds to move).

http://www.radiolabworks.com/bikes/p...20on%20Bag.jpg

As you've experienced I've yet to have it drain during any ride and usually use on of the blinking modes for improved visibility - I don't ride at night.

Here are some videos showing on-road operation, with the blinking CygoLite Hotshot Pro 150 tail light blinking, along w/ another continuous 10 Lumen tail light.

A run time evaluation was performed to quantify the observed really long battery life.

The battery was depleted during normal usage, to fully empty.

The effect of a dead battery is that the previously-selected operation mode is forgotten. Normal off/on operation restores the illumination mode that was previously-selected. But, when the battery is dead, then recharged, then turned on, a different illumination mode is provided.

The lamp has a low-battery flicker that is observed when turning off the lamp when the battery is running low. That flicker was observed during this testing.

The empty battery was fully recharged prior to this run time test, until the slow dim flash during charging changed to the a dim constant on. that indicates fully charged.

My operation mode is one flash per second. The measured run time for this mode is 34 hours.

This light has been a reliable workhorse for my usage.

Once a month I need to recharge the light.

My clumsy fingers yanked that flexible rubber cover out of position when unplugging the USB charging cable.

The repair required loosening the three rear-panel miniature Phillips head screws, pushing that cover back into the housing (it is part of a perimeter gasket), then tightening the screws.

All is good again, but my fingers are still clumsy.