01 CAt Man Do

( about the Hotshot 150 ) ...I'm not sure I can agree that the side visibility is average. The HS 150 does have translucent panels to the sides so there is a fair amount of light to the sides. The other night I did some tests outside with the Hotshot 150. I turned the lamp on ( done at night ) and walked around to what would be the 10 O'clock position from the riders perspective and stood about 70 ft from the bike. I had no problem seeing the light. On a scale from one to ten I've give it a six or seven for side visibility assuming of course that you are using a mode with some steady output ( I use the slow fade ) If you're using a quick flash mode than yeah it would be average.

FWIW, the cheap Chinese COB type lights are so inexpensive that you can afford to buy two and just mount them on the seat stays aimed a bit to the sides. You do that and you will have all the side visibility you could ever want...or do like me and use wheel lights.

speshelite

I bought the cygo150 for daylight visibility. I tested the cygo alongside my niterider and the niterider is better for side visibility during the day.

I returned the cygo. The cygo was definitely better for straightline visibility. However, my niterider was nearly as good, maybe 70% as good despite 1/5 the lumens rating.

The reason for the niterider's advantage is simple: the red lens wraps around to the sides to a greater degree. Only a small portion of the cygo lite red lens face sidewards.

01 CAt Man Do

Okay...I've never seen a Niterider in action so I'll take your word on it. The thing is, I've never really noticed ANY cyclist ( during the day ) that was using a rear lamp that I happened to view from the sides ( first ) during daylight hrs. Whenever I see cyclists during the day I usually see them from the front or the rear. If they're running a bright front blinkie I'll see that first or ( if from the rear ) a bright red rear light ( on flash ). Otherwise if they run some mediocre front lamp ( on steady ) or some dim rear lamp I usually see the rider first then the lamp.

The only time I've ever noticed a cyclist's rear lamp from the sides was only once. About a year ago I was stopped at a light ( while driving ) and the cyclist was at my 2 O'clock stopped at the same light directly across from me. I happened to look over toward him ( about 150 ft. away ) and noticed the very bright red light emanating from the sides/rear of his bike. This of course drew my attention. This was at night but under bright street lamps. His light changed first and he passed directly in front of me. Intrigued by what I was seeing, when my light changed I endeavored to catch up to him to see what rear lamp he was using. Whatever it was he was using it had the form factor similar to the Cateye Rapid X2. Of course if it had been full daylight I don't know if I would have noticed it. I will say when viewed from the rear it was not as impressive as when viewed from the sides.

speshelite

Yes, the red lens does wrap around further giving great visibility.

Also, niterider's are overbuilt: very heavy compared to cygolite.

I was really impressed by how bright a niterider 30 lumens is vs. a 150 cygolite. There was clearly a difference but the NR was quite visible from 100+ feet away straight on in daylight.

It's a tradeoff in design philosophy. Both work well depending upon personal preference. I wanted to see a major improvement with the cygo and IMO it didn't offer that.

I don't see many cyclists with lights on mid day. After 5 yes, there are more, but still the vast majority don't run lights until after sunset.

01 CAt Man Do

I guess the point I was trying to emphasize was that in full daylight even a moderately bright red blinkie ( ~40 lumen ) viewed head on, is not really going to be that much more noticeable unless you so happen to be riding through a darker shaded area or the sky is heavily overcast. At dusk though...absolutely.

I would think the best strategy for getting seen in full daylight ( on the road ) would be to find a very bright front ( white ) blinkie that is also viewable from the sides and use that in the daytime. I rarely use a rear lamp during full daylight hours but when I do I'll use a very bright front blinkie ( up front ) and either my Hotshot 150 on slow Pulse or a very bright amber LED torch I own with a very nice triple pulse /pause mode aimed toward the rear. Not to mention I can also use a helmet mounted torch with a nice white flash mode for full daytime flash road duties if I really think I need it. With a helmet lamp you can aim it at anything that appears to be a threat.

Lately I've been tempted to consider using an ~ 100 lumen white flasher I've recently purchased for "rear" full daylight duties. I only say this because I've seen other people doing it and I have to say, "It works extremely well at getting the cyclist seen". While it may seem unconventional at the moment I have a feeling in the near future that may change. I'm beginning to see more and more motorized vehicles using the white LED flashers. In my State the local school buses incorporate an omni-directional white LED flasher on top of the buses. Just the other day I saw an ambulance that had mulitiple white LED's plastered on both the back and the sides of the ambulance. There was so much light coming off of it I had to look away ( and that was from a distance of maybe 1000 ft. ).

vucalur

… and ?

Care to share any thoughts, experiences about these lights?
Some research done prior to purchase?

Please guys, create valuable input to this thread… any thread, in fact.
Otherwise don't post.

fietsbob

In the Summer, a Mechanic, I work in a bike shop. they were in the catalog of one of our wholesaler accounts.

I use the rack mount on the back flap of my bag , on one bike, I use the seat post mount on a second bike.

that one came with both, their others tend to only include seat post mount, the rack mount is an extra cost accessory , then.

NB; There are 2 Chinas PRC and ROC, the latter is home to much of the top bike brands ..



..

vucalur

and that's a valuable input. Kudos!

After reading it I was ready to ditch the research and the whole waste of time and end up with the Flare.
BUT:

1. I found another comparison of Bontrager's Flare R vs. some 6-times cheaper light and the author claims that the cheaper alternative is even brighter.
   source:
   You Tube
   , only read comments. Camera is not a human eye and the opinion of a person who had a chance to test different lamps is most valuable. Not the comparison videos / photos themselves.
2. I've seen some negative feedback questioning Flare R's waterproofeness. People report the light to shut down completely in a downpour. That's a red flag.

awesomeame

The Icon+ lights are pretty awesome. Very bright, daytime visible, and EXTREMELY visible at night, to the point of blinding if looking straight on. I've gotten one negative comment from a pedestrian about the brightness.

They are blue-tooth compatible, and they have an app. The app seems to work well although after initial install my phone needed 4 restarts before it would pair with devices, but has been flawless since.

The app lets you change the style of lighting from flashing, steady, etc. There are several different modes. It also lets you control light intensity, 0-100%. Another cool thing is that they have accelerometers built in. The flashing increases and decreases with speed, lengthening battery life...I do notice though that on brand new pavement, flashing is slow because it can't sense the bumps so thinks you're moving slowly.

Also, there is a "crash notification" option which will txt someone if it senses a large impact. Unsure of the usefulness of that, personally I have mine turned off. Also a "theft" notification...if you leave your bike, arm the light, and if it moves it sends you a txt.

Battery life is advertised at 15 hours, which isn't true life. I'd say about 10 hours in flashing modes, 4 hours in steady mode.

It comes with rubber straps which makes it easy to mount/remove from my two bikes which is handy. I imagine the rubber will wear out someday, and they are available to purchase on their own if needed.

Overall I'd highly recommend the light, and would buy them again. They came with a 1 yr warranty. The only real "complaint" I've heard about them from one other cyclist, (not my complaint), is that they're a bit bulky looking. But since safety and being seen was my top priority I passed on 'sexy looks.'

https://seesense.cc

Matt

yamsyamsyams

Ive been purchasing cheap AliExpress lights for the past couple years and have had only minor issues with quality of construction. Generally the 5-6 I’ve purchased have all held up well and still in use as primary and backup lights. I chose only ones <$10.

noglider 

If you had had no issues with the first one, perhaps you would not have needed to buy all the others?

yamsyamsyams

I have multiple bikes with 1-2 lights on each. Bought more to try out different styles and test the quality compared to the 3 USA purchased ones.

TimothyH

What does "Minor issues with quality of construction" mean?

Please be specific.


-Tim-

yamsyamsyams

Sure.

One had a seatpost clip with rough edges and flimsy unlock tab. This was a Cygolite hotshot copy. I have plenty of these plastic clips so wasn’t an issue. Cost me $4.xx shipped 8-9 months ago. Still clipped to my backpack when I commute on the road bike (another light on the bike).

Another which I bought 2 years ago was a copy of the PB superflash was slightly loose between the front and back faces that join together along with the silicone gasket to make it waterproof, looked like the tolerances were just off ever so slightly. But then again this one cost me all of $3 shipped to my door and has been used multiple times in rainy and cold weather without issue on my winter/commute bike.

Have a few others as well which have run brilliantly including 2 rechargeable ones.

Winfried

Out of curiosity, are there good bike lights from China, or are they all junk?

I'm looking for lighs that are 1) bright enough to be seen in the city, and 2) long running so I only have to recharge the batteries every ~7-10 days, and use 3) either internal (USB) or AA/AAA NiMH/Li-Ion batteries.

For instance, what do you think of this one?
https://www.gearbest.com/bike-lights/pp_392016.html

Thank you.

bpcyclist

I am not personally familiar with the lights in your link. That said, the problems that I have seen/heard of in the really inexpensive Chinese lights are the quality of the housing, water resistance (partly related to the housing quality), sturdiness and usability of the mounts, reliability of the claimed lumens, quality of the customer service by the mfr., and the overall lifespan of the product. Lights have really come down in pricing. You can today get a Cygolite Hotshot 150 rear light for 30 bucks on amazon. I charge mine every couple weeks. You can also get an American-designed Ceco F1000 headlight that is brighter than the sun and extremely well-made for 40 dollars, also on amazon. I guess what I'm saying is, with pricing where it is for some quality products now, you're really not saving much in the short run by buying a cheap PRC product and you are saving zero in the long run, because the better lights will last and perform much better.

Winfried

Thanks!

--
Edit: Out of curiosity, why do manufacturers stick to AA(A) batteries instead of using a single C or D battery, which have the same voltage (1,5V), would not be much bigger/heavier but contain a lot more power?

C/(L)R14, 50 mm x 26 mm, 6-8,000mAh
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_battery

D/(L)R20, 58 mm x 33 mm, ~12,000mAh
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D_battery

--
Edit: My guess is that there's no charger for C/D batteries, which would deter users who'd rather use rechargeable batteries than one-offs.

noglider 

I've been very disappointed with cheap lights except for that Xanes light we have talked about. It's still not as good as the more expensive kind, but I keep it as a spare, not something to use daily. I agree with @bpcyclist's comments. Even if the light produced by the lamp is good, he raises other important concerns.