Robert11

Hi,

Great Forum and folks.

Will be getting my Grandson a new bike. He's 9 years old.
Would be used mainly on streets and paved roads; almost no off-road use.

No Nighttime use, but around dusk, perhaps.

He now has for a red rear light, the Hot Shot model , 50 Lumen I believe from Cygolite.

I see they, Cygolite, also have rear red lights that look similar, but up to 200 Lumen.
I'm a big believer in really bright taillights; believe it truly make a big safety difference. Especially for kids.

Is this what I should get him for his new bike:

CYGOLITE Hotshot Pro– 200 Lumen Bike Tail Light [FLEXIBLE MOUNT TYPE]– 6 Night & Daytime Modes– User Adjustable Flash Speed- Compact Design– IP64 Water Resistant– USB Rechargeable–Great for Busy Roads 4.4 out of 5 stars

Pros and cons ?
Cygolite a Good brand ? Better ?

Does the battery that comes with this hold a charge for a "reasonable" length of time ? What's typical; usage and storage ?
User battery experiences ?

**Make more sense to go with a 100 or 150 Lumen, if the battery holds it's charge for a "lot" longer time during usage or non-usage ?

Other suggestions ?

Thanks,
Bob

sdmc530

I got my son a niterider tail light. Battery operated one button operation. Don't remember the model but it was like 20ish. In flash mode it runs a month or so for him. I have him use it every ride as a habit.

Russ Roth

Cygolite is a decent brand, their ad claims up 210 hours which I'm sure is only in certain flash modes but that's a lot of nights. Charge it once a month and you'll be fine. Seems like a decent price and not too much for someone's safety.

bpcyclist

200 lumens is way more than necesary, in my view. I have the 150 version and it is almost too bright, as in, occasionally annoying to vehicles/humans. Super, super bright. 200 is over the top, in my humble view.

Cygolite is a good brand to go with in large part because their customer service is superb, or it has been with all the many lights of theirs I have owned over the years. They almost always get back to me the same day I email them. I do own other manufacturers and I would not buy a Cygolite headlight currently for an adult as there are better options, in my opinion. Busch and Muller, a German maker, and Outbound, US, are my favorites, personally.

Helmet, helmet, helmet. Fear of cars, fear of cars, fear of cars.

canklecat

The Cygolite Hotshot SL 50 is fine for most cycling. I used one until the battery died after a couple of years. I might be able to get Cygolite to replace the battery, although it might be cheaper to buy a new one.

I got a Hotshot 150 for my road bikes for daytime rides, which often are on two-lane rural highways and access roads -- not much traffic, which can be worse than moderate traffic, with some inattentive drivers. The extra brightness does help in daylight. The Hotshot is intensely concentrated into a narrow aperture, less bright from the sides. It tends to discourage drivers from tailgating -- they only need to move offline a foot or so to reduce the intensity of the beam.

But in lower light the Hotshot 80 and above are too bright. That's often a problem in group rides. The only way to dim the Hotshot is by switching to steady mode and setting it dimmer. The various flash/strobe modes can be adjusted only for interval/duration, not brightness.

For casual group rides I usually have two taillights, with one being something like a Planet Bike Rack Blinky or similar taillight/reflector. A bit less intensely bright but still good enough.

Personally I think having two or more lights is more effective than sheer brightness. Two points of light enable drivers and onlookers to quickly estimate our direction, speed, etc. I noticed that a few years ago when I saw other cyclists using two or more lights.

Ogsarg

For daytime use, I want the brightest light I can get. The farther away it's visible, the better the chance of being seen by a partially distracted driver. I have a cygolite 200 and it is indeed very bright as long as it's aimed correctly. Use the rigid mount as opposed to clipping it onto a seat bag or something else that isn't rigid. In daylight flash mode, it will go all day. I've never run mine all the way down so not sure how many times you could do that.

noglider 

Cygolite products are made in USA, are durable, and have good service behind them.

For a kid, it would be nice if the light had an auto-on/auto-off feature, but there are very few of those.

ChrisAlbertson

If you think "brighter is better" why not buy the Cygolite "Hypershot" 350 But we could argue that the 200 is bright enough. Your call, I guess.

The human eye sees light on a logarithmic scale. If all else is equal you have to double the light intensity to make a noticeable difference. So a 100 lumen light does not seem twice as bright as a 50 lumen light. It is only just noticeably brighter. Double it again to 200 and it will seem much brighter. So 200 really is the next step up from 50.

It is always good to have two. Mount the od 50 lumen light to the helmet.

In my case, I ride in Southern California. On some of the streets, I ride here are two lanes each way of dense traffic going 50 MPH. I can't always avoid buzzy streets and highways. So. I currently have the Hotshot 150 and I plan to buy the 350 and then mount the 150 on my helmet.