Primorsky

Hello all
I am also a big fan of the DS-500 and not owner of this light too . It's killing me that i've discovered this thing too late.
Dinotte Quad RED not usable for nightime use (too many output). Built-in non-replaceable battery is also disadvantage for me.
Another killing feature of the DS-500 was programmable modes. Is there any programmable and very bright (for daytime / sunny day) taillights on market?

angerdan

The Orfos FlarePro is very bright, has several modes and external battery.
bikeforums.net/commuting/1107962-kickstarter-lights-flarepro.html
bikeforums.net/electronics-lighting-gadgets/1106047-orfos-flarepro-bike-light-good-bad.html
bikeforums.net/electronics-lighting-gadgets/1012752-orfos-flare-throw-distance.html

There are other solutions too:
bikeforums.net/electronics-lighting-gadgets/1117362-chinese-asian-daylight-visibilty-rear-light-they-worth.html
bikeforums.net/electronics-lighting-gadgets/1113219-what-you-current-favorite-tail-lights-daytime-road-riding.html
bikeforums.net/commuting/1125725-best-taillight-ever.html
bikeforums.net/road-cycling/1095627-what-tail-light-do-you-use-long-long-rides.html
bikeforums.net/electronics-lighting-gadgets/989923-really-serious-taillights.html
bikeforums.net/electronics-lighting-gadgets/1123006-helmet-mounted-tail-light-drl-150-lumens-so.html

Why did you create a new thread for an already answered question? The DS-500 Thread already exists.
bikeforums.net/electronics-lighting-gadgets/1135871-designshine-ds-500-a.html

01 CAt Man Do

In keeping with the thought of riding in the daytime with a little more visibility; I'm surprised that no one else mentioned just wearing some brighter day-glow colors. I think the reason why you no longer see the super bright rear LED lamps being sold is because the manufacturers finally figured out that there just aren't enough people willing to spend the money and most don't feel the need for a rear light when riding in the day anyway. That said there will always be people who do want the daytime rear lights but they are few and far between.

For those people there are other options. If you absolutely had to you could mount a white LED lamp on flash and point it to the rear. I've seen people do that before and while it is unconventional It works very well. Not to mention that white LED's are brighter. The Gemini Duo has a nice flash mode but you need to find a way to mount it of course. Now if you don't like the idea of white light on the rear you could DIY some amber or red lens material and do it that way. Like a lot of people I too have some bright rear lamps that used an external battery but I no longer feel the need for such a lamp anymore. I'm perfectly satisfied with the typical self-contained rear lamps that are listed as being over 100 lumen. That's more than enough for night use and also is pretty good for daytime if riding in and out of shaded areas.

FWIW the DiNotte Quad Red looks to be a pretty bright at 200 lumen. I'd love to have one but I'm not willing to fork out $170 for something I really don't feel I need. Now if it were more like $100 then I might buy one.

savvas

I have a set of first-generation DesignShine front and rear lights. Mine were designed to run on 11.1v batteries but do OK on 7.2v. Really they are ridiculously bright for ordinary local riding but - IMHO - quite appropriate for commuting in heavy traffic and for highway touring. I've found that it's brightness AND fully adjustable intensity that you need in such situations.

I also have an Amoeba rear tail light. This uses twin red LEDs in very focussed reflectors powered via a 7.2v external battery and a high quality controller (an LFlex I think). Scar/Jay programmed it for me so I can tone down the brightness when required - but on full power it's savage! Probably comparable to the DesignShine in terms of daylight visibility and it has lots(!) of nerve shattering flash options! I'm currently experimenting with a frosted plastic cover which I hope has reduced a bit of the 'pain' for those behind me as well as improve side visibility.

I don't have any experience with the Dinotte, Lupine or others available in the USA but I can say I'm very please with the matchbox-sized Amoeba. I think it's very good value. It seems highly water resistant and bullet proof and I really like the versatility and convenience of his tiny, sealed external batteries with their Trailtech connectors and Plastidip housings. I have 4 of Jay's batteries but any 7.2v battery will likely do the trick.

I also think that the RedZone is an amazing light. They are made locally here and I often see them on the road. You can't miss them and they are visible from almost every direction which - in heavy traffic - is probably a real plus! My only concern is that the mounting arrangements are probably best suited to light-weight 'sports' cycling rather than more permanent mounting on a heavier commuting or touring rig. I also don't think that the old MagicShine tail light should be overlooked. For it's low cost it's a very bright and versatile light. I've used one on my cargo bike for about 5 years and it's proved reliable and effective. Not as aggressively bright as the Amoeba or DesignShine but still tougher and way brighter than a AA or AAA blinky!

Occasionally when I've been lazy or disorganised I get caught out with a flattened 7.2v battery so I always carry a Cateye or Radbot as well just in case. They're OK but really, there only advantage over lights such as the DesignShine and Amoeba is the longer battery life (due to their much lower power consumption). Physical construction is also an issue to consider. My bikes are tools and get some relatively 'rough' use from time to time and blinkies are so easily damaged whereas the DesignShine and Amoeba are made of metal and are much tougher!

As a final suggestion, I believe that the NightLightning 'AftaBlasta' may still be available. Made in New Zealand it has a rather different (and much simpler) form from most rear lights but - like the RedZone - is visible from nearly every direction, is stunningly bright and very tough. Also waterproof and using the same high quality controller as DesignShine and Amoeba with many programming options. Check it out!

savvas

Incidentally, can someone tell me why MTBR is calling me a 'newbie' when I've posted quite a few times over the last few years. Did the forum crash and get rebuilt at some time maybe...? Sam

angerdan

The 4 posts you wrote in five years?
I hope your question is ironic...

By the way, with the 68 posts in seven years at MTBR (this here is BikeForums) you would be titled as Newbie - Not.

01 CAt Man Do

Thanks for posting that info. Didn't know Jay made rear lights. For that matter I'm sure he could also do an amber version as well for anyone that wanted one of those. Now if I could get me one in amber with a remote switch button I might be interested in that as long as it's not too expensive. Got to have memory though as I want to be able to turn it off and then back on without having to get off the bike to see what mode it is on. ( I want this as a daytime rear lamp )

savvas

I reckon Jay can do all of that for you! As I'm sure you know the LFlex is a versatile controller and I know that Jay can work with the fellow at TaskLED on custom programming. I can't recall if the LFlex can 'remember' the last setting or not but ask Jay - he'll be able to tell you. He seems to have ready access to both Trailcraft and other connectors etc. I know that there are nicely ready-made remote switches available cheaply that I'm sure he could incorporate (you could even just have him install the regular internal switch as well as a make-and-break socket for an external one). Hard to do any of these after the light has been built as it's glued together!

The light I bought from him has a lens or window that protrudes slightly - about 1 or 1.5mm. I'd prefer it to be a bit more as I'd like to frost the edges to get more side conspicuity. I'm experimenting with a 'cap' of frosted plastic made from scraps of milk bottle. Pretty effective thus far but a perspex window that protrudes maybe 4-5mm would probably be better.

I should of course add that the light is infernally bright. Maybe not quite as bright as the DS-500 (which had 6 LEDS) but how much pain do you really want to inflict? ;-) I can tell you that I can't really discern any major difference in brightness between the two in normal use. Maybe if I was seeing them from a couple of Km away, but the point is that there's plenty of light there for any conceivable situation, including day-time visibility. I think an amber light is an excellent idea! You will just have to think about mounting it. I think Jay uses the old Marwi shoe and bar clamp as a default. This is very effective but does require a little thought to mount at the rear of the bike!

As I've said previously, I have no experience with the Dinotte, Exposure, Niteflux or other 'over the top' tail lights. However if someone is lamenting that they didn't get a DS-500 or looking for a suitable 'successor', I can recommend the Amoeba.

01 CAt Man Do

Yep, I can't see the need for more than two over-driven red or amber XPG-2's although for the die-hard's I'm sure Jay could build a three or even a four. I have an amber custom nailbender drop-in module that I use in a torch for day time duties although I rarely use it. For only one over-driven XPG-2 it is Damn super bright! It works great but since I have it mounted to a seat rail using just Velcro it tends to move a bit. I could do what this guy did but then I might have a hard time hitting the on/off button. If I had a small dual emitter matchbox size light I could likely find a way to mount it between the rails using a seat rail Gopro mount. I might as well get the Gopro seat-rail mount since I already have a Gopro type holder for a torch. If it works I might be able to adjust it so it's easier to turn on/off. Gopro seat rail mount >

savvas

Apologies - my confusion obviously. Put it down to advancing age and never quite being sure which planet I'm on!

Sam. ;-)

BashChelik

While scouring the internet for my neverending search for a brighter light a found a multi color led light named Xflare by candlepower tech. Anyone has any experience with it?

01 CAt Man Do

It's been reviewed by MTBR. My opinion; not really something you can use at night unless you use the steady mode on low. According to MTBR the flash mode is the dreaded strobe-type. This might work for day use but I think the review MTBR did gave it more credit than it deserved. I would never use something like that at night unless the flash modes were more cycle oriented and there were more output levels ( only has two outputs, high and low ) ( A steady mode with a two second pulse would of been stellar. )

savvas

As I've said above, Jay has built me an excellent Amoeba 2-LED rear red light. It means I don't have to keep swapping the DesignShine back and forth. I asked him to program it for 'pulse' rather than 'strobe'. As I define it, a pulse pattern never actually turns the light off, the pattern being created by the light alternating in intensity - 'high-low-high-low...', as opposed to a strobe which follows an 'on-off-on-off...' pattern. For several reasons I reckon the pulsing is preferable to a strobe pattern. I think Jay uses a TaskLED controller in this rear light - I recall he said he'd consulted George at TaskLED about the pulse programming.

The Amoeba is fantastic and lasts for many hours using Jay's 2-cell pack. I've got it mounted (using Shoe-Goo which he recommends) on a CatEye H-27 shoe. Because the H-27's release mechanism is open to the gluing surface I had to use a small bit of clear tape over the opening to prevent ingress of the Shoe-Goo. Worked well and the light is very firmly attached! I use it on a standard CatEye bar bracket screwed to an aluminium fitting at the end of my rack. I think you could just as easily use a Go-Pro mount of some sort glued to the case, although I guess you'd want to try to get a mount with as big a gluing surface area as possible - many seem quite minimal.

Jay has built the light with the plastic lens protruding a couple of mm. He offered to frost it for me but for some reason I asked that it be left clear. Subsequently I've zip tied a bit of frosted plastic packaging material over it which results in improved side visibility and 'glow'. If you order one I suggest just getting Jay to frost it from the start!

Mmmm - an amber Amoeba for the front would be nice...

Sam

carlos danger

I have a redzone8 and its good.
also have orfos red old model with builtin battery. its good too.

sierrabob

Would something like this work? Two Axioms using on the fly USB charging from a power pack in the saddle bag. Maybe not the brightest, but certainly very visible when flashing mode is selected. USB charging is just icing on the cake. Seldom needed unless in the saddle over 6 hours.

angerdan

What's Axiom?
Orfos FlarePro also uses USB power.
orfos.us/pages/flarepro

01 CAt Man Do

Interesting. I just now tested this using my Axiom Pulse 60 and indeed it does charge and run at the same time. If using a USB power bank you would need a USB to mini power cable. In your case you would need to run two cables or one standard USB cable with two mini's connected in parallel.