chaadster

Boy, looking for a fender mount tail light has left me wondering if any light makers give even two ****s about the format. While the searpost mount tail light scene is in a style and power arms race, the folks making fender mount lights appear to trotting out 15 year old light tech in the ugliest form factor they can muster. They don’t even talk in lumens like the seatpost light guys do; what gives?!

Are there any good fender mount tail lights out there to match performance of seatpost mount units? I see PDW’s aged Fenderbot, and a couple of Euro brands, AXA and Busch & Muller, with really weak offerings. Am I missing anything good, or is my play to jerry-rig a seatpost mount unit to work on the fender? On another bike, for example, I have Specialized Stix headlight DuoTec’d to the headtube, so I can see something like that for the fender. I’ve seen some ungainly fender adapters for seatpost mount units, but I’d greatly prefer to keep itcleaner and simpler.

Any insights are appreciated!

unterhausen

I really like the Spanninga Pixeo. I use the dyno version, but there is a battery version that runs off of AAA
But otherwise, I suspect you have found most of available fender lights

Tourist in MSN

The Secula Plus is another good dyno powered taillight. I have the Pixeo on one bike, plan to mount a Secula Plus on another.

If you are seeking some really bright dyno powered light or a flasher, you are out of luck because the dyno powered lights are designed to conform to German lighting legal specifications. And I have never looked at battery powered fender mount lights, so I do not know what is out there. And I am not familiar with any non-German fender mount lights, however they may exist. I never had a reason to look for a battery powered fender mount light, so am clueless on any offerings.

For non-fender mount battery lights, some or possibly all of the Planet Bike taillights come with a seat stay mount besides a seatpost mount. I have used the seat stay mounts for some battery taillights on bikes that I did not have a rack or fender on.

fooferdoggie 

this guy has a rack mount https://www.backcountry.com/light-mo...BoCHcYQAvD_BwE

chaadster

Yes, thanks, I did see the Pixeo. The XBA variant with auto functions shows thought and is the most advanced light in the category from what I can tell. Still, the brightness and styling leave some things to be desired.

chaadster

iI guess I’d prefer battery operated at this point, but a well-spec’d dyno light is possible, and I do like styling of the Secula best in category. Thank you.

chaadster

I’m not planning to run a rack, not a typical one which would take a light mount anyway. Thanks.

Tourist in MSN

If you get a Secula, look at the beam pattern in a dark room so that you can see how the light shines on the wall. That way you can get the light mounted to your fender so that it shines brightest straight back instead of at an upward or downward angle. I have seen some people mount taillights on fenders that were too high or too low on the fender so that a lot of the light was wasted instead of aiming towards a following driver.

German law specifies no flashing taillights, and all dyno powered lights are built to German law. My only fender mount lights are dyno powered.

Usually when riding on roads during daytime I like to have a flasher turned on. For that I am more inclined to use a rack mount or a seat stay mount Planet Bike Superflash or if I want a wider beam a Superflash 65. I like the clip mounts on those lights, it is easier to remove the light to swap batteries which explains my aversion to fender mount taillights that require battery changes.

chaadster

Is there something particular about the Secula beam pattern? Misalignment can happen with any light, but I do see the Secula lights surround the reflector, so maybe it’s more alignment sensitive for that reason?

I don’t get why all dyno lights are built to German STVZO. Even if Germany is the biggest fender light market, I don’t understand why we don’t see someone making a brighter, more full-featured fender light for the rest of the world? Here in the USA, we can buy STVZO bike lights, like the KTV by Lezyne, as well as non-StVZO variants; why can’t the same practice be applied to fender lights?

it’s frustrating to me, so I totally understand your frustration at not being able to get the exact light you want!

Tourist in MSN

Nothing that special on the Secula, it shines to the rear and to the sides somewhat, but most of the light is in that low pattern and mounting the light too high on the fender means most of the light would shine upwards. Since you drill holes in the fender to mount it, you want to get the aim right the first time. Some people just slap the light on without thinking that you need to put it in the right spot to aim it.

I am not really frustrated with the light offerings. I just find it easier to change batteries in a light that easily unclips from a bracket, that is why I do not have any interest in a fender mount battery light. My battery lights are mounted on the rack or seat stay or on some bikes on the seatpost. And I use lights that I can easily unclip.

I bought my dynohub system primarily for charging batteries when touring, but over the years since I had the hub I have slowly been adding lights to my bikes too. I think I had my first dynohub about four or five years before I got around to using a dyno powered taillight. When I built up my titanium bike I decided to splurge, put a dyno powered taillight on the fender. Used a Pixeo. I have thought about adding a Secula to a second bike, but have not done so yet. Have bought the light for that purpose.

Since most of my taillight use is flashing in daytime and dyno powered taillights do not flash, I consider my dyno powered taillights to be secondary to my primary battery powered lights.

ADDENDUM.

I pasted this from Peter White website in reference to the Secula:
Mount it so that the reflector surface is vertical for the best performance. You'll want a full coverage fender to mount this properly. "Shorty" type fenders won't allow the light to be mounted vertically, so much of the light's output will end up in the sky.

chaadster

yeah, I don’t think the Secula is particular in that regard; reflector faces should always be perpendicular to the ground.

Anyway, wanting a flashing dyno taillight is exactly what I’m talking about with regard to being unable to get what you want and frustration. I’d be surprised if it were so difficult to engineer and build one. What does it take? A capacitor a bit bigger than a standloght cap and some fancy circuitry?

steelbikeguy

There's no technical hurdle to making a flashing taillight. It's mostly just a result of the very small market for this extra feature and what it would cost to design, produce, market, etc.

Steve in Peoria

chaadster

Perhaps. I think someone like, say, AXA, would find that they could sell things people wanted to buy!

downtube42

I'd also like to see more fender light options. I assume the US full coverage fendered bike market is too small. I live in Portland where IMO fenders are must-haves in the winter, but i still see plenty of people riding naked bikes.

Perhaps there's enough market to sell an adapter. Would be ugly though.

steelbikeguy

sounds like you'll be contacting the manufacturers and asking about whether they are interested in pursuing such a good business opportunity?

Steve in Peoria

Koyote

I've got a couple Bontrager tail lights. Each one comes with a stretchy rubber seatpost mount, but the actual MOUNT -- the clip portion -- looks like it could be removed and attached (with a machine screw) to a drilled fender. I've not tried it, but it might work. And the lights are quite good.

chaadster

I’m sure it is a small market here in USA, and your comment regarding Portland riders makes me think of the PDW Fenderbot, which hasn’t been updated since it was released, something like 12 years ago, I think! A brighter, more efficient LED in that thing would make it much more appealing.

Tourist in MSN

The market in USA is very different from in Europe. Maybe they make what Europeans want to buy?

A lot of what is easy to buy in Europe is rarely sold in USA and the opposite is also true. I do not think I ever saw an AXA light sold in a USA store. I have one AXA light, had it shipped from Germany.

If you are so upset that AXA does not sell what you want to buy, move on to someone else.

Another example of what the market does or does not want to buy - I saw twice as many Rohloff hubs in the month that I spent in Iceland as I have seen in sum total in USA. I met people there that were from the UK, Germany, Switzerland, with Rohloff bikes. My neighbor is a bike mechanic, thus he sees almost everything that is made when it comes to bikes. Yet he has told me that my Rohloff is the only one that he has ever seen here in USA. I have only seen a couple others.

chaadster

well that’s the other thing, right? The light doesn’t have to be reinvented, just the mount.

Take a look at Specialized Stix, for example. They have a bunch of mounts, from headset spacer to rack to ankle strap, so you’d think they could mold up a fender mount pretty easily if they cared to.

billridesbikes

Secula Plus is I think the best fender mounted tail light, also I believe it's not frame grounded so it's compatible with just about any dynamo headlight.
I also have a Secula battery seat stay mounted one as well which has the same lighting pattern. (I live where there is less than 10" of rain a year, so I don't have many fendered bikes.)

bOsscO

I had a rear fender light once; it mounted quite low on the fender. I found that the road grime it collected on most wet rides had the light covered to the point of almost uselessness. Now if if one could be designed to mount near the apex/top of the fender bend...

surak

My Bontrager NCS fenders came with a Blendr mount, so I assume Trek makes at least one fender-mountable light. But since I have plenty of seatpost and run a Varia, I just detached the mount and haven't investigated what actually fits on the fender.

chaadster

You keep missing the forest for the trees; I don’t want to buy AXA— I’ve got a couple of AXA lights now which are unimpressive— and what I do want to buy is unavailable, so admonishing me to drop AXA and move on to someone else is pretty silly.

Rohloff hubs have been available here in USA for a long time and have been spec’d on complete bikes. I looked at buying a Burley with Rohloff some years ago, but in addition to being unimpressed with the shift performance, the weight penalty, and the comparative price increase over a derailleur setup didn’t make sense for my needs. Anyway, while the touring set here uses Rohloff to a fair extent, there are far more Shimano IGH hubs in use, especially on city bikes, so if it’s the case that Americans don’t want to buy Rohloffs, it’s probably because we have better IGH options, but I think that’s the wrong assessment of the situation.

chaadster

Now we’re talking! Yes! That would be great!

unterhausen

Seems like something in the Cateye Rapid series could be made to work fairly easily. Get someone to 3d print a mount