Need a tail light that uses regular batteries
 

My cheapo Planet Bike rear light jumped off the bike today and was crushed by our follow car. I need a new tail light that uses AAA batteries because none of the new lithium USB tail lights can be shipped to me. I can buy it through Amazon or eBay. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Paul

I like my Cateye Reflex Auto. 2xAAA, large area for visibility, also meets reflector standards. Cateye offers mounts for seatpost, seatstay and rear rack.

Im looking also. Also need a super bright battery powered LED headlight. No reflectors though just the lights.

'Battery', like AA or AAA?

The gold standard was the now discontinued B&M Ixon IQ, 4xAA. A few are still available here and there; get 'em before they're gone.
Still available is the less impressive but okay Cateye GVolt25C, 3xAAA.

There's the Fenix BC30 V2.0, 2x 18650 or 4x CR123A. You can practically arc weld with one of those.

I have had very good luck with Planet Bike Superflash and Planet Bike Superflash 65 taillights, for me they do not jump out of the holder.

I use rechargeable AAA batteries, NiMH. Eneloop batteries are good and Amazon carries them, but you also need a recharger.

I wonder why they discontinued it? I see that more and more. Its like management catches wind that they are making an excellent product and they put a stop to it.

Is this it?
Amazon.com : Busch & Müller Headlight Lumotec IQ-X Black, 164RTSNDI-01 : Sports & Outdoors

or this one
Busch&Muller Ixon IQ Premium Front Light Black, Bikeinn

I recently went through a search of battery powered tail lights and it looks like the "Cat Eye Omni3" is as good as you can get using two AAA batteries. I use rechargeable batteries and keep a fresh set of Alkalines in my tool pouch.

Thanks everyone. Found the Omni 3 for a good price on eBay. Bought 2

glad you found something, when my PBs die I might be replacing them, even tho I've found them durable. I've still got 3 so it may be a while. but I do use an elastic to keep them from hopping their mount. been there/done that, no fun
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Yep. German beam shape; puts light were you need it ON THE ROAD. For off-road, not so much.

The age of the AA/AAA light is over, the time of the USB rechargeable has come, Gandalf.

The cateye rapid 3 is a good option if you can find it too. Single AA.

I used to do that, too, because the red plastic cover would pop off the base but the base never actually came off the mount. I moved the light to my road bike last night and wrapped the perimeter of the cover and the base with electrical tape. However, the rubber band didn't make it. Mistake.

oh interesting. never had the two halves separate on their own. always need a coin to open them. they just used to hop off the mount. either I heard it hit the ground behind me or I didn't. when I didn't hat was sad ... I have to use special elastics like o-rings or the rubber bands that they use for vegetable bags at the grocery stores. little green ones

I do not have trouble with the two halves of a Planet Bike light coming apart either. They are made with good tolerances, but I can see were after swapping batteries hundreds of times, they might get worn and loose.

I had some cheap copies of planet bike superflash lights, on those I had corroding parts from getting wet in rain and one of those came apart and half was lost. But those were cheap copies.
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When you see your light is dim, with AAA batteries you can swap them out for either new or re-charged ones and get back out on the road again. I recall once accidently leaving my taillight on and the batteries were shot when it was time to ride home from work in the dark. A quick trip into a Walgreens for some new (and over-priced because of the store) AAA batteries and I was safe to go home.

And my Planet Bike Superflash lights will last longer than most Li Ion batteries do, I hate throwing out good devices when the proprietary battery no longer works. Some of my taillights that are over ten years old still work just fine.

Bike touring usually have one taillight flashing all the time, I recharge my AAA taillight batteries weekly even if they are still bright to make sure they stay bright, have two on the back of my bike.

I used those when I was commuting. :thumb: kept a charger at work & at home

Bit of a side topic, but I had a rear light that did this once, I fixed it by superglueing it to it's mount.
Batteries could be removed without taking the light off the bike.
If you needed to get rid of the light you could still do it by just removing the entire mount.

That's a bummer, I gave up on AA rear lights when I arrived home several times to find the battery had jostled itself out it's contacts and the light wasn't working.
Battery was still in the light but it was providing no power.
Builtin lithions don't do that so I switched.
Also since I keep my bike in the garage I just put the usb-charger next to the bike and hook it up after every time I'm done riding. Light is always charged, no more hassle of taking out and charging batteries.

Two wraps of electrical tape around the TurboFlash mount eliminates the possibility of it jumping off. It is the best AAA replaceable light out there, still.

I love my Rapid 3 lights! Plenty bright, runs a long time, just one battery to mess with. Plus, Cateye sells a ton of different mounting brackets, which are on all of my bikes, and you can buy the brackets from Cateye.
I'm sure they will wear out some day, or just get lost, but until then, I'm quite pleased.

Steve in Peoria

This does not pertain to the original issue, but rechargeable lithium AAA and AA are now available. Their capacity is lower than NiMH, given the internal circuitry that takes space. However, they provide stable 1.5V voltage and are far less vulnerable to low temp than NiMH. I switched to those for the bike and do not look back.

Thanks for posting. I was unaware of such batteries. Did some internet searches and found that yes they are out there. Some on Amazon needed their own proprietary charger but one brand had what looked like a micro USB jack for charging each battery without a separate charger.

Since you are using these, do you find much warning before you run out of power? With disposable or NiMH AAA batteries in my taillight, it gets dim as a warning that the batteries are getting low. But if the Lithium ones provide full power until they shut off, I would be hesitant to use for a taillight where I might not be aware that I no longer had a light on.

Touring, I charge up my taillight batteries once a week, I do not wait for them to get dim. But for my many bikes that I use for riding around near home I do not keep track of how many hours of use I have on each taillight, I wait for them to get dimmer.

So, could you elaborate on whether or not there is any warning before the batteries stop functioning, and if so, what is that warning like?

Thanks.

There is a bit of warning when you use them on motorized devices, such as a toothbrush. However, I doubt you can easily perceive the subtle decline on a taillight.

From the choices, there is one type, Pallus/Kratax/Hixon, that can be charged by connecting them to anything from 3V to 5.5V, i.e., they can be charged straight from USB. However, you do not have suitable connectors around for the task. I found those with USB micro sockets to be most practical, as you always have the corresponding cables around anyway. In AA size, the Vapcell seem to be the best in the on-line tests. In AAA, Powenergy have worked fine for me. The real capacity is usually 10-15% below that claimed for the different batteries in this type.

See private message I sent you for a possible way to have a rechargeable light that is sent without batteries. i would never again use a light that uses standard batteries.

Note that while the 65 may have more lumens than the Superflash Turbo it's beam pattern is ring shaped and super wide meaning most of the light does not direct toward any person behind the cyclist. Side by side comparison the older Turbo is much more visible. I sent the 65 back.