vucalur

On today's ride I've lost my Lezyne Strip Drive Pro.
Initially, I thought about replacing it with a similar product,
i.e. a light from a renown brand, e.g. Bontrager (Flare R), or Specialized (Flux Expert).

However, I browsed Aliexpress and it seems that (allegedly) strong rear lights are now available for fractions of the price of 'renown lights'.

• Aliexpress: 150lm bike lights
• Aliexpress: 100lm bike lights

Even if luminous power claims are overly optimistic; half of, say, 150lm is still 75lm
and it is enough to make a good daylight rear lamp (see: Bontrager's Flare R with its 65lm).

Moreover, I've heard some positive feedback about Ugoe's NB22-00 daylight rear lights,
which is still times cheaper than, say, Spesh Flux Expert.
It's also crazy-bright. Claimed 150lm might as well be spot-on.

Does anybody have experience with these 'Chinese' lights ?
How do they compare to the products of renown, 'western' brands ?
Any product recommendations would be welcome.
Edit:
I'm looking for recommendations of these higher quality products.
Instead of paying 10x less, I'd like to pay 2x less and have a product of near-equal quality.

_________________________________________________________________________
'Chinese' in single quotes, because not everything we call 'Chinese' originates from China.
Sometimes it's Taiwan, etc.

johnny99

Realistically, the name brand products are also made in China. The difference between the name brands and the cheap no-name brands is usually in engineering and quality control. The cheapies are usually not as durable and not as waterproof. The specs on battery, brightness, and field of view may be alternative facts. If the battery is rechargeable, short circuit and overheating protection may be much worse than with name brand batteries.

TimothyH

I have a Blitzu Cyborg 168T. It is sold under several brands including unbranded generic lights on the typical Chinese websites.
It is bright and dirt cheap but brightness falls off as the battery drains. It lacks circuitry some of the more expensive lights have which keep the light bright until the battery goes dead.

It has sat in my parts bin unused for a long time.


-Tim-

znomit

And a lot of things we don't call Chinese originate in china too.

vucalur

I know. That's why I enclosed 'western' in single quotes as well.

Yes, I am aware that most of the cheap items are of far worse quality.
Still, there are Taiwanese products that are considered of better quality than Chinese.

Added a note regarding quality to the original post.

Tokwan

Most China products are from factories that made products under licensed from other countries. They have the knowledge once they started to make products from other people. Once being a "controlled country" by some hi tech companies that produces state of the art and hi tech items (especially those that have to do with a weaponry system such as Micro processors and other electronic devices, ), these China manufacturers learned from what they produce for people, then made their own products which are similar of usage. If you licensed them to make a bike frame, down the road, they WILL be producing their own bike frames, similar to your technology.
So I think it works for the end users to have alternative products. Some of these products are good, some are just ...low quality.

zebede

I have been running cheap lights daily on my commuter for years. Where the cheap ones generally fall short is not in brightness but in low quality mounting systems and poor case construction. I adapt to these short comings using zip ties etc.. To me they are good value if you don't mind fiddling with them to secure mounts, battery cases. I recently decided to transition to USB rechargeables and purchased this unit.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Deem...0-b22d084c4ed3

I WAS SHOCKED at how bright it is. Unfortunately I gave it away to another cyclist before testing. I just ordered a second unit from ebay (shipped from Hong Kong).

VegasTriker

You have to be careful about the laws in your state before ordering any light that shines blue. That color is reserved for emergency vehicles and if you get a cop who is having a bad day, you can get stopped and cited for using blue. It probably didn't matter that much in the past but the new COB (chip-on-board) lights are really bright and a lot more noticeable. I received one in the mail from China two days ago. I have one in red for the rear and now one in white for the front. You can't beat the under $5 cost including shipping. It arrived in thirteen days. 26 LEDs in the COB, 100 lumens, USB rechargeable, 3 light levels, two flashing modes, strobe mode and lit area 4" long. Has a 500 mAh internal lithium polymer battery. This is one of the eBay sellers who sells it below cost and then makes up with the shipping but when you add the two together, the $4.78 total price is still a bargain. Compare it to the Blitzu Cyborg for $18 sold by bike shops. COB LED Bicycle Bike Cycling Front Rear Tail Light USB Rechargeable 6 Modes Lamp | eBay

TimothyH

In Georgia the prohibition against blue lights does not include bicycles but only motor vehicles.

I still wouldn't do it though. Nothing good can come from it. Asking for trouble IMO.


-Tim-

vucalur

Just to get the discussion back on a right track: I'm interested solely in red taillights. Period.

Even if a light has red LEDs along with 2 other diodes' colours,
it's still a bad solution since unused non-red diodes make the construction bulky, increase the price, and limit the amount of available red-only modes.

01 CAt Man Do

Your first two links were to rear lights using the COB type leds. Likely the ones you linked to are in the 40-50 lumen range although they will sometimes claim to be over 100 lumen. The third link is quite interesting because it is using three red Cree XP-G LED's. No doubt it would be in the 150 lm range but after doing a quick search I don't see anyone selling these.

Amazon sells a lot of the COB style rear lights. I own several of those and while they are quite bright they don't equate to something like the Cygolite Hotshot 150 which I also own. One of the Amazon COB lamps ( which I don't own ) the Blitzu Cyborg claims 168 lumen. The longer the COB panel the brighter the light. This one is longer than most. Still, even if it is an actual 168 lumen ( which I doubt ) the lumen output will be very dispersed. I much prefer the Hotshot 150 as it is very much visible ( at distance ) in the day due to the use of Cree XP-G2 type LED and custom optic. If you really want to be seen in the day with an affordable self contained rear lamp choose either the Cygolite Hotshot 150, the Niterider 150 Sentinel, Bontrager Flare R or the Serfas TST-150 as all of those use optics for more direct output to the rear. COB lights work great at night or at sunset but they don't have the throw of the lamps that use optics. The choice is yours. Spend a little more and get a light with some distance throw or roll the dice on a cheaper COB light.

01 CAt Man Do

Just needed to add some extra comments: I just saw this on one of the other threads... The Lezyne zecto Drive Max looks very similar to the Ugoe's NB22-00 you linked to. The Lezyne though is listed as having a Daytime flash mode that is 250 lumen and runs for 9 hrs. That means it's likely a very bright but very slow pulse/flash. At the $49 list price that's excellent bang for the buck. Notice too that the Lezyne has some translucent side panels so that means some of that light is visible from the sides as well. I'm telling you if I didn't already own the Cygolite Hotshot 150 I think I'd be on one of these real fast.

Anyway I have a similar light that I got last year as a promotional ( received it free ). It is the Gemini Iris. The Iris is listed as 180 lumen max. I use it on back of my helmet because it has a nice clip and a wider beam dispersion. I rarely use the brightest setting because it eats run time like crazy but when at max output it is crazy bright. I let the Hotshot 150 handle the bright stuff because it has a much more versatile UI. Flash settings for the Iris are programmable though. That means you can set each mode with as little or as much output as you want. I'm good with a basic 50 lumen flash output for general night time duty.

Anyway a friend of mine has one of the Bontrager Flare R's. He claims that it's one of his brightest rear lights even when compared to a Hotshot 150. He says the optics is what makes it so bright. I don't own one but I trust his review.

1nterceptor

I think the generic chinese lights are not as reliable(battery, switches, etc.) and over state their output.
But are cheap. Whatever brand/model you go with; have at least 2 at all times on your bike.

Blitzu Cyborg 168T claiming 168 lumens vs. Cygolite Micro claiming 30 lumens:
Cyborg 168T vs Cygolite Micro by 1nterceptor, on Flickr

Hotshot Micro vs Blitzu 168T by 1nterceptor, on Flickr

noglider 

I've been disappointed consistently by the cheap lights. I recently bought a Cygolite Hotrod which is like that Blitzu. It's also like a Serfas light that is popular. It seems well made, though I'm not a fan of rubber band mounts. I like bolts better.

ItsJustMe

FWIW I have a Blitzu 168T. I like it pretty well but at less than a year old the battery life seems to be falling off badly.

01 CAt Man Do

Concerning the cheap Chinese rear lamps, that's probably the best advise in the whole thread. Thanks for the photos but really photos of LED lights looking from head-on is practically useless. Most cameras can't really give a real life example of what the human eye can see. The best way to compare rear LED lights is to view the outputs on a wall from behind the lamp ( one at a time ). Depending on the relative brightness of the lamps being compared you might have to vary the distance to the wall particularly if one lamp is designed with more throw and you want the camera to properly demonstrate the difference in output. Doesn't hurt to have some lux readings as well. Between the two you then get an idea of which has the stronger throw and which has the widest beam pattern. Not unusual for a better lamp to excel in both categories.

noglider 

Always looking for the sweet spot in value, I've tried lots of products that ship directly from China. In the case of bike lights, I've been disappointed by ALL of them. In my experience, they are not worth buying.

a1penguin

I agree that you get what you pay for with the $7 lights. I read Home | BudgetLightForum.com where people buy and test lights and find the gems among the hordes of junk. Mountain Bike Review ? The Best Mountain Bike Brands and Parts Online - Mtbr.com has a lighting forum and you can find the two or three quality high power lights.

I don't have strict budget constraints and I shop around and read reviews and I could not be happier with my $55 Cygolite Metro 550 as daylight blinky. I commute 22 miles four days a week and always have my front blinky on. I've also used it a bit in steady mode after dark.

I suspect there are some decent 18650 flashlights that might have appropriate flashing mode for biking at half the price of the Cygolite/Niterider/etc lights mentioned as good front blinky lights.

noglider 

I used those flashlights when I first wanted to get serious about bike lights. Those flashlights make a lot of light. That's the good part. But they're not all that convenient. The beam shape isn't great; some of them have hot spots in the middle of the beam. I had to try various different mounts for bikes. Then when the battery discharged, I had to remove the light from the mount, remove the battery from the mount, and put the battery in the charger. Some of the mounts for these lights are good, and some are crap. It's not easy to tell which is which. I finally decided that lights made for bikes are best for me. I especially prefer mounts that require a lever or bolt rather than a rubber band. USB charging is the most convenient kind for me, even though it means I'll be tossing a proprietary battery or entire light every three years or so.

I always have a tool bag mounted to my saddle, and the bag has a fabric loop for a tail light. Even though there is neither elastic nor a bolt, this is sufficiently secure for a lightweight tail light. This has been my system for battery tail lights for a few years. It's quick and easy to move my tool bag from bike to bike, and the tail light comes with it.

Skipjacks

Cygolite Hotshot Pro 150 for me. Red blinking LED light. Can be found on eBay cheaper than in REI on Amazon. But it's worth every penny no matter where you get it.

It's durable (I've been through the rain with it hanging over the rear tire with no fender). The battery lasts just about forever between charges. It's red, not white with a slight red tinge. And it's bright. It can be seen from 100 yards away with no problem, but it won't blind the driver behind you when you're sitting at a red light either.

I absolutely love it. Cost me about $30 on ebay. Well worth the extra money over doing trials with off brand cheapie lights cobbled together with spare parts.

speshelite

It's a great light. Thanks for the review.

I bought one and returned. Straight line visibility is indeed excellent. Visibility from the side is just average however.

Cygolite tailights are very, very lightweight and very affordable.

Niterider solas is better for side visibility.

Skipjacks

That is a good point. I don't really need the side view as I don't do much crossing streets where I need visibility from a 90 degree angle. (In fact I go out of my way to avoid it)

My needs are really for direct line from the rear with maybe a 40 degree cone to the sides as a distance and the Cygolite seems fine for that.


There is no 'right' light. It's the right light for the right rider! (Or the back and forth glowing red light for the Knight Rider...)

Staypuft1652

Off topic but, I have one of these:https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01B6...ght&th=1&psc=1. I chose the "low beam" and I use it as exactly that. It does not have a cutoff beam exactly, but has an elliptical optic that makes a huge rectangle of light, that I aim the top edge below eye level. Can leave it on high as long as bike is moving and have 10 or so feet of nice light without bothering anyone, and use another light sporadically as high beam. Haven't had a single problem. The buttons are small though.

awesomeame

i've got Icon+ lights by see.sense Mega daytime bright

https://seesense.cc/?gclid=CjwKCAjw_...xoCfPUQAvD_BwE

Matt

fietsbob

I share a Planet Bike 'Grateful Red' tail light, between 2 bikes , each with one of the mounts they package with the light.