Koyote

There was a recent thread about tail lights and their brightness, and several posters insisted that they are nearly impossible to see in daylight -- and that, to have any hope, a person must run a super-bright tail light -- I think one poster was talking about 300 or 350 lumen lights. The argument was rather tame by bf standards, but there was some dispute.

Today I was out riding a regular route. It's only mid-spring, so not super-sunny yet, but it was (for April, anyway) full sun. A vehicle pulled alongside me with the passenger window down, and I thought the driver said "I like your bike!" I thought it rather surprising that an elderly lady appreciated my custom Gunnar gravel bike. But then I realized she was saying "I like your light!" I stopped, and we chatted for a bit. She said she could see the light long before she even could tell that it was attached to a bicycle.

What's the light? An old Cygolite that I've had for five years. 100 lumens.

The really cool thing was connecting with a driver who lives along one of my regular routes. I like having friends out there -- you never know when you'll need one.

Rick

I have used a taillight that is claimed to have between 600 and 800 lumens of brightness for between 6 and 7 years. I notice people moving over in there lane from quite a distance. I use the Dinotte daylight visible taillight. It is the brightest taillight I could find. I have posted about this taillight before and received comments about the price and weight.

10 Wheels

Mine

Pearson100

I've also had drivers in cars call out "I like your light!" I also use Cygolite---have them on all of my bikes, 100 and 150 lumens. Highly recommended.

drlogik 

+1 - I also had a driver ask me what kind of light I had and he said that it's the brightest he's ever seen. My front and rear are both Cygolites. I've been using them for about 7 years now. The front is the Dash Pro at 600 lumens. The rear is the Hypershot 350.


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qwaalodge

I have put bright flourescent yellow reflectorized tape on my fenders, racks, and rims in stripes. Seems quite visible enough in daytime and I think the stripes on the rims is the most visible part. I've not been cut off by a motorist in my bike lane since I put them.

BikeLite

this ad is brought to you by cygolite

Koyote

Nope. It's about the usefulness of taillights, even in daytime. In fact, I have another 100lm taillight (Bontrager) that is even more visible than the Cygolite due to the way the lens focuses the beam -- and I suspect plenty of other brands produce good taillights, too.

Polaris OBark

I use Cygolites on all of our bikes as day-time running lights. It makes me visible under the redwood canopy. I've had numerous people thank me for using them. I have never found a different light that I would use to replace/upgrade mine. They are worthy of any free advertising you can give them. They are also really versatile in terms of mounting to bike racks, seat packs, seat stays, etc.

The only one I have even considered as a replacement is the Bontrager one, but I think the Cygolites have better mounting options and give you more bang (photons) for the buck.

rossiny

I have been thinking of lights as well as getting a Gravel/ touring bike , even though I have some neat vintage touring . The thought of a Gunnar new one appeals to me.. any pics of lights and bike.

Koyote

The Bont taillight mount is one of those stretchy bands; makes it easy to move from bike-to-bike, but won't mount to a seatstay. (Pictured below.)

drlogik 

Another bonus is that Cygolite makes their lights in the USA.

Paul Barnard

I love bicycling for some of the memorable human connections it has delivered.

Paul Barnard

Nice grill. Is that a Weber?

trailangel

Are you sure that's what she really liked? Is that "I Like Your Light" just a pickup line? Were you wearing a shirt?

shrtdstncrdr

rolling coal

Hey, if you don't want anyone drafting you...

10 Wheels

View from Rear

Ttom

I think for most of us mostly daytime riders the tail light is the most important, you want to make sure the cars in your lane see you sooner than later.

Troul 

I have low expectations of being seen from behind in the daytime, from the rear. The little bright red light will hopefully be captured on camera by a local business or passing motorists & become useful evidence if it's called upon in a legal matter.

Reynolds 

The other day I saw a cyclist with a very visible tail light - got my attention from about 400m on a bright sunny day. Turned out to be a Bontrager Flare.

Troul 

Very few operate a motorized vehicle & pay attention at the same time. Most of the driver's (where I can ride) do not stop before the stop signal lines.... always overshooting the crosswalk, more like blow right thru the no turn on red.

rsbob 

The best I got from a female while riding my bike is, “I like your butt”.

blacknbluebikes 

The Great Divide is between those with lights and those with none. I doubt any driver with their head up ever missed a 100 lumen red light. The problem is with distracted and impaired drivers, not blind ones. LIke the 16-year old thumbing the world's most important text: "SUP?" while hitting the juul.

rekmeyata

There is truth to the fact that the more lumens the light will have the more visible it will be, however there is a caveat to that. While you could find a really bright 300 lumen or so cob tail light, cobs wash out easily in daylight, but at night it will be very bright and very large looking, so in the daytime you need a very high output single led bulb type of light. This fact has not fallen on deaf ears or blind eyes at Cygolite, they make an assortment of tail lights, their brightest for daytime visibility is the Hotshot series, and most notable is the new Hotshot 200 Pro; but again it is a pinpoint beam of light, so you should combine it at night with a wide dispersal tail light like the Niterider Omega 330.

Cygolite has come out with a new series called the Hypershot 350, this light combines the pinpoint brightness of the Hotshot with a wide dispersal led for greater side illumination, and you can chose between one or the other or both at the same time.

There are advantages to using more than one tail light, more than one makes you stand out better. I have one on my seat post, on the saddle bag, and on my helmet, but during the day I only use the Hotshot 200, at night I use all three because all three have different qualities to them. The other two I use is the Niterider Omega 300, this light has unique flash patterns, it is also visible for the side, that light parks on my saddle bag; the other light is a Niterider Sentry Aero 260, that is a cob style led and is not effective during the day, but what I like about it is that it has side facing LED's and is very noticeable from the side, that one parks on my helmet, Niterider claims it puts out 260 lumens but during the day it seems more like 40, at night maybe 100, but I think cobs may register high lumens but they're too dispersed plus there is rear and side cobs, which is great for night.

If you're thinking 3 tail lights is too much and you only want one, I would go with the Cygolite Hypershot 350 because you combine the best of both worlds, a pin point light and a wide dispersal light. Later you can always put a light on your helmet if you decide you need more of an effect, and I would consider one of the Niteriders, either the Omega 300 or the Sentry Aero 260. The Aero 260 is a bit bulky, while I don't mind it on my helmet but others might.