ItsJustMe

OK, the place I work is moving though my department won't be moving for another year so I have time to plan. However, they're moving to a place where from what I can tell, the drivers are seriously horrible. It's only 12 miles away from here, where I have no trouble, but it's got me worried. Three cyclists have been killed in the last year within 2 miles of the place, and a friend who lives nearby says she's jogged on those roads and she runs in foot high grass because all the drivers are staring at their phones all the time and weaving all over the road and into the gravel.

So I'm thinking I need to have a ludicrious amount of taillight.

At first I was thinking I'd go ahead and get the Dinotte 400R, but I think I might even go beyond that. I can go onto Amazon and pick up emergency vehicle light bars in 18 to 36 inch lengths. Those have pretty intense flash patterns.

I really don't want to go to this extent, but if it's this or get killed, I'll do what I have to. I will only be turning it on in the bad spots; it's going to be a 25 mile commute and all but about 5 miles of that are on road that I have no trouble with, and there are 2 miles of MUP (unfortunately spilling out onto the road that I need to take the last mile to work and it's the worst road of the route).

I'm going to need this day and night.

BTW what's the difference between the Dinotte 400R and the "daylight visible" one? They have ZERO specs on their website on the daylight visible light, just "it's daylight visible"

Looking at videos online, DesignShine looks like a better choice than Dinotte. Or heck, I actually design LED stuff as a hobby, I might just do my own.

What do people who live where they have no choice but to ride on 2 lane roads with no shoulders, no bike lanes or paths, and highly distracted drivers do?

noglider 

If the drivers are the problem, a tail light is not the solution.

Leebo

I like the cygo hot shot and a side mirror.

10 Wheels

I have seen this one: "daylight visible" .It didn't seem any brighter to me.

i use 2 Dinotte's on strobe.

10 Wheels

Started this way at First.

bikemig 

I've been using the light and motion vis 180 rear light on the seatpost, a rear blinkie strapped to my bag, and a rear blinkie mounted to my rack. Plus I have reflective material on my fenders, pedals, reflective leg straps etc.

Vis 180 Brown Shugga - Light & Motion

dwmckee

I am thinking maybe weld on a rear bumper from a 1972 Chevy Impala that has the tail lights embedded within the steel parts of the bumper. That way toy get good lighting and the protection you badly need all in one. Stay safe!

JohnJ80

Sounds like just an evil place to ride, no matter what. I'd go with a Dinotte (either the 300R or 400R) for the down range long view and then a Redzone 8 for the wide angle view. That ought to make you very visible.

The difference in effectiveness of the Dinotte 300R to 400R is probably not huge.

The ones to look at are the Nightflux Redzone, the Dinotte tail lights, Lupine's new tail light (Rotlicht).

J.

znomit

I wouldn't ride.

GuyDebord

This is your light: NiteFlux RedZone 8
I ride in NYC, home of the dreaded yellow cabs and apart from the vis180 on my helmet I use the RedZone 4 on my backpack and it is brighter than the Dinnotte 400R, plus its much lighter, super rugged and shines at full power beyond 180 degrees. This is the without doubt the best rear light available. The RedZone 8 takes it to airport level lighting.

ItsJustMe

Hell, I want more than a hot shot on my CURRENT route. I run a pulse 60 in addition to a hot shot now. The Hot Shot is by current standards, IMO, an average taillight.

What I want is so much light that it attracts the attention of someone who is only barely glancing at the road in front of them.

ItsJustMe

Yeah, I'm not that smart.

ItsJustMe

OK, after watching this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2Nh_i2iz8E

I think I want what this guy has. A Niteflux Red Zone 8 on the helmet, a Dinotte 400R (or maybe a Designshine) on the bike, and a pair of Trek Beacons. Looks like about $400 in taillights, maybe $500. I have a year to save up for them.

I think there's a lot to be said for having a large surface area lit rather than a point source of light. I always insist on at LEAST two lights, at night I want a constant and a flashing one.

EDIT: Ordered a Designshine DS500 taillight. Looks like it kind of fries the Dinotte 400R.

ItsJustMe

Thanks. The Lupine is only 2 watts. Heck I *HAVE* several 2 watt lights. They're pretty bright but I'm looking for a whole next level thing here.

dwmckee

The Las Vegas of bikes. I'd be embarrassed to go out like that. He must have to spend more time charging his batteries than riding...

Ball Bearing

That's me to a T. Designshine DS-500 is what you want. I figure the cost is akin to an insurance policy. The only problem is that once I saw with my own eyes how serious this light is I had to buy a second one for when I ride with my kids and wife. Figure in the currency exchange and postage to Australia and it ain't cheap.

Dave Cutter

That's crazy! That would have to be the most bicycle-dangerous two mile stretch of road in the history of American traffic. You must not have another soul on the planet that you think might miss you... if you plan to ride that.

Ball Bearing

Phones have turned many otherwise good drivers into mobile accidents. I figure that when they glance up every few seconds a really bright tail light might make all the difference.

noglider 

Some difference, sometimes, yes. All the difference you need every time, no. ItsJustMe describes a dangerous place. Tail lights alone won't make it safe.

Ball Bearing

Nothing will ever make we cyclists 100% safe. My strategy is to try and even up the odds a bit.

vol

I had the hotshot for a while, liked its small size, but it was not bright enough, so I replaced it with this one. It's much brighter. The main complaint about this is it can't be mounted to the rear rack (the manufacturer claims it can, but the tinny short screw is a joke--its length is barely the thickness of my rack mounting tab).

Ball Bearing

Amazon: "The Brightest Taillight on the Planet producing over 60 lumens" You could probably call Amazon customer service and get a freebee.

ItsJustMe

vol, FYI I had a Serfas as well, lost it due to the fabric clip it comes with being the worst design on the planet. The Axiom Pulse 60 from Performance Bike is pretty much exactly the same light and costs less. When I bought my Serfas it was $60, I think the Pulse 60 must have forced them to reduce the price.

The Pulse 60 is often on sale for $30. Since I have a Performance Bike store in town it's def the way to go. Now that Serfas has dropped the price on theirs it's not that much of a no-brainer as when they charged $60+ for the light though.

Axiom Pulse 60 LED Tail Light

BTW I designed a rear rack (reflector) mount for mine and printed it. I'm not really sure if the mount would be identical between the two though, I think they're a little different.

https://youmagine.com/designs/bicycl...0-to-reflector

vol

It seems the Axiom light is only available for sale at that one website? Your design looks superb for quick release. What kind of mountings does the original light come with? The picture on their website doesn't show any, nor does it state.

ItsJustMe

FWIW, the light itself is very nice. The seatpost mount (basically identical between the Serfas and the Axiom) is the best seatpost mount I've ever seen. It's excellent.

Both of them have mounts for putting the light on a fabric strap, for instance on a backpack. Both of them completely suck rocks. A slight bump will cause either of them to just fly off and be lost. There's no retention at all.

On the Serfas it's a clip that snaps on. On the Axiom it's integrated but still horrible.

Yeah, the Axiom may only be available via Performance, it's probably a house brand. So for a few bucks, probably not worth it unless you're already ordering something. Back when I bought mine though, I had just lost my Serfas and they were still charging > $60 for that light.

I agree with the assessment though, anyone who has seen the Serfas/Axiom side by side with a Hotshot would not ever buy another Hotshot. They're basically the same price and the Serfas/Axiom is in all respects a better, brigher light with a better beam pattern.