I fancy a slowish pulsing rear LED bright light . . . UPDATE

[slope]

 . . . with a regular pulse as opposed to ones I've seen that blink and then double blink/or do mad patterns (which totally freaks my spectrum out!)

Two or three years ago, a rider overtook me at the bottom of the 'up the Gwynant' climb in Snowdonia. He had just the light I'm looking for, but there was no way of catching up to enquire.

It was, or appeared to be, a single circular LED. Its 'pulse' was noticeably slower than all the flashing rear lights I'd ever seen (and since).

As he disappeared way into the distance the brightness didn't seem to wain much. And because of the 'pulse' effect, it didn't rip my eyes out.

I tried to do a bit of FBI/007 type investigatin' (Googling) at the time and thought an Exposure lamp came closest. But railed at the prices, so let it pass.

Now I'm prepared to shift some dough, if there is a current light that does a simple + regular + bright pulse that is slower than most.

I'd be very grateful for any advice and suggestions 

[Cudzoziemiec]

Exposure Flare or Tracer or something, I was going to suggest. But if it's too expensive, let's just hope someone who knows will be along soon with a cheaper alternative.

[slope]

Thanks Cudzo and road-runner 

Just to add - I'm not worried about price anymore - willing to spend on the slowish/regular/bright/pulse 

Will do some youtube searches of both your suggestions to see if they are what I have in mind 

[De Sisti]

My old DiNotte 400L rear light has a few options, one of which a steady red pulse and its rate is fairly slow. Unfortunately, prices will likely be in the Exposure league.

I still have mine (purchased in Feb 2010). I bought two batteries, the first lasted until 2017.

[zigzag]

i've got a handful of exposure blazes and tracers, wouldn't say the pulse is slowish, it's around twice a second.

[Jurek]

My old DiNotte 400L rear light has a few options, one of which a steady red pulse and its rate is fairly slow. Unfortunately, prices will likely be in the Exposure league.

I still have mine (purchased in Feb 2010). I bought two batteries, the first lasted until 2017.

I've just fed some AA juice to my Dinotte which is probably from around 2008.
Brightness which can be measured in small, medium, large and utterly frantic strobeing.
It never saw very much use.
Too antisocial.

[slope]

Thanks all - the current Exposure TraceR and Flare appear to do that irregular pulse + 2 swift blinks thing

And meant to say I don't want this for night time riding at all - I have dyno lights and the fabulous rear Philips Lumiring with integral reflector.

Just thinking purely and solely solo rural daytime

[Kim]

I have a Radbot 1000 which would sound like the sort of thing you're after.  It ramps up over about a second to full brightness, then back down again.  (It also has static on and ramp-up-ramp-down-Flash!-Flash!-pause modes.)

2AAA batteries, fits a Smart rear light bracket.  Mine's still going strong after I've lost count how many years.  They don't appear to be completely unobtanium.

I've also got a Smart of some sort with a similar mode, but it's a bit quicker.

[SteveC]

I have a small Cateye which has a pulse mode. That's the setting I tend to leave it on as it never goes completely out.
Unfortunately, without dismantling half the garage to see if I do have the packaging, I can't tell you the model, and I can't see it on their website, but it might be a start.

[zigzag]

Thanks all - the current Exposure TraceR and Flare appear to do that irregular pulse + 2 swift blinks thing

both old and new lights have three brightness modes - hi, med and low. each mode has either constant or flashing setting.

on the old lights flashing is the same regular pulse in all modes.

on the new lights flashing is irregular pulse (daybright) in hi mode, regular flashing in med and low.

[slope]

Thanks all - the current Exposure TraceR and Flare appear to do that irregular pulse + 2 swift blinks thing

both old and new lights have three brightness modes - hi, med and low. each mode has either constant or flashing setting.

on the old lights flashing is the same regular pulse in all modes.

on the new lights flashing is irregular pulse (daybright) in hi mode, regular flashing in med and low.

Many thanks for that clarification zigzag 

Wish that info was easier (or indeed possible?) to find (In language that I might understand) via the maker's website 

[fuaran]

I recommend the Fenix BC05R. It has a slow flash mode. Maybe not super slow, but about 2 flashes per second.
It is a neat little light anyway. USB charging, and handy to strap onto the bike, or clip on a belt.

[Zed43]

The Lupine Rotlicht has a pulse that cycles from high to low to high in about one second. It has many options to set the intensity of its various modes, but sadly not the cycle time. The Lezyne Femto cycles roughly twice as fast as the Rotlicht; no options to tweak.

[Ginger Cat]

I am sure one of the rear lights on my commutor bike had that option...... it might have been my old Zecto drive light but could have been something else, I went through two or three over a few years trying to identify a good winter commuting light (bright enough, long-lasting enough, doesn't get cataputed off when I hit a bump).

It's a while (a year or few) since I looked though as eventually I accepted the inevitable and fitted a decent dynamo lighting set to the commutor bike.

GC

[psyclist]

The Lupine Rotlicht has a pulse that cycles from high to low to high in about one second. It has many options to set the intensity of its various modes, but sadly not the cycle time. The Lezyne Femto cycles roughly twice as fast as the Rotlicht; no options to tweak.

Like it, thank you for the link.

[slope]

The Lupine Rotlicht has a pulse that cycles from high to low to high in about one second. It has many options to set the intensity of its various modes

Many thanks Zed43 - that looks very impressive - not because of its claimed retina burning anti social brightness, nor its hefty price tag - but the fact it has a user replaceable battery, its very slow non manic pulse mode that I fancy and the 3 intensity options per mode, meaning it can be 'dialled' down. Also prefer its physical shape on the bike, compared with the sticky poking out Exposure TraceR

Just ordered one and we shall see . . . ?

[Morat]

These guys have a slow pulse mode on their rear lights
https://hauteworks.com/

They do also have a huge number of other pulses/combinations/brake modes controlled through an app and bluetooth... so not exactly the simplest set up.
But if you like that sort of thing, they're pretty good.

[salar55]

The Lupine Rotlicht lives on my mtb during the winter, no problems still waterproof and mud just gets washed off, great rear light so far. Lot's of settings to play with and the double click to switch on is wierd.

[psyclist]

2 x Lupine Rotlicht have arrived in the post today. My eyesight is still recovering from accidentally viewing the light at a high setting!

Lots and lots of options, including the slow Pulse mode that I was interested in having, as per the originator of this thread.

[slope]

Have had my limited availability? (£80 via Amazon) Lupine Rotlicht (840mAh/3Wh) for a few days now and been familiarising and investigatin'. Going through the 4 different modes and 5 different power outputs per mode. Haven't bothered to confuse myself with the various light 'sensitivity' and brake light stuff yet.

I'm only really interested in the slow 'Pulse' and 'Steady + Impulse' modes. (The 'Blink' (flash) mode is faster than what I fancy - reason being purely personal)

Parked the bike in the daylight down at the empty (Welsh lockdown rules, Watkin Path, Snowdonia, car park/lay-by). Able to walk ~100+ metres away without looking at the light. Then turn around and make a judgement before walking back towards the source. Repeat several times at different settings.

That made me choose to ride and use/evaluate?:

1. The slow 'Pulse' at third power setting (0.5W = 6Hr stated runtime)

2. The 'Steady + Impulse' at second power setting (0.25W = 10Hr stated runtime)

I don't think either need to be brighter? The former is slow - guessing about a second a pulse - and pleasantly "gentle" and bright enough to my eyes at a distant pedestrian viewpoint. The latter is somewhat faster but not as fast as the 'Blink' setting. However, the peak burst that is the 'Impulse' is mega bright, albeit very briefly. IT really does stand out, but isn't too freaky? due to the low constant background that it rapidly fades and pulses to/with.

Next thing is to ask 4 local motons from the village who more often than not pass and overtake me during my daily rides and ask them their opinions. To see if there is any consensus or useful feedback from their points of view.

So far I'm pleased, except there is also a limited availablity Rotlicht MAX (1650mAh/6Wh) for £10 more and allegedly doubles the runtimes! It has a decidedly 'solid' build quality (and 'satisfying'?weight). Most components including a user replaceable battery pack are currently available. £80 is a lot of dough of course.

As mentioned previously upthread, use of this light is purely as a solo riding 90% rural light trafficked daylight 'blinkie'. I have a rear pannier rack mounted dynamo powered auto censored Philips Lumiring (with large integral reflector) for night time

Trying to figure out if and how I could 'make' a meaningful photo/video representation. YouTube 'reviews' tend to fail on this count - mostly because nobody records the various light patterns/modes for long enough to be useful or properly informative.

[Adam]

I have a Radbot 1000 which would sound like the sort of thing you're after.  It ramps up over about a second to full brightness, then back down again.  (It also has static on and ramp-up-ramp-down-Flash!-Flash!-pause modes.)

2AAA batteries, fits a Smart rear light bracket.  Mine's still going strong after I've lost count how many years.  They don't appear to be completely unobtanium.

A long time ago on a night ride, I remember commenting to you how eye catching in a good way your rear light was, in having that slow pulse ramp up.  It reminded me a bit of HAL - just without the psychotic bits.

[slope]

So . . .  the Lupine Rochtlicht started to 'play up' after a week

Followed instructions and charged the light before use until the green fully charged indicator came on. Everything seemed hunky dory and the battery indicator red LED was working too. However, less than 3 hours use the light went dead - and was only set to a supposed "10 hour" pulse mode.

Recharged the light with supplied USB cable again. Then the battery capacity indicator wee red LED stopped functioning.

Emailed Lupine who responded almost immediately

They suggested, somewhat perplexed, that perhaps the light wasn't fully charged initially. But the green fully charged LED did indeed glow. So re-charged the unit again - which took a couple of hours - until the green light came on again.

But now the battery capacity wee red light was not functioning at all after turning the light off - as it did before and indicated it should in the instructions. Also now the various mode sequence settings were not behaving as expected/instructed + I was starting to go blind and worried I might fit!

Another email with Lupine, again answered very quickly, mentioned that the brake light might not work as it should when the lamp is in one's hand and agreed it was difficult to diagnose via email. I had though previously turned off the brake light function/mode!

I returned it to Amazon as defective and received a refund

Then I ordered another cos I really liked the slow pulse and build quality etc. The replacement was first charged as per instructions until green LED confirmed so. BUT this lamp, in any mode, and at any brightness setting, failed from the off to reveal the battery charge indicator light after turning it off.

I wondered about my own sanity. So left it for a few days and tried again - negative outcome and more burnt retinas

Second lamp is on it's way back to Amazon 

Shame I so wanted this £83 light to work

[Brucey]

So . . .  the Lupine Rochtlicht started to 'play up' after a week


...….Shame I so wanted this £83 light to work

well you would, wouldn't you....?

FWIW the only light I have seen with this pattern is a small cateye one.  Nice light but imperfect in several respects.

cheers

[pdm]

I got these last year - less than a tenner delivered for a rechargeable set front and rear with a slow flash setting on both - I use it them the time. At that price I thought it worth a punt and they are brilliant for the price! Slow pulse mode is about 1/sec. The rear flash is not as bright as the eyeball searing strobes you see on some lights but it is bright enough to see easily in daylight which is when I use it most of the time. I get at least 10 hours per charge in slow flash mode. (The rear is allegedly 6000 lumens on slow flash.)