Rear light

[diapsaon0]

I'm just getting back into riding and have bought a second-hand Thorn with a Schmidt dynohub and am IQ front light.  I've previously had a B&M dynamo rear light but am wondering what is the best option.  I live in a small rural town and the approach road is down a bypass which cars use as a racetrack!  Thinking about the Lupine Rotlicht or the Dinotte.  What do people think?
N

[sojournermike]

I'm just getting back into riding and have bought a second-hand Thorn with a Schmidt dynohub and am IQ front light.  I've previously had a B&M dynamo rear light but am wondering what is the best option.  I live in a small rural town and the approach road is down a bypass which cars use as a racetrack!  Thinking about the Lupine Rotlicht or the Dinotte.  What do people think?
N

Make sure you have at least one continuous light - using just a blinky may attract attention, but will hide your position almost completely.

I'd go with a B&M Secula dynamo or a Line Plus or Philips saferide dynamo. You can then add a bright flashy thing next to it.

[Kim]

+1

I favour something B&Mish as a permanent rear (with decent reflector) that's not too obnoxious for group riding, with auxiliary battery-powered FRIKKIN LASERS for conditions where such things are desirable.

[andrew_s]

I'd go with a B&M Secula dynamo or a Line Plus or Philips saferide dynamo. You can then add a bright flashy thing next to it.

That's what I do (Secula & Line Plus on different bikes, the Philips no longer being available).
For the bright (optionally) flashy thing, I'm now using a Moon Nebula, which has a sizeable emitter area, and is bright over a very much wider angle than the Smart 1W I was using.

[zigzag]

i can vote for moon nebula, it is very visible without being blinding. 4hr runtime in flashing mode at 50% intensity.
i've even gone to length of asking another cyclist what light it was..

[diapsaon0]

Anyone tried the new Son rear light?

[TigaSefi]

Thanks for saying Moon nebula. I been trying to find out what this light was! I am off to buy it from cycle surgery at £29

[Kim]

I've got a pair of Moon Comets and am very impressed by everything except the runtime and the mini-USB charging sockets.  The Nebula looks like a beefed up version of the same thing.

The large area of COB leds approach seems like the future of be-seen lighting.  Much nicer than a single high intensity emitter.

[Chris N]

Alpkit Tau lights seem nice.  Bright, flexible and cheap and a bit like the Moon Comet.  Robust and reliable?  No idea, but I've just bought a front/rear pair so I'll give them a go.

[Pickled Onion]

Anyone tried the new Son rear light?

Yes, I have one. It's neat, well built and works perfectly, as you would expect from Schmidt. However, it does not have a reflector and is quite small - you may want to consider the toplight line or similar instead.

[Cudzoziemiec]

I've got a pair of Moon Comets and am very impressed by everything except the runtime and the mini-USB charging sockets.  The Nebula looks like a beefed up version of the same thing.

The large area of COB leds approach seems like the future of be-seen lighting.  Much nicer than a single high intensity emitter.

Complex Optical Build? Convex Origami Bias? Complete Overkill Ballistics?

[Kim]

Chip On Board

When a semiconductor device is mounted directly to a circuit board, and then potted in epoxy.  As opposed to the usual method of encasing it in its own protective enclosure, with exposed pins which are then soldered to the board.

Advantages are reduced manufacturing costs in high volume (like those musical greetings cards), and in the case of LEDs, improved heat dissipation and an arbitrarily large panel of reasonably even light output.

[Feline]

Anyone tried the new Son rear light?

Yes, it's fantastic. So light I have attached it (the rack mount version) with 2 zip ties to the horizontal rear bar of my Bagman- and it stays there rock solid. Very bright for it's size- but not in a totally obnoxious anti-social kind of way. I have a rear mudguard reflector so am not bothered about it not having that. I like it so much will probably get 2 more for other dynamo hubbed bikes in the fleet.

[vantage]

A fellow club member told me the other week that out of all the rear lights on the members bikes, mine stuck out like a sore thumb the most.
Its a B&M Topline Plus.

[Kevina9]

b&m toplight line plus is a great rear light if you have a rack.

[vantage]

b&m toplight line plus is a great rear light if you have a rack.

Bit of diy and bobs your auntie

[Karla]

As the OP is riding on a fast rural bypass, I'd have thought that an intense light would be useful for being seen a long way away, as fast cars will close that distance in a short period of time.  Something like a Lezyne Micro Drive, a Moon LX70, an Exposure TraceR etc.

[Cudzoziemiec]

As the OP is riding on a fast rural bypass, I'd have thought that an intense light would be useful for being seen a long way away, as fast cars will close that distance in a short period of time.  Something like a Lezyne Micro Drive, a Moon LX70, an Exposure TraceR etc.

Would the OP's initial thoughts of a Lupine Rotlicht or Dinotte not fall into that category?

[Cudzoziemiec]

Ok. Not ok. Harrumph. I'm getting fed up with lights, and it seems to be mostly rear lights, which are good at emitting light but fail to water ingress or dodgy switches. My Smart Lunar R1 has a wonderful, all-round, bright but not obnoxious light output but the switch is crap, the seal is not sound and it no longer stays on the mode I want. It seems to always want to flash, sometimes when it's not even meant to be on. Fishing other lights out of the drawer of lights and stuff, I find another Smart (the kidney shaped one) which has suffered the same and a Cateye which shows signs of a moody switch. I'm getting tempted to blow £30 on an Exposure but it seems it'll only fit on the seat post, where it will be covered by a saddle bag on this bike. Oh, harrumph. Time for another cup of tea.

[vantage]

For all the reasons you listed many times over in the space of a year and over many years I gave up on battery lights.
Late 2014 I went hub dynamo and nothing, zero, zilch, nadda has gone wrong with it since.
Incase of failure, I've had a Smart 1/2 Watt on the rear rack/seatstay as backup. Never been used since going dynamo. The Lifeline button light on the handlebar is also a backup but doubles as a torch in case I get a flat at night which is the one area in which a dyno fails. That's never been used except for the puncture fixing purposes.
They've an initial high setup cost but no running costs or replacement costs after that.

[MOB]

Dinotte are excellent and well worth the money - their rear lights completely change driver behaviour in favour of the cyclist. My best light.

Also, very impressed by Lumicycle insight, not as good as the Dinotte but better than most other lights on the market- brake light option is very, very, good.

[mattc]

i can vote for moon nebula, it is very visible without being blinding. 4hr runtime in flashing mode at 50% intensity.
i've even gone to length of asking another cyclist what light it was..

These things are quite appealing. Can anyone report on durability over the last 2 years?

(and I note some reviews describe a "270 degree arc of light" Now that seems pretty unlikely, given that in the pictures pretty much the whole design faces backwards. Maybe 180' ... with only a smdige at 0&180. Unless I'm missing something?? )

[slope]

i can vote for moon nebula, it is very visible without being blinding. 4hr runtime in flashing mode at 50% intensity.
i've even gone to length of asking another cyclist what light it was..

These things are quite appealing. Can anyone report on durability over the last 2 years?

(and I note some reviews describe a "270 degree arc of light" Now that seems pretty unlikely, given that in the pictures pretty much the whole design faces backwards. Maybe 180' ... with only a smdige at 0&180. Unless I'm missing something?? )

I've had 2 Moon Nebulas for what seems at least 2 years? - when they were first introduced. Have had zero problems in all weathers, all year round and the run times don't 'seem' to have deteriorated that much after what must be a considerable amount of re-charging by now.

They are only used in lowest setting flashing mode (as it seems more than adequate for all my riding which is rural and small town only but amounts to ~10,000 miles a year), either on their own or as auxillary to excellent Philips Lumiring dyno lamps.

Also added 2 more Aldi cheaper versions when they came on the market - possibly a year ago? Same light it seems, apart from the 'branding'. Both those are just as reliable thus far.

270º is bollox. They do put out much reduced light at 180º however - so that's fine. Innit?

Have also got two more of the newer/different Aldi versions - slightly larger, same COB design, same USB port - but not quite as tight a seal as the Nebula/previous Aldi - and the on off switch/button is less physically prominent, so isn't as 'ergonomic' as the Moon/previous Aldi.

Hope that helps?

[slope]

Oops! Just remembered a problem. The originally supplied (one of three different mounts) saddle rail bracket snapped going over a cattle grid attached to a Brooks B17 Imperial and on a Moulton TSR after only a couple of months

The rest of the fleet's Nebulas/Aldi copy are mounted on a rear rack with no probs for the the majority of the >20,000 miles

[andrew_s]

The Jobsworth Dogstar from Planet X is another Nebula clone. £15, or £25 for a front/rear pair.
The Moon version comes with a better seatpost mount, but that was the only difference I saw between it and the original Aldi version.