Tiny taillight recommendations?

[d_douglas]

This is trivial, but who makes tiny taillights that are cheap? I remember those Specialized Hot Dot lights from the mid 90s that were really small - any thoughts on where to get another one of them or an equivalent?

[Too Tall]

Cateye makes a very versitile round light that straps onto the bike. It uses a reed switch thus no external switch. There is a magnet built into the strap which you pass over the light to switch modes. Model is: SL-LD100

[BumbleBeeDave]

They're the little rubber ones you just wrap around a frame tube and hook on. Available in red, white, and--I think--blue. I know a local guy who just wraps two or three of the red ones around various frame tubes and he's good to go. I've got a white one I put on my handlebar when I'm going to be out until dusk. No way it gives enough light to see where I'm going, but works fine for some added visibility insurance. Neat little devices!

BBD

[sbornia]

Planet Bike's "Blinky 1" is pretty small:

http://ecom1.planetbike.com/3008.html

Attaches to the seatstay with one of the two included clamps.

If you want a light that uses standard AAA batteries and is not that much bigger (actually has a slimmer profile), check out this model instead:

http://ecom1.planetbike.com/3019.html

[sspielman]

This one is cool enough to build a whole bike around.....

[dwightskin]

Well it's not super small but the planet bike superflash is an awesome battery powered tail light. The "strobe" LED is really bright. You really should check it out before you buy something else.


http://ecom1.planetbike.com/3034.html

[mjb266]

Ditto the superflash. Thing is the best one made...now if they could improve the mount.

[Ken Robb]

FWIW, I live just above the bike path that runs south from the UCSD campus and there are lots of commuters riding there. During these dark months I can observe the HUGE difference in visibility among various bicycle lights. Some of them are almost invisible in the difficult mix of light/dark/shadows caused by streetlights and autos. A small light that might be noticed on a dark country lane is nearly useless in this urban setting.

Please don't get one too small to be effective. :beer:

[IPH]

+2 on the Planet Bike Superflash. Can't beat it for visibility. Bigger than the Hot Dot, but I'll haul it around any day...I want every chance to be seen by idiots driving while jabbering on their cell phone or texting. FWIW, I haven't had any problems with the mount myself (yet!).

[vaxn8r]

These aren't the brand that I use but the same size. They are small but bright.

[Blue Jays]

The very lightweight and handy red LED Knog Frog is a great thing to have along if one could potentially be caught out riding after nightfall.

[bigman]

Serfas makes a model called the guppy supposedly very bright but the straps stretch. Picked up a set of Cyclops - by Nathan at my LBS - under 13 bucks for the set. Very similar to the silicone ones pictured above. Rear has three modes, steady, quick flash and slow flash. Front steady and quick flash. One mile visibility is what the package states, not sure about that but pretty bright.

[Ken Robb]

These aren't the brand that I use but the same size. They are small but bright.

In my experience as a motorist the size of the light is as important as the brightness. Even a really bright pin-point light gets lost in a mixed urban environment.

[palincss]

This one is cool enough to build a whole bike around.....

What is that?

[palincss]

FWIW, I live just above the bike path that runs south from the UCSD campus and there are lots of commuters riding there. During these dark months I can observe the HUGE difference in visibility among various bicycle lights. Some of them are almost invisible in the difficult mix of light/dark/shadows caused by streetlights and autos. A small light that might be noticed on a dark country lane is nearly useless in this urban setting.

Please don't get one too small to be effective. :beer:

I see that same variability on my commute home from work. Most of the time, I think it's nearly dead batteries and blinkies mounted on backpacks that are pointed up at low-flying helicopters that are the dim ones.

[Blue Jays]

Changing batteries before it is *really* needed is an incredibly easy and low-cost method to greatly increase safety.
Performance difference is HUGE with new batteries.

[sspielman]

What is that?

I don't know the maker's name....just that it is a small-production, CNC'd Japanese interpretation of a 1960's era French design. It is LED, and utilises a lithium battery. The quality is over the top obsessive.

[72gmc]

I don't know the maker's name....just that it is a small-production, CNC'd Japanese interpretation of a 1960's era French design. It is LED, and utilises a lithium battery. The quality is over the top obsessive.

I'm guessing it should be mounted to a good, rich frame or it will weigle

[sspielman]

I'm guessing it should be mounted to a good, rich frame or it will weigle

...definitely one for the Mariposeurs....It aint no Toei....

[cpg]

I'm partial to this one but that's me.

Curt

[sspielman]

I'm partial to this one but that's me.

Curt


Did you make that one your own self?

[palincss]

I'm partial to this one but that's me.

Curt

So where would an interested party be able to buy one?

[Blue Jays]

cpg, that looks like a very durable and water-resistant rubber gasket on that rear lamp.

[mschol17]

So where would an interested party be able to buy one?

+1

[cpg]

Did you make that one your own self?


Yep.

Curt

[Sasha18]

Superflash all the way.

[sspielman]

Yep.

Curt


Classy....I'll bet that the bike that you build around it won't be bad either.....

[Ahneida Ride]

Did you make that one your own self?

Looks like the light J.P. uses ...

[peter weigle]

Looks like the light J.P. uses ...

Similar,, but mine looks like this...

[sspielman]

Similar,, but mine looks like this...

I have spent 5 minutes studying that photo trying to find SOMETHING.....ANYTHING wrong.....Everything is perfect.....
Allow me to digress for a moment...yesterday I received the Performance "Winter Clearance" catalog in the mail...and I looked through it...There was so much cycling related ugliness and outsourced cheapness contained within its 20-something pages that I literally had a bad taste in my mouth....and an expression fixed on my face as if I smelled something bad....and whatever I did, I could not remove it....UNTIL I saw this photograph...

[Blue Jays]

Methinks that cool little Peter Weigles lamp uses components from two or three others to create that optimized design.
Pretty sweet the way it's mounted on the rear of the seat tube, huh?

[ClutchCargo]

I have spent 5 minutes studying that photo trying to find SOMETHING.....ANYTHING wrong.....Everything is perfect.....
Allow me to digress for a moment...yesterday I received the Performance "Winter Clearance" catalog in the mail...and I looked through it...There was so much cycling related ugliness and outsourced cheapness contained within its 20-something pages that I literally had a bad taste in my mouth....and an expression fixed on my face as if I smelled something bad....and whatever I did, I could not remove it....UNTIL I saw this photograph...

but it looks kind of goofy to me. As for bike porn,
to each his (or her) own, no? ;)

[Ahneida Ride]

I have spent 5 minutes studying that photo trying to find SOMETHING.....ANYTHING wrong.....Everything is perfect.....
.yesterday I received the Performance "Winter Clearance" catalog in the mail...and I looked through it...There was so much cycling related ugliness and outsourced cheapness contained within its 20-something pages that I literally had a bad taste in my mouth.......UNTIL I saw this photograph...

Amen Brother ....

I saw this cool setup at the last TdFL. J.P. just has it so right.
Maybe some day I'll locate a J.P., cpg, or Kirk to demo. :rolleyes:

At the risk of being labeled a wise guy, I have to ask .... Is it a LED?
Could an engine like the DiNotte be incorporated into this cool component?
One could then be seen a mile back. I appreciate the merger of form and
function. Perfect placement for a tail light.

[Ahneida Ride]

I have an Planet Bike attached to the rear of Bell Metro Helmet.

It is rather bright. If one intends to ride in traffic at night, one really
can't have enough rearward directed light.

[72gmc]

Mr. Weigle's addition to this thread made my day yesterday, and again today. Good gravy.