School me on rear lights

[reuben]

Sorry for the late followup - the new house has been sucking up all of my time.

I've read the thread a few times, and sorta kinda narrowed down my preferences, but have a couple of unanswered questions.

Lumens - some people want 400-500, and yet I see a lot of lights, some mentioned in this thread, with 50-100 lumens. In the daytime it's hard for me to imagine that a 50-100 lumen light would be effective UNLESS it blinks.

Blinking - I'm a big fan of this. A steady state light can be easily overlooked by an inattentive driver.

Blinking frequency - Per a post in this thread at least one of the Varias changes blinking frequency as a car gets closer. Are there others like this?

Battery life - The Niterider Solas mentioned here emits 250 lumens but has only a 4 hour battery life in "fast" blinking mode (at full 250 lumens?). 4 hours isn't necessarily a lot of time. The Varia RTL515 boasts 16 hours in "day flash mode", apparently due to emitting 65 lumens in this mode, which doesn't sound like much in the daytime. The Varia RTL715 has the same specs.

Battery - internal rechargeable or external (coin, AA, AAA, etc.)?

Thanks.

[tellyho]

I got tired of tossing lights when the battery died. But lights with replaceable batteries are ust not as good. You have to decide which is more important.

[Bob Ross]

Originally Posted by reuben

Lumens - some people want 400-500, and yet I see a lot of lights, some mentioned in this thread, with 50-100 lumens. In the daytime it's hard for me to imagine that a 50-100 lumen light would be effective UNLESS it blinks.

Blinking - I'm a big fan of this. A steady state light can be easily overlooked by an inattentive driver.

fwiw, I have two (no, wait, three?) Niterider Solas tailights. Two of them are 150 or 165 lumens, one of them is 250 lumens. tbh I cannot tell the difference gained by that extra ~100 lumens, neither in full mid-day sunlight nor total darkness, at least not from within say 50 yards. Perhaps at a mile away that extra 100 lumens makes a difference? I will say that in either full mid-day sunlight or total darkness, a 150-250 lumen blinking taillight is more than enough light output to get the attention of an approaching driver.

During the daytime I always use blinking. At night, if I only have one taillight I try to remember to set it to pulsing/pulsating mode, which is like blinking except it never shuts completely off during its pulse cycle. When I have the luxury of two tailights, I set one to blinking and one to steady (nighttime riding only; imho a steady tailight is useless during the daytime).

Originally Posted by reuben

Battery life - The Niterider Solas mentioned here emits 250 lumens but has only a 4 hour battery life in "fast" blinking mode (at full 250 lumens?). 4 hours isn't necessarily a lot of time. The Varia RTL515 boasts 16 hours in "day flash mode", apparently due to emitting 65 lumens in this mode, which doesn't sound like much in the daytime. The Varia RTL715 has the same specs.

Geez, "4 hours isn't necessarily a lot of time"?!?! Then definitely don't get a Serfas Thunderbolt, 90 minutes and it's done! Incredibly bright light for that first hour+ but useless design unless you're only doing a quick 10-20 miles.

I've never found the 4 hour limit of the Niterider Solas to be a limitation, but tbh part of that is because I've only recently started riding with a blinking taillight on for every ride, and that behavior has corresponded with a slight reduction in the duration of my weekend "long" rides. Then again, whenever I do a >4 hour ride it's with a group, and someone else in the group is bound to have a blinky light so I've trusted that attentive drivers will spot the group long before I as an individual am in danger. (I know, silly me.)

I'll also offer this: If my wife's unit is any indication there is no way in hell a Garmin Varia can go for 16 hours on a single charge. But I don't know what the max is, because part of the problem is that when the Varia is in use it is also sucking battery life from the head unit, so one or the other is definitely running out of juice longe before that 16 hour duration.

Originally Posted by reuben

Battery - internal rechargeable or external (coin, AA, AAA, etc.)?

I prefer rechargeable, but that's 'cuz I'm anal and don't find it a chore to plug in any/all gizmos after every ride. otoh I do have one Planet Bike Superflash that runs on AAA betteries, and those seem to last forever and give plenty of warning when they're running low while still working adequately. So maybe it depends on your personal feelings about how to dispose of non-reusable stuff? :::shrugs:::

[cgolvin]

Originally Posted by Bob Ross

I'll also offer this: If my wife's unit is any indication there is no way in hell a Garmin Varia can go for 16 hours on a single charge. But I don't know what the max is, because part of the problem is that when the Varia is in use it is also sucking battery life from the head unit, so one or the other is definitely running out of juice longe before that 16 hour duration.

I almost always run mine in peloton mode, and it might last six hours. I sent my first one back after it wouldn't last more than a three hour ride.

[openwheelracing]

what is "peloton mode" with the Varia?

[cgolvin]

Originally Posted by openwheelracing

what is "peloton mode" with the Varia?

No flash, continuous cycle of brighten/dim, much less bright than the other lit modes. After turning it on, press the button twice for peloton mode.

[Permanent socks]

I have a few flare rt rear lights and the older flare model.
They are great and last for a long time.

This season I picked up a varia 715 and it's really nice knowing how many cars are behind me when riding on busy roads.

Ironically, staring at my garmin looking the radar data almost made me miss a car turning left across 2 lanes in front of me. 😄

Next up is a front radar?! 😃

[flying]

Originally Posted by reuben

In the daytime it's hard for me to imagine that a 50-100 lumen light would be effective UNLESS it blinks.

Thanks.

My wife & I use the Lezyne Strip Pro 400...previously used the 300

What you mentioned is exactly why. I like the 3-400 lumen day blast mode. It can be seen...But of course that relies on the drivers looking at the road also.

About radar I am mixed...On the one hand it looks cool & is even a useful piece of info but
#1 At some point do we spend too much time looking at a screen ourselves instead of the road?

#2 Shoulders we ride on are avg 3-4' wide of course when a tractor trailer is coming we know by sound & hug the right as far as possible. That is all we have period & no radar will change that fact. Of course we usually ride pretty much as right as possible so again I do not see how radar will help or change that fact.

[gravelreformist]

I don't find lumens to be a good metric by which to judge a light designed for daytime visibility. Neither the Varia nor the Bontrager Flare/Ion RT lights are rated for many lumens, yet they are all extremely visible in even full daylight. What seems to matter is how the light is focused - and all of these do that very well.

I will add that I also consider a front-facing daytime flashing light to be essential. My couple of closest calls over the years have been when oncoming traffic decides to pass another oncoming vehicle, coming into my lane head-on. The front-flashing light really seems to minimize that - and the Ion RT is tiny and very effective during daylight. However I've tried to get home with it as a headlight once or twice after dark, and it was worthless for night visibility!

[gravelreformist]

Originally Posted by cgolvin

I almost always run mine in peloton mode, and it might last six hours. I sent my first one back after it wouldn't last more than a three hour ride.

In flash mode mine lasts a good 10 hours or so. I ride 10-15 hours/week and charge it about every 5-6 days. Never had it die on me even after 8+ hours in the saddle.

FWIW, if you have a Garmin headunit, you can also control the flash modes from the pull-down menus from the top. I switch in and out of peloton modes mid-ride depending on whether I'm with other people.

[steelrimbrake]

Varia user here as well. Clipped on to my saddle bag. Had it for a couple months now, does feel a little weird riding without it now.

[Nomadmax]

Originally Posted by cgolvin

I almost always run mine in peloton mode, and it might last six hours. I sent my first one back after it wouldn't last more than a three hour ride.

Garmin says that for max battery use, daytime flash is the mode to use. In my experience that has been true.

[Spinner]

The Dinotte Quad is my light of choice. Last fall I retired my original Quad and returned it for a discount on a new one. In full sun, I always run my Dinotte at the brightest setting. I will not ride without my Quad because I routinely view how the vast majority of traffic will move to the left to avoid me.

Frankly, I don't fully understand the need for the radar equipped lights, and for that matter, a rear-facing mirror. As a long-time cyclist (I'm now 70), I always ride as if there is traffic behind, staying as far to the right as possible. And, I'm definitely more conscious of holding a far-right line when I hear traffic behind.

I had a conversation a year ago with a friend who is a high mileage rider and who has traversed the country twice on a bike. He told me that he would not ride without a mirror because he wants to see traffic coming "too close." I followed his statement by asking him how many times he has riden his bike off the road to avoid a possible hit. His answer, "never."

Yes, I've yelled and thrown my arm in the air (no birds from me) at drivers who have violated the three-foot law (either intentionally or unintentionally), however I've never yet hit the ditch to avoid a bump.

As needed, flame-away and persuade me that I'm uninformed.

Cheers.

[gravelreformist]

Originally Posted by Spinner

The Dinotte Quad is my light of choice. Last fall I retired my original Quad and returned it for a discount on a new one. In full sun, I always run my Dinotte at the brightest setting. I will not ride without my Quad because I routinely view how the vast majority of traffic will move to the left to avoid me.

Frankly, I don't fully understand the need for the radar equipped lights, and for that matter, a rear-facing mirror. As a long-time cyclist (I'm now 70), I always ride as if there is traffic behind, staying as far to the right as possible. And, I'm definitely more conscious of holding a far-right line when I hear traffic behind.

I had a conversation a year ago with a friend who is a high mileage rider and who has traversed the country twice on a bike. He told me that he would not ride without a mirror because he wants to see traffic coming "too close." I followed his statement by asking him how many times he has riden his bike off the road to avoid a possible hit. His answer, "never."

Yes, I've yelled and thrown my arm in the air (no birds from me) at drivers who have violated the three-foot law (either intentionally or unintentionally), however I've never yet hit the ditch to avoid a bump.

As needed, flame-away and persuade me that I'm uninformed.

Cheers.

I simply don't want to have to ride as far to the right as possible most of the time. Both because most of the roads I ride on tend to be much more broken up on the far right, and because if you are already riding as far right as possible, you leave yourself no wiggle room if something goes wrong.

Also, as I've said a couple of times, I firmly believe the action of moving from the center of the lane to the right when the radar goes off is a strong signal to drivers that you've 'seen' them.

[Spinner]

I stand corrected. When I say that I ride as far to the right as possible, I do not mean that I roll through bad pavement, trash, broken glass or other crap. I will hold my line to avoid possible hazards.

I will also admit that several years ago, I fell over off the side of the road when a knucklehead in a rental box truck pulled a u-turn in front of me and completely took the designated bike lane.

As an aside, how do you know that drivers know "that you've 'seen' them" and what impact that makes?

Actually, I believe the best rear light solution is to run two hyper-bright lights, one in steady mode and the other in flash.