Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets - Change Your Batteries!

I know everyone here probably already does, but I can't even begin to count how many dim flashers I am seeing lately. It is starting to feel like almost everyone is still running on their original batteries they installed in the fall, and they aren't going to change them until they go completely dead.

...It is starting to feel like almost everyone is still running on their original batteries they installed in the fall, and they aren't going to change them until they go completely dead.

Well, let's hope everyone doesn't wait until they are dead. It'd be a little difficult to change batteries from inside a coffin.....

same here, I was riding at dusk and a fast fellow dashed by on a road bike dressed in grey and black with his seat post tail light pointing down a bit blinking feebly. That would have been me 25yrs ago without the blinky light. Anyway he was nearly invisible 200yds up. One bright Bike Planet light does it.

One bright Bike Planet light does it.

I was just having an interesting thought about the SuperFlash from PlanetBike on the way home this evening. I don't know a lot of other bike commuters, but the ones I do know that are still riding at night, every one, without exception, has at least one SuperFlash. We all have different lights on the front, different reflectors, different clothes, different styles of bikes, but somehow, independantly, we all decided the best back light was a Planet Bike SuperFlash.

I know not everyone uses one, but they are extremely popular. From a pure marketing perspective it is extremely fascinating to think about how they managed to pull that off, and maintain it for as long as they have.

I posted a thing on this a couple months ago, I tried to stop a guy with a dim blinkie and give him free batteries once, I'd just hate to see a fellow cyclist get hit because his batteries were dead.

I was just having an interesting thought about the SuperFlash from PlanetBike on the way home this evening. I don't know a lot of other bike commuters, but the ones I do know that are still riding at night, every one, without exception, has at least one SuperFlash. We all have different lights on the front, different reflectors, different clothes, different styles of bikes, but somehow, independantly, we all decided the best back light was a Planet Bike SuperFlash.

I know not everyone uses one, but they are extremely popular. From a pure marketing perspective it is extremely fascinating to think about how they managed to pull that off, and maintain it for as long as they have.

Forget marketing. I bought one of these because when I was behind other riders it was hands down the most noticeable light night or day. No marketing involved I was impressed with their product.

From a pure marketing perspective it is extremely fascinating to think about how they managed to pull that off, and maintain it for as long as they have.


they decided to make a bright taillight. I've got one on the back of my helmet and one on the bike. I've bought one for every person I know who got a bike or rides occasionally, probably bought eight in the last two years. Last year I was riding in the day light with it on and a guy in a car asked me what kind it was as he could see it 1000' back. With lithiums it lasts a long time but I've been using rechargable NiMh batteries recharged every couple weeks.
My daughter went off on a bike trip with a friend and I put one on the friends bike and got a bright yellow vest for my daughter,,later on they thanked me.

Recharging every couple of weeks?

Heck, I'm doing my every couple of months! Those things are easy on the batteries.

No advertising -- just word of mouth. They don't seem to be marketing wizards -- I think they just hit on a good design, and people reacted.

the type of people buying bike lights are mostly function over fashion people. Thus we all choose the light that works the best for a reasonable cost.

About half of the riders I see have dim lights due to no charging. I think part of the reason is on the package many lights boast about run time, and people think that is normal. For example, the PB superflash says it has 100 hours of runtime on flash mode. However, I have seen some very weak PBSF lights where the batteries needed replacement badly. So I will recharge my SF after about 15-20 hours in flash mode, certainly not 100 hours. The SF is brilliant on a full charge but can be disappointing when the batteries start to weaken in comparison.

I think those of us "in the know" as it were carry spare batteries around at all (most) times. This is especially important for LED headlights that can go from Fine to 0xDEADBEEF at a moment's notice. I always carry 2 sets of spares just in case (in fact, given whimsy, I've needed them all at times).

If you use rechargeables, it's also a good idea to mark each set (little strips of reflective tape works great) so you can determine which set should be used next, and keep them in a rotation FIFO queue. Not so important with disposables which generally retain their initial charge better.

Regardless of how it all came to pass, it is still fascinating to me. If you get ten experienced cyclists, particularly ones that commute, and ask them about a rear flasher, it would not surprise me if you got all ten to say PBSF. If you ask those same ten what they think should be used for the front light, you will probably get ten different answers.

My rear blinkie is dim by the time I get home when it's really cold out. So perhaps theirs are just cold. I've actually had mine shut completely off lately, like my headlight. sometimes it's just dim, other times (colder times) it'll be completeley off. It stays bright longer when it's a fresh fresh battery, but it doesn't take much use before a little cold will boink it's blink.

I checked out Performance and the Super Flash by Planet Bike goes for about $20.00. Is this ok?

My rear blinkie is dim by the time I get home when it's really cold out. .

IIRC lithium disposables might be the best battery for this application. I haven't checked the specs but I think most batteries have lower output as the temp goes down to freezing.

I checked out Performance and the Super Flash by Planet Bike goes for about $20.00. Is this ok?

it's ok, I've usually spent around $24.