Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets - Rear light -- on the LEFT or RIGHT seatstay?

I've installed Planet Bike Blinky "3" on the RIGHT seatstay. My first impression is that it's very visible, especially when in the blinking mode.

Now I wonder if it wouldn't be much better (for the sake of visibility) to put it on the LEFT seatstay...

What country are you in ?

In the U.S. and similar countries, it makes more sense on the left side of your bike. This is assuming that you ride on the right side of the road with overtaking traffic on the same side.

I mount on my seat post (Planet Bike SuperFlash Stealth).

My lights are mounted either on centerline or on the left side.

Put one on both sides. You cannot have too much rear light.

I have mine on the right so I can mount it higher up the stay, above the brake. I can just barely reach down and turn it on with out getting out of the saddle. On the left side the brake would be in the way.

Oh, if this doesn't make sense, it's because I'm freakishly tall. I ride a 65cm road bike. Not a vintage one, it's a 2007 Leader.

what country are you in ?

usa.

I mount on my seat post (Planet Bike SuperFlash Stealth).

I wish I could do that. Not enough space on my seat post. Even the reflector light is partially being covered by my seat bag.

Put one on both sides.

Kind of difficult to do it with ONE light ... :)

In the U.S. and similar countries, it makes more sense on the left side of your bike. This is assuming that you ride on the right side of the road with overtaking traffic on the same side.

This is exactly what crossed my mind. Most of the time the cars will be to my left.

You can hang it off the back of your bag it has a strap for that

Some of the Brevet coordinators will not accept a light attached to the back of a bag on the basis that it does not stay properly aimed and they certainly would not accept a light obscured by a seat wedge. If you turn the light on and back your bike up to a wall and the light is not pointing level it's not doing you much good. It's better than nothing, I suppose, but then I'll stick by my recommendation to have two lights for Bagel007 ... it's a minor investment in your continued good health !

I've installed Planet Bike Blinky "3" on the RIGHT seatstay. My first impression is that it's very visible, especially when in the blinking mode.

Now I wonder if it wouldn't be much better (for the sake of visibility) to put it on the LEFT seatstay...

Why did you put it on the right seat stay ?

In this country (UK) where we drive on the correct side (the left) rear lights have to be mounted centrally or on the right.

Is it even legal to mount it on the right over there ?

no laws that I've seen, heard or enforced as to which side the light should be on in left hand drive countries.

but logic would say that you should put it on the side that people will overtake you from and that having a light on both sides is better than just one side.

Why did you put it on the right seat stay ?

In this country (UK) where we drive on the correct side (the left) rear lights have to be mounted centrally or on the right.

Is it even legal to mount it on the right over there ?


Just asking, was Ford the inventor of the car AND an American? I know he was an American, but....

Damn, we may have some work to do over here in leftpondia.

Orville and Wilbur, the bike, right?

Red is rear, white/yellow/amber is front? Purple/left, plaid/right?

Just asking, was Ford the inventor of the car AND an American? I know he was an American, but....

No, Ford implemented the production line.

The car was invented in Germany.

My bad.

Why did you put it on the right seat stay ?

In this country (UK) where we drive on the correct side (the left) rear lights have to be mounted centrally or on the right.

Is it even legal to mount it on the right over there ?

I put it on the right seat stay because it was a bit easier to install them on that side (the screw goes from the right to the left). Actually, only after installing the light I realized that the cars will be mostly on my left, so having the light on the left seat stay would make more sense.

I'm not sure if there is any law here (New Jersey, USA) specifying whether the rear lights should be on the left or on the right. In this respect the only regulation concerning biking in New Jersey (that I'm aware of) state as follows:

39:4-10 Lights on Bicycles.
When in use at nighttime every bicycle shall be equipped with: 1) A front headlamp emitting a white light visible from a distance of at least 500 feet to the front; 2) A rear lamp emitting a red light visible from a distance of at least 500 feet to the rear; 3) In addition to the red lamp a red reflector may be mounted on the rear.


(http://www.state.nj.us/transportation/commuter/bike/regulations.shtm)

Oh, I forgot to mention it -- I don't ride the bike at nighttime ... I put the rear light on my bike to be more visible at daylight.

The car was invented in Germany.
*******s.
I thought it was the French. Anyway, both of those countries drive on the right side. I was never amused getting stuck behind a Brit while driving in Europe.

The op should put the light on the seat post if possible, and on the left stay if not. And it's helpful to others if users edit their location in their profile. You can also become a Sanctimonious Luddite if you like.

Mount it on the left.

Planet Bikes instructions shows the seatstay mount on the right. I thought that was the reason why you mounted it on the right. I'm not sure why they show it that way, unless they sell a lot of lights in England...but it doesn't make sense in the USA.

If you turn the light on and back your bike up to a wall and the light is not pointing level it's not doing you much good.

Wouldn't pointing a light that looses so much intensity at the eyes of the people you want to notice you be more effective? I angle mine up slightly for that reason, but I'm guessing it's more effective.

I wish I could do that. Not enough space on my seat post. Even the reflector light is partially being covered by my seat bag.

See that black bit of fabric on the back of your seat bag that's 2 or 3 inches long? That's actually there specifically to attach your blinky light to.

I put a light on my seat bag because being up higher, it's less likely to be obscured by someone's hood or another car.

The issue with putting the blinky on the bag is with it popping off over bumps. I drilled holes in the plastic clip part, threaded a twist tie through the holes and tie it off. Never ever lost a light since I did that, though it's a little work.

If that somehow isn't an option, I would agree that if people drive on the right, putting the blinky on the left side would be better than on the right side - you wouldn't want someone to miss seeing your bike because they happen to look over when your wheel happened to be between them and the blinky light.

The issue with putting the blinky on the bag is with it popping off over bumps.

I was afraid of that problem.

So eventually I moved the blinky from the right seat-stay to the left seat-stay.

Just a suggestion.....

I have an elastic, velcro strap with a strip of way reflective material on it. You can pull it around your upper ankle and put a clip on blinky on it. As you pedal it moves up and down (duh) but is always visible when it should be. If it is worn showing directly away from you and the bike, it's visible from front and rear. Uses 2 triple A's.

When I get home I'll try to post a shot.

I was afraid of that problem.

So eventually I moved the blinky from the right seat-stay to the left seat-stay.

Well, like I said, the twist-tie-through-a-drilled-hole has worked most excellently. Obviously it would be better if the clip-on part simply worked to hold it onto the bag, but I couldn't find a single blinky that would do that.

The issue with attaching the blinky directly to the frame is with how these new-fangled rear blinky light are held together. Used to be held together by screws. Now they're held together by pressure - little tabs on the back-facing piece of plastic clip into little tabs on the front-facing piece of plastic. Problem is that if you go off a really big bump and slam the back of the bike down, the back-facing piece of plastic can fly off. It's happened to me once on my other bike where my blinky is screwed onto my frame. :-( I think the floppiness of the seat bag attachment keep the light from ever getting enough force applied directly to it to cause that to happen.

I wish I could do that. Not enough space on my seat post. Even the reflector light is partially being covered by my seat bag.

Try This:

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh187/10wheels/undereat2.jpg

The issue with attaching the blinky directly to the frame is with how these new-fangled rear blinky light are held together. Used to be held together by screws. Now they're held together by pressure - little tabs on the back-facing piece of plastic clip into little tabs on the front-facing piece of plastic. Problem is that if you go off a really big bump and slam the back of the bike down, the back-facing piece of plastic can fly off. It's happened to me once on my other bike where my blinky is screwed onto my frame. :-( I think the floppiness of the seat bag attachment keep the light from ever getting enough force applied directly to it to cause that to happen.

Do you mean that part "A" and part "B" came apart???

Do you mean that part "A" and part "B" came apart???

Yup, that pic make it a little more clear, but that's what I was talking about! It was a different rear light, but those are the parts that have to come apart to change the batteries.

Yup, that pic make it a little more clear, but that's what I was talking about! It was a different rear light, but those are the parts that have to come apart to change the batteries.

In that case, the solution is simple -- use scotch tape or transparent packaging tape. As a matter of fact, after hearing your story, I fastened that parts of my blinky to each other with packaging tape. One strip of the tape on the top, one of the side.

Just a suggestion.....

I have an elastic, velcro strap with a strip of way reflective material on it. You can pull it around your upper ankle and put a clip on blinky on it. As you pedal it moves up and down (duh) but is always visible when it should be. If it is worn showing directly away from you and the bike, it's visible from front and rear. Uses 2 triple A's.

When I get home I'll try to post a shot.

Thanks, I'd like to hear more about that. Where did you get it from?

Just a suggestion.....

I have an elastic, velcro strap with a strip of way reflective material on it. You can pull it around your upper ankle and put a clip on blinky on it. As you pedal it moves up and down (duh) but is always visible when it should be. If it is worn showing directly away from you and the bike, it's visible from front and rear. Uses 2 triple A's.

When I get home I'll try to post a shot.

Here's the pics.

The strap has an ultra reflective patch (velcro,) the lens on the light can be rotated 180* to blink or stay on, slide the clip to turn on or off, requires 2 AAA batteries, lasts months on batteries, clip anywhere, doesn't fall apart, the strap to your leg/arm/helmet/anywhere, can be used without the strap, can be reached while riding, and doesn't have to be attached to the bike. 'Can be seen 180*. The light is 2" x 1.5" and extremely bright.

When it's on steady, it works well as a flashlight or can be waved around in the air if needed as a hazard light. I've had this thing a long time and it has worked flawlessly. I don't care for attaching things to my bike, and since I off road, nothing really stays on it anyway. 'Either falls of or gets pulled off by twigs and such.

I think the strap was $3 and the light was $6 about 15 years ago. Made by VistaLite. This model is called Cuëlite. The strap is made by J & G. Don't know who they are.

I got these at Tim's Bikes up in Everett WA. I'm sure Google can find them.

Try here, http://www.bikepro.com/ad_copy/lights.html

I just did a search, and only found the URL above.

Apparently this is the model number.
VISTALITE VL-200AB CUELITE

Good luck. I'm going to head down to my LBS in a few minutes and see if they can find or have these. I'll clue you when I get back home.

I put a tail light as high as I can on seat post. If I use luggage, I wear a light on the back of my helmet and or Camelback. In any event, I almost always have two tail lights on.

Thanks, I'd like to hear more about that. Where did you get it from?

Bagel, take a look here. (http://blackburndesign.com/lights.html)

This is what I saw at the LBS a minute ago. The clip on runs $19.95. You're on your own for the strap.

Later.