Commuting - Stupidly bright rear blinker?

uh... they have rechargable double a batteries ya know. rayovac has a 15 minute charger. the batteries are like $12 for 4 AA's and $30 for the charger.

if they only last half the number or recharges they advertise and you recharge them 2 times a week you will get 10 weeks less than 5 years of use outta them.

sheesh.

The 5 LED Cateye TL-LD600 is pretty bright. I have it on my seatpost and then I clip a cheapie Trek branded 1 LED blinker to my back pocket.

The Cateye runs on two AAA batteries. It can be mounted horizontally or vertically.

http://www.cateye.com/en/productImages/big/1086025000TL_LD600.jpg


unless they are selling a different version of the same model, that TL-LD600 runs on AA not AAA ( in case anyone is obsessed with counting letters like I am ) ;) i have that on my camelback, along with a small clip-on simple flasher.

I wasn't concerned about cost of batteries. I was pointing out that with rechargeables, the light will fail in the middle of rides on a regular basis. That's why you'll need a second blinkie, which you should have anyway. I also carry 3 extra AAA batteries for my blinkies/LED backups.

why would a NiMH be worse than a alkaline? have you tried the new rechargables?

Yes, rechargeable alkalines don't give out suddenly like NiCd's. They fade slowly like regular alkalines and can be recharged everyday. Good choice for AAA-powered flashers.

I use a 12V-powered xenon strobe, so the question is moot for me, now. But I'm very interested in the "Lightman Strobe," a small xenon strobe. I wonder how visible it is in daylight.

But LittleBigMan you cannot recharge the new Alkalines everyday IF they don't need it. All rechargeable batteries have a finite NUMBER of times they can be recharged; so regardless if you let the batteries run down 25% or 95% your still only going to get ROUGHLY 25 recharges from a Alkaline rechargeable battery, about 500 from a NiMh and about 1000 from a NiCad.

Problem with Alkaline rechargeables is that their run time noticeably drops off every time you recharge it until it no longer recharges; but their advantage is their longer storage (or shelf life) without charging, about 5 years.

NiMh's are the best (currently for small battery application) because they hold their max charge level for a period of time about 2 thirds as long as fresh Alkaline's and do not have that run time drop off the more you recharge it; they also give you a warning when their dying because the power tapers off much like a Alkaline. Today there are high amp hour NiMh's available at Walmart with amp hour ratings of around 2200, where as just a few years ago the ones I bought are 1200 and 1600; the higher the amp hour the longer it will run the device. However their storage (or shelf life) is about 6 to 8 months before their dead and need to recharged.

NiCads have a shorter run time then NiMh's but keep their power level high to just before the end then poof it's gone! Also their shelf life is only about 2 to 3 months.

Unless your blinker has an ungodly large current draw, I wouldn't worry about rechargeables giving out. Is it that hard to recharge em once every 2 weeks?

Good god, your blinker must be giving out HID type light if it needs its battery recharged daily.

..that TL-LD600 runs on AA not AAA ( in case anyone is obsessed with counting letters like I am ...

Nope. It runs on AAA. Just popped open mine, which I bought 6 months ago, and there are two AAA in there. I assumed it was AA when I bought it. To my surprise when I opened it up to insert the batteries, I discovered my assumption was incorrect.

The chart on Cateye's site also confirms this:
http://www.cateye.com/en/products/tail_safety_chart.html

But things do changed, so who knows maybe yours is newer.

I use a 12V-powered xenon strobe, so the question is moot for me, now. But I'm very interested in the "Lightman Strobe," a small xenon strobe. I wonder how visible it is in daylight.

I have a lightman strobe clipped on a reflective sash across the back of my backpack. It is "ok" in daylight, pretty decent though on overcast days, or rainy/misty days (I guess its the way the light bounces off rain droplets). I also picked up one of those new cateye (http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/lighting/index.html) lights from Harris cyclery. The way the LEDS are focused, it apears much brighter than the strobe in daylight.

NiMh's are the best (currently for small battery application) because they hold their max charge level for a period of time about 2 thirds as long as fresh Alkaline's and do not have that run time drop off the more you recharge it; they also give you a warning when their dying because the power tapers off much like a Alkaline. Today there are high amp hour NiMh's available at Walmart with amp hour ratings of around 2200, where as just a few years ago the ones I bought are 1200 and 1600; the higher the amp hour the longer it will run the device. However their storage (or shelf life) is about 6 to 8 months before their dead and need to recharged.

Are NiMh's available in AA or AAA size?

Are NiMh's available in AA or AAA size?

I know they are for AA. I used to have set of them for my Olympus 3040 digital camera. I don't know about AAA, never had to look for them.

Cool, I'll look for them next time I'm out in that type of store.

I would rather have NiMh's for my essential lights than Nicads. Dependability is more important that cost.

Yep, you can get AAA Nimh batteries though I've never seen anything bigger than 750 mAH.

I have a lightman strobe clipped on a reflective sash across the back of my backpack. It is "ok" in daylight, pretty decent though on overcast days, or rainy/misty days (I guess its the way the light bounces off rain droplets). I also picked up one of those new cateye (http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/lighting/index.html) lights from Harris cyclery. The way the LEDS are focused, it apears much brighter than the strobe in daylight.

is this the led lightman or the xenon yer talkin bout?

is this the led lightman or the xenon yer talkin bout?

The one I have is the Xenon strobe. Even with new batteries the cateye apears brighter (in daylight). At night I feel they are about equal, but the cateye is very bright while not flashing the-strobe is just momentary. In rain/mist the strobe apears brighter at night (the flash looks bigger as it reflects off droplets). I used to run a small strobe from Allelectronics (http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi?category=search&item=STROBE-3R&type=store) powered by a 9V battery mounted to my rear rack-same results as the lightman, but the lightman has more mounting/clip on options. The lightman strobe batteries (2 AA 2200mAH rechargeable) last allmost a week of my commute (one way is at night), while I'm still on the same set in the cateye (2AA alkaline it came with, then I'll switch to rechargeables).

If I only were to buy one, I would buy the cateye over the strobe (set one bar of the cateye on "blinkie", the other on "steady"). IMO with the cateye the ONLY excuse a driver could have is that they were NOT looking at the road (or were stoned/drunk)-in either case no lighting system in the world would make a difference.

That exactly how I use the cateye. Top row is steady, and bottom rolls.

Can you put the cateye TL1000 on your helmet?

Can you put the cateye TL1000 on your helmet?

Ahhhhh!!!!!

I speak from first hand experience, I have all these ( and many more) and have carefully tested them against each other.

The large Realight from Sheldon Brown is good, but heavy and uses batteries very quickly. four AA's

I had three of the Nightrider taillights. They each shut off while I was riding at least twice, and I could not solve the problem. So I got my money back and gave up. They are bright, but if they shut off in traffic who cares.

The new Cat Eye TL LD1000 is much brighter than the big Realight. In fact I bought it from the Place I got the Realight, the place where Sheldon Brown works. Harris Cyclery. The side facing lights on the cat eye are a big plus.

Also get the "Energizer e2 titanium" aa batteries for the cat eye. They are considerably brighter than the ones that come with the light. This holds true for any led light. Although, I had to go to rechargeables for the Realight it only goes about 30 hours on a set of battery’s. (just barely)

From the rear, amazingly the Performance Bike "Flare" red taillight (and the white front one) is Much brighter than any bike taillight on the market today that I can find. It is absolutely blinding. Do not shine it in your eyes. From 1/4 mile away it stands out in traffic from all the cars, as it is brighter than the car taillights. I rode behind it for 50 miles with it on my friends bike so I could see what it was like. You can not ride a couple of car lengths behind a bike with this light, you become blinded. It is no bigger than the cat eye. REALLY! The down side is it is not as visible from the side. If you want to use two other lights facing sideways like I do the "Flare" is the brightest. If that's not convenient, the next best thing on the market (made for a bicycle) is the cat eye TL LD 1000. These both are small, easy to put on and the cat eye and the Flare come off quickly and easily. They are both very water proof too. The cat eye is two AA's the Flare is three AAA's

The Flare is much brighter than any truck taillights I have ever seen on the road. The Cat eye is as bright or brighter. Forget the ones on my car.

If you test all the different settings on the Cat Eye TL LD 1000 by walking a long way away in the dark, the most visible is, top and bottom both on the first (all flashing together) program.

Good grief, fellas. All this talk about batteries!! Did
anyone ever consider that a safety vest works 100% of the
time day & night........with NO batteries?

That said, if you do get hit wearing a vest the driver will
have a hell of a time convincing the cop that he didn't
see you. Where if all you have is a dinky ass light pointing
in only one direction YOU can't claim that you were visiable
to ALL drivers in ALL directions.

Geeze louise, Safety isn't a fashion statement it's what
works 100% of the time. GET A VEST.

Good grief, fellas. All this talk about batteries!! Did
anyone ever consider that a safety vest works 100% of the
time day & night........with NO batteries?

That said, if you do get hit wearing a vest the driver will
have a hell of a time convincing the cop that he didn't
see you. Where if all you have is a dinky ass light pointing
in only one direction YOU can't claim that you were visiable
to ALL drivers in ALL directions.

Geeze louise, Safety isn't a fashion statement it's what
works 100% of the time. GET A VEST.

Unfortunately that only works when lights are pointed at you. Which means you're invisible at intersections and around corners at night.

I speak from first hand experience, I have all these ( and many more) and have carefully tested them against each other.

The large Realight from Sheldon Brown is good, but heavy and uses batteries very quickly. four AA's

I had three of the Nightrider taillights. They each shut off while I was riding at least twice, and I could not solve the problem. So I got my money back and gave up. They are bright, but if they shut off in traffic who cares.

The new Cat Eye TL LD1000 is much brighter than the big Realight. In fact I bought it from the Place I got the Realight, the place where Sheldon Brown works. Harris Cyclery. The side facing lights on the cat eye are a big plus.

Also get the "Energizer e2 titanium" aa batteries for the cat eye. They are considerably brighter than the ones that come with the light. This holds true for any led light. Although, I had to go to rechargeables for the Realight it only goes about 30 hours on a set of battery’s. (just barely)

From the rear, amazingly the Performance Bike "Flare" red taillight (and the white front one) is Much brighter than any bike taillight on the market today that I can find. It is absolutely blinding. Do not shine it in your eyes. From 1/4 mile away it stands out in traffic from all the cars, as it is brighter than the car taillights. I rode behind it for 50 miles with it on my friends bike so I could see what it was like. You can not ride a couple of car lengths behind a bike with this light, you become blinded. It is no bigger than the cat eye. REALLY! The down side is it is not as visible from the side. If you want to use two other lights facing sideways like I do the "Flare" is the brightest. If that's not convenient, the next best thing on the market (made for a bicycle) is the cat eye TL LD 1000. These both are small, easy to put on and the cat eye and the Flare come off quickly and easily. They are both very water proof too. The cat eye is two AA's the Flare is three AAA's

The Flare is much brighter than any truck taillights I have ever seen on the road. The Cat eye is as bright or brighter. Forget the ones on my car.

I use lithium AA's and AAA's if I use it in blink mode. A pair can give a .6 volt initial boost to a light, plus they last very long at a very high voltage. I think the performance flare is basically a red cateye el400, which is why it's so blinding.

Unfortunately that only works when lights are pointed at you. Which means you're invisible at intersections and around corners at night.

Really? Does that mean folk's ride only at night?? If these
vest are that ineffective then why do all contruction worker,
police and other workers who MUST be seen day or night wear them as a requirment??

Really? Does that mean folk's ride only at night?? If these
vest are that ineffective then why do all contruction worker,
police and other workers who MUST be seen day or night wear them as a requirment??

Really, you think safety vests are ineffective? I think they happen to be quite effective unless there's NO LIGHT, either ambient or aimed directly at them. So unless you happen to have car lights that mysteriously bend around corners or a vest that mysteriously glows without light reflecting off it, I suggest wearing whatever color you like PLUS an active light source.
Not to mention most laws require active light sources. Do you know what active means?
In NYC, police officers and construction workers AT NIGHT, use a safety vest combined with either lamps or flares.
As to your question, ponder this: Why am I required to wear goggles when I'm working with potentially explosive chemicals? Because in the lab, there are MANY pieces of safety equpiment that work together. Goggles alone won't help if a 1/4kt explosion next door levels my lab. In fact, just LAST NIGHT, I heard on the news that a police officer was run over directing traffic at night because he was lost in the glare of oncoming headlights and visibility was down due to rain.
To toute safety vests as working 100% of the time is dangerous and irresponsible.
You might want to read through this, it's a nice beginner primer on safety: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/reflectors.html

Honestly, no offense to you personally, but I hope everyone else continues to use active lighting at night as their primary source of visibility and rely on passive means solely in addition to active lighting. Going by your statement alone, that means I can wear night vision goggles and drive a neon orange reflective car at night with no lights whatsoever and it'll work 100% of the time and be completely safe.

"I hope everyone else continues to use active lighting at night as their primary source of visibility and rely on passive means solely in addition to active lighting"

On this point we can agree. I pressed my point due the
lack of understanding that many cyclist harbor about the
usefulness & benefit of safety vest....in addition....to
lights.

FWIW....it seems that way to many cyclist go braindead on the
subject of safety while riding and do little ,if anything, to
activily prevent getting hit because.....the cars are "supposed"
to see me because I can see them. :( Look at how cyclist
still refuse to wear helmets on a bicycle.

FWIW....it seems that way to many cyclist go braindead on the
subject of safety while riding and do little ,if anything, to
activily prevent getting hit because.....the cars are "supposed"
to see me because I can see them. :( Look at how cyclist
still refuse to wear helmets on a bicycle.

It's kind of like this, lots of people think they'll win the lottery even though the odds are 300,000,000 against them. But the same people expect they'll never be in a situation where visibility or a helmet might save their life even though it's relatively cheap insurance and the odds are orders of magnitude greater.

I use lithium AA's and AAA's if I use it in blink mode. A pair can give a .6 volt initial boost to a light, plus they last very long at a very high voltage. I think the performance flare is basically a red cateye el400, which is why it's so blinding.

An excellent point, do you have a source for relatively cheap lithium batteries?

The design of the Flare and the Cateye el 400 are so similar they do make the Flare look like a rip off of the cat eye.

But when I compare them side by side the Flare is much much brighter. The cat eye lens is flatter and the pattern is a little wider. The Flare has a much more pronounced curve to the lens on top of each LED. It seems like all the light is where you want it with less waste.

It still makes me think it must be a better LED. I have a white Flare for a back up front light too. The el 400 barely lights the road ahead, the flare gives a good pattern and is much brighter. The white Flare is a little better to ride with than my friends Cat eye el 300. When riding side by side. I don't know how they do it.

I use lithium AA's and AAA's if I use it in blink mode. A pair can give a .6 volt initial boost to a light, plus they last very long at a very high voltage. I think the performance flare is basically a red cateye el400, which is why it's so blinding.

I just put the slightly used lithium batteries from my camera in to the Cat Eye TL LD 1000. Replacing the New Energizer E2 Titanium batteries that were in it.

MOST EXCELLENT ! noticably brighter.

The only problem is I looked right into the light to see how bright it is.

I guess I will not look into the light again with my remaing good eye.

"I thought this was a thread about "Stupidly bright rear blinker""

It is and more.

A "Stupidly bright rear blinker" equals an attempt at bike
safety. Bike safety in and of itself can't be just one item.

Has anyone compared the on-axis brightness of the new Cateye LD-1000 vs the Vistaliste Super Nebula or Eclipse taillights?


As for the guy who recommends a safety vest, let me say this:

- At night, a safety vest is not overly effective against car headlights. As others have indicated, it is only useful for cars behind you, because that's when headlights illuminate you. And in that case, genuine SAE automotive reflectors (especially amber ones) are more useful because they have better reflective properties, and are usually placed lower where they receive more light. However, they still are a useful safety item in addition to headlight(s), taillights and rear reflectors.

However, a safety vest is more worthy if one travels in a roller coaster terrain, because then a car driver might first see the cyclist's helmet or torso. One of the benefits is also that of a large "target".

- The safety vest really shines in broad daylight and especially in low light or shady situations. Cycling on a cloudy day, near trees, etc. Then, adding contrasts really helps a lot. I tend to prefer items such as the fanny triangle, reflective stripes on the fender, etc. simply because they always are on the bicycle.

I see people praising lithium batteries for blinkies. I know they last longer, but are they enough of an improvement over alkaline batteries to justify the additional cost?

[QUOTE=Michel Gagnon] Has anyone compared the on-axis brightness of the new Cateye LD-1000 vs. the Vistaliste Super Nebula or Eclipse taillights?

QUOTE]

Yes I have very carefully.

The Cat Eye TL LD 1000 is so much brighter than the Super nebula and the Eclipse that is has now made them almost useless. I have two of each (super neb and eclipse). It is MUCH better, the technology has changed. It addresses the side visibility better too. The Cat Eye has two LEDs facing straight sideways on each side. I have taken them out in the dark and walked around them from all angles. Close, far, blinking, steady etc.etc. I have had my friend ride his bike in front of me with my lights on his bike etc.

Believe it or not the Performance bicycle "Flare" will blow the Cateye away completely, it is much brighter, but the side visibility is not as good. It is so much brighter it bears consideration. I actually use the "Flare" facing straight back and then use the two left over Eclipse lights facing 90 degrees to each side. This totally blows away anything on the market. The "Flare" is marketed under other names, Nashbar sells a white one for the front and the English bike shops advertise it in magazines as "S-Sun" brand, rightly claiming it is the brightest bike taillight they have ever seen. At night from a 1/4 to 1/2 mile away it stands out from all the cars in traffic !! I bought one based on the claim made in the English magazine just to see if it was true, it is.

The Lithium batteries do make the lights much brighter, what one thinks of the increased cost is an individual thing. I ride 4-5 hours a week in the dark until it snows. I think the price is worth it. It's safety after all.

recharges about 500 from a NiMh and about 1000 from a NiCad.

NiCads have a shorter run time then NiMh's but keep their power level high to just before the end then poof it's gone! Also their shelf life is only about 2 to 3 months.

Is this true? Because if it is I'm pissed! Cygolite just sold me a replacement NiMh battery for my night Rover Xtra. I was told they no longer carry the Nicad.

Gojohnnygo,
Why are you ticked? NiMH are superior to NiCad and more environmentally friendly. Is the 1000 recycles vs 500? May be true, but each of the 500 cycles lasts longer with no memory issues. Is it the fact they their power output is higher until closer to the end of runtime? At least you get more warning with NiMH. Just curious.
Regards,
Raymond

Gojohnnygo,
Why are you ticked? NiMH are superior to NiCad and more environmentally friendly. Is the 1000 recycles vs 500? May be true, but each of the 500 cycles lasts longer with no memory issues. Is it the fact they their power output is higher until closer to the end of runtime? At least you get more warning with NiMH. Just curious.
Regards,
Raymond

Ok I get it thanks Raymond.

have you compared the flare to the lightman xenon?

I see people praising lithium batteries for blinkies. I know they last longer, but are they enough of an improvement over alkaline batteries to justify the additional cost?

I'll defer to the tech gurus on this, but when I ran a camera store, our mantra on lithium vs. alkaline was that lithium will store much longer without being used. However, under stress, as with a series of flash pictures, the lithium's performance will fade noticeably as compared with alkaline. Given a recovery period, the lithium will bounce back. Alkaline will give solid performance, then just die.

I go with alkaline.

this looks alot like that peformance flare

http://www.blt-lights.com/rearsuperdoppler.htm

http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=17696#

so this one should be even brighter

http://www.blt-lights.com/rearflaredx.htm

what is an mcd and why does the flare have more? but doesn't get seen as far away?

Mcd=millicandela, a measure if light intensity. Lumen is a measure of total light "volume". Here is a discussion of LED lights that explains how to calculate lumens produced by an LED based on it's candela and beam angle. You do the math; I would have to get my engineer daughter to help me.
http://dcwi.com/~nybarra/LED.html

have you compared the flare to the lightman xenon?

Is the Lightman Xenon the one that is almost triangular ? If that is the one that I think I saw on a web page, I have seen one in person only it had a different brand name. This happens with all these lights. If my identification is correct,then yes, the flare is much brighter. Do you have a url ?
I also own a vistalight xenon strobe still. Forget it...

this looks alot like that peformance flare

http://www.blt-lights.com/rearsuperdoppler.htm

http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=17696#

so this one should be even brighter

http://www.blt-lights.com/rearflaredx.htm

what is an mcd and why does the flare have more? but doesn't get seen as far away?

I am positive that the BlT light is the Flare. In fact it is sold with a better mounting bracket than the ones Performance includes. Get the BLT. I have seen this light now sold under four different names. Last Night I found either the manufacturer or the main distributor (we can't buy retail from them) "S-Sun Sanyo" I believe Sanyo is the parent company and S-sun was the small line or company started in 1989.

http://www.s-sun.com.tw/main-p1.htm

One reason I put the lights on the car and took pictures is, the sales copy means very little. Also the mcd
candlepower etc. are often meaningless when you try the light. The lenses on the Flare and others increase the visibility 1.5 times when you are in the right place, for example. I finally learned you have to try it to see if it's what you want. The catalogue and theory is sometimes (not always) way off from what you really want.

If you buy a light that has a higher rating of some kind over another light, I'd say the chances of it being brighter or a beam that is useful are 50/50.

The SIDE visibility on the new Cat eye TL LD 1000 is much better than the Flare, this is important in traffic. It actually has LEDs on each side. One of the highest incidents of car bike collisions is as the bike crosses an intersection sideways to a car

i already have two of the cateyes... that BLT flare looks VERY neat though. was it the led lightman you saw? the normal xenon? or the high intensity?

lightmanstrobes.com

i already have two of the cateyes... that BLT flare looks VERY neat though. was it the led lightman you saw? the normal xenon? or the high intensity?

lightmanstrobes.com

I just went to the url you posted and looked around. The light I saw was the triangular bike mount type. It was self contained. It had it's own batteries inside it. I opened it up and looked inside. It looked similar to the inside of my Vistalight Xenon strobe light.With that kind of a bulb. It was not as bright as the cat eye. Even allowing for a little brighter with new batterys, I have tested My Vistalight strobe against the Cateye. It's not as bright. That's all I know, if there are two levels of xenon strobe then I don't know which it is.

So there is a little room for error in there, I was not at my house and I could not actually put the lights side by side. It's important that I point that out. But, that's the best I could do under the circumstances.
I think it was different enough but...... This is still not as reliable as a side by side comparison.

Hello: The best light BY FAR for commuting is a LIGHTMAN xenon strobe. Visible for up to 3 miles, these strobes are three times stronger than LED “blinkies”. They are very easy to mount on the back of any bike. I put two with clear lenses on the back of my RANS Rocket by using the belt clip attachment -- they slip right on the back of the seat, and they stay on! There are NO brighter lights available for cycling safety. These blink 80x/min. Great lights. Available in variety of colors: clear, red, amber, blue. They retail for $25 (plus $5 s/h) at the Lightman website, but you can get them much cheaper on eBay. Here's a link if you want to take a look. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7184731480&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&rd=1

GOOD LUCK, and happy cycling! Todd

He figured it out WAAAAAAAY back in December. Thanks for checking those dates

I have an infra-red sensor on my tailight. When it detects motion, or the headlights of an oncoming car, it is hooked into another subsytem onboard which fires off a high intensity flare used by jet fighter planes to fool heat seeking missiles.

I haven't been hit by a car yet. Matter of fact, they usually swerve off the road and either crash into a tree/telephone pole, or they turn around and run away. I still can't figure what the problem is. I just want them to see me. :D

I have one LED strobe on my helmet and two on my bike. I'm considering adding a laser penlight, bet that shows up a long way off.

Haha... Unless you have a mirror scanning the laser across the road, that's going to be one NARROW beam of light. Plus, not to mention the amount of people you're going to blind.
If I were you, I'd get a 1 watt luxeon LED, heavily taint it red, and use that as a rear light. Hmm.. I might actually do that with the 1 watt luxeon I ripped out of my cateye, anyboy have any ideas?

Loving this thread!
I had incandescent utility lights on my bruiser, powered by a motorcycle battery recharged by a rack mounted PV panel. Park the beater by a window & it was good.
Headlight was the type from a tractor fender!
This system also powered my 2m radio. Imagine a bike with a 7' whip antenna!
Left the lights on at work one night and immediately saw the need for LED's.
Gonna go Rainmans route this time.
I wear a orange hunting vest when its cooler. Better to be a live geek than 'possum chow.
Wish I could find one that breathes better...