gear

[QUOTE=Dudelsack;13873227] I put a Bontrager light on the Brainbag, and two Topeak lights on the seat struts:


If a car has to get this close to see the taillight, your in trouble, whats it look like from 100 yards?

Looigi

I use and am satisfied with Princeton Tech Swerve tailights for daytime use.

BILLB58

Dinotte is my choice for the last 6 years.......

3 years ago while doing the Southern Tier, I was on a long, long straight stretch approaching Van Horn, Tx....I stopped at a gas station for a cold water and had 3 truck drivers come up to me........they said they saw something about 2-3 miles back on the side of the road.......they had no idea what it was until they got up to me and saw it was a crazy bike out in the middle of nowhere....so they knew "something" was way up ahead of them......it was in the middle of the afternoon and a no-cloud, bright sun day...

10 Wheels

Van Horn Texas ahead.

pmartin4665

I purchased the Design Shine front/rear light combo (DS-500 Taillight and DS-1300 Headlight) for my Trek FX+ commuter and keep the battery stored in my seat pack. I run these both during the day and at night - most of my commuting is pre-dawn. I'm extremely satisfied with the quality/quantity of light that these two emit. I did consider the Dinotte package but decided to give this business a chance . . . I'm glad I did! He went out of his way to make sure that I was happy with the lighting and that all my questions/concerns were answered. I'm considering purchasing the DS-500 Taillight for my most-recent purchase, a 2011 Trek Madone 4.7 Compact. If you spend some time reviewing the different specs and videos, you'll see that this is a quality product meant to last for years ( https://www.designshinelighting.com/ ).

Shifty

No, why would you need a daytime light**********?? A bright colored jersey can be seen much further than a little blinky light. A few people in a group I ride with use them, can't ride behind them because of the annoying flashing madness.

qcpmsame 

Because the human eye reacts to the blinking faster than just a bright color, just as movement is seen quicker than a stationary object. Depending on the lumens of the light it will be seen much sooner. To each there own, I like the safety factor.

Bill

Shifty

I guess to each his/her own, and whatever.

waynesulak

Due to the annoying factor of a blinking light we do not use one in a group. We turn it solid beam or turn it off. I generally do keep my front light (normal not blinking!) on in a group however.

Wayne

pennstater

Problem with these bike mounted lights is that only the first car can see them well. I mounted my tail light on my helmet (I also kept one on the frame). It is visible to cars well behind the first car. Obviously doesn't work any better if the first vehicle is a truck. I had my wife check and she reported the visibility as good during the day.

bigbadwullf

Planet Bike. Works great. Blinking light gets attention! Need something out of the ordinary for people to see. They work.

https://ecom1.planetbike.com/planetbike/media/3070sm.jpg

Werkin

I'm using the DiNotte 300R, it is highly effective in bright sunlight. It is important for good daylight visibility to direct the light slightly upward and to the left rather than straight to the rear or downward. On a minor note the kit came with mounts for just about any tube size or shape, the quick connect fitting can bolt up with mounts from Nashbar etc., and being self contained makes for a neat installation. It was a much appreciated gift, no regret or envy for something else, however if I were to research for choice as pmartin4665 suggested, the Design Shine DS-500 looks to be about the brightest for daylight visibility.

volosong

Since I started using a Planet Bike Superflash Turbo, I've noticed that the ratio of how close cars come to me has flipped. It used to be before I used a flashing taillight and strobe headlight, that only about one out of ten cars gave me enough room that I felt safe. Since using the lights, (on all rides), now only about one car out of ten buzzed me to the point that I want to raise my fist at them and ask, "What the heck?" Now cars either go all the way into the next lane, or at least half way across.

But, I cannot tell for sure if the lights are the reason for cagers being more courteous, or that fact that I now wear a chartreuse cycling vest when on my rides. I started wearing a Castelli chartreuse vest that same time that I started running my lights during the day. For colder weather, I have a Bellwether chartreuse-colored cycling jacket.

Thanks for the tip on the Dinoette 300R light. Yes, expensive ... but I want to live to ride another day. I'll be ordering one today.

p.s. For headlight, I'm using the MiNewt 600 on strobe mode. I had a motorcycle come up next to me asking about it, saying he saw it a half mile away. Couldn't have because of the length of the road I was on. It was more like 1/4 of a mile. Still far enough away that I was seen.

OldsCOOL

True about the trucks blocking view. I get buzzed on a regular basis with dumptrucks and dumptrucks hurrying with their lowboys w/excavating equip. They wont budge even with no oncoming traffic. Rude.

lhbernhardt

PDW DangerZone taillight using the "aha!" setting (crazy flashing punctuated by slow fades). Used largely in the rain morning & evening. I think the risk of getting hit by overtaking motorist is quite low, although it is a major worry for many cyclists. With the AAA taillights, you just have to watch the brightness of the light - the batteries tend to decline quite steeply.

I'm using a L&M Urban 300 on the front. At the second-brightest setting (150 lumens?) I still nearly had a darkly-dressed ped (sound familiar?) jaywalk in front of me this morning. When it's light enough that I can't see the pool of light on the road, I switch to the flash setting or just turn it off when the sun comes out. I keep a micro-USB cable plugged into my laptop at work just in case, but it usually only needs charging in the evening. It's really convenient that it recharges off the same cable as my droid phone, so I keep a micro-USB cable in the car as well, plugged into the lighter socket. I note that on my new Jetta, it's called a "12V" socket, and doesn't even come with a cigarette lighter, just a dummy plug!

Luis

VNA

Pleased to read more and more cyclists use day lights--but most of the danger comes from the front, so a good and bright blinking white light for the front helps in making drivers aware of you when making a turn in front of you from the opposite lane or the infamous "right hook" or simply cutting you off!

Found at Costco a relatively inexpensive light that is very bright and last about 90 miles, so I always cary 3 AAA spare batteries with me and for the rear I use a "planet bike" light. Plus I use well integrated red fenders with reflective tape--anything will help--but for some reason there is still the not so pleasant driver here or there, but much less with the lights!

But it looks dorky if not very dorky--but I don't care anymore because as I am getting older self preservation seems to prevail more and more!

Stay safe out there!

CACycling

Planet Bike Superflash Turbo is my choice day or night. I've had many comments on their brightness, even on sunny days, from people who were amazed how far away I was when they first noticed the light. The random flashing pattern is a good attention-getter.

Burton

Glad to hear you managed to get hold of one. They sure looked interesting but when I enquired about them, it turned out that this is essentually an item produced by one individual in very limited production runs. Last I heard the next batch would be 35 units. So I bought something else because I needed something NOW.

There's a lot to be said for things that are more 'common'. I've already been waiting 3 months for some uncommon spoke nipples, 4 months for some high-end touring racks and bags, and some specialized tools have been backordered for two years in a row.

And that's through the Canadian DISTRIBUTERS! Guess I'm running out of patience! It would be nice to have stuff while I can still bicycle!

Jamesw2

After reading a lot of reviews and videos i have come to the conclusion that the Di-Notte R-400 ( because of the extra mounting options ) is my choice. I do mostly daylight riding Where there are trees and intermittent shadows or bright sunlight glare on concrete.
https://store.dinottelighting.com/new...unts-p184.aspx

Thanks 10 wheels

OldsCOOL

That's my choice.

volosong

Thanks everyone for contributing to this discussion. As a Vespa rider also, I realize that visibility is paramount for safe riding. More so on a bicycle because we move so much slower than cars and trucks.