Originally Posted by
Jeff Wills
I followed a friend who had a Dinotte taillight- it was so bright my night vision was lousy and I couldn't anticipate bumps and potholes.
My Schmidt dynohub and B&M light work well, but not to the extent of my old Niterider. The nice thing about is I never have to worry about the state of charge or sending the battery pack to be rebuilt. In my opinion, lights are used to light up the road- if you want to be seen, it's better to wear bright clothing, like a yellow jacket. I see lots of riders with little blinkys and wearing dark jackets... and they're very tough to spot.
The Dinotte is really for the solo rider -- I can't imagine following anyone with one for an appreciable amount of time. The battery packs are not that big a deal if you keep on top of them. It does pay to learn to rebuild them yourself as that route is much faster, cheaper, and you can make them better than the original equipment.
In the dark, light colors are better than dark, but there's really no substitute for proper reflective gear. Passive lighting is an important component of visibility strategy.