Originally Posted by
2manybikes
100 lumens is not very bright. The bean pattern is important. Some flashlights that just added red lenses have a very tight beam size. That's not good for a tail light. Even with good tail lights most need to be aimed straight and horizontal to be useful. They lose a lot of visibility if they are attached to a helmet or clothing and end up facing down a little. Mounted solid to the bike and secure is important. When getting a new light don't go by ad copy to know what it looks like, put it on your bike line it up right, and walk behind your bike in the dark. Crouch down to be about where a driver would be too. Walk to the sides to get a good idea of the spread. Walk far away too.
Edit: join CandlePowerForums and read up. There are a few reviews and comparisons about the clear lens flashlight version.
Maybe the red lens version too.
Agree completely with your theory, but am a little surprised that you don't think 100 lumens is a lot for a rear light. The Exposure Flare puts out 75 and the Light & Motion Vis 180 only 35 and those two were considered the top two this year. If you have a model in particular to suggest I'd love to hear about it.
I've been through the candlepower forums. It's really not necessary to become a nember to browse the posts. Very much like BF, some of the posts are better than others. Speculation by many posters is part of the forum. The 'flashlight' I linked to is actually a tactical headlamp with a Cree XP-E red LED, beam shots have been posted and I was thinking about clipping it to the back of a pannier very much like a L&M Vis 180.
I'll probably end up buying one of each just to get some idea how easy they are to live with. User interfaces are impossible to evaluate over the Internet.