Originally Posted by canklecat

I like the Hotshot 50 well enough to consider the 150. I compared the Hotshot 50 and 80 in REI a couple of months ago and couldn't see any difference in apparent brightness so I got the cheaper 50. Good light, more than bright enough for nighttime and most dim daylight conditions. But it's not immediately noticeable in bright daylight amid the other distractions in traffic.

I've videoed the Hotshot 50 in daytime from the equivalent to several car lengths and the frantic strobing is noticeable when directly behind the bike. And because most digital video tends to make red LEDs appear dimmer, the light is fairly visible to the eye in daylight. But it could stand to be brighter, so the Hotshot 150 may be better suited to daytime rides.

My other concern is the absence of output adjustment other than in steady mode. All of the Hotshots are too bright for nighttime group rides, other than in steady mode with the light dimmed. Some other cyclists I ride with use 'em and the Hotshot 80 is very distracting and almost painful when set to the faster pulsing modes. In nighttime group rides I switch to steady and turn the brightness way down.

Ideally I'd like a Hotshot 150 with brightness adjustments for all modes, including strobing and slower pulsing.

The recharge signal isn't intuitive. The Hotshot blinks quickly once when turned off when it still has enough charge to keep running. If you're using one of the strobing and pulsing modes it would be difficult to spot the low battery light signal. I prefer Blackburn's and Light & Motion's low battery or fuel gauge indicators: green, yellow-orange, red. Pretty intuitive.

It's my only bike light that needs a mini-USB cord rather than the more common micro. I'd prefer the mini because it's sturdier and less likely to become detached while I'm running/charging off an external battery pack. A couple of my micro USB cords are worn out from repeated plugging/unplugging. But now I need separate micro, mini and iPhone cables for any long rides that include nighttime rides.

The Hotshot seems too easy to steal so I mounted the clamp high enough on my seat post to prevent removing it via the quick release latch. And it's mounted high enough that most items rigged to my rear rack via a cargo net don't block the light.

When it's time to recharge I leave the Hotshot on the bike. I recharge via my external USB battery. It runs a long time on most modes, other than steady and slow pulse, so I usually need to recharge only once a week. Much longer interval than any of my other lights, most of which need to be recharged after every ride.