For sunny days, blinking is still a great idea. Catch driver's attention early, and be visible when riding through mixed sun and shade. I'd want at least 200 lumens front, and 100 back.
I just went through checking on available lights with a co-rider looking to upgrade his sad, dim tail light. Not really bright and it was clipped onto his saddle bag, so it pointed way down, not useful.
I didn't like the compromises or design details from the other brands I looked at.
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I'm happy with my
Cygolite lights for good mid-day visibility. And I really like the stretchy strap for the headlight. Rigid clamp mounts don't have a good spot on my bars.
Plugs fall out! I wish Cygolite would redesign their rubber USB plugs. They are tedious to plug in, and still can fall out and dangle on a ride. Not bad if its dry, but very annoying. I cut a rubber band from a cross section of a punctured inner tube, and wrap it around the body to cover the plug diagonally. That's secure, but fiddly to get it angled just right.
The
Cygolite Dash 550 is now a
600. It's great in the daytime on their triple flash, and that's rated for 9 hours, I think. It has a bright LED reflector, and 4 small LED assist lights.
On dark bike trails, it can be set to just the 4 small assists on steady, and easily aimed downward to light the path and not dazzle oncoming riders. Nice! (There's also a 70 hour flash mode from the 4 small LEDs, which is fairly visible. But I always use the 9 hour very bright flash mode.) I like being able to aim the light up or down since the strap easily allows movement. And the strap has a nice left-right clicking swivel to point the light correctly on angled bars.
If I don't get home before dark, it runs about an hour on high, and that's a good "see the road ahead" light, not just a warning for oncoming drivers. Or click to steady medium and aim more downward.
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The
Cygolite Hotshot Pro 150 is perfect for mid day. (now there's a 200 lumen version, which will be "somewhat" brighter than 150. Lumens have to just about double to look one step brighter.) I run the single flash mode, a sharp, brief 150 lumen blink. I use the other button to slow it to two flashes a second, or even 1 flash a second for an all-day ride. I think this is way more noticeable in bright light than the busy multiflash modes. I've instantly noticed other cyclists in my group a quarter mile up the road.
All but one mode is terrible for close group rides after sunset, and for bike trails, etc. The flashes can't be dimmed down, only slowed down in flashes per second. But the steady beam mode will dial way down to a reasonable light level.
At night, riding solo in traffic, I'll use the ramping up and down flash mode, a "waaa-waaa" effect. I think this is less annoying to driver than a short, sharp flash, and it looks different too!
The rigid clamp works fine for this taillight, and the light is secure on it. It appears there's a rubber strap version (that's a bit hard to find) that works with oval seatposts.
I loaned out my old
Cygolite 2W tail light to another rider, and it's okay. Not as eye catching in daylight, but still helpful. I'm guessing it's 30-50 lumens at the most. I'm kind of surprised it still holds a charge after all these years. Good.