I just wanted to chime in on this. I haven't seen any conspiracy -- I found this light by shopping at the LBS. I wanted to supplement my Blackburn Mars 3.0 (which seems to be going through batteries at an alarming rate), and was debating among the 5 or so bright taillights they had (Freerange Cycles in Fremont, Seattle, WA). I finally narrowed it down to the Cateye TLD-1000 (or whatever the model number is -- the huge one with two banks of LEDS), and the Planet Bike Super Flash. Quite simply, at $10 cheaper, a bunch lighter and noticeably smaller, all while being brighter, the Planet Bike was a no-brainer.
The PBSF uses a Luxeon-style super-bright LED and two normal 5mm LEDs, which are also quite bright. It has two settings -- strobe, and steady. The strobe pattern sets the two 5mm LEDs blinking at a steady rate, while strobing the Lux LED in a blinkblink-pause-pause-blinkblink pattern. The solid setting leaves just the Lux on (I think, I'd have to check) at a high brightness, but pulsing very very quickly (just quick enough that it leaves an afterglow of lots of individual lights rather than a steady smear of light as you look past it).
I'd hardly call the PBSF the be-all and end-all of taillights, but for its size, weight and price, I think it's the best thing on the market at this point.
Last edited by IanJ; 10-30-06 at 02:54 PM.