I found a You Tube on what might be the brightest taillight, ever.

..What ever , Dude..

I think that there is a point where a "light show" can transcend warning and become a distracting/attracting nuisance that lessens safety.

Flashing bike lights are the WORST at night time. Don't do it kids. I don't know of any evidence that they improve safety and they're annoying AF

Nope, never flashing at night. I run 2 lights at all times, and at night I keep one on steady, and one on the fade in/out mode. The steady light helps a motorist track my position as they approach.

These look like they would be excellent Day Time lights.

Probably right about that... in flat country you probably could be seen for miles but... what good would that be? I remember being in situations where waving a Wonder light overhead was about all you could do to feel safe but other than suffering from horse-to-barn syndrome there no good explanation for being out in such conditions.

That's the point right there.


I have a fast flash rate on my 60 lumen moon rear light, don't like it, don't stare at it

The greatest taillight ever? its # 42 ! but the Vogons destroyed it ...

is there a ranking list type thing somewhere then?
can you point me to it please?

This is what I do except for the fade in/out which I don't have. Steady red on the back of the bike rack, flashing on the helmet. I used to have an amber flasher on the back of the helmet, but it broke after many years. No I use a red 5 LED blinkie with outer two facing sideways. I also put a be-seen white light on the front of the helmet with an amber sheath that can be seen from the sides.

the range finding for the guy coming up behind you@ night, is better with a steady ON tail light. blinking you are only "There", intermittently.

My Hotshot lights also have a mode that makes it stay on steady at lower brightness, then flashes at higher brightness every few seconds. So that would work for someone tracking my position from a distance. But I still think those flashes are a bit too much for night use. That's why I prefer keeping one on steady set to lower brightness (Hotshot lights can be dimmed on the steady mode), and the other one slowly fading in and out. It's not a sharp in-yo-face blinding flash.

The thread title says best; yet the actual post is about brightest. There seems to be a misunderstanding, best and brightest are not necessarily synonymous.

My way also. I only run one Hotshot but I do run it in the "fading in and out" mode. After riding to work at 11:00 PM my co-workers watched, at my request, for the most effective mode as I ran different ones. This was the winner by a long shot. It doesn't scream at oncomming traffic and the subtle changes draw attention that it's not a broke down car with a dieing battery.

The object is to get the driver's attention as to your presence.....not to yell at them.

I run one light.. my cygolite does the steady pulse similar to the way the front headlight does. all the other modes are useless in my opinion. the steady pulse gets peoples attention and they move over. (both desired responses.)


a couple times in a group ride I did put it on slow fade and that was nice.but we were riding around looking at Christmas lights and bikes were decorated with lights.

are you serious?
doesn't seem that bright on my computer.

I was on a group ride once with both my rear lights on (mounted on rear rack, and on left seat stay) and other people requested I turn off my rack light. So I obliged. In a group I tend to run one light steady, since you can adjust the brightness down a bit on that mode.

In daytime I run that steady pulse mode on my seat stay light, and the random flash mode on the rack light.

Actually the brightest/best tail lights as of today is:

Designshine ds500 at 800lm (out of production now)
Niteflux redzone 8 at 400lm (i have one)
Orfos red flare at 300lm (i have one)
Dinotte daytime red with I think maybe 300lm
Dinotte quad red 200lm

I'm not allowed to post links, so no links for you!

I have an Orfos Flare Pro and its amazing. Would not ride at night without it ever again.

I have a Dinotte 300R, and it is amazing. I point it down so no one gets it in the face. However, I've been using a Tern Vizy light for the last year or so on my commuter bike.
Steve

I seriously doubt these are very bright,

is this from the kickstarter campaign from this year? do you have any pictures of it in action ?

Yes but I bought it straight from their website. Its brighter then a hotshot straight on, but mounted on my seatpost it casts a wide beam that covers both sides of a two lane road. Really is amazing. Only thing I wish it had was better flash patterns.

able to post a video of the modes?


and where the heck is my lights from Orfos. geesh. #stupidkickstarter