I have been using a hobbled together 3watt dropin running on 4 AA batteries from dealextreme with a superfash on the rear. This setup has worked well for a few years but i have changed jobs and work new hours. I was working second shift (3pm-11pm) so the ride home was on rural roads with little traffic, now I work first shift(7:30am-4:30pm) and the ride in to work is on suburban two lane roads with 55mph speedlimits and all sorts of cross traffic. My lighting setup does not seem to be competing with the rest of traffic.
I am assuming that a Magicshine head/tail light is the answer. Should I get the 900 or 1400? Any other recommendations?

Thanks

I'm satisfied with the 900. The superflash is still fine for the rear.

Hub Dynamo lights work very well, they can power 3 watts of lights.. ,, in all weather..

Got a rear rack to mount lights onto?, Busch & Muller 4d toplights are nice & bright,
offered in battery , and a dynamo version too..

resolves the inadequate battery capacity, and repeated re-charge limits of batteries.

Usual caveats about Magicshine apply, be careful separating the connectors, and waterproof the battery.

I am assuming they are still as they were when I bought mine, they may have improved. For visibility in traffic, the "strobe" is an attention grabber, albeit an annoying one.

For busy 55mph roads, get the big guns for your primary rear light: the MagicShine taillight, or a DiNotte 140 or 400 taillight. Even the DiNotte 400 is cheaper than a good coffin.

Have some secondary lights and good reflectorization to back it up with: an ANSI Class II/III reflective vest, reflective legbands, and you can put your SuperFlash on your helmet as backup. If you're into reflective tape, I like Reflexite V82, which is very reflective and thin enough to not peel itself off: https://www.night-gear.com/reflective...-reflexite-539



These bar-tip lights are also good backups, available in both flat-bar and drop-bar types: https://bontrager.com/model/06988 They run on one AAA per side, so you can use rechargeables, and they give you visible width. They do eat up batteries fast, so swap in some freshly-charged batteries weekly.

I just got the Magicshine taillight to go with my 900 headlight, and I couldn't be happier. I use a Y adaptor and an 8 cell pack I bought aftermarket. I bought some 1m extension cables off DealExtreme and cut them up for spare connectors (the male on the lighthead failed after a year of daily use, and the 3rd party 8 cell pack didn't have the right connector on it so I soldered on one of the females from a cable there).

With the new batteries, it looks like they are already waterproof from the factory.

As Mech says, put a bunch of reflective tape on your bike too. Reflective tape is highly effective.

Probably anything flashing or strobing should be adequate. I know the days are getting shorter, but with your new schedule it doesn't sound like you need "lights to see".

BTW if you get the Magicshine taillight, check out my thread here:
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...t-micro-review

Plan how you're going to mount it. As it comes, it's not that useful. You need something like what I made, or the Topeak extender mentioned farther down the thread.

i use an inova 24/7 for my rear light the 3 color strobe is a real attention getter

Thanks for all the suggestions. I ordered the Magicshine head and tail light. I have a vest from performance but it is old and needs replacing. The cycling specific vests do not seem to be up to the standards of ANSI. Does anyone have a suggestion for a good vest?
I will do my best to get comparison shots of the new vs old lights.

My vest is from Harbor Freight, I paid $5. It's not actually ANSI certified, but it's plenty reflective. Even after 2 years of wear, the reflective stuff is still pretty much as bright as the stuff on my fireman brother's callout gear.

Here's a thread with photos I posted a while back:
https://www.bikeforums.net/commuting/378850-reflective-vest-test-harbor-freight-vests.html

I got a 3M class 2 vest from Amazon. A bit more expensive at about $19 plus S/H. I bought it for the way it adjust for fits. You can tighten or loosen the vest with the Velcro at the waist which is nice depending on what I carry on my belt.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ce-full-site=1

Dig around at WalMart and watch the bottom shelf near the Dickies work clothes; mine had Class 3 reflector vests for $5 bagged on the bottom shelf, or Class 2 up on hangers for $10.

dinotte is pretty dang awesome.

+1

I got the dinotte rear tail light last January and couldn't have a better tail light for visability. I can see the cars in my mirror moving over waaaay back there.

I ordered this one from Ebay a few years ago and love it. It's very breatheable even in the summer heat. Later, I attended a bicycling safety class. They highly recommended green as the main color for safety vests. Drivers view green as less aggressive. I like the red/gray reflective straps just as a little extra warning. The price is right, too.

https://cgi.ebay.com/Lime-Traffic-Jog...item27ad810569

I received my lights from Geoman today. I managed to get them mounted on the bike and will test them out in the morning!

I have been using the new lights all week and am very happy with them. The headlight gives a whiter light and covers more area than my old one. The tail light is AMAZING! It is dramatically brighter than the PBSF. I also got some reflective tape and a new vest. I love my new vest! I tried to take some comparison shots of the old vs new, but I am camera stupid and could not get any good shots. I used two old reflector mounts and some PVC pipe to make a mount for the tail light.
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