Tail lights with good "spread"?
 

I'm looking for tail lights that have good off-axis visibility. I've got a Dinotte 120L, and while it's incredibly bright (on-axis), I'd like to add another light with more side visibility. Ideally I'd like something that can be mounted directly to my Tubus rack.

Two lights I'm considering are:

• Cat Eye TL-LD1100
• Cat Eye Reflex

I'm also thinking about adding a PDW Fenderbot, but that has limited off-axis visibility.

As an aside, does anyone else find that the Dinotte seatpost adaptor flexes a lot while riding?

Blackburn Mars 4.0?

I considered that one, but I don't think it includes a rack mount/clip.

Do you mean the 140L? ...this one?

http://www.dinottelighting.com/images/photographyk.jpg

I...am not sure it would be possible to find a wider angle tail light, lol...

I'm totally serious when I say that if you want more side visibility, I would suggest mounting a regular tail light sideways so it's pointing out in the direction you want visibility. Just my thoughts.

Dinotte now has another, self-contained tail light as well fyi -
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...able-Taillight

Actually, I had this happen to me as well until I figured it out. Here's a picture of the kit -
http://www.nexternal.com/dinotte/images/TAIL_MOUNT.jpg

You see those rubber rings/bands? The problem is that one is actually smaller than the other. If you get them mixed up (like I did) and put the larger one on the seatpost, it's close enough that it appears the right size but the mount will be all wobbly. When I switched the smaller one to be the one on the seatpost, I no longer had any wobble problems any more.

Oops, yes, the 140L.

I guess I'm not totally thrilled with the 140L's mounting options/brackets, so I tend to not use it as much as I'd like. If I could figure out a decent method of mounting on my Tubus' light plate, I'd probably be more inclined to use it instead of something else.

The MagicShine is the same emitter as the 140L as far as I can tell, plus a ring, and is much more visible to the side than the Dinotte 140L. Mounting isn't any better than the 140L though. There have been a few threads on mounting the MS tail.

That said, it's probably hard to beat the Cateye LD1100. It actually has LEDs pointing directly sideways.

Check out the Niterider Cherrybomb.

I checked one out at REI, and it looked pretty good. I wonder if it'd be possible to mod the bracket so that it would mount to a rack.

Keep in mind that the 140L is designed to be mounted to something that's the shape of a handlebar. If you can wrap something around part of the rack so it's the width of a handlebar, the light would mount directly on the rack (well kind-of-directly). Which Tubus rack do you have? Most racks have a bar across the back, if you wrapped something around it and you don't need to pull your bag off your bike backwards (like the Topeak mounting system), you might be able to put it there.

I'm not saying it's not a pita, just mentioning it if you have to create some sort of custom mount anyways. What exact tubus rack do you have?

Tubus Cosmo. It's got a flat plate with mounting holes at 50mm and 80mm.

http://www.tubus.com/images/stories/...mo-neu-web.gif

Well, let's see.

I did a google search. The first mount idea I came across is this one -
http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/lighting/mounts.html

http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/light...ages/LT095.jpg

Just rather than mounting it on the top of the...um, at the back of the stem (blanking on the word for the thing it's actually mounted to), mount it on that mount point on the rack.

2. But then I ran across a post from "tsl" - it appears he has your *exact* same rack, and just double-wraps the rubber band thingy -
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...=1#post7890077

http://www.brucew.com/images/bikefor...y-mounting.jpg

(Follow the actual link to see 3 more pictures of how it's actually done).

3. And of course, you could just wrap some material (like rubber spacers) around that horizontal bar on the very back of the rack (right behind your trunk bag) and mount the light on there. Or probably could mount some cut pvc pipe on it in a similar fashion.

Good suggestions on the mounting alternatives. Thanks.

The DiNotte 140L actually has fantastic brightness from off-axis, it'll devastate any 2AAA blinkie you could add. For comparison photos of the 140L, the 300R, the CherryBomb, SuperFlash and Radbot, see this thread:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...cs-amp-remarks

Tangentially, you might be interested in the Fibre Flare light sticks. I got a yellow one and put up some info here:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...s-amp-comments

This place has pairs of the 12-inch red version for $45:

http://www.bikewagon.com/Bike-Access...ghts/tc254481/

Oops. I wrote my reply below before scrolling down to your post. You pretty much said it, but since I already posted it too...


I've got a Tubus Cosmo and a DiNotte 140L too.

I mount mine on the lower siderails where it bends down to become the rear leg. You just have to wrap the O-ring around twice.

http://www.brucew.com/images/bikefor...y-mounting.jpg


I mount it on the inside of the tube so it doesn't interfere with panniers.

http://www.brucew.com/images/bikefor...k-mounting.jpg


These days I use a B&M D'toplight dyno taillight on the Tubus' light bar. I like it because LED protrudes in the center pod. Makes me think of a Groucho nose. It can be seen a good ways away from the either side, which is the reason I chose it.

http://www.brucew.com/images/wordpre...9/rear-end.jpg


Before I got the dyno setup, I used a B&M 4D Toplight battery light. Four diodes--two pointing to the side and two in a protruding center pod. All B&M taillights mount directly to the Tubus rack with no adapters required.

http://www.brucew.com/images/bikefor...e-mounting.jpg


Wayne at TheTouringStore.com carries the B&M battery-powered taillights. He's just down the road a piece from you in Loveland.

I have the Mars 4.0. Not sure about the "spread", but it does come with a rack mount. Depending on your rack, of course. I had to slightly modify it for mine, which took a knife and about one minute.

How do you like that particular tail light? I've tried the ones below, and they're not all that noticeable when viewed from the side.

http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/imag...ghts/328bl.jpg

http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/imag...pa-eclipse.jpg

Yes, as Blackburn's product description states.

while not a battery powered tailight the LightOn! tailight made of simply three LEDs spread over about 120 degrees does a fine job. When I ride by a glass storefront I can clearly see the reflection of the side LED. I've got it mounted on the back of a Cargo rack with a right angle metal guard on top. http://lightonlights.com/images/tail...bike_large.jpg

I like the "Groucho" light a lot. It's a single half-watt LED. The Groucho light does not blink, so you get the full half-watt output at all times. By comparison, the top "bright" LED in a PBSF is also a half-watt, but it's also off or dim most of the time. Of course, it's nothing compared to a DiNotte's three watts (or thereabouts).

Remember, the Groucho light not a battery-powered light. It requires a dynamo, and it is unswitched. I use a hub dynamo and a Schmidt Edelux headlight, which provides power connection and switching for the taillight. FWIW, I like the ambient light sensor on the Edelux. It switches both lights on under bridges, in the long shadows after dawn and before sunset, and on heavily overcast days.

I was fine with this one for the intended purpose of side visibility and legally-required reflector. The Groucho light is brighter--a noticeable amount, although not an order or two of magnitude as with the DiNotte.

Bear in mind the OP's rack has European-standard lighting mounts, not US-standard. The difference is that the Euro lights mount with two screws 50mm apart horizontally, and the US lights use the reflector-bracket standard two holes, ¾" apart vertically.

I don't know a thing about the Blackburn light, but I've yet to see a single light that supports both US and Euro rack-mount standards.

This is why I didn't recommend the CatEye TL-LD-1100 the OP asked about. I have that light on an American rack and absolutely love it. It can't be mounted on the Tubus without a lot of zip-ties, duct-tape and assorted ugliness.

Agreed. I have the same light on my Breezer with a Sturmey Archer drum/dynamo hub and a B&M Lumotec on the front. Its been plenty bright for the city. I've had a few compliments for having a light (apparently, around campus its not commonplace to have lights at night...)

Peter White lists the "Groucho" on his battery-powered light page:

http://peterwhitecycles.com/taillights-bat.asp

The B&M site also lists battery-powered versions of the XS. I've got a dynohub-equipped front wheel due to arrive this Friday, so I'll be able to run both types of lamps.

I just added a Planet Bike Rack Blinky 5 on my rack this evening from my LBS- it comes with the regular seatpost mounting bracket and a mounting bracket for 50mm hole spacing.
It has an integral reflector and the 1/2" thick or so edges light up giving 180 degree spread. - link: http://ecom1.planetbike.com/3018_1.html
Sizewise it is 65mm wide x 45mm high (2 1/2" x 1 3/4")
Takes two AAA batteries.

I love my CatEye LD1100. I just mounted it with zip-ties.

Note: B&M 4D toplight has 2 more LED's on the sides, added .. over the ... 2D, that fixes the Spread issue.

4D toplight permanent is battery, add features of senso, and plus .. dark turn on, and dynamo power, for a bit more $
still have battery to run as backup and standlight

I'm a big fan of the Ravx Super Sight and use it during the daytime. It takes two AA's and has four different blink-modes. I get compliments (and some complaints from exploitative wheelsuckers) on it all the time.
Whenever I check out my profile's reflection in shop windows (silly, vain creature, I freely admit this) I'm always pleased at how bright & visible it is.
Plus it's quite lightweight & aero!

http://www.calamarichris.com/images/...taillight2.jpghttp://www.calamarichris.com/images/...taillight3.jpg
http://www.calamarichris.com/images/...archrdesc4.jpg

I bought this, thinking it would make the perfect rear light - dynamo power + battery backup right? It didn't work that way, so I replaced it with a regular dynamo light.

I think the problem was that unlike a regular dynamo light, you still had to turn the rear light on and off with it's own switch. It might have been a relatively small thing, but that was one of the advantages of a dynamo light - I turned the front light on and the rear light turned on automatically. More convenient, didn't forget to turn the rear light on, and I could turn the rear light on while riding.

Just to illustrate what I mentioned above, the OP has this...

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/f...te140_high.jpg



and is thinking of adding something like this (NR Cherry Bomb) in order to boost off-axis visibility:
http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/f...cherrybomb.jpg

I'm all for having secondary lights to provide redunancy, but a DiNotte 140 is a tough act to follow ;)