Two and a half years in the Pacific NW, year-round, and the Radbot 1000 is still going strong. It has multiple modes, is very bright, and run time is good. ~9 hours flash mode, ~4 hours on slow strobe.
Good unit.

That's what I have too - and it uses the same mount as Planet Bike lights, so you can switch it out easily. I mounted mine to the rack using rubber-lined P-clamps.

see these comparisons; http://www.thebicyclerepairshop.com/...ison-test.html

This is one of the two large tail lights that I saw, (that one or the one below); see: http://www.reallite.com/details.htm This light puts out about 1 watt total which is what most put out today, but it appears as bright as car tail light. The Cygolite Hotshot, the Serfas Shield, and the Light & Motion Vis 180 put out 2 watts, and those still don't look as bright as the large one.

I think this is the same light just different brand; see: http://www.ledsafetylights.com/safet...p?ProductID=85

Serfas Thunderbolt

I have two of them. They mount on different parts of the rack on my main commute bike, or on the rear triangle of my mountain bike; the straps make it easy to locate them almost anywhere. Each one is brighter than my Radbot 1000 and the boyfriend's Planet Bike Superflash combined. I like that they can be recharged instead of having to use batteries. The only downside is that the runtime is fairly short, so I have to recharge every other day or so.

Yes, there's a difference, but it depends on your needs and budget. For the money, a PB Superflash is hard to beat and you can buy it for about $20. I have a Radbot 1000 that is a little brighter but burns through batteries much faster than the PBSF. However, if you really want to be seen and can afford to spend more, the Dinotte lights are incredible. I have the Dinotte 140, and it is like having a red headlight on the back of my bike. In the dark, it casts a red beam on the pavement, and it is very visible in daylight. However, it costs about $100 -- when it's on sale. Dinotte makes another taillight that is even brighter, but it costs about $200. I was willing to buy a Dinotte because I bike commute about 30 miles almost every day year-round on urban streets with no bike paths. BTW, I use all three lights most of the time.

Um, a PB superflash is pretty darned easy to beat. It was a great light 5 years ago, not so much now. It's not really that bright, it's not particularly waterproof, many people have reported having it fall apart when traveling on rough roads, etc. For not much more you can get into way better lights.

I have a Hotshot and a Knog Blinder 4V. I like the Blinder better but the mounting is "seatpost or nothing". The Hotshot is good but the field is too narrow. I'm thinking about buying a few more and playing around. Really I think the deciding factor will be mounting options.

I had the Knog Blinder 4v, it broke in two days of use, I took it back and got another it too broke about a month later, I took it back and said forget it so instead I ended up converting my Cygolite ExpiliOn 350 into a tail light which has worked out great, besides those two large ones I saw on the road mine is the brightest I've seen on the road around where I live but it does have the smaller diameter lens which is far less noticeable then the two larger ones I saw.

Heck, about 90% of all people riding bikes in my city don't even use tail lights at all at night, and another 60% of those have no reflectors either! And the cops don't care, I asked a cop friend of mine why they don't issue tickets and he said because the law says that if they get hit by a car without any lights and or reflectors the cyclists is automatically at fault regardless if the motorist was technically at fault. I think that's weird law, I understand the reasoning but the cops should try to prevent injuries and fatalities by issuing citations to cyclists who don't have lights and or reflectors, and beside the extra money from the fines will go toward needed city funds.

Yeah, I like the beam pattern on the Blinder but I suspect that the mounting is less than it should be. I really wish they'd produce a version that used a conventional mount of some sort - clone the Superflash mount (though fix its brittleness) or something.

my wife and I both ordered this pairing tonight: http://www.amazon.com/Portland-Desig...rks+red+planet
I was originally going to get the Radbot 1000, but, since we don't know how much morning/evening riding we'll be commuting or riding in, we decided to get a pretty good light, for a little less money.
The reviews on Amazon were pretty good though. So, we'll see!

What's odd is today's lights, be it front or rear, but especially rear, are coming out with cheaper and cheaper mounting brackets, now most of them have a rubber stretchy band...great, just try to find that band when it breaks, which it will in about 18 to 24 months. I guess since they know LED bulbs last forever they had to come up with something that would force you to buy a new light every other year instead of every 20 years. Even head light brackets aren't what they use to be either, one look at the Knog will leave you shaking your head, but mine didn't break at the bracket it broke at the switch both times.

I have a Cygolite setup... Hotshot - Rear, Expilion 600 (internal battery) - Front. I love these lights. I don't encounter many other riders in my area who are riding brighter... (unless it's a true roadie with a gang of individual blinkies/lights, looking like a space ship that's landed & is riding down the street. lol) Most don't even come close to the brightness & look at me with those 'hater' eyes. HA!
I also like the Cree XLM T6 (external battery) & the Serfas USL-TL60 Tailight. (both are BRIIIGHT!)

I purchased a Hotshot but it was never delivered. It's been 3 months now and I'm trying to get my money back. The seller keeps dallying - customs delays and whatnot.

In the mean time, I've also purchased a Niteflux Red Zone 8 (8W beasts these are - not cheap). I plan on pairing it with the eventual hotshot. I shall run the Red Zone on blinker but hotshot on solid. I read somewhere that the blinkers get the attention, but the solid tells motorists how far away you are. Eitherway it should compensate for the hotshot's weakness from the side.

Interesting idea, converting a headlight to taillight. I've been using a DX UltraFire for about a year now and it's brilliant (pun intended). It would be nothing to make the glass red and mounting shouldn't be difficult.

I've just found the Serfas usl-tl60 - it looks great. It LOOKS to be in the Dinotte realm - probably not as bright but plenty damned bright and extremely durable, for $60. I've got one coming.

I still like the Knog but I agree that its mounting sucks and will probably break after a fairly short amount of time. I can't really recommend something that's probably not going to last at least a few years of continuous use.

its the same 2 watt led found in the cygolite ($25-30) ==> ~60 lumens.
the cycgolite has much better batteries than the other similar lights (li ion).

I didn't use red glass, I simply used red tail light repair tape found at automotive stores. I tried one layer first and the light still appeared almost white, so I went with two layers and the light appeared sort of light violet, then I tried 3 layers and that did it. Did going from white to red bring down the intensity of the white light? Yes, but not so much to make it useless, it's the brightest tail light I have and the brightest I've seen where I live. The only tail lights I've seen that were more noticeable were a couple of cyclists I saw who had those large 5" x 4" rectangular shaped lights with a dozen or more LED's.

Those larger lights looked like this: http://www.ledsafetylights.com/safet...p?ProductID=85 While each LED is not near as bright as my one single LED, but the combined effort of 18 leds in a large area makes the light extremely noticeable and you can see it fast from very far away...like a car or motorcycle tail light. Those are probably the best bicycle tail light for noticebility you can get currently for a light, but few cyclist want such a large light on their bikes.

I use the Serfas Thunderbolt. It's quick to move between bikes and is charged using a USB cable.

I've got the Flare 2 on mine and its bright as all get out. I can't speak on how reliable it is because I just got yesterday, but I like it so far. Three different modes and uses two AAA batteries.

thread should have ended there....can't believe this same response wasn't mentioned numerous times.

Anybody have a KNOG Blinder 4V?
I am thinking about pulling the trigger. Waterproof is a plus on it:

Ah, I see some have, up this post. I think I don't have enough seatpost with the bag there. So looks like KNOG is out.

Back to drawing board :D

How about the vis 180 micro?

EDIT:
I went ahead and ordered a Serfas TL60. I wanted something that would show up daylight to dusk and that I can clip on a bag. Wish it were waterproof. Will post some impressions.

Impression: can a light be too bright? LOL. Good clip - I will use it on by seat bag.

For a decent review of less expensive tail lights check out http://bicycles.blogoverflow.com/201...-light-review/

I'm in need of a replacement light since two of mine are pretty old and my other is a Knog that doesn't cut it in the daytime/early dusk.

Ooh, I want one of those, "OTHER USES & APPLICATIONS FOR THE F-262 LIGHT BY ITSELF W/O THE BIKE BRACKET... Helicopter Landing Zones"

best option for battery-powered rack-mounted.

would get the dynamo model and couple with dynamo personally.

Excellent! Thanks for the link

This was my solution:
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:65732

I've got that Serfas coming, but I'll probably clip that to the back of the bag there, not sure if I'll leave the mount with the Knog.

Thanks. I'll compare the two. I have a Hotshot now. it is quite bright but it's a spotlight. I really want something that spreads the beam out a lot more than the Hotshot does.

I hear you man, but those large lights are extremely effective. Someday I hope you get to see one, it will surprise you as to how much better they are from the typical 1 to 2 watt single LED tail light, but even though I've seen a couple and know their more effective...I wouldn't want one on my bike. I've been safe for 40 years with what I've been using, but some people don't feel safe without something like that and for them they may need a large light.

I hang my rear blinker off my rack bag and one of those monsters would likely pull the whole damn thing off. After reading the review that Turtle01 posted I'm sticking with traditional bike lights, especially since the cateye I'm using isn't as crappy as I expected (according to article)

My boss uses the PlanetBike Superflash, while I use the Vis180 Micro by Light and Motion.

Both are very bright. I think the Superflash grabs your attention faster because of the flash pattern - but the Vis180 is a brighter piercing ray of red and amber - it almost looks like a red pulsing beacon normally seen on aircraft.

The Superflash is definitely cheaper and a good buy, but it uses AAA batteries, while mine is rechargeable via USB. Considering I work on computers all day, the USB charge is a huge perk.