ItsJustMe

I guess I hadn't considered that. I never bothered to check because a non-waterproof light is completely useless, so I just assumed. I guess we'll see. If the next one leaks, I'll probably just fix it myself.

Their less expensive lights do say water resistant.

rekmeyata

I would agree with your assumption, anybody buying a tail light or a headlight should be able to assume the light is water resistant against at least hard rain, not to make a light that capable is either just plain engineering ignorance or they all think we're stupid!! But I am going to write Serfas an e-mail and see what they have to say about all of this, I'll let you know what they say.

GeneO 

If it were waterproof or water resistant they would say so - it is a selling point. If it doesn't say so, I assume it isn't. I bought the Serfas shield well knowing it is not waterproof or resistant - you can also tell by the construction. You have to use common sense when purchasing equipment.

MattDwyerva

I never liked Dinotte mounting , either, especially for the taillight as I use a seatpost bag.

ItsJustMe

It looks well water resistant to me. if they didn't intend it to be water resistant, why does it have a silicone seam and a cap over the USB charging hole?

And, why did the company immediately offer to replace it when I complained that water had gotten inside if it's not intended to be waterproof?

rekmeyata

I disagree, sorry. But does that mean that every time you buy a computer, head light, or in this case a tail light, etc that it needs to say water resistant? What they should say if it's a cheap arse computer or light is in big bold letters on the box "THIS UNIT IS NOT WATER RESISTANT", then there would be no need to wonder about it. It's kind of like saying I bought a new car and it leaked in the first rain, the dealer says, "sorry, but the car doesn't say it's water resistant!" It's assumed if I buy a car that it may get driven in the rain thus it's water resistant; same should be true for bike parts that it should be assumed the bike will be ridden in the rain and thus computers and lights need to be water resistant.

the sci guy 

Radbot 1000 came in the mail yesterday. Used it this morning on my commute.
Thought it would be brighter, actually. The strobe pattern is great, but the it's definitely not as bright as everyone seemed to hint at or PDW's video seems to show.

ItsJustMe

FWIW I got the replacement Serfas Shield last week - they clearly shipped the replacement before they got my original back again, simply on my word via email that I was shipping it. Good customer service there. The package was hand addressed.

It hasn't been raining here lately so I haven't had time to try it out in the rain and see if this one is weather proof or not.

BTW I did ask and they said that despite not being mentioned in the ad copy, the Serfas Shield is intended to be water resistant, essentially "weatherproof" though clearly with a USB charging port it should not be submerged and the cap should be kept on.

rekmeyata

The Radbot 1000 is basically a clone of the Planet Bike SuperFlash Turbo which is now getting out classed by 3 (major brands under $100) other lights, the Cygolite Hotshot, Serfas Shield, and the Light & Motion Vis180. For an idea of brightness levels see: https://www.thebicyclerepairshop.com/...ison-test.html I posted that site here before. There is another one called the Serfas Thunderbolt but I haven't seen comparisons of it against others.

There are some really nice, made for the Europe market tail lights, but they do not flash because it's against the law to have flashing tail lights there, but two of the most notable are the Phillips Safe Ride Lumiring which, like it's head light, aims the light to behave similar to a car tail light; and the Herrmans H-track; both are a bit larger then N. American lights. I would not hesitate to buy either since I leave my main light on steady anyways.

vol

The main problem with Radbot 1000 I see is that the viewing angle is not wide enough.

rekmeyata

I noticed that on bikes I've seen on the road, their pretty bright when looking at them head on but as you begin to pass the light almost goes from bright to dim to nothing! I've noticed this on some other lights too including my homemade Cygolite ExpiliOn 350 I converted to a tail light. But I use other rear lights that are visible from the sides, but I may consider getting another light to replace the Cygolite due to that flaw.

PatrickGSR94

My experience is that even with a narrow(er) beam, the width of the beam at 100-200 feet away is plenty wide enough to extend all the way into the adjacent lane, and certainly straight back behind you. So an approaching vehicle from behind you will still be in the "useful" beam area when they're back far enough to move over to pass.

rekmeyata

I haven't not experienced that all with the real narrow jobs, in fact just last night I came riding up behind a cyclist with a flashing light on and the light faded to black at about 20 degrees off axis and remained completely dark as I passed, not sure what brand he was using. There are some narrow beam lights that either use a another set of dimmer LED's for side illumination or use a amber side lens to let the main light shine through, or wrap the lens plastic around to the base to give it a very slight glow which is still useless.

Dwayne

Finally made some progress on a little project I had in mind for a couple months. I bought an LED trailer light off Amazon ($11 and change) that runs off 9-16 volts to combine with a 4000 mAH battery I had laying around from my HID light that I don't use anymore. Finished the wiring yesterday with a three-way marine toggle switch, one setting for low (regular running light), another setting for high (brake/turn light switch). Used it for the first time today... it's very, very noticeable from a distance even on "low" due to the width of the light source. The "distance" shots really don't do the light justice, it's much easier to see than in the shots.

Light:


"Low" close


"Low" at a distance


"Low" at a distance cropped


"High" close


"High" at a distance


"High" at a distance cropped

agfa100

The PlanetBike superflash is good, but I just got a Lezyne Micro Drive Rear. I just really like all the Lezyne stuff, you only need to buy it once.

wbill

rekmeyata

The Lezyne has lowered their prices a lot on all of their stuff over the last year, if you haven't seen their prices in awhile look again. Their brightest rear light is now just $45 which is lower priced then the Serfas Shield (Moon in Europe)! But I can't find a comparison against those two or against the Light & Motion Vis 180 full size.