Norboo

First I wanted to thank many posters on this forum for helping and recommending many accessories, lights, pedals, etc...

Looking for a tail light that doesn't flash too fast and annoying to drivers.
Thank you.

corrado33

$150 is a huge amount for a taillight.

https://www.rei.com/product/895619/c...ear-bike-light

This light would be absolutely fine and is VERY, VERY bright. I'm pretty sure it also has a selection of flash patterns so you can choose which one you want.

It sells for ~$50, which is, what I would consider to be, on the high side for a tail light, unless you're buying dynamo lighting.

dim

Dinotte Quad ... slightly over your budget though:

NEW Quad RED Taillight with built in battery ? DiNotte Lighting USA Online Store

or a cheap good one .... Cygolite Hotshot Pro 80:
https://www.cygolite.com/product/hotshot-pro-80-usb/

or.... there is the new Fly 6 with built in video/action camera:
https://cycliq.com/products/fly6

Cychologist

I have two NiteRider Solas 40s. About $40 at your LBS. Bright but not too bright. Mode options. Rechargible.

fietsbob

Lightskin seat post, LED & batteries are in it .. You pick the flash mode .. SEATPOST ? LightSKIN

ItsJustMe

I second the quad red if you really want to step up, and the Cygolite 80 or the Axiom Pulse 60 are decent at much lower prices (though I don't really consider either to be a proper full daylight taillight - only lights in the 200+ lumen range count as that for me).

However, if you want a taillight this bright, but are worried about "irritating drivers" then there is no solution for you.

The simple fact is, in order to grab the attention of the morons on the road who are texting and driving and protect yourself against them, you need to have a light that will be fairly irritating to drivers. That's just truth.

dim

I fully agree .... I'd love to have a Dinotte Daytime red (According to Dinotte, when you purchase one, you agree to only use it during the day):
DAYTIME RED Taillight - DAYTIME ONLY TAILLIGHT seat post, seat stay, chain stay or rack mount ? DiNotte Lighting USA Online Store

I've never seen one but I wonder how many people use it at night aswell? ..... I'm tempted

American Euchre

I also recommend the niterider solas. $30 to $35 if you look around.

ItsJustMe

Seems ridiculous to make a taillight that can't be dimmed. That costs zero dollars and zero cents; they just need to add the firmware to dial back the power to the LED.

The DS500 that I have not only has both daylight and night modes, it has a programming mode where you can build your own flash patterns at whatever power you like.

dim

I think it is adjustable .... if you read the reviews on the Dinotte Link, one guy states the following:

This light is brilliant, versatile, and hardy. It should be any cyclist's go-to tail light.

At it's highest power, the DayTime Red Taillight 400+ shines through rain, fog, and snow. At it's lowest level, it's as good as the 300R.

The mechanics are typical of DiNotte, i.e., excellent. In short, there is no substitute. Spring for the best with the 400+.
-------------------------------------------------

I might buy one of these ....

ragnar.jensen 

I have one and yes, it's adjustable. It has three steady power levels; approx. 450, 300 and 150 lumen. It also has three different blink patterns.

--
Ragnar

corrado33

Does development time cost zero dollars? Does the light even HAVE a microcontroller in it that RUNS a firmware? Does that microcontroller have PWM?

Flashing patterns can be accomplished with a simple timer. I doubt there IS a programmable microcontroller in this light.

dim

well now I'm sold .... I will definately get one ...

01 CAt Man Do

Adding what you said that I highlighted in your post and about what the OP wanted: ( what I underlined > )... That would be saying it mildly. People who drive cars get irritated at all kinds of things; weather, traffic, what the kids are doing in the back seat, the guy that just cut them off or who won't let them pass...yadda, yadda, yadda...If you are riding a bike on the side of the road somewhere close to their car you are like the fly that was buzzing their head for a moment. There and then gone. Likely they only noticed you for a moment.

Word of advice to the OP'er. Don't assume or try to guess what other people are thinking about while you are on a bike. You can't read minds and trying to do so sounds very much like a type of Social paranoia. Yes there are some idiots in cars no doubt that won't like your light or your presence on the road for that matter but you can't change or please the idiots in the world and it would be complete idiocy on your part to alter your safe cycling practices just because of some social/urban myth that presumes that people don't like bright ( and or ) flashing lights.

As long as your flashing lights aren't flashing directly into the eyes of someone at close range you shouldn't let it worry you. Besides the flashing helps garner attention and that attention could very well be enough to save your skin. If you want to worry about something, worry about cars and how to avoid being hit by them.

And speaking of being dumb ( not you )...Today I passed or saw several cyclists getting a ride in before the rain came. While still daylight the day was heavily overcast and misty. The perfect kind of day for using "daytime lights". Only one of the riders I saw were using any kind of lights. The one guy I did see with a light set had a rather small/weak front light on steady and a very small rear light that was also barely visible and non-flashing ( although it would of fine in complete darkness ).

When I saw this all I kept thinking was Wow!... if this guy had just used a simple 50 lumen front flasher and a normal 50 lumen rear light ( on flash ) his presence on the road would have been magnified by at least a factor of two! Not to mention they were riding at rush hour so having some good lights would of been a real smart thing to do. Likely though the only reason these ( lycra-clad roadies on $3K bikes ) weren't using decent lamps is because they "likely" thought it too "geekish" or they are weight-weenies and just don't want a bunch of stuff on their bikes. That said, I don't waste too much time thinking or worrying about what other people are too stupid to use to protect themselves. While I may venture from time to time to guess at what other people think, I'm not going to let it effect my efforts to protect myself when I'm riding a bike.

ItsJustMe

If it doesn't have a microcontroller, it would be quite odd. I actually do a fair amount of work with battery powered LED devices. Microcontrollers are what you use to save money while giving more features. It would cost more money and deliver less features to not have a microcontroller.

Even a $10 cheapo Chinese special blinkie probably uses a microcontroller. The Dinotte I owned years ago definitely had one.

They're certainly factory programmable. I would be absolutely gobsmacked if they make a custom mask programmed controller just for this light - that would be an idiotic move from a manufacturing point of view. You only do that if you're making at least hundreds of thousands of units a quarter. Even if you don't want to do programming as part of your manufacturing, you just get your firmware programmed into the chips by the chip manufacturer. They're still programmable and you can still add features to later revisions.

And putting in that much firmware is the work of an afternoon, even with a fair bit of testing.

sd1986

Lupine Lighting Systems Rotlicht REDLIGHT Bicycle Tail Light

I have tested many high end lights and use the Lupine and the Exposure lights.