rei is offering pre-order on a Cygolite Hotshot Pro 150.

That's really weird because on the Cygolite website they only show the Hotshot 80 lumen, they don't show the 100 not alone the 150!

I ordered one of them from REI. 150 lumens with Cygolites optics, ought to be pretty awesome for direct downrange visibility from behind. Not so great from the side, but awesome from behind.

J.

Exactly right. A doubling of light is like a 1-fstop change on a camera. You really need to get light doublings to make a big difference. Less than that is often not very noticeable. Last year, I sprung for a Lupine Betty. I programmed it with three steps - 1000 lumens, 2000 lumens and 5000 lumens. THat gives a nice gradation between steps even though it's roughly a doubling each time.

You should notice a big difference with the Cygolite 60-150 presuming they are honest about the intensity. Especially since they concentrate it the beam down range with their optics, it ought to be VERY noticeable a long way down range during the day.

J.

You can count on it. Niterider has already upgraded their Solas to 150 and are including another ( the Sentinel ) with 150 as well. Only difference between those two I see is that the Sentinel includes a "laser lane" option. I bought a cheap-o Chinese laser tail light about a year ago just for kicks. I see no added advantage of having something put skinny red lines on the road. People in cars aren't going to notice those or react to them even if they can see them. They will however notice a bright tail light.

Anyway, the Niterider Solas 150 is claiming 7 hrs on high and 6hrs on flash. This has me wondering... :foo: Usually the flash modes are longer running. I can only assume that the high mode ( steady? ) is not using the full output of the lamp and perhaps the flash mode is? With run time in mind it will be interesting to see how the Cygolite Hotshot 150 is handling the mode outputs. The Cygolite 150 is listing a run time on high as 2hrs and flashing 75hrs....:foo::foo: Does this mean the Cygolite is brighter on high ( steady ) than the Solas 150 (?)...and is the Solas 150 brighter on flash modes than the Cygolite 150? Going to be interesting see how that pans out. Freek!...75hrs on FLASH! :wtf: Do any self-contained rear lamps currently available run anywhere near 75hrs on flash!!? Now I know you can space the flashes very wide apart with the Cygolites if you choose to do that but still, something not right here. :rolleyes: I don't know about anyone else but I want full output on flash ( or at least the option for full output on flash ).

Shows it will ship in 30 days. Wanted something quicker

As cheap as these lights are becoming one could order 2 of the weakest lumen rated Cygolites and put one on each stay and angle them at 45 degrees to the outside then you would have side visibility. Of course there are other ways of doing this sort of thing with other lights, but just saying this as an example.

Speaking of LED's the strangest thing happened to me last week, I bought a 4 pack of 60 watt (equivalent) LED bulbs's from Home Depot (I went to Lowes and Home depot looking for something and got mixed up where I got the bulbs from) for just $4.95, I think this week their just $7.97.

Yes, it said the same thing about a week ago when I ordered mine so who knows when it will actually ship? ( they're not updating the posted arrival date ) I'm in no real hurry but I'd like it by first week of Sept. if possible.

Good clarifications, guys.

These new 150 lumens lights, at around $50, seem like serious competition for the much more expensive $200 dinotte, 200 lumens at 4X the price. The niterider and cygolite with 150 lumens at $50 seem like superior values.

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I'm going to test out my solas 30 in daylight. I just assumed this light wouldn't be very effective in daylight, but maybe I'm wrong.

I'm hoping you're right about that. Keep in mind both the Cygolite Hotshot ( original ) and the current Hotshot Micro look like they are both narrow. The Hotshot 80 ( if you look at the photo on post #1 ) you'll notice the optic is designed for a slightly wider beam pattern. The Hotshot 150 will likely have the same optic as the HS 80.

I was just now messing about with all the rear lamps I have. The original Hotshot I have beyond a doubt has the more intense throw of any of the other rear lamps I own ( when used on the flash/Pulse mode ). The Axiom Pulse 60 I have comes a very close second but has a much more usable beam pattern since it projects a slightly wider beam pattern. The Gemini IRIS I have ( supposedly 160 lumen on high ) has about twice the beam width of the Pulse 60. This is why I use it on the helmet. If the IRIS were using an optic similar to the Pulse 60 it would likely blow the others out of the water for throw. Since I'm expecting the HS 150 to have a similar beam pattern to the Pulse 60, the HS 150 should indeed end up being the better all-around rear light.

If the future I'd like to see the makers of these lamps sell them with a choice of user-replaceable optics. If the Hotshot 150 could be fitting with the same optic as the original Hotshot I have no doubt that the end result would be a fully functional "Full Daylight-Daytime" ( long distance ) visible lamp. Right now I have to hold my breath and wait to see just how wide the new HS 150 is going to be. If it's too wide, like the IRIS, the distance throw will suffer. The rear lamps with wider optics are stellar for night time use though.

I'm still using the Cygolite Hotshot 2W, and have had multiple people-- on bikes, on foot, and in cars-- ask me what light it is, because "It's the brightest thing they've ever seen." It is used almost exclusively during daylight hours.

Is it possible to design the rear light to be configured as a "wrap-around"? a U-shaped light that puts out the throw beam in the middle with the two other lights more like wide beam?

And then each light can be regulated as blinking or constant. There would be a single mount, on the seat post. The rear bag would be eliminated and put elsewhere.

I'm sure with the more powerful emitters they have opened up the angle on the optics a bit.

Where I ride is a very rural area with both winding hilly roads and long straight sections. So I kind of need both the distance downrange and the wide pattern. What I'm thinking would work great is a Hotshot with it's narrower optics and my Orfos Flare with it's wide and bright spread. That would be a pretty awesome package.

That's what I wish for in the next version of the hi-bright taillights - a narrow optic with maybe a 2W emitter behind it followed up by 300 lumens of high bright wide angle (180 degree or more) emitters as well. In a gross sense, a Hotshot Pro Micro to 100 glued on top of a Flare.

J.

I think that if a tail light can put out 150 lumens, which seems a bit excessive to me, that instead of directing all that light in a spot type of beam they should indeed make the optics so that the light can be seen easily from 90 degrees or more off center. I know that my L&M Vis180 (not the Micro) puts out 70 lumens and they made the light so it's easily seen 90 degrees off center, and other manufactures do the same thing but not all do like the Hotshot. Of course not sure if the new 100 and 150 lumen Hotshot has that sort of capability or not.

Great post. I have the Blitzu, which I'm happy with. Though would have loved to have seen this post before buying it.

150 lumens isn't all that bright but I get your point. That 150 lumens gets diluted pretty doggone fast when you start to open up the angle. Since it's an area thing at a given radius from the light, the lumens per square area is going to drop proportional to the square of the radius per degree.

We're gotten used to thinking in terms of dinky dim lights as cyclists because of the limitations of the available technology. I'm glad we're now to the point where the technology is starting to catch up and we're able to approach the lighting that other vehicles have. From experience, I think that the high bright tail lights may just about be the best thing you can do for safety at night in the presence of other vehicles.

J.

150 lumens is not that much if you are talking about daylight visibility. It's basic visibility in full sun.

I'd probably want to dial it back to 75 or so at night, ideally with a strobe over steady pattern.

The Blitzu light has had several increases in lumens over the last few years so it's hard to tell which one he showed, i think the newest one now has 168 lumens. BUT the problem with these generic Chinese made LED lights, front or rear, is that they way over rate the lumens, so a tail light with 168 rated lumens is probably a lot closer to 50 to 60 lumens. However as time goes by the generic Chinese manufactures are learning that they can't misrepresent their lumens ratings as much as the use to because people are buying from other manufactures, so the lumen gap is slowly getting more narrower.

Yeah, I couldn't tell you the lumens. On it's highest setting it's blindingly bright. The drawback is that people say the battery won't last much longer than 30 min which is useless for anything but a short commute. That's another worthwhile factor to consider on these lights -- the battery life.

I tested out 3 tail lights in the dark:

Cree XML rigged with a red lens.

Solas 30

el cheapo $1 taillight from eBay
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Surprisingly, the Solas 30 fared the WORST of the 3! This is probably because the light droops down attached to a bag and is not quite vertical. An easy fix, but it's startling that it's not much more effective than a $1 light, as it's normally attached.

The $1 eBay special was VERY visible, better than the Solas. This is likely because the clip to the seabag actually props the light up just a touch so that it actually stands vertical on the bag. The clip is the absolute worst. I've broken a couple of clips off, and just learned to tape the clip to the light with clear packing tape.

The Cree (claimed 6000 lumens) was the largest and brightest of the bunch. However, encased in it's housing, off axis visibility to the sides is non existent. It could be a great day time light however. It's a very bulky light, with a mount designed for a handlebar, and adds the bulk of it's attached battery pack. OK, so maybe I won't use it often as a tail light, but may keep it as a novelty. I'd have to stuff the battery pack inside the seabag and maybe attach the light to the side of the seat post, where it would unfortunately be obscured by the saddle bag.

Glad you pointed out that miserable battery life, that's a very crucial point you made; I think you should go on Amazon and review the light pointing out that major downfall.

Power required is really going to be application, driver "culture" and terrain dependent.

J.

I mentioned the model in my 1st post; Blitzu Cyborg 168T. Latest model I think.
The Hotshot micro rated at 30 lumens looks brighter. But the 168T's beam is more
spread out; while the Cygolite Micro's is narrower/tighter.

Ok; got my hands on a few more models. My brother loaned me his Blackburn 2'fer.
UPS tracking promised to deliver a NiteRider Solas 150 and SIGMA SPORT Micro today.

I'm doing side by side shots with the light pointing at a wall to get an idea of the beam spread.
Taking photos from the side and 45 degrees to check side angle visibility. Of course straight
back as well. Have taken weight measurements; not sure if I'll put those in. Useful for riders
interested in helmet mounting and weight weenies. Someone already asked for battery life
tests; I said no. Takes too much work/time. Some of these lights can go on for a few hours.
What kind of tests/pics do you folks want to see?

Top to bottom - helmet mounted Niterider Lumina Flare is mine. Knogg Blinder 4, Cateye Rapid X2 and
Light & Motion VIS 180 Micro were borrowed. Thanks BFold of New York City, I'll bring them back this week :D

https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8178/2...971cf11bbd.jpgRear lites test, East River path NYC by 1nterceptor, on Flickr
https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8475/2...64ff0cf3a0.jpgRear lites test, Timessquare NYC by 1nterceptor, on Flickr
https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8448/2...be8504742b.jpg2'FER VS Hotshot Micro by 1nterceptor, on Flickr
https://c2.staticflickr.com/9/8524/2...684a0993d7.jpg2'FER vs Cygolite Micro by 1nterceptor, on Flickr

( above )....a photo taken in a city environment between tall buildings ( heavily shaded ) is not what people mean by normal daylight. Like was said before a camera photo can't represent what the eye sees. If you doubt this look at the red traffic lights in the distance. These types of lights are thousands of lumen but in the photo you barely notice them. Viewed in person the traffic lights would be very bright. If you were going to use a rear lamp in this type of daytime city environment ( heavy urban traffic with short lines of sight ), I would think something like the Red Zone 8 ( or another lamp that is super bright with a wide output ) mounted to the back of the helmet would be the most useful.

Ok, I would have to say that light is nowhere near 168 lumens from appearances in the photo.

By the way, if you can when you get those lights to try to take the photos the same way you did with the first group, that way we have a means to compare. Thanks.

The Blackburn 2'Fer is a good helmet mounted light. Very lightweight -- I hardly notice it's on the back of my helmet. Pretty good dispersion considering there's no diffusion lens, and better side visibility than comparable small USB lights I've seen locally.

That Knog Blinder 4 appears more effective than I'd expected. The apparent size of the red patch makes it pop against a busy urban background, which is already cluttered with red lights.

The vertical orientation of stacked lights is a good plan, even if you set this up only for the test. At a glance it's reminiscent of a railroad crossing light or traffic emergency light. And the separation helps drivers more easily judge distance and approach speed.

For the past few months I've been running at least two rear red lights, usually the 2'Fer on the helmet in flashing mode (it lasts longer) and a steady taillight on the rear rack. A new-to-me used bike I just got last week came with a Bell saddle that has a surprisingly effective horizontal row of seven red LEDs. Even though the original protective lens is missing the lights still work. And because these are the older style, slightly less bright deep red LEDs, they're still effective even with a red colored lens. The newer, brighter LEDs are more whitish orange rather than deep red, and need a red lens to have the same appearance. You'll probably notice this quirk with the Blackburn 2'Fer, especially with some digital sensors -- it'll appear nearly white rather than red, although it appears red enough to the human eye.

Like I said before; lamps with wide dispersing beam patterns are are very hard to judge for estimating total lumen output. You might want to take a look at ( featuring the same lamp ). At the start the reviewer displays the lamp on the rear of his helmet during the day. In daylight it's not too impressive, no surprise there. At the 2:04 mark he displays the lamp inside his garage in a little darker environment ( not total darkness ). It is there that you get a good idea of what the lamp has to offer. The camera is off to the side so if it was viewed head-on it would likely look even brighter.

Personally, I don't know the electrical characteristics of the micro-led panels being used. I don't even know what company makes them but if you can find a data sheet on them it should be able to list typical outputs ( with varying current inputs ). Only then are you really going to know the actual lumen output. The reviewer listed the run time on high ( steady ) as being 1.5 hrs. ( Longer run times on flash and lower modes. For the sake of the argument I have a Gemini IRIS rear lamp rated close to the same output but doesn't use micro-leds. The IRIS is rated at a max of 180 lumen and has three leds. The instructions though do not give details of the lamp at that particular output. More than likely if you set the lamp for maximum ( 180 ) on steady it will only run about an hour or less. Actually there is no steady mode with the IRIS but you can use the program mode as a steady mode if you wanted to. Gemini only lists details of the 100 setting on "flash" as the brightest setting ( 2 hrs ) If set for 180 ( flash ) likely about an hour. When I use mine and want the brightest ( 180 lumen ) output, I set it to "pulse". On that setting it should last about two hours. Most of the time though I use it on "flash" at the 50% output level. That should give me 3.5 to 4 hrs. and is still damn bright.

Gosh I swear most of the people making those Youtube videos seem to know nothing about doing a good video review of a bike light. The guy I linked to at least did a fairly decent job. Would be nice if they would show the lamp actually working for more than a couple seconds Also would be nice to see some three-sided wall shots.

I watched the video, I'm still not convinced...HOWEVER...it is low cost, and if someone is on a tight budget I think that would be an excellent light to have as long as they don't ride too long at night.

At less than $20 it's hard to beat. They are though, "cheap Chinese lights".

Interesting comparison > Serfas Thunderbolt, uses 30 mini Leds and is listed as 35 lumens on high. Cyborg is listed as using 50 micro-leds and claims 168 lumen....:rolleyes:.....Could be Cyborg is only about 60 lumen but that's providing that they are using the same type leds. (?) There in lies another good question.